City of Bozeman Week in Review - Week of 9/23/24

Entry posted by admin in City of Bozeman Week in Review October 1

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Welcome to the first edition of our weekly offering titled the “City of Bozeman Week in Review.” We at the Gallatin Valley Sentinel realize that the vast majority of you do not have the time to watch or attend each of the city’s advisory board and commission meetings held each week. Many times, total meeting hours can average 10 hours or more per week. This section of our website will summarize the key takeaways you need to be aware of and provide you with access to opinion-free notes transcribed by our volunteers who take the time to listen to every publicly-recorded meeting each week.

For detailed notes on each of the meetings summarized below, please click on the links at the end of this blog to download. In the attachments, you will find a link to each recorded meeting, detailed notes with time stamps, and images of the Powerpoint slides presented during each of the meetings.

City Commission

· We learn in this week’s meeting that Jon Henderson is the new Assistant City Manager. Prior to this new role, Henderson worked as the Strategic Services Director in the city’s GIS (Geographic Information System) Division.

· At this week’s meeting, the commission hears a presentation on the “Disability Community Chats,” which are meetings the city held with individuals with disabilities to learn more about their unique challenges and how the city can make its operations, engagement, resources, and infrastructure more accessible.

· The disability community is just one of three groups the city targeted for special representation in its “Belonging in Bozeman Plan.” The other two groups given special attention are the LGBT community and the Spanish-speaking community. In 2023, the city adopted the Belonging in Bozeman Plan, which was the region’s first equity and inclusion plan. Takami Clark, Communications and Engagement Manager for the city, says that this plan was intended to remove barriers for some members of the community in eight key areas: housing, transportation, health and well-being, education, childcare and youth programming, economic stability, community resiliency, and community safety and civic health. They hired three community liaisons who are members of “key, underserved members of our community.” During the development of the Belonging in Bozeman Plan, the city hired an LGBT liaison, a Spanish-speaking liaison, and a disability community liaison to facilitate these discussions with members of each “marginalized” part of the community.

· City staff also gave a presentation on the 2022 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report. The results of this study are detailed in the slides shared in the attached notes, but a quick summary is to say that the city has not moved any closer to its climate goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.

· Natalie Meyers, the city’s Sustainability Program Manager, gives several staff recommendations on how individuals can reduce their impact on the climate, citing examples such as carpooling, walking or biking, lobbying at the state-level for clean energy, thinking carefully about air travel, eating a plant-based diet, and joining a climate change group.

· The commission approved a zone map amendment to change the zoning on a 10-acre parcel of land near North 19^th and Springhill (known as the “Rest Stop”). The zoning changed from M-1 (Light Manufacturing) to B-2 (Community Business District). There are currently plans for two commercial developments at this location, one of which is planned to be a fast-food restaurant. The planning documents for this application can be found here: https://weblink.bozeman.net/WebLink/Browse.aspx?startid=290402&cr=1.

· The commission also approved the Annual Lighting District Assessments, which are assessments for Special Lighting Districts that will be placed on the tax bills of individuals and businesses who own property in each district. These assessments mostly pay for the cost of electricity within the district (street lights, etc.), but also cover expenses for maintenance and/or replacement.

· The commission approved the assessment of delinquent water, sewer, stormwater, garbage, and recycling charges, which is an effort to collect on the outstanding bills for these services, which total just over $23,000 amongst 51 accounts.

· Lastly, the commission passed the annual assessment of snow removal charges. City municipal code requires property owners to clear their sidewalks from snow and ice. Non-compliant owners are identified through the public complaint process, and they’re delivered a notice asking them to clear their sidewalk. If, after a few days, they still have not cleared the sidewalks, the city can contract for snow removal on the homeowner’s behalf. Owners are given time to pay this “bill,” but for those who have not paid, the delinquent amount will be assessed on their property tax bill. There are 12 bills outstanding, totaling just under $2,700.

· If someone is not physically able to clear the snow in front of their property, they can call the city to participate in the “Snow Angels Program,” where the city will send a volunteer to clear their sidewalks free of charge.

· They appointed two new members to the Board of Health, and one new member to the Board of Ethics.

Gallatin Valley MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) – Transportation Policy Coordinating Committee

· A little background: The Gallatin Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO, for short), was recently formed because of Bozeman’s population exceeding 50,000 in the 2020 Census. The MPO has two committees, the Transportation Policy Coordinating (TPCC) and the Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TPCC), and committee members include officials from the cities of Bozeman and Belgrade, Gallatin County, and MDT, among others. The city also recently hired the new MPO Manager, Jeff Butts.

· Because the MPO is new, there are a lot of foundational documents that need to be written and submitted. The document discussed at this meeting is the Long-Range Transportation Plan.

Transportation Board

· Mark Egge, who sits on the city’s Community Development Board, Gallatin Valley MPO Transportation Policy Coordinating Committee, and the Governor’s Housing Task Force and whose employer is a paid city consultant, presents to the Transportation Board from his other role as Chair of the Gallatin Valley Urban Transportation District, which will soon operate the Streamline bus service.

· All of the transit services, including Streamline and Gallavan (the county’s van service for seniors and disabled riders) are currently operated by HRDC, but operations will soon be assumed by the newly formed Urban Transportation District (UTD).

· The City of Bozeman currently contributes $400,000 out of the general fund to help support operations of the Streamline service.

· The UTD has authority to levy mills, which can be used as an additional funding source to keep the bus rides free to all.

· The UTD will soon be hiring a director.

· When asked if the UTD has considered charging for bus fares, Egge says that it is a part of their agreement with HRDC to keep the fares free to all.

· The Transportation Board also held a work session to provide input to the City Commission on creating a parking district around Gallatin High School, which is being proposed by residents living near the school.

· The issue with parking in this residential area has arisen from the fact that the school, because they are allowed to exempt themselves from certain local zoning ordinances, planned 750 on-site parking spaces for 1,500 students plus teachers and staff, and from the student population, only juniors and seniors are allowed to park on-site. Sophomore students must park off-site. The deliberate lack of parking is creating safety and convenience issues for nearby property owners.

Urban Parks & Forestry

· As a part of the discussion on the creation of the Park Land Trust Community Grant Program, city staff explains how cash-in-lieu of parkland works. This concept means that instead of a developer creating a park in the neighborhood / development, they can give the city cash, in lieu of providing parkland. It is much cheaper for a developer to pay the city cash-in-lieu rather than to provide actual land for a park, making this a huge incentive for developers to be able to create affordable housing (yet this is never a part of the Affordable Housing Ordinance conversation). State law currently caps cash-in-lieu of parkland at $2.65 per square foot, compared to the cost of land, which city staff says is closer to $22 per square foot.

· Staff and board members discuss how to make sure the grant program is equitable, with one board member suggesting that they should assign criteria weight to marginalized groups to provide them with a “competitive advantage” over established groups like the land trusts.

· This board also discusses the engagement plan for the Cattail Creek Corridor Park and Anchor Route Master Plan.

· While there are about 11,000 residents in the area of this park, city staff has set a goal of reaching about 75 of them with their engagement plan.

Stay tuned next week for the summary of the upcoming City Commission meeting, where they will be finalizing the details on the community engagement plan for the re-write of the city’s UDC (Unified Development Code) and will be deciding on the allocation of TIF funds to a new development called Wallace Works.

Let us know in the comments below if you have any questions on this week’s notes or suggestions on city-related topics that you would like to learn more about.

City Commission Notes from 9/24/24

Gallatin Valley MPO - Transportation Policy Coordinating Committee Notes from 9/25/24

Transportation Board Notes from 9/25/24

Urban Parks & Forestry Board Notes 9/26/24