City of Townsend

City Council Meeting Draft Minutes of 5.21.2024

In attendance were Mayor Rauser, Angie Wintrow, Nate Brown, Valerie Baraza, JB Howick, Vivian Boaz, Doug Sitton, Peter Simon, Tadd Fuhrman, Todd Rolfs, Cliff Wrobetz, Jania Hatfield, Georgia Wilde, Eric Crusch, and Kari Williams. 

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all: 

Minutes from 4.30.24  A motion to approve the minutes was made by Angie, seconded by Doug.  All in favor, motion carried.

*Public Comment:  (none)

Canyon Ferry Brewery-Street Closure Request on South Spruce Street from Broadway to the alley on Spruce.  They are celebrating their 5^th year anniversary with music, ax throwing, and possibly a food truck.  Date and times requested are on June 15, 2024, from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  and will need 4-6 barricades from the city.  They provided the necessary information and liability insurance.  Angie made a motion to approve the request, seconded by JB.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Jania Hatfield-Townsend City Court Attorney Report:  Jania provided a report for two sets of dates.  Her contract with the city begin October 1^st, 2023, to handle the criminal cases for the city. During this time, she’s had 8 DUI’s, 16 other driving offenses, 7 partner family member assaults, 5 disorderly conduct, 7 criminal mischiefs, and a number of other offenses.  From January 1^st to May 21^st, 2024, there have been a total of 52 cases charged, 34 pending cases, and 27 disposed cases.  Peter stated that the workload has definitely increased.  JB asked if the increase in cases is from an influx of new people.  Jania stated that she’d have to look at additional data.  The DUI’s are typically from people driving through Townsend, not necessarily living here.  Nate asked if the increased arrests have anything to do with new deputies trying to prove themselves.  Jania said no, she hasn’t seen that. 

Townsend Subdivision Regulations:  Various amendments have been made to the document for approval.  JB stated that he spent a lot of time reading through the original document and has concerns about it being confusing, efficient, and streamlined.  He would like to propose at the end of the meeting to review all city resolutions and ordinances for this purpose, however, he thinks it’s worthwhile to accept the amendments to the Townsend Subdivision Regulations as presented.    Angie made a motion to approve the amendments to the Townsend Subdivision Regulations, Vivian seconded the motion.  Prior to the vote, Peter stated that he visited with Jeremy from WWC Engineering regarding streamlining the subdivision regulations, but it would take a more comprehensive review with a cost associated with it.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Resolution No. 2024-R05:  Mayor Rauser read the Resolution of intent of the city council of Townsend, MT to adjust the rates for the users of its water systems.  Effective July 1, 2024, the proposed water rates will increase by $35.23; Effective September 1, 2024, the proposed water rates will increase by an additional $35.23.  A Public Hearing will be held on June 18, 2024, commencing at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council chambers located at 110 Broadway St, Townsend, MT.  JB suggested a change to the wording of the Resolution.  Peter stated that there should be a change in the words in sections 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 to “adjusted” residential rate, commercial & industrial rate, and metered rate. Vivian made a motion to approve Resolution No. 2024-R05 with the change in wording as discussed.   JB seconded the motion.  Mayor Rauser asked for any comments from the council and any comments from the public.  No comments were made, so vote was held. All in favor, motion carried. 

Townsend Area Chamber of Commerce:  Request to use an office at 129 S Spruce location.  A chamber representative stated that they will be placing a computer and a printer at the location.  JB stated that he’d like to see a contract with a small to moderate fee for the use of the space.  Mayor Rauser stated that a brief memorandum of understanding would be sufficient.  The Chamber has offered to clean it up and paint it.  JB made a motion to create a memorandum of understanding for the Townsend Area Chamber of Commerce to use office space at 129 S. Spruce, Vivian seconded the motion.  JB, Vivian, Valerie, and Nate voted yay.  Doug abstained from voting as he belongs to the Chamber of Commerce.  Angie voted nay.  Motion carried. 

Fireworks  Ordinance Committee (Vivian, JB,  Doug):   Vivian reported on this.  They are putting an article in the newspaper stating what has been discussed, the changes that are being proposed for the new ordinance, and letting the public know when the next meeting will be.  The next meeting will be July 15^th at 6:00 p.m. 

Telecommunications Franchise Committee (Angie, JB):  JB reported on this.  They were debating whether they wanted to engage with a company that would create a Telecommunications Ordinance but decided that the cost outweighed the benefit.  He stated that there is a need to create a Telecommunications Ordinance, but they are pursuing a simpler solution.  Peter stated that the approach he’s looking at is similar to the town of Bridger.  He stated there are only so many telecommunication providers out there and there is no clear indication for the types of revenue the city will be seeing in the result of this ordinance.  He agrees with JB that a simpler approach is good and getting  a basic ordinance in place is important at this time.  JB said that one of the committee’s conclusions is that the council has a diversified skill set to see far enough into the future to deal with something well enough and buy some time to look at this in a lot more detail. 

Instagram Account for City Business:  Our new pool manager, TJ Steele, suggested that the city look into getting an Instagram account for city business, which is an additional social media platform to better serve the public in order to get important information out.  After some discussion, the consensus of the council was to create an account for the City of Townsend. 

Montana Internet:  Peter stated that he sent a letter to terminate the agreement held with Montana Internet last year and didn’t hear anything from them.  He reached out to them, and they said that that they did not receive the termination notice.  The CEO stated that they’d like to continue the agreement with the city.  Peter stated that there are edits done from the original contract and highlighted the main changes.  The term will remain at 60 months, however either party may terminate the agreement with a 60-day written notice; The renewal shall extend until the agreement is renegotiated or terminated by giving one year’s advance notice of the of the intention to terminate or cancel the agreement; The power supply is required to operate the system, however, may not be held in breach of the agreement if there’s no power supply for unforeseen circumstances.  JB made a motion to approve the new agreement with Montana Internet,  Nate seconded the motion.  JB, Vivian, Valerie, Nate, and Doug voted yay.  Angie had stepped away from the meeting momentarily, so did not vote.  Motion carried. 

Dog Kennel Upgrade:  Animal Control Officer, Georgia Wilde, spoke on this.  She’s still waiting to hear on pricing for the remodel.  Mayor Rauser stated that the funding for the project will be part of the budget process.

Cat Ordinance:  Georgia stated that this is still in progress, as she’s reviewing the wording on several versions of ordinances.  Mayor Rauser stated that she could give both versions to council to let them decide.    

City Website:  Mayor Rauser stated that it’s still in progress.

Events Committee:  Peter said there are no updates at this time.  Mayor Rauser stated that the Dart Tournament that was held over the weekend brings up various provisions for camping and parking for out-of-town people attending events.  There is an ordinance that campers are allowed to park around Heritage Park for 48 hours.  And then there is an ordinance that stated you cannot park a camper/trailer at a city park for longer than 72 hours in a two-week period.  Mayor Rauser asked if there is something that can provide for a 48-hour stay around any of the city’s parks for events as this.  She stated that the goal is public safety and keeping the people at events from having to drive. She’s hoping the Events Committee can consider addressing this issue.     

Pool Committee:  We have a pool manger hired, 6-7 lifeguards, and a swim instructor, and a trainer for the lifeguards.  The pool is scheduled to open the first part of June. 

Rotary (Moratorium, No Dog Polity):  Nothing to report at this time. 

Garbage Cans on Broadway:  Eric stated that he has not been able to find any new designs that he thinks would work for the city.  He’s open to suggestions.  Mayor Rauser stated that she believes that the business owners on Broadway are responsible for emptying the garbage cans on Broadway, so she’s going to do some research from past minutes that may support this. 

Clerk:  Kari asked to close the office at 4:00 p.m. on Friday due to short staff.

Public Works:  Eric stated that he’s in the process of getting the two new employees their CDL training, and one of them will be receiving weed spraying training.  He said that he and TJ (the pool manager) have both completed the chemical training required to operate the pool.  They both passed their test and each of them received a 98%.  He stated that the crew has two digs coming up and may be a little difficult because it may cause a bit of an issue for traffic flow, but otherwise okay.  The Consumer Confidence Report that pertains to the city’s drinking water  will be coming out in the newspaper soon. He stated that it’s important that citizens read this report to get the accurate information about our drinking water.   

Growth Policy Update Survey-these have gone out to various places around town for citizens to complete. The QR code is also posted on the door of City Hall, and citizens can scan that to complete the survey.   

Round Table: 

Mayor Rauser stated that Massa Park is maintained by the city crew, by mowing and watering it.  There was a lease agreement with the owners of Massa Park and the City of Townsend , but that agreement expired in 2006. Mayor Rauser stated that she is going to write a letter to the owner to see what they’d like to do with the park from here on out.  The reason she’s stating this is because there will be an event on July 13^th in Massa Park from 3:00 to 11:00 p.m.  The event organizers have been advised that the city does not own Massa Park, but they will need to clear it with the Department of Transportation for the sidewalk. 

Mayor Rauser stated that she attended the Sequential Intercept Mode Mapping  Workshop put on by Megan Poe which identifies and gives resources for mental health issues and mental health awareness.  If mental health is dealt with in a timely manner, there are less likely to be encounters with law enforcement for various issues.  Mayor Rauser said that it was worth attending and very fascinating.   

JB—spoke with Mayor Rauser regarding scheduling a working meeting to talk about the city’s various committees.  He’s suggested because he thinks it would be valuable over time to have the council to review all of the city’s ordinances.  This suggestion will be discussed at the next meeting.

Vivian—is wondering if the downtown business alleys can be made into a one-way for traffic because a lot of people are using the alleys, especially during downtown events.  JB stated that he sees a lot of this on any given day.  Eric stated it will depend on the garbage route.  To be discussed at a future agenda.  JB suggested that we discuss this after the Fall Fest since we might see more of this happening during that event.  Nate added that it is difficult running a dump truck through town to get to the location he needs to be.  Angie said that she sees this with delivery drivers as well, going through the alleys to get to their drop off point.  Mayor Rauser said that it is a subject worth revisiting.

Next Budget Meeting June 3^rd at 6:30 p.m.

Next Council Meeting June 4^th at 6:30 p.m.

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