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PHILIPSBURG TOWN COUNCIL AGENDA

January 21st, 2025

6:00 A.M. Philipsburg Town Hall

 

Council in attendance: Carl Sundstrom (online), Jason White, Gary Fujinami, Mayor Daniel Reddish, Scott Lyons, Josh Henderson, John Laigaie. Others in attendance: Clerk Rachel Parret, Special Projects Maureen Connor, Elena Gagliano (online), Ruby Kikkert, Peter Chmielewski.

 

CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Reddish called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Mayor Reddish led the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

Public Comment Non-Agenda and Agenda Items

- Public Comment on Matters within the Town Council’s Jurisdiction. Public Comment will be limited to 3 minutes.

No Public Comment.

 

Swearing in of Josh Henderson for Council Position

Mayor Reddish swore in Josh Henderson for the Council Position.

 

Ruby Kikkert – Skate Park Update

Ruby Kikkert gave the Council an update on the Skate Park.

  1. The cost of the Skate Park is $300,000.

  2. The Skate Park Association has raised $200,000.

  3. Evergreen Skate Park will be constructing the Skate Park.

  4. The construction of the Skate Park is estimated to begin in September 2025.

  5. The Skate Park will be built North of the baseball field at Zane’s Park.

  6. The Skate Park will be approximately 10,000 square feet.

  7. Ruby Kikkert gave the County Commissioners and the Drummond Superintendent a presentation on the Skate Park.

  8. Drummond Superintendent would like to take the kids to the Skate Park when the construction is completed for P.E. and field trips.

  9. The Skate Park will include a pump track (geared towards younger kids) and two bowls for more skilled skaters.

  10.  The Skate Park Association is working on sponsors levels that will be named after Discovery runs and mines.

Mayor Reddish commended Ruby Kikkert for her tenaciousness and stated that Public Works will need to be consulted before construction.

Councilman Sundstrom stated that Ruby Kikkert should get ahold of the Public Health Nurse to see if she could get helmets donated to help prevent head injuries.

 

Minutes of Prior Meeting

-January 7th, 2025  

Councilman Fujinami made a motion to approve the 1/7/25 minutes, Councilman Lyons seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Lagoon Pay App #10

No Pay App.

 

Swank Pay App #4

No Pay App.

 

Tank Pay App #1

Councilman Lyons made a motion to approve the Tank Pay App #1 in the mount of $77, 073.50, Councilman Fujinami seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Bills Payable

-January 8th – 17th, 2025

Councilman Lyons made a motion to approve the bills payable from 1/8/25 – 1/17/25, Councilman Fujinami seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

All other Bills Payable

Councilman Fujinami made a motion to approve all other bills payable en masse’, Councilman Sundstrom seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Payroll

-January 17th, 2025

Councilman Fujinami made a motion to approve the payroll from 1/17/25, Councilman Lyons seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Unfinished Business from Previous Meeting

Sewer Lagoon Update

Special Projects Maureen Connor gave the Council an update on the Sewer Lagoon Project.

  1. The new big lagoons have blowers running on them and they currently do not have ice buildup on them, even with the negative temperatures. 

  2. Nexom turned on the SAGAR System and heard a knocking sound. The SAGAR was turned off and the knocking sound stopped.

  3. Nexom is scheduled to come back in the Spring to train and official turn on the SAGAR System.

  4. The Headworks screen is due to be installed in April of 2025.

 

Water Update

Special Projects Maureen Connor gave the Council an update on the Water Projects.

  1. Joe Mullaney with HDR is working on the updated SCADA System.

  2. The Town has three task orders for upgrading SCADA and one SCADA task order for on-call work.

  3. Silver Springs will have new pumps put in and the Town will keep one rebuilt pump on the shelf for a backup.

  4. Swank will be submitting another change order for the schedule of completion, due to waiting for the new pumps to come in.

  5. HDR has offered to pay for the two pumps flows to be separated.

 

-ARPA Budget

Special Projects Maureen Connor submitted a letter to the Council explaining the ARPA Water Budget Correction and explained the ARPA Water Budget.

  1. Maureen Connor stated that she had had concerns about the budget.

  2. The Town needs to have adequate contingency for the Tank Project.

  3. The Town has submitted 9 invoices to the Water Budget that should not have been submitted.

  4. All 9 invoices have been paid out of the ARPA funds and other grants.

  5. This issue was reported to the State and corrective actions have been taken.

  6. The administration has also found about $60,000 in invoices that have not been submitted, and the Town has paid these invoices out of pocket. These invoices will be submitted for reimbursement through the ARPA grant.  

Councilman Laigaie inquired if this is correction on the ARPA grant is an administrative shuffle. Maureen Connor stated that the correction is an administrative shuffle.

Mayor Reddish stated that several municipalities turned down the ARPA grants due to the amount of paper involved in tracking the grant.

 

Stormwater Update

No Update.

 

NEW BUSINESS

Swank – Contract Change Order #2 and Owner Change Order #6 – ACTION ITEM

Councilman Sundstrom made a motion to approve the Swank Contract Change Order #2 and the Owner Change Order #6, Councilman Lyons seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

HDR – Task Order #4 Amendment #2 - ACTION ITEM

Councilman Lyons made a motion to approve the HDR Task Order #4 Amendment #2, Councilman Fujinami seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Great West – Task Order #2 Amendment #1 – ACTION ITEM

Councilman Lyons made a motion to approve the Great West Task Order #2 Amendment #1, Councilman Fujinami seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

Ordinance Book

Mayor Reddish stated that the time has come to start updating the Ordinance Book for the Town. The Town Council needs to have special meetings to go through the book and decipher what needs to be updated. Mayor Reddish stated that Councilman Lyons will schedule a meeting to get the process started.

Clerk Rachel Parret stated that the codifiers asked for the Resolutions and Ordinance from 2021 to current.

Councilman Lyons stated that the Council has implemented Ordinances, however the Ordinance Book has not been updated since 2021.

 

Correspondence

Watershed Management Grant Review Committee

 Montana Rail Link

Mayor Reddish updated the Council on the Correspondences. 

  1. The letter to Watershed Management was in support of the Watershed for a grant that they are applying for.

  2. Montana Rail Link sent the Town and County a legal document stating that they want to abandon the rail link from Drummond to Philipsburg.

  3. The Town submitted the Rail Link documents to Great West and Missouri River Contactors, so they can dispute replacing a culvert and paying for insurance on the work that needs to be done.

NON-AGENDA ITEMS

Council

Mayor Reddish stated that he has a meeting with the Trails Association on Thursday 1/23/25 at 8:00 am.

Councilman Sundstrom stated that the County passed a Resolution on meeting times for the Commissioners. Councilman Sundstrom suggest that the Council do the same.

Mayor Reddish stated that he had just discussed with Clerk Rachel Parret about Resolution pertaining to the meeting times and a few other yearly Resolutions that should be done.

Councilman Sundstrom asked Maureen Connor if the Contractors consider the Town’s Preferred Contractor List when hiring subcontractors.

Maureen Connor stated that of the last few large projects the Town has done the Contractors have considered the Town’s Preferred Contractor.

Clerk Rachel Parret stated that Montana Rural Water will be here on Wednesday 1/22/25 and Thursday 1/23/25 for training purposes.

Councilman Laigaie stated that Feb. 17th is President’s Day and Feb. 22nd is George Washington’s Birthday. Councilman Laigaie will have a three-volley salute each of these days at noon.

Councilman Lyons welcomed new Councilman Josh Henderson.

 

Public Comment on Matters within the Town Council’s Jurisdiction

Elena Gagliano stated that the County had a 64-page document that was submitted to them from Montana Rail Link and was wondering if the Town had received the same document.  Mayor Reddish stated that the Town does have the same document.  Elena Gagliano stated that the restoring of the Rail Link was part of the Growth Policy, and the business would like to see the Rail Link restored for tourism. Elena Gagliano stated that in the past the Ranchers in the Valley fought against putting in a trail along the Rail Link and she suspects this will happen again.

Elena Gagliano also brought up her disappointment on the Town’s Website.

 

ADJOURN

Councilman Lyons made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:58 pm, Councilman Fujinami seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

*** In addition to the regular attendance at Town Hall, the Town will be using the video conferencing service Zoom.us

Meeting ID: 6165576972

© 2024 Town of Philpsburg MT

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