Civil Discussion – Good For What Ails Us In Broadwater County
 | Author:
Nancy Marks
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Civil Discussion – Good for What Ails Us in Broadwater County
Government meetings are a dime a dozen when you are a newspaper reporter. Some are interesting, some are boring, but they are all important.
The most important meeting I’ve attended since I started writing for the paper was the monthly meeting of Broadwater County Development Corporation at the Lodge recently.
BCDC Co-Chairmen John Hahn and Craig Vietz arranged a members’ meeting to include an open discussion with newly-elected District 77 Republican Legislator Jane Gillette to ask her questions which are high priority on the minds of Broadwater County residents. Broadwater is the second fastest-growing county in Montana, according to World Media, Inc. so questions about population growth were front and center.
Many of the county’s stakeholders quizzed Gillette. The mayor attended as well as a county commissioner. Business owners, representatives from the Silos subdivision and individuals who were very educated in development attended.
Hahn and Vietz had spent hours and thought compiling a list of six questions pertinent to our county. Some included current policy about the kinds of structures developers can build on their property asking her how new legislation could give county governments the tools they need to control building and requirements for developers to address future infrastructure.
Questions addressed the lack of housing in the county, tax relief, and housing for senior citizens transitioning out of their long-time homes. Other questions dealt with laws that might be enacted around water conservation and water resource protection; and re-establishing county mill levy funds for nonprofit organizations.
Gillette’s heart is in health legislation since her background is in dentistry. She served in the 2023 legislature session. By her own admission, she is very new to the needs of Broadwater and admitted she was not familiar with many of the laws surrounding subdivision and water resources, but will do research to educate herself on those subjects.
I was very impressed with the people who turned out to learn Gillette’s stand on issues. I was more impressed with the work Veitz and Hahn did on the questions for her.
I would ask BCDC officers to set up another PUBLIC meeting so others can learn more about what ails our community and how to fix some of those problems. It would be great if Representative Gillette and Senator Wylie Galt could attend.
Nancy Marks, MT43News Reporter
