City of Townsend

City Council Meeting Draft Minutes of 4.30.24

Call to Order:  Mayor Rauser called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all in attendance. 

Attendance:  Mayor Rauser, Angie Wintrow, Valerie Baraza, JB Howick, Vivian Boaz, Doug Sitton, Eric Crusch, Brian Obert, Georgia Wilde, Ruby Hohn Taylor, Andrew Herrick, Sean Daffemes, Linda Kent, Jeremy Fadness, and Kari Wiliams. 

Public Hearing:  Mayor Rauser opened the Public Hearing on the update to the City of Townsend Subdivision Regulations.  JeremyFadness from WWC Engineering stated that these are updates to the regulations due to the legislative changes to State Law. He said that these are not major changes, and only pointed out one major change that the State did add is an “administrative minor subdivision review process”.  What this means is that a minor subdivision is five lots or less and would go through the standard process for review.  The “administrative minor process” is more like a survey review process, so it doesn’t go to the planning board and doesn’t go to the council, which is for the preliminary plat review.  It is reviewed by the city’s subdivision administrator.  It does have to meet certain criteria to qualify and has to meet all the zoning requirements and subdivision regulations. There can be no variances. The lots have to be served by water and sewer, and all the lots have to be served by an existing legal and physical access, which means no new roads for any of the lots to access. The lots have to be adjacent to an existing legal and physical road/access that’s already constructed, even if the lots have a right of way access.  If the lot/lots meet the criteria, the subdivision administrator reviews the application and plat to make sure it meets all of the requirements of the subdivision regulations.  Conditions can be placed on that for final plat approval. Once approval is issued with conditions, it still needs to follow final plat process with the application, and then the final plat goes to the council for approval. 

Mayor Rauser stated that as she read through the updates, she was looking for a definition of “administrative minor subdivision.”  Jeremy stated that there’s a definition for “minor subdivision” but not “administrative minor subdivision.”  He said that the minor subdivision and administrative minor subdivision have different review processes.  Mayor Rauser stated that this is a new term being introduced, and it’s not defined.  JB stated it’s a very good point. Mayor Rauser stated that she’s looking for some missing words that say what an administrative minor subdivision is.  She said that there are also some grammatical errors in the amendment, which should be corrected for the city’s regulations. Mayor Rauser asked for council comment.  JB stated that it sounds like they could use better review.  Mayor Rauser asked for public comment.  No comments, so the Public Hearing closed.  JB made a motion to table action on the draft subdivision regulations until the next meeting. Vivian seconded the motion.  JB, Vivian, Doug, and Valerie voted yay.  Angie voted nay.  Motion carried.    

Minutes:  April 2^nd:  JB made a motion to approve the minutes, Vivian seconded.  All in favor, motion carried.  April 16^th:  Vivian made a motion to approve the minutes, Valerie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Public Comment for items not on the agenda but under the city’s jurisdiction:  Andrew introduced a new recruit for the volunteer Fire Department.  He introduced Sean Daffemes.

Guests:  Ruby Hohn Taylor—Street Closure for Bike Rodeo May 18^th for the Health Fair.  This will be on North Cedar from 2^nd to 4^th Street and using the parking lot for vendor information and registration.  The hours requested are 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  Angie made a motion to approve the street closure request for the Bike Safety Rodeo; Doug seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Guests:  Brian Obert is the executive director of Montana Business Assistance Connection (MBAC) for Lewis & Clark, Broadwater, & Meagher Counties.  Tourists are currently flooding the larger cities in Montana, so there is a “Pilot Community Tourism Grant Program” that would push tourists and funds to smaller, rural communities.  The funds would go to communities that have a lot of local support.  They are hoping to get 6-8 steering committees, so Brian is hoping that the City of Townsend will join Broadwater County, Townsend Chamber, Southwest Montana, BCDC, Helena Chamber, and several others.  This is Bureau of Reclamation money, so they have provided a list of what they will allow the committee to work on with the money.  They have agreed that there is a conflict for the daily use of certain bays.  They have authorized them to dredge the smaller bays to make them easier to access and use. BOR has engineers who are currently looking at the design of Silos Recreation Area for the improvement. The secondary intent of the grant is to monetize the tourism trade into local communities.  It’s a total of $2.7 million dollars.  This will require some administrative tasks from each of the steering committees, but no expense. Each steering committee will need to select a representative. Doug Sitton volunteered to be the representative for the City of Townsend.  Nicole Brown will be the representative for the County, and Keith Hartmann will be the representative for the Chamber.  Al Christopherson with the Trails Committee has also been working with the group.  Vivian asked if the bays have signs that identify the name of the bays.  JB stated that he loves this idea and Al Christopherson has put in so much work for this.  JB stated that he thinks that this is something that the City of Townsend should get behind.  Brian stated that even the governor of Montana wrote a letter that this work at Canyon Ferry Lake should be done.  JB made a motion to support the effort presented by MBAC, Angie seconded the motion.  Mayor Rauser asked for any comments from council or public, which there were none to the vote was held.  Mayor Rauser said that there has been a motion and a second to support the effort for MBAC to receive a grant through the “Pilot Community Tourism Grant Program”.  All in favor, motion carried.  Doug was appointed as the City of Townsend’s representative. Brian said thank you and that he’d keep the city posted on the success of the grant. 

Montana Internet:  Mayor Rauser said that we are still in negotiations with Montana Internet. Peter stated that the topic is ongoing, and the agreement still needs to be modified.  There was a question if there would be a grandfather clause regarding the Franchise Agreement.  Peter stated that the agreement could be re-negotiated with an ordinance that is passed on the Franchise Agreement.  There is also question regarding the new water system and tower and how that will affect Montana Internet. The discussion also includes the topic of the .net vs a .gov.  JB stated that the .gov has a federal level of security.  It would not impact Montana Internet. 

Georgia Wilde, City of Townsend Animal Control and Compliance Officer spoke on the hopes of getting the city’s dog kennels updated.  She stated that the current city kennel needs to be updated for several reasons.  One, there is no way to control the climate for the animals, other than heat lamps; two, the roof leaks; three, there are rusted pieces of metal inside that are a safety concern; and four, the kennel is at capacity and its tight spaces makes it difficult to get the dogs in and out.  She stated that our population continues to grow. She brought in a proposed sketch for an upgraded kennel that would give each dog indoor/outdoor access, and would also feature five kennels, insulation for the indoor areas, and a feeding area.  One of her friends who is also a contractor, is willing to donate $20,000 and build the upgraded kennel at the lowest price possible.  He said that he could get the new one built in approximately a week.  Valerie asked if the space would include room to shelter cats.  Doug asked what the average time a dog stays in the kennel.  Georgia stated that it depends.  Eric stated that the longest time he had a dog in the kennel was 3 days.  Georgia has dogs who have been in there for months.  JB asked if this is something that we’d have to put up for bid.  Mayor Rauser stated it will depend on cost estimates.  Mayor Rauser stated that this will probably not happen until after July 1^st since we need to get it worked into the budget. Vivian asked if there is a daily fee for a dog at the kennel.  It’s currently $50 per day. 

Cat Ordinance:  No further information.

City’s Website:  No further information.

Events Committee:  They will be meeting soon.

Fireworks Ordinance Committee:  Vivian reported on this.  They met on April 29^th and will meet again May 13^th at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall.  JB will be writing a letter for the newspaper regarding this. 

Mayor Rauser stated that we have hired our 2^nd Maintenance Worker, Doug Shnablegger. The three new employees start May 13^th.  (Two Maintenance Workers and one Pool Manager). 

Telecommunications Committee:   They will be meeting soon. 

Water Committee:  Chris Hayes came out and met with the committee.  Plans have been submitted to DEQ to review.  They should be done reviewing by June 1^st.  The committee struggled with how much to increase the water rate.  The committee settled on $70 plus dollars and put it into place in two phases.  July 1^st will be the first increase; the second increase will be on September 1^st.  If final numbers show that we don’t need that much of an increase, the City can decrease the water rates.  Peter asked if the increase will apply to all users.  Mayor Rauser stated that it would be great if council will make a motion on this.  JB made a motion to move forward with a proposal to increase the water rates by approximately $70 per month, set in two phases beginning July 1^st.  Vivian seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Trash Talk on Broadway:  Eric is still looking at suitable garbage cans. 

Clerk:  Kari stated that claims for April have been prepared.  JB made a motion to pay the claims.  Angie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Public Works:  Eric stated that some of the streets need repair.  There are numerous potholes that need attention.  Eric also stated that he thinks that bulk water rates need to be increased.  There are other towns who have a much higher rate than we do. 

Working Committee:  Mayor Rauser stated that the agreement with the county and the city working together, and the trading of services is ongoing. Based on an estimate from TJ Graveley for the grading of RR Avenue and South Harrison twice a year will be comparable to the amount of water expected to be used by the county.  The meter will still be in place so the city can verify the amount of water that is actually used.  All of the information needs to be put into an agreement and signed by both parties.  Mayor Rauser stated that this agreement will be a great way to foster a working relationship between the two local governments. 

Public Comment: 

Round Table Discussion:  JB stated that several people have asked what “Trash Talk on Broadway” means.  He suggested the subject should be re-named to be more descriptive. 

Local Government Training:  Vivian has signed up for the Butte location May 31^st. 

Mayor Rauser stated that she’ll be out of town May 3^rd-5^th.

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

Budget Meeting: Tuesday, May 21^st at 5:30 p.m.

Next Council Meeting:  Tuesday, May 21st  at 6:30 p.m.