February 20, 2024

CITY OF TOWNSEND COUNCIL MEETING-MINUTES FEBRUARY 20, 2024-6:30 P.M

Call to Order: Mayor Rauser called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. In attendance were council members Angie Wintrow, Nate Brown, Valerie Baraza, JB Howick, Vivian Boaz, and Doug Sitton. Also in attendance were Eric Crusch, Kari Williams, Jim Beck, Cliff Wrobetz, Shawn Simon, Nancy Marks, Linda Kent, Stacy Sommer and her son, John.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.

Minutes from February 6, 2024: Vivian made a motion to approve the minutes; JB seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.

Stacy Sommer and her son John spoke on Heritage Park equipment replacement: They are proposing to replace the swings and bouncers at the park and add an accessibility swing and a multi-generational swing for a child and mom to swing together. Sherry with Helena Recreation Foundation is the fiscal agent that will be handling the grant money and paying the bills. Townsend Rotary is committing up to a $10,000 grant match to the project along with volunteer hours. Jennifer with the Parks and Recreation Board is the liaison. John is an Eagle Scout and he’s working on this for his project which is due in September. There is a quote from Miracle Playground Equipment is $14,854. They are seeking grants from Blue Cross Blue Shield, Wal-Mart, Lion’s club, Tracy Foundation and Pacific Source Healthcare, all of which are very community and ADA oriented. John is going to try to get the concrete donated and the use of a post hole digger donated for the day. Insurance to cover all of the volunteers on the project will be provided by Boy Scouts of America. They are asking the City of Townsend to cover the cost and time of removing the old equipment. They would like the council’s approval to move forward with this project. The council members asked various questions regarding how long this would take, when they wanted to begin the project, and who would be responsible for maintaining and replacing the equipment once it’s been installed. They would like to begin in May. Eric stated that he and his crew could remove the equipment if the council approves, and he stated that he’d prefer not to have any other volunteers or workers there during that time, as he doesn’t want to be responsible for anyone and the less moving parts, the better. JB stated that he has concerns about the 10–15-year lifespan of the equipment and not having a formal agreement with the rotary as far as maintaining and/or replacing the equipment because then it will fall back as the City’s responsibility. Valerie made a motion to approve the request to replace the equipment at Heritage Park as proposed. Doug seconded the motion. Angie, Nate, Valerie, Doug, and Vivian voted yay; JB voted nay. Motion carried.
Local Government Review 2024: Vickie read Resolution 2024-R03 which requires that the governing body call for an election and establish a study commission. JB questioned having a public hearing, but Vickie said that the fact that it’s a mandated and we have no choice in this, that no public hearing is required. The choice we do have is the number of study commissions to have, three or five. JB stated that with the importance of this, we should have a five-person study commission, however Townsend is small enough to have a three-person study commission. Valerie said that we’d get more input with a five-person study commission. JB made a motion to move forward with a five-person study commission and associated cost not to exceed $22,600 for the local government review. Angie seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried. Vickie said that we will now move to approve the resolution. Angie made a motion to approve Resolution No. 2024-R03 with a five-person study commission and a budgetary funding amount of $22,600. Nate seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.
Resolution to Terminate the Interlocal Agreement for Townsend City-County Airport Resolution No 2024-R02, a resolution of intent to terminate the interlocal agreement and for Townsend City-County Airport and transfer the airport strip property to Broadwater County. Mayor Rauser read the resolution. Angie made a motion to pass Resolution No. 2024-R02. JB seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried. There will be a Public Hearing on March 5, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. prior to the regularly scheduled city council meeting to move forward with transferring the ownership of the airport property to Broadwater County.
Resolution to consider N Cherry Annexation: Real Property – Tract A of C.O.S. 130532 Located in the SE ¼ of Section 30, Township 7 North, Range 2 East, Broadwater County, Montana-Into the City of Townsend and establish conditions for annexation

Whereas Bradley and Deobrah White, the prior owners, have sold Tract A to Out of the Box Architecture, LLC, a Minnesota Limited Liability Company. Mayor Rauser read the entire resolution. JB made a motion to accept Resolution No. 2024-R01 as amended; Doug seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.

Pool Committee: No applications were received for Pool Manager. Mayor Rauser said that we could try again and re-advertise. JB stated that the pool committee could get together and go over the job requirements and pay. We need a pool manager by the first part of May as the pool normally opens in the first week of June. We also need lifeguards, and everyone needs to get their lifeguard certification. JB asked if he could put an article in the newspaper asking for people to apply for the pool manager position. JB asked if we could move forward with advertising the position, with a closing date of March 15^th so the council could discuss the outcome at the March 19^th meeting.
Parks and Recreation Board: The city needs to decide how they want to participate with this board. There could be an interlocal agreement or one of the city council members could be a liaison between the city and the county. This will be to work on projects to maintain and improve recreational opportunities within those parks. JB stated that he thinks there is an opportunity here, but at this point it is ambiguous. Angie stated that she does not agree with just an MOU (memorandum of understanding) and that she’d like to see the city have a council member as a liaison. Doug volunteered to be this liaison. Vickie asked Doug if he would attend the next Parks and Recreation Board meeting and asked them what a liaison relationship would look like for them. Doug will report back on this in March, so the discussion is tabled until then.
TV in Sewer Lines: Dropping a camera in the sewer line to see how it is functioning. Eric spoke on this. Chris Hayes, our engineer with RPA suggested that we TV the line at South Cherry and South Walnut, because it was last done in 2009 or not at all. The reason Eric would like to do it now is to see what is in that line such as roots, low spots, or anything else that is stuck or could prevent it from flowing properly. He would like to get it done before Copper Springs Subdivision comes in. Eric received three quotes from various professionals willing to TV the sewer line. The first one was from Danny K from Townsend at $600 which would include seeing if the line is clear; The second one was from Pace out of Billings and that includes TV line with a thumb drive and could see taps with measurements; The third one is from Planned Engineering out of East Helena and that includes the same information as the Pace quote but for $2.75 a foot for a total of $6800.25. The engineer told Eric that the more information we have, the better off we’ll be. JB asked Eric if he’s expecting to learn something new about the taps. Eric said, “absolutely”! Eric said that he’ll learn where each tap is, as he doesn’t know that now. One big slug backing up into someone’s house would cost approximately $5000. The council would like to go with someone local, so Eric will contact Danny K and ask follow-up questions. Vickie said that we can re-visit this after that conversation since we are not under the gun to get this done right away.
Letter of Interest for the Planning Board: This letter was from Heather Healea. Angie stated that the planning board is full, and a council member needs to step down. JB made a motion to accept Heather Healea’s and appoint her to the Planning Board, and he will step down and act as a liaison between the Planning Board and Council. Angie seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.
Jim Beck’s Water Flow Study: Jim Beck thanked the mayor and the council for letting him work with the city and allowing him to do this work. Jim provided a detailed report of the water flow leaving the sewer lagoon, out to the river, and back to the sewer lagoon with several charts. The first chart is titled Water Quantity Pumped/Discharged (gal/day) Townsend Lift Station & Lagoon Outlet Volumes 2023. The second chart is titled Water Quantity Pumped/Discharged (gal/day) Townsend Supply, Lift Station & Lagoon Outlet Volumes 2023. The next chart is titled Townsend Wastewater Supply Wells 2023 Annual volume diverted in gallons and %of total diversion by well; And the next two pages are titled Daily Mean Water Surface Elevation at City of Townsend’s Well NW of Lift Station 2023, and Daily Mean Water Surface Elevation at City of Townsend’s Well NW of Lift Station 2018-2024. The council members asked various questions regarding spikes and dips in the water flow. Mayor Rauser thanked Jim for all that he does for the city.
Shawn Simon-Volunteer Fire Department: Shawn brought in some quotes on some SCBA Cylinder tanks, new are $53,432.52 for 32 tanks. He said that they talked about this at their meeting, and everyone is on board with purchasing used cylinder tanks instead and those would get them through 2027. The used tanks are $5137.60 for 32; used masks are $1500 for 10 masks, and packs are $3280 for 16 packs, for a total of $9917.60. plus $1000 for shipping totals $10917.60. That would give them time to apply for a FEMA grant to get help for purchasing new ones. City and Rural Fire would go together so they have a better chance of qualifying. Having an updated pack is necessary for fire safety. The council asked some questions regarding the budget, and Mayor Rauser stated that we’d look into that. This will be tabled until the next meeting. Shawn also stated that he was approached to do a structure burn for training purposes on the house that burned in January on the corner of North Cedar and 4^th Street. With all of the homes near that property, it was agreed that it would not be a good idea. Shawn will let the homeowner know that it’s just too risky.
MCRPA Planning Grant Submission: Mayor Rauser reported that the grant application was successfully submitted.
Wireless Wi-Fi at City Hall: Quote of $562 to install wireless Wi-Fi, as there are wires leading to the ACO desk that are covered by a rug. Mayor Rauser’s office requires that her desk be next to the wall for plug in capabilities. It would be nice to move the desk around, so the room is more inviting to people coming in to meet with her. JB asked what the cost breakdown is on the quote. This will be tabled until the next meeting.
Email from RPA on status of FAA Filing: Angie spoke on this. Because of the emergency landing zone, the FAA has to determine if the new water tower going in at the Fairgrounds meets the height restrictions. The letter states that they don’t see any hazards or height restrictions exceeding that emergency landing zone. Angie stated that she’s surprised that they didn’t require the city to place lights on the water tower. If the city decides to put lights on the new water tower, it’s advised that lights be in accordance with the FAA Advisory. This letter is for informational purposes only.

Round Table

Mayor Rauser: Pending Business: N Cherry Annexation will remain pending; under the Water Storage, there’s an email from RPA and DNRC suggesting March 5^th at 11:00 a.m. with respect to starting the funding process. She will keep the water committee informed on that. Other information related to the water project is an approximate time frame, so submitting plans to the Department of Environmental Quality for the State Revolving Fund is expected to be in mid-March, A 60 day Review of the plans in mid-May, final plans and spec changes at the end of May, going to bid June 1^st, opening bids July 1^st, and starting construction in September 2024 and ending construction in December in 2025. RPA is in the process of estimating the cost projection of that water project. Peter will have the telecommunications on the agenda for the next meeting. No updates on the Agreements Review, no news on the dog waste stations.

Nancy Marks announced that they have a new employee, Linda Kent, and she’ll be receiving ads.

Kari—pointed out the new paint within City Hall

Eric—stated that the garbage truck quote will be lessened as the company can piggyback travel costs with another town. We just have to be flexible with the time, and that’s not a problem.

Vickie asked Doug what the Chamber of Commerce has decided on the sign that will advertise Townsend Events. Doug said that the sign has been approved and now the Chamber needs approval from the City of Townsend for the location. Vickie asked Eric to look at setbacks by the city pool for placement of the sign. The Chamber of Commerce will be put on the agenda for the next meeting.

Vickie said that she and Kari will be working on the agenda for improved topic clarification for both the council and the public.

Vickie will be attending an Executive Forum for Mayors and City Managers next week.

JB—working on an Events Ordinance; Angie stated that we have an event committee and that should be done through the committee. Angie, Doug, and JB will be on the committee. They will meet next week to go over the Events Ordinance.

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

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. (Public Hearing prior to the regular meeting)