PHILIPSBURG TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
April 5th, 2022
7:00 P.M. Philipsburg Town Hall
Council in Attendance: Mayor Daniel Reddish, Scott Lyons, John Laigaie, Gary Fujinami, Carl Sundstrom, and Jason White. Council absent: DuWayne Ulrich. Others in attendance: Town Clerk Reed Speegle, Public Works Director Sam Dennis, Grant Writer Maureen Connor, Town Attorney Greg Overstreet (video), Barbara Cahill, Breane Roseboom, Matthew Spoon, and Elena Gagliano (video).
Wendy Goff – 2nd Street Property
Not in attendance.
Breane Roseboom - Winninghoff Park Concert
Breane explained her proposal for a large concert during the Valley Days Weekend on Friday, July 29th. The concert would support Montana Grit Outdoor, a local non-profit that helps veterans and their families. There was a discussion between Breane and the Council on more specific logistics.
Lynora Rogstad - Rural Water Apprenticeship Program
Not in attendance. Postponed until next meeting.
Elena Gagliano – Big Sky Passenger Rail
No report at the time. Postponed until next meeting.
STANDING REPORTS
Sheriff
Report submitted. Councilman Laigaie said he had spoken with Sheriff Dunkerson about the Town’s Growth Plan.
Library Board
Barbara Cahill talked to the Council about the current and future events at the library.
Chamber of Commerce
No report.
Parks Board
No report.
Fire Department
Sam Dennis talked about a couple of fires that had recently occurred as well as some new equipment the Department had acquired.
Grant Writer
Maureen Connor reported that the results on ARPA 2 would be in the near future. She also talked about applying for MCEP this summer for the 2023 legislative cycle.
Director of Public Works
Sam Dennis mentioned the need to perform some capacity studies on sewer mains within Town if development is to continue. Brief discussion followed.
Town Attorney
No report.
Town Clerk
No report.
Minutes of Prior Meetings
Councilman Lyons made the motion to approve the minutes from 3/15/22, Councilman Fujinami seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Payroll and Bills Payable
Councilman Lyons made the motion to approve the payroll, Councilman White seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Councilman Fujinami made the motion to approve the bills payable, Councilman Lyons seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Water and Sewer Adjustments
Councilman Fujinami made the motion to approve the water and sewer adjustments, Councilman Lyons seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Project Request Payments
Councilman Sundstrom made the motion to approve HDR invoice #13527, Councilman Lyons seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Councilman Lyons made the motion to approve HDR invoice #14173, Councilman Fujinami seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Councilman Lyons made the motion to table Pioneer Technical invoice #13527, Councilman Sundstrom seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Councilman Fujinami made the motion to approve Great West Engineering invoice #26043, Councilman Lyons seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Councilman Fujinami made the motion to approve Great West Engineering invoice #26093, Councilman Lyons seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Councilman Lyons made the motion to approve Great West Engineering invoice #25828, Councilman Fujinami seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
Financials
Councilman Lyons made the motion to approve the financials, Councilman Fujinami seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS
Sewer Lagoon Update
Mayor Reddish informed the Council that Jeff Dillon of the Army Corps of Engineering would be in town on April 19th to talk about WRDA funding and the lagoon project.
Growth Plan Update
Mayor Reddish talked about the significant attendance at the previous meeting. The next meeting would be April 20th at 6:00. He also mentioned the possibility of a Town Planning Board in the future.
NEW BUSINESS
Encroachment Ordinance
Mayor Reddish read a draft of the ordinance. Greg Overstreet talked about his intention to separate new from existing encroachments in the document. He mentioned fee structure and the old ordinances concerning this issue. Councilman Lyons talked about what still needed to be figured out within the document. Matthew Spoon gave some background on his particular issue and how he would prefer to proceed. Councilman Lyons stated that the Town Council was no in favor of a land swap. He explained how a potential encroachment license would work. Matthew Spoon had some concerns about this related to his property taxes. Councilman Sundstrom stated that license fees would not be punitive but determined by some objective metric.
NON AGENDA ITEMS
Council
Councilman Sundstrom talked about committees and performance evaluations. He stated that he would be conducting interviews with Sam Dennis on the following Thursday.
Councilman Lyons said he would be out of Town from April 14th- May 4th.
Councilman Sundstrom said he would be out of Town from May 5th – May 14th.
A Finance Committee meeting was scheduled for May 18th at 10:00 a.m.
Public Comment on Matters within the Town Council’s Jurisdiction
Elena Gagliano said she would like to give more information to the Council at the meeting on April 19th.
Councilman Lyons made the motion to adjourn at 9:01, Councilman Sundstrom seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.