Journal of Proceedings

Missoula City Council

Monday, September 19, 2022 at 6:00 P.m. - 7:00 P.m.

Council Chambers (in person) or TEAMS (virtually)

Attend in person: City Council Chambers, 140 W Pine, Missoula MT

Members Present:

• Stacie Anderson, 
• Mirtha Becerra, 
• Daniel Carlino, 
• Gwen Jones, 
• Kristen Jordan, 
• Mike Nugent, 
• Jennifer Savage, 
• Sandra Vasecka, 
• and Heidi West

Members Absent:

• John P. Contos
• and Amber Sherrill

Administration Present:

• Marty Rehbein, 
• Jordan Hess, Mayor, 
• and Jim Nugent, City Attorney

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1.

CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

The virtual meeting of the Missoula City Council was called to order by Mayor Jordan Hess at 6:00 PM.

2.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

3.

PUBLIC COMMENT - NON-AGENDA ITEMS

Mayor Jordan Hess We can move on to public comment on items not on the agenda.  Any public comment on items not listed on our agenda, come on up.

Marcy Hammond Hello, my name is Marcy Hammond, legal name would be Marcinda Hammond.  I live at the bottom of 775 Monroe.  So, we have a new Mayor committed to Leading the city forward during a time of transition and challenging problems and serving as the leader we need right now.  Friday the phone rang.  John Ulrigg is my partner of 18 years.  Heidi Bakula made an informed, made a phone call and informed John that the Mayor does not have time at this moment or will not ever have time for John.  John would be here right now, but he has to have a chaperone, or an escort and the reason why is because of the last Mayor.  So, I'm calling out why I or John cannot have a seat at the table.  Missoula Current says I will carry out the office with purpose thoughtfulness, kindness, and compassion.  So, I'd ask you to consider a meeting here to hear my problems and John's problems so we can all have a solution.  Thank you for your time.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you for your comment.

Marcy Hammond Brand new hip, pretty proud of it.  Thank you very much.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you.  Anyone else tonight?

Kevin Hunt Good evening Council, my name is Kevin Hunt.  I live at 308 Parkside Lane.  I recently sent a letter or an email pursuant to Article 2, Sections 8 and 9 of the Oregon Constitution and statutory law requesting some information regarding the clandestine proceedings that occurred in the back alley on September 12th that resolved the issue of who would become under a Mayor of Missoula.  I'd like to thank Councilor Carlino for forwarding that request on to the City Attorney Nugent who responded, and I have received his response, which I can summarize in four sentences.  I wasn't there.  I don't know.  Where do we draw the line?  I think you're speculating.  Okay well, I really am, I didn't come up here really to talk about that.  I think with that kind of response, the courts can deal with the issue of how the interim Mayor was selected.  What I've, what I've come to do is what I promised you I would do.  I'm respectfully demanding, first of all, that the Mayor, state categorically on the record tonight that the report in The Missoulian that the Council censured Councilor Carlino is false.  He was never censured.  It's outrageous that this got printed and it's outrageous that not a single one of you has tried to correct it.  A censure is a formal vote by a deliberative assembly finding one of its members has fallen below the standards of ethics expected of that member.  As hard as it is to libel an elected official, I think it's happened and I think it's up to you to correct it and with that, I'm asking that you all apologize to Councilor Carlino, or not all of you, some of you for insinuating at the last meeting that he was somehow responsible for 21 ballots having been cast without resolving who would be Mayor.  That deadlock was almost every time six votes for Mr. Hess and five votes for Mr. Nugent.  So, in order for Mr. Carlino to have broken the deadlock, he would have had to have cast his vote for Mr. Hess.  He didn't support Mr. Hess.  Now if he had cast his vote for Mr. Nugent that would have only created a tie.  In fact, there was one other Councilor who did that.  Councilor Anderson, at one point, switched her vote for Mr. Hess to Mr. Rice.  Now interestingly, she wasn't as Mr. Carlino was accused of making a mockery of the proceedings, that it was only Mr. Carlino who did that.  This kind of disingenuous scapegoating of someone on this Council because he refuses to tow the insider establishment neoliberal line on this Council is reprehensible and I'm going to find out in a couple of minutes, I guess before the end of the meeting, I'll find out whether any of you has the integrity to apologize to Mr. Carlino and whether the Mayor has the good ethics to set the record straight that Mr. Carlino was never censured.  In closing, all I can say is that this, this kind of performance, as long as I'm still able to walk up to this podium, as long as I still have a keyboard, as long as I still have a voice is going to be illuminated.  Thank you.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Mr. Hunt.  Any additional public comment tonight?  Anyone on, online tonight?  All right, seeing none, we will move on to item 4, which is announcement of our committee meetings, committee membership appointments and changes to the committee agendas.

4.

ANNOUNCE COMMITTEE MEETINGS, COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP APPOINTMENTS AND CHANGES TO COMMITTEE AGENDAS

Climate, Conservation, and Parks Committee, September 21, 9:00 – 9:20 a.m.

Committee of the Whole, September 21, 9:35 – 10:30 a.m.

Land Use and Planning Committee, September 21, 10:45 – 11:15 a.m.

Public Safety, Health, and Operations Committee, September 21, 12:15 – 12:45 p.m.

Housing, Redevelopment and Community Programs Committee, September 21, 1:00 – 1:45 p.m.

Public Works and Mobility Committee, September 21, 2:00 – 2:35 p.m.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. Rehbein.  Are there any changes to the committee schedule?  Seeing none, we can move on to the consent agenda.

5.

CONSENT AGENDA

Mayor Jordan Hess Items on our consent agenda were approved in City Council committee meetings generally unanimously and they're placed on the consent agenda to save time at Council meetings by voting on them as a package.  Ms. Rehbein will read the list aloud so citizens watching online or on MCAT will know what's on the consent agenda and we'll invite community comment before we vote.  Ms. Rehbein.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. Rehbein.  Is there any public comment on the consent agenda?  Online, I don't see any.  Any Council comment or questions?  Ms. Anderson.

Alderperson Anderson Just would simply like to welcome the new officially confirmed police officers to the Missoula Police Department and thank them for their service to our community.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you for that.  Ms. Jordan.

Alderperson Jordan I just wanted to speak to 5.1 or 11, which is the pre-trial supported release program.  This is an amazing initiative that our Municipal Court Judges have put together based on data that was collected in 2019 and 2020. I'm a little frustrated because myself and a few others from the county wrote a grant to the MacArthur Foundation and won that grant that included money for these two positions and some folks at the county who are not elected opted to change those strategies, which means that these Municipal Court Judges have to come to us for the money for these positions and I'm just wanting to voice that out of frustration because we had the money from the MacArthur Foundation to pay for these.  I'm in full support of this initiative and always like to use grant funding when possible and I'm frustrated when politics get in the way.  Thank you.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. Jordan.  Ms. Vasecka.

Alderperson Vasecka Thanks.  I would like to vote on 12 and 13 separately, but together, make sense?

Mayor Jordan Hess So, we will divide the question on 5.12 and 5.13, as a, as a package and we'll vote on the others together.  Anything further? Okay.  I’d echo Ms. Anderson's comments.  It's always been a pleasure to celebrate our, our new officers in person and circumstances are that we're not doing that tonight, but, but grateful for their service.  Without anything further, we can have a roll call vote on the consent agenda.  Ms. Rehbein.

Marty Rehbein Okay.  I got a note from Ms. Vasecka that she wanted to separate, do some separate votes.  Is that still the case?

Mayor Jordan Hess Yes, so 5.12 and 5.13, we can vote….

Marty Rehbein So 5.12 and 5.13?  So, let’s do the balance of the consent agenda, not those two items.  So, one through 11 and 14 through 17 first.

Marty Rehbein Numbers 12 and 13, let's do those next. 

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. Rehbein, I was about to point out that you skipped me and then I realized that you didn't skip me.

Marty Rehbein You don't get to vote anymore unless there's a tie….

• AYES: (9)	Alderperson Anderson, Alderperson Becerra, Alderperson Carlino, Alderperson Jones, Alderperson Jordan, Alderperson Nugent, Alderperson Savage, Alderperson Vasecka, and Alderperson West
  ABSENT: (2)	Alderperson Sherrill, and Alderperson Contos

  Vote result: Approved (9 to 0)

5.1

Accounts Payable (claims) for checks date September 20, 2022

BF

• Approve accounts payable in the amount of $1,529,983.08 for checks dated September 20, 2022.

  Vote result: Approved

5.2

Professional Service Agreement with Morrison-Maierle for the Kelly Island Lift Station Rehabilitation

PWM

Adam Marsh

• Approve and authorize the Mayor to sign a Professional Services Agreement with Morrison-Maierle for the Kelly Island Lift Station Rehabilitation at a cost not to exceed $65,548.00

  Vote result: Approved

5.3

Redfern Park Infrastructure Improvements

CCP

Garrick Swanson

• Approve and authorize the Mayor to sign a contract with Doug Smith LLC. for the amount of $78,000 for demolition of the existing playground and construction of new playground infrastructure at Redfern Park.

  Vote result: Approved

5.4

Redfern Park Restoration contract award

CCP

Garrick Swanson

• Approve and authorize the Mayor to sign a contract with Valley Landscape Inc. for an amount not to exceed $35,660 for site restoration post playground construction and install at Redfern Park.

  Vote result: Approved

5.5

Redfern Park Playground Installation

CCP

Nathan McLeod

• Approve and authorize the Mayor to sign a contract with Great Western Installation Inc. for the amount of $96,023.95 for supplying and installing playground equipment at Redfern Park.

  Vote result: Approved

5.6

Appointment to the Parking Commission

PWM

Gwen Jones

• Confirm the Mayor’s appointment of Tiffany Brander to the Parking Commission to fill a vacated term beginning immediately and expiring on April 30, 2023.

  Vote result: Approved

5.7

Noise Ordinance Variance for night work on Orange Street Underpass

PWM

Troy Monroe

• Approve an exemption to MMC Chapter 9.30 entitled “Noise Control,” to permit relief in accordance with MMC Chapter 9.30.070, entitled “Permit for relief from noise level,” from specified levels during the structural testing in the Orange Street Underpass.

  Vote result: Approved

5.8

Noise Ordinance Variance for night work on Beckwith Ave

PWM

Adam Marsh

• Approve an exemption to MMC Chapter 9.30 entitled “Noise Control,” to permit relief in accordance with MMC Chapter 9.30.070, entitled “Permit for relief from noise level,” from specified levels during the installation of a water main across Stephens Avenue.

  Vote result: Approved

5.9

Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG 2022) Memorandum Of Understanding

PSHO

Scott Hoffman, Jaeson White

• Set a public hearing on September 26, 2022, for public notification of the City and County Law Enforcement Justice Assistance grant application and approval of the required Memorandum Of Understanding with Missoula County for the application.

  Vote result: Approved

5.10

Purchase of Nine (9) Ford Interceptor patrol vehicles for Police Department

PSHO

Scot Colwell

• Approve the purchase of nine (9) Police interceptor patrol vehicles from Duval Ford of Jacksonville, Florida for $57,303.88 each totaling $515,734.92 for all nine.

  Vote result: Approved

5.11

Pre-trial Supported Release Program

PSHO

Megan Smith

• Approve and authorize the mayor to sign a Pretrial Supported Release Program contract with Missoula County for $184,558.

  Vote result: Approved

5.14

Appointment to the Missoula Civic Television Advisory Commission

BF

Gwen Jones

• Confirm the Mayor’s appointment of Jacqueline Shrader to the Missoula Civic Television Advisory Commission, to fill a vacated term, beginning immediately and expiring on December 31, 2023.

  Vote result: Approved

5.15

Accela Software as a Service (Saas) Upgrade and Annual Subscription

BF

Rachael Kropp, Aaron Bowman

• Approve an agreement with Accela, the City's permitting software, for one-time data migration in the amount of $50,000 paid for from the building fund and a software as a service (SaaS) subscription service totaling $1,105,047.92 for five years of software access, updates, maintenance and storage. These agreements replace the City's current contract with Accela.

  Vote result: Approved

5.16

Engagement Letter for Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Bond Counsel

BF

Leigh Griffing

• Approve and authorize the Mayor to sign the engagement letter with Dorsey to provide bond counsel related to Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for an estimated cost of $30,000.

  Vote result: Approved

5.17

Police Officer Confirmations

PSHO

Jaeson White

• Confirm Police Officers Tyler Thornock, Khai Tran, Sheffield Halsey, Ashton Bates, and Connor Usher

  Vote result: Approved

5.12

Montana Department of Commerce contract, NeighborWorks Montana subrecipient agreement

HRCP

Tracy Pohndorf

• Approve and authorize the Mayor to sign contracts with Montana Department of Commerce awarding $850,000 to the City of Missoula for a Resident Owned Community (ROC) project in Missoula, and with NeighborWorks Montana awarding $835,000 as a subrecipient to create the ROC.

  AYES: (8)	Alderperson Becerra, Alderperson Carlino, Alderperson Jones, Alderperson Jordan, Alderperson Nugent, Alderperson Savage, Alderperson West, and Alderperson Anderson
  NAYS: (1)	Alderperson Vasecka
  ABSENT: (2)	Alderperson Sherrill, and Alderperson Contos

  Vote result: Approved (8 to 1)

5.13

Operation Shelter Interlocal Agreement with Missoula County

HRCP

Montana James

• Approve and authorize the Mayor to sign an interlocal agreement with Missoula County for the provision and operation of the Operation Shelter projects for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023.

  AYES: (8)	Alderperson Anderson, Alderperson Becerra, Alderperson Carlino, Alderperson Jones, Alderperson Jordan, Alderperson Nugent, Alderperson Savage, and Alderperson West
  NAYS: (1)	Alderperson Vasecka
  ABSENT: (2)	Alderperson Sherrill, and Alderperson Contos

  Vote result: Approved (8 to 1)

6.

COMMENTS FROM CITY STAFF, CITY AGENCIES, COMMUNITY FORUM, NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS, BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, OR AUTHORITIES

7.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS

8.

FINAL CONSIDERATION

9.

PUBLIC HEARINGS

9.1

Ordinance Granting TDS Metrocom LLC Cable Television Franchise

PWM

Jim Nugent

The City Council will hold this public hearing open until they take up the item for final consideration on September 26, 2022.

Mayor Jordan Hess We do have two public hearings tonight.  State law on our own Council rule set guidelines for inviting community comment in a formal way on certain issues.  Following a staff report on each item, the City Council and Mayor invite community comment.  We generally hold public comments open for a week and then vote the following week unless there's a requirement to the contrary.  So, our first public, our first public hearing is an ordinance granting TDS Metrocom LLC a cable TV franchise and I believe Mr. Nugent is, Jim Nugent is providing our staff report.  Mr. Nugent.

Jim Nugent Okay, I think our consultant Brian Grogan is also available so that you can have him make a presentation and also answer questions, but what we have here is the second cable television franchise request tour.  It's taken probably a year and a half to wade through all the issues and exchange drafts of the lengthy document that you all saw.  Brian was the one that negotiated it, he specializes in cable TV franchises.  We've been using him for over a decade for the city cable TV franchises.  MCAT was involved, Joe Baird was involved early on and consulted.  I had alerted him to be here tonight, but I'm not sure if he is, but I asked for Brian to take over and just explain what this is all about.

Brian Grogan Certainly.  Just to make sure that everyone can hear me okay, is my mic working effectively?  Okay thank you for the nodding heads that's reassuring.  So, actually I've been working with the city now for almost 20 years.  Time flies when we're having a lot of fun, but back in 2003 we, the City, adopted a franchise for Charter Communications which is your current company.  It was a 15-year contract that actually expired in 2018 and at that time, the Council agreed to extend that for a period of time until we could accomplish renewal.  So, we sent Charter a draft document to accomplish that renewal, we still are working with Charter to try to reach agreement on that.  When TDS came knocking last July seeking a competitive franchise, we gave them the exact same proposed contract and the goal that the City had was to have nearly identical documents so that no company would be provided an unfair advantage.  We would grant them both similar authorization and they could compete for customers in your City.  We have reached agreement on the terms of the TDS franchise.  It calls for a 10-year franchise, it's a 5% franchise fee on the revenue that TDS will derive from cable television services.  So, keep in mind that this authorization will let TDS provide broadband services, which is what most people are focused on these days, but we do not collect a fee on broadband, and you may ask well why not and that's because the federal law prohibits the City from imposing a franchise fee on the broadband revenue.  So, all the different revenue that any company may gather from their cable franchise, we are only allowed to get cable TV revenue for that franchise fee.  We have maximized the City's compensation on that issue.  We also require a 1.5% fee to support local programming and that would be the MCAT capital budget so that that budget then becomes less reliant upon the City General Revenue fund for all of its obligations.  That fee also requires that Charter will, at some point, reach that fee because again we want parity in any fees that we apply to competing companies.  Franchise also requires a $50,000.00 performance bond that the city can access if TDS should fail to perform under the contract.  It requires two local channels, one of which is being used tonight to cable cast this meeting, but we have two channels both available in high definition so that MCAT and the city can broadcast local content.  We have another channel in reserve should the need arise.  Free service obligations to various schools and public buildings that TDS will make available.  We also have a pretty strong set of customer service obligations, several pages worth of requirements in addition to your city code obligations, so that should this competition not result and improve customer service, you always have a regulatory fallback position to take so that you can ensure that your constituents are getting solid customer service from the franchised operators.  I believe those are the high points of the agreement.  There's a you know a lot to these agreements they are probably 50 pages in length.  So, I'm happy to answer any specific questions but for now I will pause and take any questions that the Council may have.

Mayor Jordan Hess Great, thank you, thank you for that.  We’ll, we'll go to public comment first and then we'll come back to questions from Council.  So, at this point, I will open the public hearing and take public comment on the franchise agreement.  Mr. Hunt.

Kevin Hunt Thank you.  Kevin Hunt, 308 Parkside Lane.  I didn't know this is on the agenda.  I think it's wonderful and I appreciate the fact that the City is getting an alternative to Charter.  I'm not surprised a bit that Charter apparently is as attentive to the City's requests, as it is to its customers, which is abysmal and this is, this is something that's needed and although I cut, cut the cord quite a long time ago, it'll be nice to have an alternative for broadband services.  And when I need you know when I need to have a source for alternative facts, I can always come to these meetings.  Thank you.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Mr. Hunt.  Any additional public comment?  Online, I don't see anyone.  So, this public hearing will remain open, and we can, I'd encourage questions tonight since Mr. Grogan is here tonight if anyone has any questions?  Ms. Anderson.

Alderperson Anderson Thanks so much.  Since we do happen to have our expert here, is there you know I was very first selected and put on the MCTAC board when we were beginning to discuss the cable franchise re-agreement with Charter Spectrum and here we are many years later.  Is this something you know that they can continue to drag on at length or is there any sort of stipulations within it?  And can we follow up similar vein in 10 years when we might find ourselves in the same situation with this new franchise agreement?

Brian Grogan Thank you Council member.  So, with respect to Charter Spectrum, since they already hold a franchise in the city there are some federal provisions that basically indicate that it's the city's obligation to either accept or reject their requests for renewal but if the city were to reject, it, it's a fairly lengthy rather onerous formal process that has to be undertaken and what the City's objective today is, is by, by adopting a new competitive franchise with TDS, the City is hopeful that we'll have essentially established a baseline for what that contract should now look like and we're hoping that it will lead to some accelerated negotiations with Charter.  We are no goal to treat any of these operators in a more favorable or more burdensome manner, so we're hopeful that with this new contract having been adopted, we'll be quick to get to the table and complete the Charter renewal.  And then to your second question, our goal would be to have them run concurrently and expire in 10 years so that we don't have to essentially duplicate this process year over year, but we can deal with both of them simultaneously in the event there are still cable franchises 10 years from now.  Obviously, the industry is evolving quickly, and we shall have to see if in fact, you know, we have continued cable franchising but to the extent we do, we'd like them to be concurrent so we can address them at the same exact time.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Mr. Grogan.  Any additional questions?

Alderperson Anderson Thank you. 

Mayor Jordan Hess All right, seeing none, we've had a public hearing, or a presentation and our public hearing is open, and we will hold this open until next week, September 26, 2022.  Oh Mr. Nugent, I see your hands up, your hand up.  Do you have something to add? 

Jim Nugent Yes, I do.  This came up at committee and I want to get it in the record here.  The monies you receive basically are funding MCAT, the two channels in MCAT plus our consultant.  There's a little bit left over but it's not much but the, the lion's share goes to MCAT pursuant to a contract that the City Council has entered into and renewed over the years, just so you know where the money goes that is collected by the federal law for the cable TV franchise.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thanks for that.  Okay, I don't see any additional hands up, so this, we will hold this item open until next week.

9.2

End of Year Report for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program Year 2021

HRCP

Kendra Lisum

The City Council will hold this public hearing open until they take up the item for final consideration on September 26, 2022.

Mayor Jordan Hess And we can move on to our second and final public hearing, which is the end of your report for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program year 2021.  Ms. Lisum.

Kendra Lisum All right thank you.  Let me share my scree here and get my PowerPoint going.  Usually, I'd be joined by Karen Gasvoda, but she is sick today, so it will just be me.  Okay, so one of the obligations the City must fulfill as an entitlement City for the Federal Community Development block grant and Home Investment Partnership Programs is to prepare a yearly consolidated, consolidated annual performance and evaluation report, which is known as the CAPER.  Each program year runs from July 1st through June 30^th, and I'm here to today to present on our end of year report for program year 2021.  As a reminder, these are federal funds, and they don't come out of the City's budget.  Each year the city receives federal funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development or HUD.  Missoula has been an entitlement City for CDBG since 1999 and a participating jurisdiction for HOME since 2003.  These funds help benefit individuals with low and moderate income and leverage resources to improve the supply of affordable housing, public improvements, and public services.  The CAPER is our chance to tell the story of what we accomplished using our federal dollars this past year.  We report our accomplishments in connection not only to our annual goals, as outlined in our annual action plan, but also in relation to the, the larger goals in our consolidated plan, which is published every 5 years.  Program year 2021 was the third year of our 2019 through 2023 consolidated plan.  In program year 21, we are awarded nearly $365,000.00 in HOME funds and $570,000.00 in CDBG funds.  While we receive the approximately the same amount every year, the, the funds are adjusted for inflation which means that we have to do more excuse me with less money.  With those funds including any program income we receive from past projects we are able to fund a total of five projects this year.  In 2021, we funded two HOME.  The goal of the Trinity Apartments project partially funded in program year 20 as well is the construction of 202 affordable units on two separate sites and construction continues and is expected to be completed in 2023.  In addition, Community Housing Development Organization or CHOD, operating expense funding, was provided to Homeward to support their development of the Trinity Apartments, as well as other HUD funded projects.  In 2021, we funded three CDBG projects.  These funds supported the YWCA’s Meadowlark Facility which opened its doors in May of 2021.  The YWCA utilized these funds to provide intakes, assessment, and case management case management to assist one and two parent families in obtaining mainstream resources, employment and permanent housing.  They were able to help 270 individuals and then Homeward served Missoulian’s through their financial renter and home ownership classes and counseling.  These classes helped individuals prepare for home ownership, to be knowledgeable renters, and to plan for financial success; 313 people were helped through this program.  The rapid intake project at the Poverello Center provided immediate access for those experiencing homelessness to referrals and appropriate services with a focus on employment and housing, and then our funds help to support 869 individuals.  And then before we wrap up, I wanted to make a brief note.  At the startup program year 2021, we initially agreed to fund two additional projects, the Trinity Navigation Center and Habitat for Humanity’s down payment assistance program; however due to circumstances beyond our control, these projects were not funded.  The Navigation Center was fortunate enough to utilize other sources including ARPA funds and the city's anti-displacement policies prevented the funding of the habitat project.  As required by HUD, we will return later this year with an amendment to the program year 2021 action plan in regard to the Habitat project.  And then the projects I outlined in this presentation will have a lasting impact for our community and you can see the overview of our outcomes here.  And then we welcome comments on our CAPER, you can do so by going to engagemissoula.com until September 26, 2022, next Monday or you can reach Karen or myself at the email address listed here, and all public comments will be included in the final CAPER paper submitted to HUD.  Thank you.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you, Ms. Lisum.  We can now open the public hearing.  Are there any public comments on this year-end report?  I'm not seeing anyone in the room or online, and Mr. Nugent your hand is a up on one of the screens here.  I don't see it on mine.  I just want to….. okay.  So, we can….Are there any questions from Council members?  Okay, seeing none, we will hold this open until next week.  So, that concludes our public hearings.

10.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

10.1

Budget and Finance (BF) committee report

10.1.1

Minutes from the September 14, 2022 Meeting

BF

10.2

Climate, Conservation and Parks (CCP) committee report

10.2.1

Minutes from the September 14, 2022 Meeting

CCP

10.3

Committee of the Whole (COW) committee report

10.3.1

Minutes from the September 14, 2022 Meeting

COW

10.4

Housing, Redevelopment, and Community Programs (HRCP) committee report

10.4.1

Minutes from the September 14, 2022 Meeting

HRCP

10.5

Land Use and Planning (LUP) committee report

10.6

Public Safety, Health and Operations (PSHO) committee report

10.6.1

Minutes from the September 14, 2022 Meeting

PSHO

10.7

Public Works and Mobility (PWM) committee report

10.7.1

Minutes from the September 14, 2022 Meeting

PWM

11.

NEW BUSINESS

11.1

Election of City Council Vice President

Marty Rehbein

Mayor Jordan Hess We do have one item of new business, and this is the election of a City Council Vice President, and Ms. Rehbein, may I, could you give us a rundown on process just for the benefit of anyone watching?

Marty Rehbein Yes.  So, Jordan Hess, who was appointed Mayor last week was the City Council's Vice President and the City Council laws state that the election of officers takes place under new business.  We're going to need to do some amendments to our rules because they do not talk about doing a midterm election in the event of a vacancy or maybe somebody doesn't want to serve anymore in one of your officer positions.  So, I’m going to look at amending your rules just a touch, but the appropriate motion tonight is to nominate someone as a City Council Vice President and we will do a roll call by, by last name again in selecting that person to fulfill that role.  The City Council Vice President has a couple of formal duties and that if both the Mayor and the Council President are absent, they would preside at your meetings, and I believe there is a committee that the Vice President serves on and that's provided for in your role.  So, those are the formal roles, roles that are in your rules and I'm here if you have any other questions.  Thank you.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. Rehbein.  So, with that, any questions from Council?  Okay, I think we could open up for nominations if anyone would like to make a nomination.  Ms. Becerra.

Alderperson Becerra I would like to nominate Stacie Anderson and whenever appropriate, I would like to comment.

Mayor Jordan Hess Okay, let's just do nominations for now.  Are there any additional nominations?  Ms. Vasecka.

Alderperson Vasecka I would like to nominate myself.

Mayor Jordan Hess Okay.  And anyone, anyone else?  Okay, so now we can go ahead and do….. I'll do the same order.   I'll do Ms. Becerra and then Ms. Vasecka, and then anyone else who would like to, to speak.  Go ahead Ms. Becerra.

Alderperson Becerra Thank you.  I nominated Stacie Anderson because I, I think that she's been wanting to serve, and I think it's important to have someone who wants to be in that role.  I think that she brings experience and an attitude of collaboration, and I feel confident that she will do a great job along President Jones in providing guidance to this Council, representing this Council, and being our Council ambassadors in the community.  So, for all of those reasons, I will be supporting Stacie Anderson.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you.  Ms. Vasecka.

Alderperson Vasecka There’s no doubt that Stacie would be great at this job.  I also think that I would be good at it as well.  I have years of experience collaborating with folks that don't agree with me and I, I think that I would…. I would take on this role very seriously.  I would put, put aside a personal beliefs to work together and collaborate and I believe that I have the responsibility to…. I, I believe that I'd be able to work with Gwen, work with Jordan in dispatching the duties of the Vice President in case you two aren't, aren't available for the night so.  And I have, although Stacie has chaired Public Safety and Health longer than I have, I only got to do part of a meeting, I was president of MCTAC when I was on that board.  Actually, now I was Vice President, sorry about that.  So, I do have experience in running meetings so I believe that I would, I think I'd be good at this job.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you.  Anyone else want to comment?  Ms. Jones.

Alderperson Jones Sure, I appreciate people throwing their hat into the ring to basically sign up for more work in what is already not necessarily a well-paid position, so, I, I really appreciate that I appreciate people stepping up.  Just as some background, historically it has typically been based on seniority over the years, not that that's a hard and fast rule but I just wanted to provide that insight.  So, I, I appreciate Sandra, you throwing your hat in the ring.  I think I will support Stacie in this.  She’s been on Council not quite as long as me but a long time.  Anyway appreciate, appreciate everyone being willing to serve.

Mayor Jordan Hess Any additional comments?  Mr. Carlino.

Alderperson Carlino Yeah, I think both nominees would be great at being Vice President and I think I'm gonna actually vote for Sandy for this one, just because of her firm commitment to free speech and allowing, seeing all sides to the issue and not to say that Stacie doesn't do that as well, but I just think of balance and leadership, as well could be good, but I think either nominee would be great for Vice President.

Mayor Jordan Hess Okay, thanks.  Additional comments?  Ms. Jordan.

Alderperson Kristen Jordan Ms. Anderson and Ms. Vasecka.  Before now, I had no idea that you were interested in running Sandy and I wish that you had reached out.  Like Daniel, I think that both would do an excellent job and in light of supporting people who don't always think along the same vein as me, I think I'd like to change my vote and offer it to Sandy Vasecka because I do think that the, that Sandy does represent members of our community that are, that don't always get a voice and I appreciate your friendship and your professionalism on the board, and I will be voting for you and Stacie, I apologize but I didn't have all the information I needed.  So, thank you.

Mayor Jordan Hess Additional comments?  Would anyone from the public like to comment?  Mr. Hunt.

Kevin Hunt Thank you.  Kevin Hunt, 308 Parkside Lane.  I think either of them is eminently qualified for the position.  I'm pleased to see that there's support for Ms. Vasecka.  She has reached out to me knowing that I, I'm on the left and she's on the right, and we have found a lot of common ground and I'm aware of her collaboration with Kristen Jordan that, that brought us the mobile crisis response unit, which just shows how she's willing to collaborate and for all the reasons given by Mr. Carlino and Ms. Jordan, I hope that more of you will consider voting for Sandra Vasecka.  Thank you.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you.  I have an online comment from Ms. Stensland-Bickers.  And Diane, I think you should be able to unmute yourself now.

Diane Stensland-Bickers Hello, this is Diane Stensland-Bickers and I'd like to voice support for Stacie please.  I like lease I like both women and I just prefer to have Stacie, Stacie in this position.  Thank you.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thanks for your comment.  I don't see any additional comment and so I think we can go to a vote.  Before, before that, I want to just express my gratitude to both of you for, for stepping up and I look forward to working with both of you in, in this capacity and, and in the continued capacity and Council.  So, I’ll turn it over to Ms. Rehbein for a vote.

Marty Rehbein Sorry folks, I've been trying to trouble, troubleshoot our e-scribe stream tonight, a couple of server reboots have not solved my problem. 

Marty Rehbein All right, would any of you like to change your vote?  Six votes for Anderson and three votes for Vasecka and two absent.

Votes for Anderson:  Jones, Nugent, Savage, West, Anderson, Beccera (6)

Votes for Vasecka:  Carlino, Jordan, Vasecka (3)

Absent:  Contos, Sherrill

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. Rehbein.  Congratulations Ms. Anderson and thank you for your willingness to serve Ms. Vasecka.  That’s it for the meeting.

Stacie Anderson was elected vice-president.

 

12.

COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR

Mayor Jordan Hess We'll move on to communications from the Mayor.  I just, I want to say that I'm very grateful to be here and hopefully move us forward after a period of immense uncertainty.  It's been an incredible week with an outpouring of support from around the community.  People I haven't, haven't been in contact with in a very long time reaching out in some cases and that's been really meaningful and, and so I want to thank people for doing that.  I wanna, it's been a, it's been a whirlwind of a week, a ton of information, a ton of meeting you know meeting some staff that I, that I hadn't met before, becoming acquainted with, with a variety of issues.  I am, as the saying goes, drinking from a fire hose and I'm, I'm, I'm splashing a lot in the process and so, I'm, I've missed a few things and I, and I appreciate everyone's patience as I learn and get up to speed.  I want to give a shout out to the city staff who have helped with my with my onboarding process.  The staff in the Mayor's office is phenomenal and has kept good tabs on me and, and kept me pointed in in the right direction.  So, and I want to thank everyone for your patience and grace as I, as I settle into this.  With that we can go to Council comments from Council.  

13.

GENERAL COMMENTS OF CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

Mayor Jordan Hess And we can start with Ms. Vasecka. 

Alderperson Vasecka Thank you and congratulations Stacie, I know that you'll do a very good job, probably give me more work as Vice Chair for Public Safety and Health but that's all right.  Also, congratulations again Jordan, you did a great job tonight.

Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Savage.

Alderperson Savage I’ll pass tonight.

Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Jordan.

Alderperson Kristen Jordan I’ll pass, thank you.

Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Jones .

Alderperson Jones I’ll pass.

Mayor Jordan Hess Mr. Carlino.

Alderperson Carlino Yeah, I just wanted to address the one woman's comment from earlier.  I just think it's really important that we find somebody from the City if not their Council member to, to talk to constituents whenever they reach out and I know sometimes it can be difficult with different people, but I think you know John deserves to have one of us reach out to him or somebody from the City to help up the problem just like anybody else in Missoula does.  So, I just hope that, that we just don't let anybody slip through the cracks when they email all the Council or try and reach out to somebody, that we touch base and talk to everybody that reaches out to us.

Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Becerra.

Alderperson Becerra I’ll pass, thank you.

Mayor Jordan Hess Oh I’m sorry, Mr. Nugent [laughs]

Alderperson Mike Nugent I was like, is he skipping me?  Just quickly, the Midtown Association is, is in the middle of their master planning, which is going to be wonderful for, for Midtown and Ward 4 and all the above and they have a, a great listening session at the YMCA from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on, I believe it's September 27, 2022, but somebody can correct me if I'm wrong.  You can drop in anytime.  They have childcare and you can share kind of your visions or, or things that you want for Midtown, and I would encourage you all to give that a try.  Thanks.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you.  Ms. West.

Alderperson West So, I just want to give a giant thank you to Kalina from the Office of Neighborhoods for helping with the Heart of Missoula cleanup this weekend.  I think it was pretty well attended for the first one and then also a big thank you to the owners of Bathing Beauty Beads, Hunter Bay Coffee, and Draft Works for organizing a neighborhood block party and it was really lovely and the weather was great and hopefully it'll become an annual tradition.  So, thanks.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thanks.  And Ms. Anderson.

Alderperson Anderson Well thanks everyone for your vote and I look forward to working with all of you and thank you Ms. Vasecka for your willingness to serve as well.  And I just want to make an announcement that the flu season is here.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I've heard from several people I know who have gotten it and it's nasty this year.  So, I would encourage everybody to seek out a flu vaccine as soon as possible and I know that there are mobile unit or mobile vaccine vaccination units going around the various parts of the county and you can find out all the information on the City-County Health Department's website.  So, encourage folks to take advantage of that when possible.  And this weekend is the University of Montana homecoming game, go Grizz.  And I know that there is going to be a parade, but it is a different parade route than in the past.  It is going down for starting at believe at Sentinel High School going down south towards Dorm Blazer Field, so get out there and support your community and your hometown football team.  Thanks so much.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. Anderson.

14.

MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS, REPORTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mayor Jordan Hess There is one miscellaneous communication report, an announcement on the agenda and that's our standing administratively approved agreement report.  I'll just draw attention to that and seeing… Oh Ms. Vasecka.

Alderperson Vasecka Gwen mentioned wanting to make an announcement about the Ward 2 application.

Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Jones.

Alderperson Jones Right.  Regarding the Ward 2 application, Marty, I'm going to have you help me with specifics, but I wanted to remind everyone the Ward 2 application is open.  There was a small glitch over the weekend, so for a period of time it, it was hard to access off of One Direction, but you could Google it and get to it, but my understanding is it was opened as of late Sunday afternoon, it's wide open.  We hope to get lots of good applications and Marty could you reiterate when those applications are due on this Thursday?  What time they're due?

Marty Rehbein Applications are due Thursday the 22^nd at noon and for folks on the reviewing audience who might be wanting to apply.  One of the things that I'd encourage you to do, in addition to submitting a fantastic application, is to check your voter registration and make sure that your voter registration address is (a) located in Ward 2 and (b) that it is up to date matches your application.  You can go to the Montana my voter page on their website and look up your voter registration and see what your voter registration address is, that's of record with the county, and if it doesn't match the, you know where you currently live that doesn't mean you can't serve, it just means that if you live in Ward 2, we would like to see the address that your registered to vote at match your voting application.  That'll save us a little bit of time in our vetting process.  So, thanks and we can't wait to get applications from folks who want to serve the community in Ward 2.

Mayor Jordan Hess Thanks Ms. Rehbein for highlighting that.  And I don't see any additional comments.

14.1

Administratively approved agreement report

15.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

Mayor Jordan Hess So, thank you all for your service and we'll be adjourned.  

The meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.