City of Townsend Council Meeting

March 3, 2026

Call to Order: Mayor Rauser called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Council members in attendance are Angie Wintrow, Vivian Boaz, Nate Brown, JB Howick, and Peter Simon. Also in attendance are Andrew Herrick, Nichole Simon, Shawn Simon, Jerry Davis, Sharon Davis, Eric Crusch, and Kari Williams.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.

Public Comment: (Anything not on the agenda, but under the City’s jurisdiction)-No comment.

Minutes from February 17, 2026: Angie made a motion to approve the minutes. Peter seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.

Townsend Street Bids: Mayor Rauser stated that the “skin patching” was removed from the Helena’s company’s bid, Montana Materials & Construction. And by picking up the chips ourselves, we’d save five thousand dollars, so by doing that, the bid will be $3.56 a square yard. Compare that to the price per square yard from Hard Drive Construction out of Billings is $3.06 per square yard. It’s Eric’s recommendation to approve Hard Drive’s bid. Nate asked about the City completing the street sweeping. Eric stated that yes, the City will be sweeping the chips to save money and to keep the chips in their pile. Peter asked if we have 25,000 square yards to complete, and Eric stated yes. JB made a motion to accept the bid from Hard Drive Construction. Nate seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.

Pending: Title II Committee is meeting on Thursday at 3:00 p.m.

Round Table-Public Comment (Anything not on the agenda, but under the City’s jurisdiction) -none

Eric: Well 2 passed the water test, however now there is something else wrong with it. The new water tower is coming along well. The new generator at Well 3 is working. Garbage is out of control as he found a whole mattress and metal shelving in a garbage can. He stated he posted a sign on it stating, “Household Garbage Only.” Vivian asked if we’ve posted pictures of things not allowed in a garbage can on the City’s Facebook and Website. Mayor Rauser stated that we have in the past but could think about doing that again.

Public Comment: Sharon Davis stated that they’ve seen construction materials in the garbage can near their house.

Fire Department, Shawn Simon, stated that they are still in the process of the new recruit class and everyone who started the class is still going strong.

Mayor Rauser- stated that we’ve hired two Maintenance Workers. Jake Wattenbarger and Chris Ahern. They will start the week of March 16th. There was a good pool of applicants.

She also stated that she had a meeting with Building Inspector, Jim Schauber, and they discussed how he will be notified and how we will follow up on any outstanding permits.

Tim Pool contacted the City because the Legion would like to place flags around town for the 250th Anniversary coming up. There are no ordinances preventing that, so Mayor Rauser said the flags would be going up sometime in April and taken down by December 31st of this year.

Mayor Rauser also stated that we’ve received a request for the Lion’s Easter Egg Hunt. The new Events Ordinance states that events need to be scheduled 90 days in advance. Mayor Rauser suggested that this year we waive that 90-day requirement until the public gets familiar with the new requirements.

Mayor Rauser also stated that she received a phone call regarding the water pressure and residents needing a pressure regulator. The call pointed out that not everyone receives the newspaper or has social media, so she’s thinking that the City should send out a letter to all of the water users. She will draft a letter and present it to council at the next meeting.

She will be forwarding an email from Local Government Services for an Elected Officials Training scheduled for May 5th-7th in Billings.

She’s working on an update to our October 2021 wage and position classification. She will be working on contacting vendors regarding the City’s website to become ADA accessible.

Mayor Rauser stated that Peter submitted a draft of the Massa Park Agreement and that will be on the agenda for the next meeting.

She and Eric are meeting with the engineers and the developer for the North Cherry condominiums. They are getting ready to start the water-main installation on 5th Street, so it’s a pre-construction meeting. JB stated that he’s had several people ask about the North Cherry Annexation. He thinks it would be a good idea to get something out to the public. Mayor Rauser agreed since it involves a water-main being installed on a street.

JB also asked about a claim being paid to WWC Engineering for the Housing Inventory. Mayor Rauser stated that she, Jenny, and Kari had a meeting with Jeremy Fadness of WWC Engineering to discuss the final report for the Housing Inventory Assessment, so Jeremy will be finalizing the reports and presenting those to council in the next few months.

He stated that we need to think about the policies of the Hatch Act and Social Media, and how it will affect not only us but also the employees of the City. This will be on the agenda for the next meeting.

Claims for February 2026: Angie made a motion to pay the claims. JB seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.

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