[0:11] I, Stacy Bloomberg, >> do solemnly swear

[0:14] » do solemnly swear >> that I will support, protect, and defend

[0:18] » that I will support, protect, and defend >> the Constitution of the United States,

[0:23] » the Constitution of the United States, >> and the Constitution of the State of

[0:26] Montana, >> and the Constitution of the State of

[0:29] Montana, >> and that I will discharge the duties

[0:33] » and that I will discharge the duties >> of my office of city councilor

[0:37] » of my office of city councilor >> with fidelity, so help me God.

[0:41] » with fidelity, so help me God. Thank you.

[1:14] » All right. Moving on, we have a volunteer firefighter appointment. We'll

[1:18] go to the fire chief. >> Councilman Chase Conway put his

[1:22] application in almost two months ago now,

[1:25] and since then he's attended every training, he's came and helped us at the

[1:27] practice. And I'm really going to be a great

[1:31] addition, so I'd recommend him. He's sworn in as a probationary member.

[1:35] » All right. Thanks to you. >> [clears throat]

[1:37] » Swear him in.

[1:52] » Raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I, Chase Conway,

[1:55] » I, Chase Conway, >> do solemnly swear

[1:58] » Do solemnly swear >> That I will support protect and defend

[2:01] » That I will support protect and defend >> The constitution of the United States

[2:05] » The constitution of the United States >> And the constitution of the state of

[2:08] Montana >> And the constitution of the state of

[2:10] Montana >> And that I will discharge the duties of

[2:13] my office >> And I will discharge the duties of my

[2:16] office >> As a probation probationary volunteer

[2:19] fireman >> As a probationary volunteer fireman

[2:22] » With fidelity so help me God >> With fidelity so help me God

[2:54] » All right Is there any other business is there any public comment?

[2:58] If you're not on the agenda you can uh address council

[3:02] I would >> [clears throat]

[3:06] » Uh Kyle Slaughter uh 626 7th Avenue West

[3:12] was just curious if there was any updates on the road construction

[3:15] um I haven't

[3:17] looked into it so I apologize if there's information that's out there

[3:21] but just hearing a lot of frustrated uh

[3:25] community members so just was curious if there's any official

[3:30] update on what the heck is going on in this mess up there

[3:35] » The I I believe we're looking at an update when you get to the manager's

[3:40] report

[3:43] No I didn't see it's in manager's report I didn't see it on the agenda so that

[3:47] would be uh We're in the meeting

[3:52] See the manager's report Okay see

[3:56] Okay, that on his agenda. Anyone Anyone else who wishes to address

[4:02] council?

[4:07] You're ready. Seeing none.

[4:12] We'll move on. Uh

[4:14] next is continuing our efforts concerning the uh

[4:19] the budget for 2023. With this year

[4:23] and coming year we'll go to city manager.

[4:42] The mayor and council are extending the uh

[4:46] the budget hearing and shifting it to the final budget uh process.

[4:51] Uh today we'll talk through the different mill levies and the different

[4:54] tax collection uh collections and also give some education on the new tax code

[4:59] uh and overview for the council and residents.

[5:07] Reminder of the mission statement and budget message

[5:11] and the council priorities that are in the packet and available for everybody

[5:15] to review. So, the 2025 legislative session uh

[5:20] there were significant changes to the property tax system for tax year 2025

[5:24] and tax year 2026. Those tax years uh

[5:28] are related to fiscal year 2026 and then fiscal year 2027 revenues for the city.

[5:34] So, in 2025 uh tax year, the graduated tax rate will be replaced with a

[5:39] standard 1.35% uh standard tax rate for all all um

[5:45] all residential properties. And in 26, they uh uh

[5:51] um voted to break that down into a more graduated system. Um those are

[5:56] displayable for right now. And then commercial and industrial at

[6:01] the bottom. Um but we're seeing significant tax savings. Uh for

[6:07] residential, there's tax savings up to about 2.5 million dollars. Yes, there's

[6:11] tax savings up until that point. And then after that, it's actually tax

[6:15] increasing. Uh the significant increase you'll see

[6:19] in is second homes, uh which will be taxed at a 1.9% rate, which is the same

[6:25] as the 1.5 million dollars or above rate. A significant increase in taxes

[6:31] for those second homeowners. Uh the the difference if the home is a

[6:37] long-term rental, they still get the primary residential rate. Um so this is

[6:41] only for short-term rentals or truly second homes. That we're not a long-term

[6:47] Long-term rentals are taxed at the same rate as uh

[6:50] primary residence. Any questions on that uh

[6:54] statement? I have one until we uh >> You You live here as a year-round deal

[6:59] for 6 or 7 months and you're not there. Is that considered a

[7:03] second home or is that still your primary residence even if you're living

[7:07] in a camper trailer?

[7:13] » I I can't speak with absolute certainty on that scenario, but you I know you

[7:18] can't Your primary residence is well identified by Department of Revenue. Um

[7:23] but if that second home is being used as a either

[7:28] second home or a cabin or something like that, and/or VRBO, then it would be at

[7:34] the 1.9% only if you have a long-term tenant in

[7:38] that home, would you have the residential rate is my understanding.

[7:43] » Okay. >> you.

[7:45] » I and I do believe the Department of Revenue says 7 months or more to to

[7:50] qualify for our our room city tax.

[7:54] » There was some question if the house is on the long-term market

[7:58] and it's not rented, how's that work? And is there loopholes for that? You

[8:04] know, there's so many different scenarios that people are looking

[8:07] through and I'm sure CPAs are advising their

[8:11] clients accordingly. But

[8:15] that's my understanding of the tax code.

[8:22] So, city received a certified tax values a

[8:25] week ago. Our total

[8:28] taxable valuation has doubled from fiscal year '21 from 8.3 million to 16.6

[8:34] million. And then our tax increment financing

[8:37] districts, which reminder is one block on each side of New Place

[8:41] and then two blocks on each side of Highway 2 and also the Cedar Palace

[8:47] Medical Center area. Um that incremental growth and incremental growth reminder

[8:53] is uh the amount of growth that happened from

[8:57] the base year of all our different tax increment districts or any tax increment

[9:02] financing districts. So, that's what an increment of growth is. So, from my 2014

[9:06] to 2021, we had an incremental growth of about 635,000.

[9:10] And in these last 6 years, the growth has been another 3 million dollars worth

[9:15] of taxable growth in that district.

[9:19] Um >> [clears throat]

[9:21] » So, another thing in the legislation

[9:25] 25 expanded the levy authority this year um which will allow us to tax uh raise

[9:31] our tax revenue to full rate of inflation. It used to be limited to half

[9:35] the rate of inflation. Um, but it also removes 75% of new lit

[9:41] taxable class four properties, which pretty much all our properties are class

[9:45] four properties. So, we actually, as a growing city, actually

[9:50] are losing in this new formula

[9:53] uh for growth. Um, so, we'll we'll see what the impacts

[9:57] of that are. We're trying to run some calculations, but um

[10:01] um but a reminder uh property tax revenue is a minor part of our overall

[10:06] budget. Um, less than 6% of all our revenue gained

[10:11] across the city. And if you take out the grants,

[10:15] um it's less than 10% of our entire revenue that runs the city is property

[10:20] taxes. So, it's minor in the grand scheme of things.

[10:24] Uh the the 2.97% full inflation factor, uh you know,

[10:28] increased our tax revenue by $35,000 total.

[10:32] So, it's a minor

[10:35] Uh also, highlight the average inflation comparisons uh for the last 10 years.

[10:41] Um, e- be it consumer price index, the municipal cost index, or um construction

[10:47] cost index, clearly the rate of inflation that we're

[10:51] limited by and the fact that we're at at half the rate of inflation you can make

[10:55] worse to keep up with the significant cost to

[10:59] run the city and uh with construction.

[11:03] » [snorts]

[11:07] » Uh by statute, we have to uh provide estimated taxes for three phases:

[11:12] $100,000, $300,000, and $600,000 homes. We've also included million-dollar homes

[11:17] on this chart um to show how the new property taxes work. Um

[11:23] it's pretty interesting that um if you look at the bottom of the screen for

[11:27] fiscal year '25, there's a typo there, uh to '27 tax comparison,

[11:33] um primary residents are still paying less

[11:37] in taxes um over the last couple years.

[11:41] Um but you can kind of see where that

[11:42] non-primary residency tax is actually going to pay significantly

[11:47] more taxes over that a $600 or $558 gain for

[11:53] average home price of $600,000 in the city.

[11:59] Any questions on that breakdown of

[12:04] average home price to square average tax value?

[12:08] So, for a tax bill in um 20 tax bill for tax year 20

[12:13] um the 2025 tax bill, which is associated

[12:18] with fiscal year 26, so the tax bill hasn't come out yet.

[12:22] Um gives a representative representative um distribution of our taxes and where

[12:27] that money goes for a $600,000 home. Uh the city is about 25% the schools are

[12:34] about 40% the county's state around 16% and then other being cemetery district

[12:39] and um conservation district and a few other

[12:43] smaller districts are in the other portion. And then our city tax breakdown

[12:48] uh you can see where there's this resort tax relief

[12:51] um provides

[12:54] um about $212 of relief for a $600,000 home.

[12:59] And then the mental health, lighting district, and street maintenance. The

[13:02] lighting district and street maintenance uh changes with each property. The rest

[13:07] of them should stay the same based on value, but the lighting district is

[13:10] based on how much linear footage you have uh facing a road that is lit. And

[13:15] then a um street maintenance is based on the

[13:17] amount I'm pretty sure. So, those numbers will change based on the

[13:21] individual property. And then anybody can look up their taxes

[13:25] at find it county.gov and then pull up there.

[13:31] Are there any questions on this workout or distribution?

[13:41] » [clears throat] >> So, the uh determination of tax revenue

[13:45] and mill levy, this is the form that the state provides us uh and then on the

[13:49] left is our certified tax values. There are the summaries uh in the top-left

[13:53] corner between last year and this year. Um

[13:58] we expect to see significant new growth next year as Stockton Bank gets

[14:02] finished. Uh the hotel probably won't be finished with the next certified tax

[14:06] value, but there'll be some um some more businesses that are

[14:12] um are complete by then. So, we'll we'll

[14:15] see over the next couple of years uh significant growth in um

[14:20] newly taxable properties. >> Eric, I have a question for you, though.

[14:25] The new bank that we have uh Parkside Parkside, has that been our tax revenue?

[14:30] Is that reflected in our taxes here? >> Uh the Stockton Bank is not. It's not in

[14:35] the mill. It's There's There's at some rate, but

[14:39] there's not their full, you know, 9 or 10 million dollar, you know, valuation

[14:43] added. >> Who said it was?

[14:45] I'm I was talking about Parkside.

[14:47] » Oh, Parkside then, I'm sorry. It's operational. I'm sorry. I thought you

[14:50] were talking about Stockton, which is finishing up right now.

[14:54] » Yeah, that's I was going to ask you about that. Uh

[14:55] we were getting I mean, we needed How I don't even know how long Parkside's been

[14:59] there. I know it takes but a year and a half before we started seeing any

[15:03] uh revenue.

[15:05] » I'm I'm not 100% positive. I would have to to take a look at what the last

[15:09] couple of years have been for that property

[15:12] to see where the jump happened.

[15:22] The resort tax impact of property taxes uh

[15:26] is highlighted here. Um this year um we finally caught up to where we were in

[15:32] fiscal year '22 on actual property taxes collected. So, you can see the resort

[15:37] tax uh offsetting uh

[15:40] the overall collections of um our property taxes.

[15:46] Uh and meanwhile, obviously I with that resort tax also added

[15:51] uh the growth of parks park department and uh police and uh some infrastructure

[15:56] to money flow.

[15:59] Uh overall, the last um uh since the history of the resort tax is $2.2

[16:04] million in tax reductions have happened uh with that collection.

[16:12] Any questions?

[16:18] These are just the forms that'll be mandatory that we have to uh provide to

[16:22] the state um that how how we calculate the mill levy.

[16:26] Um and it shows that we're in balance

[16:30] uh within the general fund. Uh

[16:33] our minimum reserve for a 20% um is $1,025,000.

[16:39] Our reserves will be uh $1.374 uh million dollars above our 20%. Um

[16:48] what we're asking, something that's new this year, um

[16:53] with the significant amount projects are capital improvement plan,

[16:57] the intent from the staff is to not to

[17:00] transfer the additional reserve into the capital programs. However, put a

[17:05] restricted cash or restricted surplus capital account in our general fund um

[17:11] that will then restricted, but we're not ready to decide where that money needs

[17:16] to go, but with so many projects coming forward, we'd rather have that

[17:19] restricted cash in the general fund, so we have a lot more flexibility to move

[17:24] it to the right capital program as we, you know, go out to bid on a lot

[17:29] of different projects. To increase flexibility, we'll still

[17:33] reserve it. We're recommending we reserve a $300,000

[17:37] in that restricted surplus cash. Um that compared with about maybe

[17:43] $115,000 that we transferred from the general

[17:47] fund or recommended transfer from the general fund to capital this year. So,

[17:52] our capital program will grow by uh uh $415,000

[17:58] basically with that

[18:01] this year. So, are there any questions

[18:05] on that or comments on the restricted cash?

[18:17] This is uh all the non-levy funds uh to share

[18:21] balance. Um as you can tell, um

[18:25] total appropriations uh within the general fund is just over $5 million and

[18:30] then the non-levy funds our appropriations this year $20.6 million.

[18:35] Of that um is $6.3 million for the race project and

[18:40] then $2.3 million uh for the projected uh congressional uh project funding

[18:46] um that we're

[18:50] hopeful for that has passed through the US House

[18:54] um and is waiting for Senate approval on the Agriculture Act.

[18:58] But so, that $20 million budget uh or $26 million budget overall uh is what

[19:04] we're looking to execute this year.

[19:10] And then once again, a mandatory form that we have to include in the budget

[19:13] book uh included here it shows you the history and as the

[19:18] as our mill levies

[19:22] our value per mill goes the number of mills we can

[19:28] assess go down and it shows for a healthier

[19:32] city that's a good factor to be on and this kind of shows that history.

[19:39] » [snorts]

[19:42] » And that concludes my brief anything I missed or didn't

[19:47] include? >> Um

[19:50] no. I think I covered everything.

[19:53] » Okay. All right,

[19:57] at this time thank you for that. At this time did any one of the council

[20:01] have any questions for manager

[20:03] » [clears throat] >> or finance director concerning the

[20:05] budget? Anybody in the audience have any

[20:09] questions for finance [clears throat] director or the

[20:11] manager? If not we'll open or we'll reopen the

[20:16] hearing evening

[20:18] preliminary budget.

[20:23] » If you have public comments or if you wish to testify please do so now.

[20:30] » Anyone here? We'll continue this this hearing.

[20:35] We will will be going to final approval of the budget instead of December.

[20:40] » Right, it'll be the the next uh council meeting we'll have the budget message

[20:44] and then final product to to approve. Tonight we'll send uh we're recommending

[20:49] that you approve the resolutions that will set levies so we can get those to

[20:52] the county so they can >> So the first so the first meeting in

[20:55] September we will approve our our budget approve the final budget which is like

[20:59] 18th. >> I believe that cuz we have we have a

[21:02] Tuesday. Yeah. >> Okay, thank you.

[21:06] You're welcome. You know I guess we can move on.

[21:13] » Resolution ordinances and resolutions. Resolution number 1973.

[21:18] Levy and assessments on property within special assessment districts.

[21:34] » Also, Mayor, I'm going to reset this.

[21:46] Uh Mayor and Council, uh resolution 1973 uh sets the

[21:52] um

[21:56] the levy from assessment for street lighting. Uh street lighting is based on

[22:00] the linear uh footage of frontage along the streets. City Clerk, uh by statute,

[22:07] calculates the uh new properties that have been

[22:10] annexed into the city in these districts, and then uh assesses those

[22:14] values based on uh

[22:17] The staff recommendation um was to keep the lighting district the

[22:23] same as uh previous years uh as we were able to meet meet our lighting

[22:29] requirements. to meet our lighting costs. So, uh no

[22:33] changes in the lighting district. The street maintenance district, if you

[22:37] recall, um several council sessions ago highlighted

[22:40] how we calculated the street maintenance based on acreage, and then that's on a

[22:45] five-year program. We're in year four, I believe, of that growth, and the council

[22:49] staff had recommended we continue on that 5% growth.

[22:55] It is still grossly insufficient to actually pay for

[22:59] all uh requirements for the street department, which is all made in gas tax

[23:03] fund instead of general fund. Uh so,

[23:07] uh at some point we'll we'll need to make a decision on you know, asphalt on

[23:11] our streets, it's just not this year that we recommend to change that

[23:15] schedule up. So, we're recommending uh approval of

[23:19] resolution 1973 levying the uh assessments upon light district

[23:24] treatments. Any questions [clears throat] for the council

[23:26] concerning this?

[23:29] Seeing none, may I have a motion, please?

[23:33] Motion to approve resolution 1973. Second.

[23:38] Motion has been made and seconded to approve resolution 1973

[23:42] levying assessments upon local improvement district. May I have a

[23:46] roll call, please? Councilor King? I.

[23:50] Councilor Piper? I. Councilor Price? I.

[23:54] Councilor Robinson? I. Councilor Stubbs? I.

[23:59] Councilor Bloomberg? I. Mayor Burnette? I. Resolution 1973 is

[24:06] approved. Uh next item is resolution 1974

[24:11] redefining the area included within the Columbia Falls Street Maintenance

[24:15] District and the method of assessment. Mr. Mayor, council, um this is pretty

[24:22] straightforward. This is the list of new properties that have been added to the

[24:26] register that that's used in the calculations of the local

[24:29] street. Okay. Do you have any questions for the council?

[24:33] Seeing none, may I have a motion? Make a motion that we approve resolution

[24:39] number 1974. Second. Motion has been made and

[24:44] seconded to approve resolution number 1974 redefining the area included within

[24:50] the Columbia Falls Street Maintenance District and method of assessment. Um

[24:54] may I have a roll call, please? Councilor Piper?

[24:57] » Aye. >> Councilor Price?

[24:59] » Aye. >> Councilor Robinson?

[25:00] » Aye. >> Councilor Stubbs? Aye.

[25:04] Councilor Bloomberg? Aye. Councilor King?

[25:07] » Aye. >> Mayor Barnhart?

[25:09] » Aye. >> Resolution number 1974

[25:13] is approved. Next is resolution number 1975, city

[25:18] property tax levy. >> And we are Council, this is following

[25:24] today tonight's brief uh in the calculation that we used to

[25:29] calculate the total mills staff recommends that we levy 140.64

[25:37] mills. Um that includes the resort tax offset

[25:41] as well as uh the uh fire relief mills and permissive medical levy mills.

[25:50] » Any Council?

[25:53] » I'm good with that explanation. All right.

[25:55] » Uh may I have a motion, please?

[26:01] » Motion to approve resolution 1975. >> Second.

[26:05] » Motion's been made and seconded to approve resolution number 1975

[26:10] setting the city property tax levy. May I have a roll call, please?

[26:15] » Councilor Price? >> Aye.

[26:17] » Councilor Robinson? >> Aye.

[26:19] » Councilor Stubbs? >> Aye.

[26:21] » Councilor Bloomberg? >> Aye.

[26:23] » Councilor King? >> Aye.

[26:26] » Councilor Piper? >> Aye.

[26:27] » Mayor Barnhart? >> Aye.

[26:30] » Resolution number 1975 is approved.

[26:39] All right. Reports from Council and Mayor.

[26:42] John, what do you have for us this evening?

[26:44] » I I have absolutely nothing, Mr. Mayor.

[26:47] » Boy, there's got to be something bouncing around.

[26:49] » Well, there was, but but I didn't do any measurements, I'm

[26:52] going to hold my peace until next meeting.

[26:56] Thanks. >> Stacy.

[26:58] » I'm grateful to be here and learning from all of you and thankful to be able

[27:01] to serve our community. Nothing else. >> All right. Thank you.

[27:05] » I'm good for this evening.

[27:09] » I just wanted to welcome Stacy to the council and look forward to working with

[27:14] you and thank you for throwing your hat in the ring.

[27:17] That That means a lot to see so much interest in our community.

[27:21] Um also, I just wanted to thank you uh Eric for getting the speed limits

[27:26] painted on the walking path. Um that's a step forward, but we're

[27:31] still installing the signs. Um we're still going to be doing that.

[27:35] » Okay. They're on order. Picture of the signs is one of the budget brews. I

[27:39] think we're going to do that. >> Okay. I think it just helps even having

[27:42] them painted on there. It really does. So,

[27:46] um but that was all I had. >> Nothing here.

[27:51] » Alice. [clears throat] >> Other than sports and 11, which we've

[27:53] already talked about that, so nothing else.

[27:57] » I need to add a couple things. Um I was just wondering how we're doing on

[28:01] uh working

[28:03] forward to uh getting our bathrooms back in service.

[28:07] And we've got uh Do we have here our own pieces and

[28:10] orange? Do we still [clears throat] have the one down at the skate park open or

[28:13] did they flood it again?

[28:16] » I'm not sure about the skate park and I'll

[28:20] um We can talk offline uh but we had some

[28:25] problems with our plumber that was working on the project.

[28:28] Um so, there's going to be a delay. Um

[28:32] the valves that were brand new this year broke again, so that's why River's Edge

[28:37] is down and so we're trying to come up with a

[28:39] new plumbing solution different technology. But that's we've spent

[28:45] significant amount of money in last couple of years, uh holding those

[28:50] highly custom valves that cost about I think it's like $556 an hour. But, we do

[28:56] have a delay right now on the issue.

[28:59] » Um also, uh skate park antics. That's what I have.

[29:05] And uh the reason we talked about the problems down at the skate park,

[29:10] it became very personal to me. Well, my grandson, who's 11 years old,

[29:15] and we're staying at the Albany, and mom came back from her meeting. She's a

[29:19] school teacher in Mechanicsville. And he'd been looking forward to going

[29:22] to the skate park all day. When she happened to live down there,

[29:26] so [clears throat] they went to the skate park where he went and he had his

[29:29] uh skateboard. And there was a group of I don't know what do you call them,

[29:33] juvenile delinquents or whatever, that their language is so filthy and

[29:38] dirty that

[29:40] uh it uh [clears throat] made them uncomfortable. Also, they were

[29:44] into marijuana and alcohol, uh smoking whatever they smoke.

[29:48] So, um upon getting in touch with me, uh I told her to call 911 and let them

[29:56] know. Um

[29:58] but she said as soon as the uh hoodlums saw her on her phone, he

[30:02] just got up, cussed her out, went and jumped on top of the dugouts.

[30:07] So, I I guess we've talked about this before, but I think it's time we do

[30:11] something. I don't know what it is. I mean, I'm ready to go down there and

[30:16] and uh stand guard. I mean, it's at this point that why do we have all this money

[30:21] putting here? It's supposed to be for the good of the community. If we can't

[30:24] keep the bathrooms from being flooded by the same group. I know it's the same

[30:28] group. The chief has said it's the same group. What can we do about stopping

[30:33] this and letting the park become enjoyable and useful to all the people

[30:39] of Cohoes? I mean, what do we do? I I don't know. I am I'm at a loss, but

[30:45] something needs to be done. I realize if you put a police officer down there, he

[30:49] comes in in his car, everybody are little angels. I totally understand

[30:53] that. But somehow we have to get to the

[30:56] parents or something in this group and we need to get it squared away where

[31:00] they're not going to be allowed in that park

[31:03] uh if that's if they're antics they're doing down

[31:07] And again, I knew it was a problem. I've done it multiple times. But when it gets

[31:12] personal, when it's your your daughter and your grandson down there, they can't

[31:17] they can't enjoy the park after they've been looking forward to it until they

[31:20] actually can. I would I would request that we uh

[31:24] come up with something uh for the next meeting uh some sort of a plan that uh

[31:30] we're moving forward with to uh reduce that an issue at that particular

[31:35] » Could I add to that, Mr. >> Pardon?

[31:38] » Could I add to that? >> You're first.

[31:41] » I'll tell you what, Dad, something to that.

[31:43] » Absolutely. >> Uh it it it started also in baseball

[31:47] season. My kids were affected cuz they were

[31:50] playing baseball. Uh

[31:52] but I'm I'm almost guessing that it's the same group, Chief. I may be wrong.

[31:58] But somehow they've got to have a way to handle those kids out of there if that's

[32:01] the same group. Uh they have no respect for for grown-ups whatsoever.

[32:06] I call the police, they they come down, handle great.

[32:09] But somehow we got to tag these kids and and their parents. And

[32:14] I I I know there's no easy solution, but but

[32:17] it is a [clears throat] problem. >> Absolutely.

[32:20] Um the the other thing I had

[32:23] uh was uh kind of a report. I used to I used to

[32:27] live in that apartment a lot. And man, it looks really good last week.

[32:31] Once the uh parks department quit getting overwhelmed, cuz they were we're

[32:35] all the random along. Yeah, they were really good down there.

[32:38] The park looks good. I don't I don't see a whole lot of extra dog with laying

[32:42] around. I think people and I, there's still the

[32:45] issue of people with their dogs off leash.

[32:49] I'm not absolutely against that as long as

[32:53] they're on voice control. But, we go down there and you have a big

[32:56] dog come charging up at you and you're whether it's his new or your dog, I I

[33:02] think that they need to be reminded of that. I did

[33:05] remind him and gentleman, he wasn't very happy.

[33:07] But, so that comes back to giving our signs of making sure that everybody

[33:12] [clears throat] understands. I mean, we've got a whole bunch of

[33:16] signs. I understand it would be a big but our signs is still important.

[33:21] That's all That's all I have. >> Um,

[33:24] can I make a comment in regards to that? Um,

[33:27] you know, back in the day we used to have a a crime stoppers like somebody

[33:32] could call in and report if they saw something.

[33:35] Um, after one of the meetings and the vandalism that was happening after

[33:39] council, I drove down there and there was a whole bunch of kids at the skate

[33:43] park. I just sat there for a little while and

[33:47] then I just walked out and talked to a couple of kids and they say there's

[33:51] really just three or four that bully them that

[33:55] fist fight like hit them in the head. He showed me a video of another kid getting

[34:00] hit in the head with a skateboard. And it's just really

[34:04] few that maybe if we had a a tip line or a reward or something that

[34:10] these kids could call without being the narc. Um,

[34:15] that we could maybe try to keep the majority safe.

[34:18] Um, some kind of a crime stopper idea.

[34:23] Uh, just throwing it out there because it's small few that are ruining it for

[34:28] everyone. And if they felt safe in reporting it, that it wouldn't be

[34:33] retaliated. You might get assistance from some of those kids. So.

[34:39] » I would I would also ask that uh it be put out on social media or

[34:43] whatever. So that the parents are aware of where your kids are.

[34:47] What are they doing? >> It's 10:00.

[34:49] » We know we've got these problems. They're ruining They're ruining uh the

[34:53] experience for all the good kids that that want to use this facility. And then

[34:58] parents need to step up and parents know someone

[35:02] they know these kids. They need to You need to get in touch with our

[35:06] police department and let them know. So as far as what we can do to help, I

[35:09] don't know what you do, but Mark with the red accent sitting there.

[35:16] » You need to say something. You know, I haven't really said

[35:18] anything. That's I would like to hear something from on the next meeting

[35:22] scheduled of what we're doing about them.

[35:24] » Okay. >> Um anything else, Council?

[35:30] » All right. City Manager report. >> Yeah, so we'll just stay on that topic

[35:34] for a little bit longer. Our skate park is closed.

[35:38] » Um >> Um Jean and I talked about that this

[35:41] morning. She has She's starting to work with some draft language and Chief has

[35:45] been She's been coming out of work for like

[35:47] for the last 6 months. So the intent was to do some kind of policy once we had a

[35:52] city attorney in line. Um and we'll work through that and what

[35:56] that means. We can have a better discussion.

[36:00] » Um >> Next council meeting unless Chief wants

[36:03] to share a little bit. Actually, I'll ask Chief to share some

[36:06] his views on during this time of how he goes and stuff that we've talked about

[36:11] this and some good some good options. And then then later on the attorney can

[36:16] tell us we can't do that. But anyway, um

[36:19] Um I think everything's going to be fine and we'll be

[36:23] So uh we finished a successful the season. I'm

[36:27] still not where exactly where we want to be, but it's a lot better than it was

[36:31] the year before and and we're making progress. Had a lot of

[36:34] good community feedback. Had a good season.

[36:39] We will continue to look for ways to be more inclusive of different

[36:44] opportunities.

[36:48] Various requests from the community. This year we we went through the whole

[36:52] pool season with our pool manager managing the schedule. I don't think

[36:56] there was any overtime spent at all because of the the level of oversight

[37:02] and management which saves us money so we can use that money for other causes

[37:06] at the pool. So that was very successful and

[37:10] Amy did a great job and we put money back in that

[37:14] year.

[37:16] With that there's going to be a lot of Pine with Park projects over the next 6

[37:20] months with the fitness court. That fitness court will be blue and adhesive

[37:26] on the on the surface. It will be

[37:30] It's temperature sensitive. So I think we're going to

[37:34] shoot for the spring instead of trying to rush it this late September or

[37:38] October. We'll [clears throat] probably get the pad concrete laid when we do

[37:43] some other parking lot improvements and the sidewalks in there.

[37:47] But that fitness court should be available in the spring time as well as

[37:50] the basketball court that we do. But and then

[37:55] we're working with the engineers now on the design to expand the parking lot.

[38:00] Hopefully you know, 30 40 more vehicles.

[38:04] We we will also be expanding the trail along 11th Street

[38:09] as well as putting in parking all along there. People are already parking in the

[38:12] grass there so we'll do some angle parking in that area and now it

[38:16] hopefully expanded but it also helps with Mary Kate events cuz the the walk

[38:20] from Pine with to Mary Kate is not that bad and that would help.

[38:25] Um you know, continue to connect

[38:28] our parks as well as our hiking trails and you know,

[38:31] sidewalks so that's Um Eric White, you there? I just have a

[38:35] quick question. Got a Mary Kay play with a uh

[38:39] um the Chambers building is there. Who owns that property? Is that city

[38:43] property? That's city property. So it's good that we're using them for

[38:47] parking. Right.

[38:50] Um yeah, I'm not sure exactly how that

[38:54] whole lease thing works or which park is Anyway, it's all city property that the

[38:59] Chamber and we have a good relationship with the Chamber so it's not a big

[39:02] problem. Um

[39:08] the um So with Gateway Glacier safety mobility,

[39:11] I'm not sure exactly where I need to catch the address

[39:14] what level of impact I have had a conversation that you all saw where he's

[39:18] referencing. Um the project from most people I've talked to that

[39:24] were in the construction area um and uh the feedback we're getting is

[39:29] generally positive. I mean the only negative comments in the last couple

[39:32] weeks have, you know, this idea that Worth Avenue is too narrow.

[39:37] Um just a reminder um I think I briefed you before but FHWA standards for a 35

[39:43] mph zone road is 10 to 12 ft. Our roads will be 11 ft. Um right in the middle of

[39:49] that so it could have been narrower by 2 ft total um but those things are

[39:54] intentional there to slow down traffic. And especially now that we're in a

[39:59] construction zone, they should definitely be slower um but

[40:02] um and then along Fourth in front of the

[40:07] elementary school, uh the second layer of asphalt has been put down today

[40:12] um and then the concrete companies will uh will be uh filling in the driveways,

[40:18] sidewalks so we have a steady path that the kids can use to get to school.

[40:23] Um, and then that should open up towards um,

[40:28] the Kids Foundation area. So, sidewalks as well uh, should be finished before

[40:33] school [clears throat] starts. Um, once they get out

[40:36] uh, everything in front of Gateway Gateway Gateway Gateway Elementary

[40:40] School, then they'll start moving towards uh,

[40:44] 9th Street uh, along 4th with the curbing. Once the curbing's up, then

[40:48] they can do final grading and then asphalt. That'll go pretty quickly. And

[40:52] we're expecting 4th South um, in 2 weeks to start asphalting that. So,

[40:59] uh, I would expect so well. And then [clears throat] go on to 7th

[41:02] after that. So, uh, there's still a couple drainage things on 7th that you

[41:07] know, we worked but other than that it's all road and surface work. So, they'll

[41:11] finish from the elementary school moving from

[41:14] 4th to 9th. Uh,

[41:16] um, and then finish that and then go south

[41:20] of 9th Street. Uh, finish that and then over to 7th. Uh, overall they're about a

[41:25] month ahead of schedule uh, and they continue to perform very well. And uh, I

[41:30] think things will be good when it's done. But

[41:34] it is a lot of work, it's a lot of impact but the community's been very

[41:38] uh, flexible with us and uh, it's been good conversations over the last 6

[41:42] months of this project. So, Any questions on the project on

[41:48] specific? >> You know, it's 9 days till school

[41:51] starts. >> Right.

[41:52] » Okay. >> Why?

[41:54] » I'm just curious cuz >> It's a lot of work.

[41:56] » Yeah, a lot of work in that area that will have lots and lots of vehicles. So,

[42:00] » No, it's um, yeah, there's Kids Foundation

[42:05] uh, so it's at 5th Street or yeah, so

[42:08] » 5th >> 3rd Street to 5th Street will be paved.

[42:11] I think they're even going to have the um, traffic lights payment on it. Um

[42:16] sidewalks will be done in that area. Um and then the school buses will be able

[42:21] to come out and come in [clears throat] along Fifth Street entrance to the

[42:25] elementary school. Um landscaping may be done in

[42:28] you know, they're they're getting close. They can put some topsoil in already to

[42:33] help fill the edges of the asphalt trail system, but that has to

[42:39] happen during school. It's similar in that compared to

[42:43] um elsewhere. >> All right. Thank

[42:48] » Um and then finally um the legal assistant position where where

[42:54] that's currently being advertised till the end of the month. Um and then I

[42:59] won't steal Jean's thunder, but uh she'll share when she gets here, but

[43:03] we'll be able to do the in-person interviews so we believe and it should

[43:06] work out um for that as well. We've got a couple

[43:08] of good candidates already. Still looking for more as we can hurry up and

[43:12] set up interviews.

[43:16] Well, that's it for me. >> Um

[43:18] Council? >> You have anything for the manager?

[43:25] » You're all done? >> Seems Seems

[43:29] Start with parks. >> The skate park.

[43:32] » Um obviously this isn't the first time that

[43:36] these issues have been brought up and we've been working on them. Um one of

[43:40] the things that we found effective in other

[43:44] jurisdictions is a a proper way to exclude people from parks for a certain

[43:50] period of time. Of course, when you exclude people from

[43:53] uh public property, it comes with some some issues and and some procedures that

[43:58] we have to properly do them. So, I've drafted up what I thought would be some

[44:03] uh good processes for this and I've spoken to the city manager about it, and

[44:09] also with our the city attorney about it. I

[44:13] forwarded those to her further, and we're going to work on a

[44:18] an ordinance to present to you

[44:22] to be able to exclude people from the city parks for a certain amount of time,

[44:28] whether it be 30, 60, 90 days progressively if there's continual

[44:32] violations for park rule violations for rule violations, those things that take

[44:37] place in parks. And there'll be a a process for appeal on

[44:42] that if they want to. So, but

[44:46] I don't want to get too much more into the details until the city attorney has

[44:50] had the opportunity to go through it and modify it, make sure it's legal, we're

[44:57] not going to get sued over any of that, and that

[45:01] we'll administer it properly.

[45:04] So, that's that's one of the ideas. Another one is that

[45:10] we've also looked at the option of cameras.

[45:13] We know some cameras in parks. That's

[45:16] you know, there's some positives and negatives

[45:19] that go along with that, but it's also another option if we can't

[45:24] get a handle on it. I think I would agree with you that it is a few people

[45:28] ruining it for the vast majority. We have had contact with some of who we

[45:34] believe some of those people are and their parents

[45:38] after speaking with their parents, it's very obvious why the kids are behaving

[45:42] that way. So, so

[45:44] I can say that confidently. >> I do have a question. Um

[45:48] if they're juveniles can they be charged?

[45:51] » Yeah, they can be charged with crimes. >> So, if if they were down there and they

[45:55] were they could they be disturbing the peace or vandalism?

[46:01] Or charges could actually be against them and they'd have to go to juvenile

[46:04] court, but possibly that might get their attention,

[46:08] too. Well, I know realizing it'd have to be

[46:11] seen, witnessed, and everything else, but

[46:14] if we could get a couple of these guys that's been obviously known or whatever,

[46:18] and get them charged in juvenile court, it'd probably

[46:22] straighten them up a little bit. >> Yeah, they

[46:25] The officers are all well aware of this issue. We've discussed it at length. Um,

[46:31] and uh believe me, if there's an opportunity

[46:34] for enforcement action to be taken, it will be taken.

[46:39] » [clears throat]

[46:42] » Sergeant, got anything for us? >> Uh, not a whole lot. As you guys saw

[46:46] last year, we came off our uh 5 for our busiest month ever, 65

[46:49] calls last month. Hasn't really slowed down too much this

[46:52] month. Um, Chance did the last meeting we had,

[46:56] so we're now we have safety. Two people on our waiting list again, so

[47:01] applications are right out, and it's slowed down.

[47:04] » We got a couple in the long term. >> Did Did we have any uh

[47:09] well, fire calls and whatever in the last I know it's going on here and it's

[47:13] going everywhere else, I'm just curious if

[47:15] » Yeah, [clears throat] we we had a few um, in our district, one in city limits,

[47:20] right by Master Tech Repair. Um

[47:23] and then we had a couple in the rural jurisdiction, and then we actually spent

[47:26] one day on a scale fire doing structure connections, too.

[47:30] Casey's. So, we had it on on the go. I think so. Five, maybe, somewhere

[47:35] around there. Nothing big. We had one You guys last month, too, the one

[47:41] in the fire service area, trouble with Hasty Basin area, but we were able to

[47:46] shut that one down. And if I had to pick any one that would

[47:50] have to be that half week period. We had helicopters and everything on that one,

[47:52] so >> That's good.

[47:53] » It's kind of busy here. >> Right.

[47:57] Thank you. >> Yeah.

[47:58] » [clears throat and cough] >> Uh anything from

[48:01] the council? >> What about city

[48:03] » I was going to get to the attorney if you don't mind.

[48:05] » Oh, I'm sorry. >> Do you have anything for us, Jean, for

[48:09] this evening? >> Well, just that I hope to be with you in

[48:13] person permanently the first week of September. We will be traveling up.

[48:18] » Thanks. >> All right. The weather's looking a lot

[48:20] better for you guys. >> I It's the weather between here and

[48:24] there that I'm concerned about. So many uh so many bad weather incidents in the

[48:28] middle of the country we've got to cross through. So it may be a little bit

[48:31] longer drive than we anticipated, but excited that our movers come on the 28th

[48:36] and we will be out of here on the 29th and headed that way. So I look forward

[48:41] to our next city council meeting being there in person.

[48:45] » Thank you. Look forward to seeing you in person.

[48:49] Any Any final remarks from the council? Seeing none, may I have a motion?

[48:55] » Motion to adjourn. >> Second. [clears throat]

[48:58] » Motion to remain adjourned. Do I hear a motion in favor?

[49:01] » I have a question.

[49:04] That is the afternoon.

August 17, 2026 Council Meeting

Transcript