City Council Minutes - June 20
 | Author:
Kari Williams, City of Townsend Clerk/Treasurer
City of Townsend Clerk |
City Council Minutes
Kari Williams
City of Townsend Clerk/Treasurer
CITY OF TOWNSEND
City Council Meeting Minutes
June 20, 2023
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Evans called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
Council members present were Vicki Rauser, Angie Wintrow, Nate Brown, Matt West, Ken Urich, and Christina Hartmann. Other attendees include Kari Williams, Tim Rauser, Tim Ravndal, JB Howick, Adam Six, Katherine McBee, Georgjean Brewster, Vivian Boaz, Cliff Wrobetz, Andrew Herrick, Valerie Baraza, and Kristie Harris
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
MINUTES: Vickie Rauser made a correction to the June 6th minutes. In the minutes section, the first sentence has been corrected to Vickie asked for a motion to approve the minutes of May 16, 2023, instead of made a motion….
Vickie made a motion to approve the minutes as corrected. Angie seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.
City-County Airport Lease Agreement: Provided by Peter Simon today via email. Christina said it’s difficult to move forward on something that was just received a few hours prior to the meeting. Angie stated that the agreement had been looked at and corrected prior to this meeting. Christina said she had not been able to read it with the corrections. Vickie made a motion to defer action on the Airport Lease agreement until July 10th. Christina seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.
Pool: Tim gave an update saying that there are a few glitches, but hopefully Brian, the new pool manager will get the chemicals balanced and get it opened. JB Howick asked if the glitches in the system will affect the upcoming years. Tim said no, nothing big. Just average glitches that occur with opening each year.
Hard Drive Chip Sealing: Tim said that they had to quit the work due to the rain and return in July or August. Tim asked the council how they’d like to proceed since the money was to come from the current fiscal year. Vickie said she believes we can encumber the appropriation this year or we can let the appropriation lapse this year and increase it next year. Vickie said she thinks we need to finish the work that we have planned for the streets. Kari will look into how the transaction can be done for the budgetary accounting reporting.
Christina Hartmann gave a report on the Imagine Rural 2023 conference. She said it was very interesting and there was a lot of information from other cities, the Department of Labor, co-op information, housing, childcare, workforce. Topics included grants and funding. Smaller communities all have the same issues. Some communities have started “inviting” people to help out instead of just asking for volunteers, which has increased the number of people participating in various community projects. Some communities offered a “newcomer” event. They invited all of the new people and informed them of the opportunities available to get involved. There was also talk of “re-branding” for a different and more positive image of the town. Top reasons for moving to Montana include better access to the outdoors, a safer place to live, less congestive, a smaller community, and nothing to do with work or jobs. Lots of great ideas and Christina is able to network with some of the people who attended.
Adam Six: One comment that Adam made regarding Christina’s Re-Imagining Rural is that Broadband is limited in Townsend, and he encourages the City of Townsend to consider this and welcome upgraded broadband internet.
Adam also brought pictures of the sidewalk to be installed between the new pavilion and the restroom at Holloway Park. The pathway is about 55-60 ft. Various questions regarding the sidewalk were discussed leading to a motion made by Vickie Rauser to go forward with the sidewalk at Holloway Park. Christine seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.
Guest Katherine McBee requested the use of Massa Park during the County Wide Garage Sale on July 22nd. She will be using it to set up and sell antiques, and she will have 12 vendors. Angie stated that since it’s in a city park and she’s having vendors if she is asking that the city waive the solicitor license fee? Katherine said she didn’t realize that there was a fee. Vickie made a motion to allow Katherine McBee permission to use Massa Park and waive the solicitor’s fee. Angie seconded the motion. Voting was interrupted by JB Howick stating that he’d like to point out that any vehicles for this event should only be allowed to load and unload, and not park on the main street, so as not to interfere with the business parking. Katherine asked what signs she can use for the sale. Ken asked if an outdoor restroom is needed in the park for that many people. Katherine asked why Townsend does not have public restrooms. Tim stated that there are a few public restrooms around town. Matt stated that he would like to see Katherine place signs on the road that tell people where to park for the antique show. Vickie asked Katherine to tell the vendors parking is available for unloading and loading only and that they are not allowed to park there, and also to direct them where to park on the side streets or behind in the alley. Mayor Evans stated that there is a motion on the table that had been made and seconded giving Katherine McBee permission to use Massa Park on July 22nd for an antique sale and waive the solicitor’s fee. All in favor. Motion carried. Matt stated that for other events, we have people fill out an event sheet. Vickie and Angie stated that the event committee has not met, and those sheets are not yet available.
Guest Georjean Brewster requested a “Dark Sky” ordinance in the city. She stated that this is the Big Sky state, and a dark sky ordinance would preserve our skies for night viewing without artificial light. She has researched international dark sky parks, communities, and how to become a dark sky place. She stated that street yard lights may need to be modified. Vickie asked if she would leave her information with Kari so that they could look at the material, as the council could not decide on this tonight. Georjean left the material with Kari for the council to review.
Contract from Denning & Downey and Associates. The contract is for 3 years going forward for FY2023, FY2024, and FY2025 and needs to be signed. Christina made a motion to approve the contract pending Peter’s review and approval. Matt seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.
Denning & Downey and Associates Audit for FY2022: Vickie asked if Kari would explain the audit results. Kari stated that one of the findings is “segregation of duties”. Kari stated that the employees are now performing actions with dual control initials on all cash deposits and transactions as well as initialing dual control initials for any journal adjustments. Also having timecards signed by the employees, reviewed by their supervisors with the supervisor’s signature. Bank statements and/or cash reports will be given to the council to review monthly and payroll reports and adjustment journal vouchers will be given to the council to review bi-monthly. Matt asked if the timecards being signed by the employees and supervisors were in the employee policy manual. It currently is not, so he asked if we could have Peter add it to the employee policy manual. Vickie asked Kari when the audit report will be final. Angie stated that she attended the exit interview of the audit with Kari and that the auditor stated that the City of Townsend was the first audit this year to have no significant findings. Good job to all. Vickie went through the folder that included the bank statements, adjustment journals, and payroll reports. Kari stated that these will be provided at each council meeting, and they are for informational purposes only.
Guest Valerie Baraza introduced herself and stated that she was interested in becoming a council member.
Adam Six stood up and requested that the Rotary reserve Heritage Park for the Slice of Summer on July 20th and August 17th. Those dates are available and have been reserved.
JB Howick spoke and reiterated the need for broadband internet in rural areas. Adam stated that the broadband committee would welcome a city representative.
Round Table:
Christina—pothole on north cedar and 2nd. Tim said that they have to wait until the weather dries out before the potholes can be repaired.
Ken—x
Nate—x
Angie--x
Matt—x
Adjournment: Ken made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Nate seconded the motion. All in favor, motion carried.
Next meeting: July 10th, 2023
Next Budget meeting: July 10th at 5:30
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Kari Williams Mayor Evans
