City of Townsend Council Meeting—May 2, 2023

Regular Meeting 6:30 p.m.

Attendance:  Council members, Mayor Evans, Vickie Rauser, Matt West, Angie Wintrow, Ken Urich, Nate Brown, and Christina Hartmann.   Also present were City Attorney, Peter Simon, Jenny Barnett, Diane Berglind, Tim Ravndal, Darrel Folkford, JB Howick, and Amanda Hazlett.

 6:30 p.m.:  Meeting opened, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.  Minutes:  Mayor Evans asked if everyone had a chance to review the minutes from the last meeting on 04/18/23.  Angie made a change to the minutes (removing an unnecessary “the” from a sentence.) Vickie made a motion to approve the minutes as amended.  Angie seconded it.  All in favor, motion carried.

• Airport:  City attorney, Peter Simon, reported on it.  The city-county airport will take more time to review as he’s not sure where the larger piece of land was from.  The land purchase agreement from Steve McCullough will be purchased by the county, as far as he knows.  Darrel Folkford stated that the city and the county need to work together to sign some documents in order to move forward.  Peter asked Darrel if we could deal with signing off on just the land acquisition now, and then deal with the interlocal agreement between the city and the county after that.  Darrel said that we could do that.  There was discussion on the finance and budget section of the interlocal agreement.  The city currently pays $14000 per year to the airport, but it needs to be looked at to see what the city is responsible for beyond that.  Christina and Vickie stated that the wording needs to be clear before signing a contract to make sure there are no additional financial obligations to the city.  Peter said that he could write up a Memorandum of Understanding.  Before moving forward, Vickie stated that there are two task orders from the county.  Darrel clarified that one is the land acquisition and assistance, and the second is the project administration for paying the engineer.  Vickie made a motion to authorize the mayor to sign the documents related to the airport projects, and further, that the city have our attorney prepare a document that relieves the city of any financial obligations with respect to the land acquisition.  Angie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 
• Vickie reported on the Law Enforcement Committee:  There was a request from the law enforcement for a 25% increase to $355,513.89.  The law enforcement committee offered for this to be put into the budgeting process.  If the city can accommodate this increase, it would mean that the total amount from the city sources to the county for law enforcement and public safety is $484,839.85.  Matt stated that the large number is a little misleading.  Vickie clarified that it is approximately a $70,000 + increase from what we paid to law enforcement last year.   The city has a budget meeting on Monday, so this will be discussed. 
• Ken reported on the Pool Committee:  Mike said we have 3-4 applications for lifeguards.  Mike said that Pat Hamilton is on board to return, and Ken said that Amanda Hazlett is on board to return.  Ken asked if Tim did any employee evaluations and he said that he evaluated Pat.  Vickie asked Tim to check with Pat to see if he had done any employee evaluations of the lifeguards.  Pat and Tim and Peter are going to go over the general procedures for the pool manual next week.  Tim asked if Pat could be a part of the pool committee, as he could probably answer a lot of questions.  Christina asked if we could confirm that the water instructors are on board for this season.  Angie stated that Amanda gave a two-year commitment last year, so she should be there as well as Heather Hamilton.  The mayor will confirm with them. 
• Big Sky/Hiawatha Railway:  Darrel said that there is a study to see if Montana wants this as well as the feasibility of it.  He stated that it’s important that Broadwater County has a seat at the table on this to be informed and make decisions about it.  The Dakotas, Oregon, and Washington support the railway in their states.  Vickie asked if there is any speculation to where the depots may be.  Darrell stated that depending on where the depots are placed, it could have a positive economic effect on that community.  Vickie stated that there’s a lot of rail traffic through town already.  How would that work with the current trains?  Christina asked if there has been a vote on the $500 contribution that the city could make, and Vickie stated that we still have time to think about that.  JB asked where to find more information on the railway.  (There is information on the Broadwater County website as well as www.bigskyrail.org.
• Angie read a letter from DEQ stating that Eric Crusch has passed all of his water tests and training. 
• Amanda Hazlett showed up and Mayor Evans asked if she would be a WSI this year.  Amanda stated that it depends on management.  There was discussion on closing the meeting to discuss this with Amanda, however Peter stated that the employee being discussed has a right to know prior to any closed meeting.  The discussion will be deferred until all parties involved are present.   Amanda asked Tim how safe the pool would be this year.  Tim said that it will be safe and that the pool has been cleared by the state for any petroleum. 
• New Building Permits for Jim Schauber, who is contracted by the city. 
• MMIA requested Townsend to host the annual training Thursday, May 18^th.           

Round Table:  JB stated that it is the Nation’s 250^th Anniversary in 2026 and asked if the city might participate in a celebration.  Something for the city to think about. 

Claims:  Ken made a motion to pay the April Claims.  Vickie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.

Adjournment:  Ken Urich made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Nate Brown seconded the motion.  All in favor.  Motion carried. 

Next Meeting:  Tuesday, May 16th at 6:30 p.m. 

Next Budget Meeting:  Tuesday, May 23^rd at 5:30 p.m.