City of Townsend

City Council Meeting Minutes 4.16.24

Call to Order:  Mayor Rauser called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Council members present were Valerie, Angie, JB, Vivian, and Doug.  Nate was absent.  Also present were Eric Crusch, Kari Williams, Georgia Wilde, TJ Graveley, Heather Healea, Cliff Wrobetz, Todd Rolfs, Suzie Conroy, Linda Kent, and Darin Stevens. 

The pledge of Allegiance was recited by all in attendance. 

Minutes from 4.2.24 were not included in the council packet.  Kari apologized for this, and the approval of the minutes was deferred until next meeting.

TJ Graveley—Street Grading and Water:  TJ stated that he’s the Public Works Director for the county.  He stated that Eric approached him about the possibility of grading some roads for the city and trading that service for use of city water.  He said he’s not sure how the city wants to work things out, if there should be a sit-down meeting to work out numbers.  He stated he brought some figures with him, which he gave to the council.  He said that he proposed a five-month period for the use of city water and would be using just over three million gallons of water over those five months.  Based on that, the numbers for grading is $4200.  He stated that South Harrison and Railroad Avenue streets need some work.  He’s wondering what level of service the city would like.  Grading once a year or twice a year.  He suggested sitting down with one of the commissioners, Mayor Rauser, Eric, and himself.  He stated that the number he used is based off of the FEMA statute.  The gravel is through state certified pits.  The gravel runs about $27 per yard.  He stated that the city would need about 951 yards for Railroad Ave.  It will take a significant amount of time and he would put one weight operator and one driver on the job to haul water.  He said he’ll hold his numbers back for now, but the council can do the math.  He stated that using 44,000 gallons of water per day is a lot, but it would be a great thing to work together.  He said that the county road crew and city maintenance crew work well together.  Moving forward, he thinks this deal would work well for everybody.  JB asked what the background is from 2022, and the hydrant issue.  Mayor Rauser stated that up to that time, during the summertime, water usage hit millions of gallons per day and city residents were put on a voluntary water restriction. When the city discovered a “free for all” use of water out of a hydrant, and then placed a lock on that hydrant, the water usage went down.  Mayor Rauser stated that she suspects there were multiple perpetrators involved.  TJ stated that the hydrant sat right inside the county yard, and there were a number of groups that thought they could just use it, including the National Guard and various contractors.  What happened is that hydrant got damaged, and when they turned it off, they over cranked the hydrant and that’s when everything started going bad.  The city came in and replaced the hydrant and the county used it for maybe a month after that, and then that’s when the hydrant got locked up and a meter was placed on it.  The county did use a lot of water and TJ stated that he won’t deny that, but they were not the only ones.  JB asked if we could restrict other people from using the water and allow just the county access.  Eric stated absolutely.  Vivian asked if this would be a contract for just one year, or would it be for multiple years.  Mayor Rauser stated that she would look at another interlocal agreement between the county and the city with respect to these resources.  Vivian asked if we knew how the water usage with the county would work with the construction project of the new water system.  Eric stated that is an excellent question, but he already did a test on this, and he doesn’t have any concerns.  The main reason he is sure it will work is because it’s right next to well no. 3.  Angie asked if we still have the meter that was used prior, so the city can monitor the amount of water going out.  Mayor Rauser stated that we’d be looking at the water usage and the revenue side vs the expenditure side for the street grading, and that we’re working with the unknown at this point.  She said that TJ’s suggestion of having a working committee would not be amiss.  Public comment from Heather Healea:  She said that her comment/question is for TJ Graveley and said that the term “horse trading” was used.  She stated that water is a hot commodity not only in our county, but the surrounding counties.  She asked TJ if his proposal to the city considers having access to the water.  TJ said yes. Doug asked how much three million gallons of water is worth. Vickie stated that with a 4-inch line the base rate is around $587.00 and that gets the user 270,000 gallons, and for every one thousand gallons above that, is 90 cents.  That is based on our current fee schedule.  Those rates will go up with the updated project estimates.  We just don’t know how much yet.  Mayor Rauser stated that council needs to decide what action to take.  Angie made a motion to form a working committee for the purpose of working with the county to establish a plan for trading street grading for water.  JB made that comment that we have a lot going on as a council, so he asked Angie to modify her motion and just allow Mayor Rauser to proceed and negotiate with the county.  Angie said no.  Valerie seconded Angie’s motion.  All in favor, motion carried.  The working committee will consist of Mayor Rauser, Eric, and Angie. TJ stated that he will be off work May 8-19^th. 

Trash Talk on Broadway:   Mayor Rauser stated thatthe garbage cans on Broadway are being filled up with household garbage.  Eric said that there are random cans on Broadway that are being used as a garbage for household garbage bags.  The challenge is that the city crew cannot use the garbage truck to pick up these cans, so the city crew has to drive around in a pickup truck and manually pick up the garbage cans and dump them.  Some of the business owners have taken it upon themselves to dump those garbage cans into the dumpsters in the back of their business.  Mayor Rauser stated that if anyone has any ideas about how to educate or re-educate residents regarding this, that would be great.  JB asked if this is residents or tourists doing this. Eric stated that as it’s getting warmer, it’s happening more frequently.  JB asked if we use a different kind of can that is more decorative, and that the garbage truck can grab if that would help the city crew.  Eric stated that he could modify his schedule on Fridays and try to make that work.  JB stated that his staff will not love him for this, but that it’s reasonable to invite the businesses to voluntarily step up and help with the garbage on Broadway.  Heather Healea stated that the alleys have several larger dumpsters for residents.  She asked what about posting in the paper that the Broadway cans are not for residential use.  A different type of can that has a smaller hole, or a lid that is locked down would deter people from placing large bags of garbage in there. Vivian said the thing that they’re worried about are those people who might just put their trash outside of the can if they can’t get the lid open.  TJ Graveley stated that 99% of people are good, but there is 1% who are not good.  Vickie stated that she and Eric will look for a different type of can with a different lid design in order to mitigate this issue to a certain extent, but to keep in mind that it all comes with a cost.  Eric asked if they could look for cans that the garbage truck can pick up.  JB made a motion to move forward investigating the trash cans; Angie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.

April 30^th Council Meeting:  Mayor Rauser stated that Kari and Jenny would like to attend a clerk’s training the week of May 7^th, so asked if council would be willing to change the May 7^th council meeting to April 30^th.  Vivian made a motion to move the May 7^th meeting to April 30^th.  Angie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Montana Internet Agreement:  The city attorney supplied the council with an analysis of the agreement.  Mayor Rauser stated that the agreement is slightly revived from the agreement that was previously held. That agreement had an initial five-year period and subsequent renewals of five years with a one-year notice if either of the party wanted to revisit the agreement.  The proposal is a five-year agreement, and if neither party has requested to give a year’s notice to revisit it, it would continue on a monthly basis.    Vivian asked if the Water System will affect the contract.  Vickie stated it is likely to, and with respect to that part of the contract, we will have some investigation to do.  JB stated that part of the agreement is supplying a domain and email services to the city.  He asked why we don’t have a “.gov” domain instead of a “.net.”  Mayor Rauser stated that we can look into that.  He also asked if we want this contract to automatically defer to the Franchise Agreement when the time comes.  Mayor Rauser said that she’ll bring the questions to our city attorney.   JB made a motion to table this until the April 30^th meeting; Doug seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Disposal of City Equipment:  Mayor Rauser stated that there are some pieces of equipment that have outlived useful life as far as the city is concerned and our public works would like to dispose of them.  Eric stated that there are several trucks that have not been driven for five years or more.  He is proposing to get rid of these trucks. There are also the old swing sets from Heritage Park that need to be gone or given away.  Val made a motion to allow Eric to take the vehicles to auction and negotiate the disposal of the swing sets.  JB seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.  JB asked how often the city disposes of items.  Vickie stated that there’s a State Law that authorizes the city to dispose obsolete items, but otherwise a Resolution or Ordinance can be established for this purpose. 

Cat Ordinance:  Georgia Wilde asked if the council would allow her role as animal control officer with the city to allow her to field calls regarding cats, so she can assist with cat issues and the over-population of feral cats.  Vickie stated at this time with the ordinances, that there are disconnects with what the animal control officer is mandated to do and where those animals could be safely kept.  Mayor Rauser said It would be advisable, in order to direct Georgia, to change the current language by working with the city attorney to develop an acceptable ordinance on this. This will help mitigate some of the issues without costing the city. There is not a request to spend money at this time, but there is a request to provide authorization to address some of the concerns and have authority that matches up with some of the responsibilities that are already in the ordinances.  Georgia stated that at this time, she has no means to house or hold a cat for any length of period.  Public comment from Heather Healea, she stated that our county has a program because her neighbor trapped some feral cats, and they got them spayed and neutered, and then released them back into town.  Georgia responded that there is no formal government supported program that she’s aware of that does this.  Angie made a motion to direct the Animal Control Officer, Mayor Rauser, and the City Attorney to develop an ordinance to address cats. Valerie seconded the motion.  JB stated that he has a concern with the motion. He said that there are three issues involved here. There is a short term need to provide immediate guidance, a long term need to have a comprehensive review of our animal ordinance to address all animals, and the third issue is whether or not the city is in a position to financially address programs that are specific for cats and other nuisance animals.  Mayor Rauser asked if he’d like to offer an amendment to the motion.  JB asked to amend the motion to authorize the mayor to proceed with a short-term solution so that our Animal Control Officer to proceed with some authority.   There was no second to that amendment, so that died.  Mayor Rauser called for a vote on the motion on the table.  Angie, Valerie, Doug, and Vivian voted yay; JB voted nay.  Motion carried.   Public comment from Suzie Conroy stated that they don’t have anywhere to hold cats.  They would like to get people to volunteer to foster cats for a few days.  Mayor Rauser stated that those suggestions are premature at this point.    

Events Committee:  JB stated that we need to schedule another meeting.  Doug stated that he received a message from Peter Simon, the city’s attorney, that he’ll reach out in a week or two to schedule another meeting.  That meeting date is TBD. 

Fireworks Ordinance Committee:  Vivian Boaz said that there’s a meeting scheduled on April 29^th at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall.  They are working on asking residents from each district to participate in this as well.  

AG Land Lease:  Mayor Rauser stated that there is a new and more formal lease agreement between the City and Joe Nelson.  The council reviewed the agreement.  At this point there is no interference with the pivot and the new water tower.  Vivian made a motion to approve the Joe Nelson Ag Lease; Angie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

New Hires:   Mayor Rauser stated that we have successfully hired a Pool Manager, a Maintenance Worker I, and the Maintenance Worker II is still being negotiated.  Pool Manager is Tommiejo Steele and the Maintenance Worker I is Braden Hatfield.  JB asked when the deadline is to hire lifeguards.  Eric contacted Amanda Hazelet, who will be assisting with lifeguard training.  She stated that a week prior to start date is fine.  Kari will put the job announcement out soon. 

Rotary:  The request for the moratorium on the solicitor’s license and the “no-dog” policy has been tabled until Mayor Rauser visits with the city attorney. 

Sewer Ordinance:  Nothing new.

Telecommunications Franchise Ordinance:  Angie stated that the committee has not met as of yet. 

Water System:  Mayor Rauser stated that the funding is ready to move forward once we decide on a      20-year bond or a 30-year bond.  We still don’t have final numbers so we’re unsure at this point as to what the rate increase will be to the water bill.  JB asked how we should respond to the public.  Mayor Rauser stated that the initial analysis reflects an approximate $60 increase. 

Clerk’s Report:  Budget to Actual Report  Mayor Rauser went through the report and stated that this is a report that shows each fund balance, and the expenditure to that fund vs the budget that was allocated to that fund.  She stated that this is the starting point to what we’ll be looking at the upcoming budget.  Mayor Rauser stated that she’d like to get started on budget meetings next month.  The first budget meeting will be May 21^st at 5:30 p.m., which will be one hour before the regular council meeting at 6:30 p.m.  The budget has to be approved by September 2024.

Public Work’s Report:  — Nothing to report.

Public Comment:  Linda Kent asked the status of the City’s website.  Mayor Rauser stated that she, Kari, and Jenny are still exploring options. 

Round Table:  Mayor Rauser stated that she was on an hour-long phone call with our Water Attorney, Brianne Johnson from Bozeman.   Water Rights adjudication will be moving pretty fast, and the adjudication process started back in 1989.  Johnson protects the city’s water rights and is a neutral arbitrator between all of the parties. She’s working on objections that were filed against the city.  She started out with 16 objections, and 3 have dropped out. 13 cases are still being decided and some have been consolidated. 

Mayor Rauser announced that the City of Townsend has once again been awarded as a Tree City USA!  Congratulations to Pat Plantenberg and the Tree Board! 

Adjournment:  Valerie made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Doug seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Next meeting:  Tuesday, April 30th at 6:30 p.m.