OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Belgrade City Council Meeting - August 17, 2026

City Council & Boards — Monday, August 17, 2026
BodyBelgrade, Montana
SessionCity Council & Boards
DateMonday, August 17, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 19:17
Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

I'll call the Belgrade City Council meeting to order and please stand and follow me in the pledge.

0:14

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

0:31

Roll call, please.

0:33

Jason Guffy?

0:34

Here.

0:35

Matt McGee.

0:36

Here.

0:36

Jim Simon.

0:37

Here.

0:38

Here.

0:39

Christine Menicucci.

0:40

Here.

0:40

Aaron Bell.

0:41

Here.

0:42

Renee Minimum.

0:43

Here.

0:44

Thank you.

0:45

And we have everybody here tonight.

0:48

All right.

0:48

So moving on to the public forum.

0:50

So before starting your comments, please state your name and address and audible tone of voice for the record.

0:56

This is a time for individuals to comment on matters falling within the purview of the Belgrade City Council that are not already on the agenda.

1:04

There will be an opportunity in conjunction with each agenda item for comments pertaining to that item.

1:09

Please note the council may not engage in discussion or respond to questions during this time.

1:15

However, at the mayor's discretion, the city manager may be asked to provide clarification on existing policy.

1:21

And please limit your comments to three minutes.

1:24

So first call for public forum.

1:29

Second call for public form.

1:34

Third and final call for public forum.

1:38

Seeing none, I'll close the public forum and move it on to our consent agenda.

1:50

I move to um I'm sorry.

1:55

To approve all the consent items as submitted.

1:59

Second.

2:00

Let's move by council member Minoncuci, seconded by council member Simon.

2:05

Is there any discussion?

2:07

Is there any discussion?

2:09

Is there any discussion?

2:10

All those in favor say aye.

2:13

Aye.

2:13

Aye.

2:14

All those opposed, same sign.

2:16

Passes unanimously.

2:19

All right.

2:20

Into our public hearings.

2:22

So first up is discuss and consider altering the method of assessment for the city's forestry assessment.

2:29

Mr.

2:29

Green.

2:31

Evening.

2:31

Mayor, members of the city council, Jordan Green, Director of Parks, Trails, and Recreation.

2:36

If you'll recall a few uh council workshops ago, we discussed some amendments to the forestry assessment.

2:42

Um, and there was some consensus among the council as to the path we wanted to take, mainly looking at uh the graduated scale based on lot size with a cap um for certain size lots at around $70 per year.

2:58

Um you can see in your packet a summary that kind of shows um that information.

3:04

Umfortunately, while um the finance department was looking at the numbers and starting to plug them into our tax software to do some quality analysis.

3:13

Uh they noticed some discrepancies in some of the numbers and some of the parcel numbers, and so we're having to take a closer look at some of those just to make sure the data is um perfect before it's presented.

3:28

And so the numbers in that summary might change very slightly from the uh final numbers that are presented.

3:35

Um, as such, uh we notice another public hearing to extend this uh conversation to the September 1st meeting uh where we'll take a look at it then.

3:46

Um happy to answer any questions about that in the meantime, but yeah, um I'll keep it quick tonight, but we are looking at making a few small changes to that.

3:55

Thank you.

3:58

So, Mayor, uh, tonight what we're really needing the council to consider in their motion is a motion to continue this item to the next uh council meeting, which is the Camille the first.

4:14

Thank you, thank you.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████51%
Public Engagement███████████████████21%
Urban Forestry Management███████████12%
Water And Wastewater Management████████9%
Transportation Safety██████7%
Summary of Proceedings

Belgrade City Council Meeting - August 17, 2026

The Belgrade City Council met on Monday, August 17, 2026, at 6:00 PM. The meeting covered continuation of the forestry assessment discussion, appointments to city boards, and various departmental reports. All votes were unanimous.

Consent Calendar

  • The council approved the consent agenda, including routine approvals and actions, unanimously without discussion.

Discussion Items

  • Forestry Assessment Method of Assessment: Parks Director Jordan Green presented a proposal to amend the forestry assessment using a graduated scale based on lot size with a cap of approximately $70 per year for certain lots. However, staff discovered discrepancies in parcel data during analysis, and the item was continued to the next meeting on September 1, 2026, at 6:00 PM (Tuesday) to allow for data verification. The public hearing was opened and closed with no public comment, and the council voted unanimously to continue the hearing.
  • Appointments to Various Boards: The Mayor recommended filling the Urban Transportation Board (UTB) vacancy with the City Manager or his appointee, noting the board's heavy time commitment. For the Impact Fee Advisory Board, the Mayor recommended Spencer Draper and Annie Hamilton; two seats will remain open. The council unanimously adopted these recommendations.

Reports

  • City Manager: Announced that construction of the Mayfair Meadows pump track will begin August 31, 2026. The Parks Department will host a 20th anniversary celebration for the splash pad on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM with free ice cream. A TikTok video about the splash pad generated community interest in a potential pool. The City Manager corrected an earlier statement about the Belgrade Lounge parking lot, clarifying that it will have approximately 200 parking spots. A water leak detection survey on state streets was successful, finding no large leaks; the utility is working to reduce unaccounted water usage below the industry standard of 30%.
  • Council Member McGee: Stepped down from the UTB board, citing personal time constraints. He highlighted two recent UTB accomplishments: the Streamline bus (pink line) will begin serving the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport in fall 2026, with a route through Belgrade and a stop at the Main Street bus depot; and a bus shelter was relocated from behind TNC to the Belgrade Public Library.
  • Council Member Guffy, Simon, Menicucci, Bell, Deputy Mayor Minimo: Had no additional reports.

Key Outcomes

  • The forestry assessment public hearing was continued to the September 1, 2026 council meeting (Tuesday at 6:00 PM).
  • Appointments were approved unanimously: UTB seat to be filled by City Manager or his delegate; Impact Fee Advisory Board seats filled by Spencer Draper and Annie Hamilton.
  • The council meeting time will permanently move to Tuesdays starting September 1, 2026, at 6:00 PM (previously Mondays at 7:00 PM).
  • The meeting adjourned following a unanimous vote.

Meeting Transcript

I'll call the Belgrade City Council meeting to order and please stand and follow me in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Roll call, please. Jason Guffy? Here. Matt McGee. Here. Jim Simon. Here. Here. Christine Menicucci. Here. Aaron Bell. Here. Renee Minimum. Here. Thank you. And we have everybody here tonight. All right. So moving on to the public forum. So before starting your comments, please state your name and address and audible tone of voice for the record. This is a time for individuals to comment on matters falling within the purview of the Belgrade City Council that are not already on the agenda. There will be an opportunity in conjunction with each agenda item for comments pertaining to that item. Please note the council may not engage in discussion or respond to questions during this time. However, at the mayor's discretion, the city manager may be asked to provide clarification on existing policy. And please limit your comments to three minutes. So first call for public forum. Second call for public form. Third and final call for public forum. Seeing none, I'll close the public forum and move it on to our consent agenda. I move to um I'm sorry. To approve all the consent items as submitted. Second. Let's move by council member Minoncuci, seconded by council member Simon. Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? Is there any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed, same sign. Passes unanimously. All right. Into our public hearings. So first up is discuss and consider altering the method of assessment for the city's forestry assessment. Mr. Green. Evening. Mayor, members of the city council, Jordan Green, Director of Parks, Trails, and Recreation. If you'll recall a few uh council workshops ago, we discussed some amendments to the forestry assessment.

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