April 15, 2025

City of Townsend Council Meeting

Minutes 4.15.25

Call to  Order:  Mayor Rauser called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.  Council members present were Angie Wintrow, Nate Brown, JB Howick, and Vivian Boaz.  Doug Sitton called in absent.  Also present were Jim Beck, Randy Spurgeon, Shawn & Nichole Simon, Bobby Bosley, Lauren McLauglin, Alex Potter, Michelle & Kellen Hildreth, John Fuchs, Andre Prevel, Eric Crusch, and Kari Williams. 

Pledge of Allegiance:  The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all. 

Public Comment:  Big Sky Big Leadership, Lauren McLaughlin gave a report on the work being done on the tennis courts.  Since they were not on the agenda, the group will return on May 6th with the following questions.  Does the City have any funds to contribute?  Can the City maintain the courts after the project completion?  Can we change our project to a McCarthy Park facelift to include both tennis courts and basketball courts?  Can we put signage on the fence stating to call the BCSO to use/unlock facilities or retrieve lost balls that land in locked tennis courts?  

Minutes from April 1, 2025:  Angie moved to approve the Minutes of April 1, 2025.  JB seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Guests

  • Jim Beck gave a report on the water flow at the Lift Station and Sewer Lagoon in 2024.  He supplied graphs showing water quantity pumped/discharged (million gal/day).  He spoke on the daily mean discharge for the Missouri River side channel near Townsend, and the daily mean water level for the City of Townsend Well, NW of the lift station.  Mayor Rauser asked about one of the graphs that shows zero flow and what that means as far as the City’s sewer system.  Jim stated that in the past we’ve avoided having that situation, and with the exception of that two-day period August 9th and 10th where there was zero flow, there was some localized accumulation, but it had the opportunity to flush out with adequate flow after that.  JB stated that as he recalls this is processed water being discharged for redistribution to the river.  Basically, getting rid of the overflow, so the issue isn’t really one of danger to the environment or to the City.  Eric stated, to the best of his knowledge, that’s correct. 
  • Shawn Simon gave a quarterly report on the fire department’s activity.  He also stated that the Big Sky Big Leadership’s Blessing Box was placed on the back of their building, and it’s going well and that it’s being used a lot.  Shawn also stated that he will turn in his budget request for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.   Angie asked how many current firefighters are on board.  Shawn stated 12. 
  • John Fuchs spoke on behalf of the upcoming dart tournament May 16-19th.  The local bars involved will be the Commercial, the Mint, the Betsy, and the Legion.  He asked if they could allow camping from Friday evening through Monday morning. Discussion was held and questions were asked.  JB stated that he’d love to see this happen and thanked the businesses for asking in advance in order to make a plan for camping and parking areas.  Eric stated it would be best to have a “defined” area, that way there won’t be any confusion as to where the campers can be parked, and we can control garbage.  Erin Hildreth stated that it would be nice to notify the residents of where the campers will be located.  Vivian moved to approve the camping around the park and other designated areas for the dart tournament on the weekend of May 16-19th with the City working to identify said parking spots.  Angie seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.  John will get a map from the City in order to inform the tournament players of where they are allowed to park and camp. 
  • Randall Spurgeon spoke on the garbage can issues he’s having in his neighborhood.  He stated that there are eight adults using one garbage can, so garbage is overflowing and spilling into the alley and yards.  He stated that they pay for the use of  garbage, but when it’s full all of the time, it’s frustrating.  JB stated  that he has an extra can behind Townsend Hardware that he’d be willing to have Eric place in that neighborhood.  Eric stated that he keeps an eye on the garbage situation and there are several places around town that could benefit from an additional garbage can, but it tends to fluctuate with the seasons.  Right now, people are placing yard debris in garbage cans, when they should be taking that to the dump.  Eric stated  that there are other large items that are in the garbage cans that should not be.  City cans are for household garbage only.  Randall Spurgeon asked Eric and the council to do something about this.  He said that one of his neighbors takes his garbage to the dump since the cans are full. Mayor Rauser asked if using the extra can behind Townsend Hardware would be a good temporary solution.  Eric stated that he’s hesitant to do that because he’s not sure if the other businesses nearby might need that can. Mayor Rauser stated that we’ll move that can to the neighborhood and see how that works. Randall thanked everyone.  
  • Certified Back-up Operator Position:  Mayor Rauser stated that she’s been concerned about the fact that Eric is currently the only certified operator for the water and sewer systems.  Until the other two public works employees receive their certification, Eric is the only one certified.  Tim Rauser has continued to maintain his certification and needs to be connected to a City’s system in order to remain active.    JB moved to pursue the back-up operation position with the provision of a contract. Nate seconded the motion.  All in favor motion carried.  The contract will be considered at the next meeting right after the Public Hearing on the update to Townsend’s Growth Policy on April 29th.
  • Kellen Hildreth, Deep Creek Pizza spoke on the frustrations of doing business during the Water Project.  He was notified that their water would be shut off, so they closed down their business for that day, and then the water did not get shut off.  JB stated that this is the second time this has been brought up to the council.  Kellen Hildreth stated that someone needs to be held accountable for this.  Deep Creek Pizza owners, Kellen and Erin Hildreth are asking the City to compensate for that day’s lost revenue. Discussion was held.  Mayor Rauser told them that because your water was not shut off, but you closed in good faith, they could file a claim with the City for their lost net income for that day.  Kellen asked if he should instruct other businesses in the same situation to do the same.  Mayor Rauser stated that they could come in and talk to the council.

Current

  • MCR Grant Proposal, Work Order:  This is a grant proposal for the housing inventory study from WWC Engineering.  It is a $27,000 grant with a $3000 match of in-kind volunteer work, or funds from the City, or both.  Angie moved to approve the proposal from WWC Engineering for a comprehensive housing study.   JB seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.
  • MMIA Insurance Proposal for 2025-2026:  Mayor Rauser stated that the medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees is provided through MMIA, and has a price increase that won’t go in effect until July (next fiscal year), so it  will be a part of the budget plan.  The City has the Madison Plan, which is more cost effective than the alternative.   JB moved to continue with the same insurance plan with MMIA for the next fiscal year.  Angie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.  
  • Street/Alley-Award Contracts:  Mayor Rauser stated that there was an opening Bid meeting held on April 7tth for our street and alley work this year.  There are two schedules.  Schedule one being the dig outs and paving on various streets. The low bid was Mockel Precast and Excavating Company from East Helena for $198,315.  Schedule two had only one bid for the chip sealing, and that bid came from  Helena Sand and Gravel for $88,000.25.  Our engineers have reviewed the bid forms and done mathematical verifications on the totals and recommend awarding the bids to the two companies.  Angie made a motion to approve the bid awards as presented.  Nate seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Pending Business 

  • Revised Fireworks Ordinance Draft:  Vivian spoke on behalf of the committee.  An email was received from resident, Harlan Conroy.  He requested to have fireworks 70 ft away from all buildings, however that is really difficult to do, so the committee put in 35 ft away from all buildings to see if that is doable.  Mayor Rauser stated that after JB presented the first draft of the Fireworks Ordinance and there was a number of comments and suggestions, he revised that document.  Vivian also took those comments and suggestions and has also created another draft Fireworks Ordinance.  Mayor Rauser stated we have two versions. Council stated that they’d like to see both drafts.  Mayor Rauser stated that she’d email both drafts to the council, and we’ll go from there. 
  • Reminder that the Growth Policy Public Hearing is April 29th at 6:30 p.m.  We’ll have a short “Special Meeting” after that to decide on the contract for the Backup Water/Sewer Operator Position.  After that, we’ll start our budget process for the 2025-2026 fiscal  year. 
  • Ordinance Review:  Angie stated that there are some adjustments to the review process that were made at the last meeting, and they have a good draft. 
  • Events Committee/Ordinance:  There is one section that has to do with the Farmer’s Market, so they’ve contacted several members, and they should be able to present something to council.
  • Telecommunications Franchise Committee:  Angie stated  they still need  to contact  Peter to get the information and research that he’s done on that. 
  • Garbage Cans on Broadway:  Mayor Rauser stated that we’ve had a brief conversation and have seen how challenging the garbage on Broadway can be during big events.
  • Sewer Ordinance: Still  on hold at this time. 

Public Comment: 

Mayor Rauser:  Tree Watering has begun with the contract we have with Landscaping Unlimited, Teri Blahnik.  The contract is an automatic renewal to water the trees within city limits.  It’s been suggested that Teri contracts directly with the County to provide watering services at the Fairgrounds, as opposed to prior years when  that was just part of the process.                                                                                                                                                              Progress report was given by COP Construction, the company that’s putting in the water tower.  They have 418 days left of the 450 remaining under contract. They’ve done the excavation for the tank and poured the concrete for the foundation.  There are preliminary discussions on rodeo parking and site security during that week.  COP is having a company by the name of Pioneer Excavation test the material to determine whether it’s viable to be used as backfill.  Might as well reuse rather than haul if  we can.  There have been no safety or security issues. The North Cherry Development meeting was held earlier this week.  They anticipate starting some infrastructure work with water installation on May 5th.                      We anticipate opening the pool the second week of June this year and closing August 15th if we have adequate staff. Our pool manager actually starts school on August 12th, so we have a shorter season.  He also stated that he attended a community resilience and wildfire risk assessment meeting at the Fort on March 27th.  There’s a grant  from the Department of Military Affairs to do some studying and look at wildfire mitigation out at the site here, the National Guard site here.  Broadwater  County was well represented.

Clerk:  Kari stated that she, Jenny, and Diane have been working on utility billing and double-checking water, sewer, and garbage rates.  We’ve found some errors of the size of the service lines dating back to 2019, so we are having the public works check the service line sizes on metered businesses in order to get those corrected.  We sent out 39 late notices last week.  One business owner came in to get more information on a water meter.  We have started issuing dog licenses for 2025-2026.  They are still $10 each. And now with the weather getting nicer, Jenny has issued several building and fence permits.

Public Works:  Eric stated that he’s excited that some of the lifeguards from last year are returning this year. 

Nate:  Asked if we ordered the pool cover yet.  Mayor Rauser said not yet.  Eric said that he has quotes and is hoping to order July 1st.  Mayor Rauser said it will come out of next year’s budget at that time, so something to consider for budget.

Angie:  Asked when the council makes a resolution for a fee structure, is that added to the municipal code or the ordinance on the website?   Mayor Rauser stated it is not.  Angie asked if it should be.  Mayor Rauser said she’d check.  Angie said that some people have inquired about the rate structure, and it might answer a lot of questions or be available to others who have questions.  Same thing with the building license per structure that’s not there.

Adjourn:  Nate made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  JB seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Next Meeting:  May 6, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.  *(Budget Meeting at 5:30 p.m.)