CITY OF TOWNSEND Council MEETING-MINUTES

March 5, 2024          

Call to Order:  Mayor Rauser called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. In attendance were council members Angie Wintrow, Nate Brown, JB Howick, Vivian Boaz, and Doug Sitton. Valerie Baraza was absent. Also in attendance were Eric Crusch, Kari Williams, Della Chatriand, Cliff Wrobetz, Shawn Simon, Jeff Langlinais, Jody Toney, Jane Gillette, and Linda Kent.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.

PUBLIC HEARING:  A Resolution to Terminate the Interlocal Agreement for Townsend City-County Airport and Transfer the Airport Strip Property to Broadwater County.

Mayor Rauser read the Resolution in full. Call for public comment, call for comments from the council. No comments made. Angie made a motion to pass Resolution No. 2024-R04; JB seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried. A Quit Claim Deed will be signed by Mayor Rauser along with the Resolution.

Public Meeting is closed.

Minutes from February 20, 2024:  JB made a motion to approve the minutes, Vivian seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.

Public Comment:  Representative Jane Gillette said that there are grants available through the Montana Community Foundation with four areas for priority funding:  1.  Basic Needs  2. Community Assessment Building  3. Health and Well Being  4. Restorative & Emergency Response. The application deadline is March 31st and is not available for government entities, but they could partner with another entity.

Unfinished Business:

• Water System/Airport Board. Angie attended the last board meeting and reported the following information. While the FAA does not require lighting on the new water tower at the fairgrounds, the Airport Board would like to see the city place lights on the new water tower. Vickie stated that our engineer for the water project, Chris Hayes, confirmed that the lighting is included in the price. Currently, the estimated cost for the new water tower is $11,505,000. Vickie was on a Water Systems Funding call with DNRC, DEQ, Peccia & Associates, and Bond Council to go over checklists and the State Revolving Fund loan. The next call is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on April 10^th.
• Townsend Chamber of Commerce Sign Location:  Eric spoke on this and stated that we’ll have to work with the State of Montana and follow their guidelines since it will be on the state’s right away at Heritage Park by the pool. It will be placed right where the cows are currently. Eric said that there are few service breakers within the pool building to supply power to it, however he contacted Northwestern Energy, and they can place a separate meter with power closer to the sign. JB asked how high the sign would be. It’s 24 feet in the air, which will be a nice, big, visible sign. Vivian asked if the cows would need to be “moooved.”  Eric stated they will be moved briefly and then put back under the sign.  Angie made a motion to approve the sign location for the Chamber of Commerce. JB seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.
• Fire Fighting Equipment Replacement:  Shawn Simon stated that the costs are the same as discussed at the last meeting, which is $10,917.60. Mayor Rauser stated that we have the funds available. Angie made a motion to approve the request for equipment for the Fire Department. Nate seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.
• TV in the sewer line:  Eric spoke with Danny Kurk with Special K Plumbing, and he has the capability to video the sewer line and provide a disc for the city to view and save the video footage. (Discussion was held regarding the timeline of Copper Springs Subdivision, as Eric wants to get the sewer lines videoed prior to that.)   JB asked if Danny’s bid is approximately $600? Eric said yes, and that he can complete the job this spring. Eric thinks it would be better to do it now rather than wait. Doug made a motion to move forward with the project of videoing the sewer line. JB seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.

• Pool Committee:  They will meet next week. Nate, JB, and Valerie are on the committee.  Vickie stated that she’d like to be included in committee meetings and that State Law now requires committees to have an agenda and keep minutes.

• Parks and Recreation Board:  Doug will attend the next meeting and will keep the mayor and council informed.

• Wi-Fi Quote:  Tabled until the next meeting.

• Events Committee:  Angie spoke on this and said that the committee met last week and had a productive meeting.   Peter took the committee’s recommendations and is working on an outline for the Events Ordinance. More to come from the Events Committee.

• Telecommunications:  Vickie received an email from Peter regarding a conversation that he had with River Oaks Communications and possibly partnering with other communities in regard to group representation to explore “Right of Use” in Franchise Agreements.  River Oaks Communication  will talk more about this via a Zoom at the next city council meeting on March 19^th.

• Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority:  Vickie stated that there was a newspaper article in the Independent Record stating that Helena was the preferred route from Billings to Seattle; and the second route is from somewhere in Texas to Montana.

• State Local Infrastructure:  HB355, March 31^st deadline for the grant application.This money was available for infrastructure project ideas submitted by the end of December 31, 2023, deadline. The Department of Commerce suggested if we had anything in writing related to infrastructure improvements, we could possibly piggyback off that. However, to date Vickie and Eric haven’t come up with anything related to those types of projects. JB asked if it would make sense to have the council deliberate on a potential list of city infrastructure projects to prioritize and have on hand for the future.  Vickie said yes, it’s advisable to have a Capital Improvements Plan document in place for when opportunities as this arise. 

• Lions Club request for Easter Egg Hunt at Heritage Park, Saturday March 30^th:   The street closure says Pine Street on each side of Heritage Park Streets.  Della Chatriand spoke on the Lion’s behalf. They want to move it to Heritage Park this year, because they are trying to keep it in the city and stay off the highway. Eric asked if they needed more than two barricades. Della stated that she’s open to having more if it will be safer for the kids, but as it is, people will be able to park on B and C Streets.   JB made a motion to approve the street closure on Pine Street between B and C Street. Nate seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried. Angie abstained from voting as she’s a member of the Lion’s Club. 

February Claims:  Angie made a motion to approve the February, Nate seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.

Round Table

Public:  No comment

Doug: 

Vivian:  stated that she’d like to look into the Capital Improvements are storm drains for a capital improvement project.

JB:  Would still like to pitch for an April Fool’s  event for the community to pitch wild and funny resolution requests at the first April’s council meeting.

Angie:  stated that since Eric spoke with Triple Tree Engineering, she’s wondering where the extension for Copper Springs stands, and will they need to apply for another one.

Nate:  Asked if Eric would like to be a part of the Pool Committee Meeting. Eric said yes.JB asked if he could send a post about the Pool Manager position to Kari for her to post on Facebook. Vickie said yes, that would be fine.

Vickie:  Attended an executive forum for mayors and city managers in Sidney, MT. Representatives from MMIA, the National League of Cities & Towns, and MT Local Government. She said there was a lot of great information as far as the mayor’s duties, city manager’s duties, and the council’s duties. As she is the executive who executes plans, and with that in mind, the mayor has responsibilities with supervising city staff and something that she learned is that department heads are hired by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council members. With all of that said, Vickie stated that we have two employees that are retiring in a few months, and she’d like to look at our budget and cash flow with the funding sources for those positions and try to get some more employeeshired as soon as possible for training purposes.

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

Next Meeting:  Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at 6:30 p.m.