So please stand with me for the Pledge of Allegiance and our invocation by Councilmember Nees.

Pledge of allegiance to the nice hands.

Pray.

Father God in heaven, we give you praise and honor for who you are.

So grateful for your love and mercy for all your mercy, which allows us to uh just invite you here with us now.

We ask for your Holy Spirit to guide us in our deli liberations so that your will can be done here on earth as it is in heaven.

We pray for your continued goodness for the provisions of this city.

We ask that you have mercy for our failings against your standards, as we humbly serve this community.

Lead us in the truth of your wisdom, hold us in your goodness.

And Father God, we ask that you provide wellness and safety to the men and women who serve and protect this city, this county, this state, and this nation, both here and abroad.

I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ and for his glory.

Amen.

Amen.

Tony, if you would please call the roll.

Councilmember Shaw.

Uh Councilmember Shah is excused.

She's recovering from her back surgery.

Gullick.

Nece.

Here.

Owen.

Here.

Rogers.

Kennedy.

Here.

Aspenlighter.

Here.

Tidswell.

Here.

Boyette.

Rhapsys.

Council Member Ripsis is excused.

He's dropping off his son.

Mayor College.

And I'm here.

Council minutes are from July 28, 2025.

Let's uh we'll deal with that current courtesies.

Uh Council, do we have uh any uh changers, comments, or um um motion relating to the minutes?

Councilmember uh Gillick.

Um I move to approve the minutes, uh the draft minutes dated uh for the uh July 28th, 2025 meeting.

Second, Councilmember Neese.

Any discussion.

Seeing none, uh, if in favor of the motion, which is approval of the July 28th minutes, please say aye.

Hi.

If opposed, nay.

Uh motion passes unanimously.

Council Curtis, Council Courtesies, Councilmember Asmlighter.

Yeah, thanks.

Um first uh I want to thank our fire department.

I mean, we had a a really unfortunate incident uh at Highlands this weekend.

And uh, you know, their their response um probably saved a life uh this this weekend.

So today is is Sean Ryan's birthday.

Um the Ryan family is pretty pretty well known family in this community, long time uh members of the community and and uh you know Sean is fighting for his life in the ICU uh at St.

B's.

And I just asked everybody to keep the Ryan family in their prayers.

Um thank Billings Fire Department for for their effort, their quick response.

Um, like I said, they they probably saved Sean's life.

He's got a long way to go to try to come out of this.

But if if we could also just keep the Ryan family in our prayers, that would be um much appreciated by the family.

I know.

Thank you, Council Member Aspener.

Uh we will do that.

Uh additional courtesies, Councilmember Kennedy.

Yes, the um family tree nurturing center, um, partnered with the uh um South Side Neighborhood Task Force, and on Saturday, August 16th, we will have a carnival.

Um, there'll be free food, the hot dogs hamburgers, candy, uh, cotton candies, snow cones.

Um there will be a bounce house and climbing wall and face painting and all of that.

We want to do that.

Um, so family and kids come, and we have about 16 different organizations that will be there to help families get ready for school from backpacks to all kinds of things.

So I just wanted to make sure all of you knew from 10 until two, and we'd love to have you all there.

And we will have a fire fire truck there for kids to see, and uh friendship house will be there passing out drinks.

So it it should be uh a nice occasion and please come down for it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Rogers and the Councilmember Nece.

Um on the 15th, uh, August 15th, we have uh Veterans Navigation Network has a uh free concert and dinner for all active duty and uh veterans from our military and their families.

And um, so it's down at the Red Ox, and I just wanted to put that out there.

About one in 10 Montanas is a veteran.

So thank you guys for your service.

Very good.

Thank you.

Councilmember Nees.

Yeah, four more days on the 15th.

Um, we should be able to apply for our property tax rebate for those who are homeowners.

So remember that.

Uh don't don't forget, because that's 400 in your pocket along with the city's reduction average reduction of 200.

Uh, this is gonna be another 400 uh for each uh homeowner.

So please don't forget that it's coming up soon.

Very good.

Thank you.

Any other uh courtesies?

Seeing none, uh we have no proclamations this evening.

Any uh council reports.

Seeing none, uh, we'll move on to our city administrator report.

Uh Chris.

Mayor and council.

So first up is a request to remove uh consent agenda item one D from tonight's agenda.

Second is uh a notice or just uh get on your calendars if you're interested.

So a week from tomorrow.

So it's Tuesday, August 19th, in this uh council chambers.

Uh the city and chamber of commerce are hosting uh commissions on security and insurance.

I wanted to come provide an opportunity to share what they've got going on there with uh our community as well as uh do some QA.

So uh one week from tomorrow that'll be held in this room.

So um the chamber is ordering food if you'd let us know if you plan on attending.

Uh and then the last thing I have is there is no ex parte communication.

So if I could get an amendment at the appropriate time tonight to remove item one D.

Uh that's it.

Thank you.

Very good.

Thank you, Chris.

I'll entertain that motion when we're done with public comment, uh, just in case somebody came to comment um this evening on that uh item uh while it's still on our agenda.

So uh we'll move then to public comment on the non-public hearing items.

Uh tonight that's uh everything other than item two, the expansion of the bid district is item two.

We'll have a public hearing on that when we get to it.

But if you'd like to comment on item one, any of our consent agenda, any of the sub items or the appointment of uh bid board members, which is item three.

This is the appropriate time to do that.

So please come to the podium if anybody would like to comment.

We just ask that you keep your comments to tell us to three minutes and tell us who you are.

Um is there any public comment on items one or item three at this point?

Any public comment before we close the public comment, period.

Okay, we'll close public comment on uh items one and three and move on to item one, our consent agenda first.

Council, are there any separations?

Um well, I I take it back.

Before we get to that, let's deal with that amendment.

Uh again, the request was to remove item one D as in dog the police uh officers union collective bargaining uh agreement.

Is there a motion relating to that?

Councilmember Nees?

Mayor, I make a motion to remove item one D from the agenda.

Yeah.

Uh second by councilmember Rogers.

Uh any uh discussion for receive the vote.

Okay, seeing no discussion, the motion is for uh to remove item one D.

Um, if in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

If opposed, say nay.

Motion passes unanimously.

Uh now uh separations.

Councilmember Asmulyer.

Um Mr.

Mayor, I'd move asked to remove agenda item one or a one h one uh for purposes of recusal.

My company's in the payables.

Uh thank you very much.

Uh uh councilmember as well to recuse himself.

One H1.

Um, any other separations?

Uh Council, nope, no others.

Okay, is there a motion relating to the unseparated items?

Councilmember Kennedy.

I would make that motion for the unseparated items.

Motion to approve the items uh not separated.

Uh is there a second?

Second by councilmember Nice.

Any discussion?

Any discussion before we proceed to a vote?

Okay, motions for approval of the items that have not been separated.

If in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

If opposed, nay.

Motion passes unanimously.

Then the only separated item is uh that uh item one h1 bills for the week of July 14, 2025.

Is there a motion?

Councilmember Neese.

Uh approve item one H one.

Very good.

Is there a second?

Second, Councilmember Rogers.

Any discussion.

Seeing none, the motion is for approval of 1H1.

If in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

If opposed, nay.

Motion passes unanimously.

Uh on to our.

Oh uh, thank you very much for pointing out uh the uh exceptionally council member ashwladder who did not vote.

Um regular agenda uh then begins with item number two.

Uh Tony, would you read item number two?

Public hearing and resolution creating downtown business improvement district, BID 0001.

Staff recommends approval.

Very good.

Um I believe we have a pre presentation of sorts here.

Uh Chris.

So uh yes, I I do not have any slides for you, but I will walk through this.

It's pretty straightforward, and then I know we've got uh representatives from the business improvement district to be glad to answer any questions you have.

So first up is uh this is by statute the creation of a new district, though one might think of it as a continuation.

They have a sunset period that time has come.

Uh and so the process requires that the community go through the same process as creating.

So the downtown business improvement district needed to secure a minimum of 60 percent of property owner signatures uh for their petition.

They received just shy of 72 percent.

I think 70 uh 1.88%.

So they met that threshold.

You uh back on July 28th, uh passed a resolution, basically a resolution of intent to hold a public hearing this evening, notifying the community that uh you're gonna hold this public hearing tonight.

Uh so we are doing that.

Uh, and that's what we're here to do this evening.

Just very briefly to highlight you know, of more recently.

Um the business improvement district has been essential in supporting and funding portions of public safety improvements downtown, beautification downtown and sidewalk uh uh work.

So it's more complex in all areas, public safety, beautification, sidewalks, but I'm just kind of hitting the buckets there, which is primarily where uh these resources get allocated to.

It's a self-imposed assessment or request uh that they have, and we're here tonight to hold the public hearing and ultimately for you to determine whether you're going to create the business improvement district for the next uh time period.

With that, we'll be glad to answer any questions.

Very good.

Uh are there any questions for Chris?

And then we'll ask whether uh the uh DBA uh which administers the bid has any further comments before we uh begin then the public hearing.

Councilmember Kennedy.

Yes, Chris, on uh section four, the benefited property and the district and territory included within the limits boundaries uh described in section three and shown in exhibit A are hereby declared to be the business improvement district, and and you can read that.

Um I would like to see an amendment to that that the benefited property um, if they uh they could opt out.

Um, and I don't know, Gina or Chris, where that would go in here, but if you go down and look at the map, there's a lot of on the south side, uh, south of First Avenue, South.

There's a lot of those properties that are not benefited and not getting sweeping and not getting a a lot of the others stuff that uh that would be given.

And I just want to give them an opportunity to opt out.

I know that after talking with Katie that if they're in the middle of the district and they are completely surrounded, they cannot get out.

Um, when we used to do our RSIDs, um, we gave people an opportunity if they didn't benefit at all.

And I get it that um you try to make your district as big as possible.

Um I just don't think there's a lot of those properties that have received a lot down there, if they have, um, like they do in the downtown area.

So I'd like to have that opportunity to amend this to be able to let some of those properties opt out, and then to go ahead by state statute is that if they are an island and fully surrounded, they don't have that opportunity.

But I would hope that uh we would be able to let them out of this district if they're not receiving any of those services.

Um at this point, that's a question, I guess.

I have a motion, but kind of how that would work.

Uh is that right?

So we'll just ask Chris to comment and presumably the uh DBA would want to as well.

I'm gonna quick pretty quickly ask Gina to answer that the legal question as to whether it can be done.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Kennedy, um actually the statute just the statutes just allow for creation of the district with the boundaries, there is no provision to opt out.

Um if you're you're either in the district or you're not in the district.

And that is one of the purposes for tonight's hearing to hear protests on creation of the district.

Very good.

Um other questions for uh staff.

Uh Councilmember Bernish.

Mayor, just to just clarification then.

So once this district is created at this size, um, it it can't be added to.

And I just want to clarify with Katie on this, if if you don't mind, because I I believe Katie have you had other op uh businesses want to get into the bid, uh, or is it a different, a different zone that you were where you I was talking to, I don't know if it was you or someone of your staff years ago years ago, and they said that some property owners you provide some of the service because you want to get them into the bid.

Is there an opportunity for these other properties to opt in?

Uh Mayor and Council, Councilmember Neice, there is an option to opt into the bid.

Um the properties that uh council member Kennedy is speaking to are um not inside of the clean zone.

So when he speaks of sidewalk sweeping or flower baskets or something to that nature, these um properties that are not inside of the clean zone are not um assessed at the same value because they do not receive the same level of value.

If there is a property outside of the clean zone that wishes to receive those services, we can contract with them individually, or if it can be a contiguous addition to that boundary, we can extend the boundary at the property owner's request.

Um outside of the the bid boundary that's being proposed right now, it would have to be at the property owner's request to be added to that boundary.

Um and you could also extend that.

But again, you would go through the same process of still needing to require or receive over 60% of the property owners um approval via petition to create that boundary.

But short answer is yes, they can be added.

Okay, so anytime you add one property into the big, the big the bid, then you have to have everyone just like we're doing now to approve it.

But if it's the clean zone, they can just opt in without going through this whole process.

That's correct.

That's what we were talking about in the clean zone.

Okay, thank you.

Yes, thank you for clarifying that.

Very good.

Katie, while you're there, why don't you just stay put just in case?

Uh other questions for uh staff or Katie.

Councilmember Bowen.

Thank you.

Katie, I think I kind of want to pick up on this thread.

So if I understand correctly, there's the bid, there's the safe zone and the clean and safe zone, right?

And is it fair to say that most of the properties in the south side part of the bid are are not in either of those two higher level tiers?

I'm not sure I'm I'm able to track it all the way on the map.

Uh Mayor and Council, Councilmember Owen, um, every property south of the railroad tracks.

I did have GIS pull every single tax parcel that's included in that bid boundary.

They are all in the safe zone.

So they receive only safe services, which right now um is our safety program, including our street outreach team, so homeless outreach, our uh billings police officers when we are able to contract with uh BPD to have those.

And currently our contract with SK Security, anybody who is south of the the railroad tracks that receives the safe uh designation um receives safe services.

Um they only pay 20% of their entire assessed value because that's the level deemed appropriate for the services that they do receive.

So they do not receive any clean zone services, which is the inclusion of sidewalk sweeping, snow plowing, trash removal, flower baskets, et cetera.

We have one uh current property who is the exception of that, and that is High Plains Architects.

They choose to pay the clean zone.

We have a flower basket and a trash can and a bench that we do go down and take care of for them because they choose to pay that that extra assessment for that.

So if I could follow up, mayor, do you have any bid properties that are just basic bid that aren't in either of those two zones?

Or is everybody at least in the safe zone?

Uh councilmember Owen, everybody within this boundary that's indicated within the option, they are all part of the business improvement district and they either receive safe services or clean and safe services.

That tracks for me.

So then my next question is if we assume everybody is at least in the safe zone, I'm not confident that all of those property owners would say they feel like they're really getting extra safety, genuine homelessness outreach.

I mean, I think we have real challenges.

So how would you respond to that?

Uh Councilmember Owen, we we really want to make sure that it's understood that the creation of a bid is to uh provide services above and beyond what the city already, city, county, state already provides.

So while those properties do uh receive the same services as far as billings police officers in that that beat, if you will, we are adding to that layer.

Um, and I could pull up statistics for the council um if they would ask me to to show that our officers or our um SK security or our outreach team do a significant number of calls for service in the South Side, the North Park area, the hospital corridor.

Um they do spend a significant amount of time there, whether or not they're actually being called there by perhaps a property owner specifically, they do spend quite a bit of time patrolling those areas.

Um our contract with SK security is very new, but I receive a report of their services every single night, and they spend quite a bit of time in that area, specifically the skate park, specifically South Park in the areas between there, as well as um patrolling through the hospital corridor as well.

Okay, and then Mayor, my last question is so if if that's the response on safety, what about beautification?

How can we as council members be sure before we vote tonight that the downtown bid is equitably investing in the beautification south of the tracks as well as north of the tracks?

Um uh councilmember Owen, I believe the easy answer would be is that they're not paying for those services.

Um beautification at all.

That's correct.

All they get is safety.

That's correct.

They are in the safe zone.

So there's no basic bid beautification efforts outside of a higher assessment.

Councilmember Owen, that's correct.

Okay.

Thank you, Mayor.

Okay.

Very good.

On that question, Katie, I just wonder about uh it's almost more of a political or PR issue is how we can make sure that the businesses that are receiving these extra services know that, see that.

I don't have an answer to that, maybe through communic communications, uh uh different colored car uniforms, something like that, where they see those special uh services.

Do you have any answer to that uh from a PR point of view?

Uh Mayor and Council Mayor Cole, I'm not sure I understand the question.

If that's for receiving extra services on the safe side of things, on the safe side.

The flowers are rather obvious, right?

Uh Mayor Cole, I would believe that the easy answer would be that when we do have a BPD officer um contracted with uh the business improvement district, in the past we've had up to three.

Currently we have one.

Um, are we did spend um some funds in partnership with the BPD to brand our patrol car because of that exact question that you just asked?

How can our downtown businesses know which patrol car is ours, quote unquote?

Um, because we realize, and I don't know if you have um friends who are cops, um, every patrol car looks like your cop friend and you just wave it all of them.

And so we did brand that our patrol car to be um to have the safety yellow stripe.

It's branded with downtown billings on both sides in the back of that.

Um, as as in addition to that, our bike cops wear the safety yellow shirts that are kind of um, you know, called the bumblebees downtown.

And so we have made every effort to try and brand uniform, um, really make it obvious uh what uh the properties are receiving as far as um those services, including our homeless outreach team in uniform, so that when you do see them out and about, you would recognize them as part of our business improvement district team.

Okay.

Certainly a good effort or important effort.

Councilmember Kenny.

Katie, one other question.

So if a business is paying um a thousand dollars um property taxes, you're doing 20%.

So they're paying 200 again.

And there's someone that is working with the homeless population.

So if they have a problem with the homeless population, which we have around the skate park all the time, um, we could see some things happening.

We haven't seen anything.

So I'm just asking the question, they're gonna want to know what their money is actually going for.

So I would ask you, not this month, but next month, if you would come to the South Side um neighborhood task force and actually explain to people what they're being billed for and what services and a number that they could call for those services, especially when we have in our doorways, people sleeping in the doorways and everything on the businesses down there.

If if you can provide that not this month but next month, um, that would be great because we'll get it out to all the businesses and everything and um see where we go because what I hear is we're getting we're getting tax for it, but we're really not getting services.

So if you can explain the services and who they can call and things like that.

And I know I'll get a rash of calls if they call in and no one calls them back.

So thank you.

Very good.

Thank you.

Uh other questions for uh staff or Katie before we open up for public hearing.

Uh no one is raising the hand, so thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

So this is a public hearing on item number two, the expansion of the, or not the expansion, the uh uh uh reinstatement of the uh downtown business improvement district.

Uh welcome.

Just uh please ask you keep commercial three minutes to tell us who you are.

I'm in the hospital corridor.

I've lived in my house since 1976.

Uh it was a residential zoned residential at that time.

When I went to all the meetings for the creation of the hospital corridor.

Oh thank you.

There.

Thank you.

When the creation of the hospital corridor happened, I went to all the meetings.

They assured us, there were more of us, that we would remain a residence zoned that way until at such a time we either left or or went to a different purpose for our property.

And so that's been the way it was for years.

Then when the downtown uh business association started uh their plans in 2005, I believe it was, something like that.

I went to those meetings and I said you need to exclude the residents in that area from these fees.

Already we have security from the hospital goes by all the time, including my alley.

And also we have uh snow removal service that the hospital provides.

There's nothing that the downtown business association provides.

And in the past, they've excluded us.

There the last time it was renewed in 2015, there was literally a handful of us, five residents in that hospital corridor area, and they exempted us.

Now I I I know of excuse me, I know of three people, but I don't know if there's any more than that right now.

And so uh we've been there a long time.

We asked all these plans and things are created and imposed on us.

And I it takes me two months of Social Security payments just to pay my property tax now.

And if you add to that, you're putting a burden on me.

I've been retired 10 years.

So and I'm also part of the North Elevation Task Force, Mr.

Gooley.

And uh I've been to those meetings, and it's it's hard.

We want to be in neighborhood, and I'm kind of on the fringe, but I don't want to be included in a business district or even the hospital district.

It's not my desire.

So I would ask that you put in an amendment or something to exclude me from it.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Uh we will ask uh uh staff and the DBA to talk about that special situation uh after the public hearing concludes.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Dan Brooks with the Billings Chamber at 815 South 27th Street.

Uh I won't uh rehash the points that I made uh a couple weeks ago when you had the resolution of intent before you, but suffice it to say we are supportive uh uh greatly of the the public safety benefits provided through the business improvement district.

I will also say, and and kind of sharing wearing two hats at once here.

My wife and I also own a uh business in downtown billings and uh want to share that we greatly appreciate the clean uh the clean portion of the clean and safe benefits, the litter pickup, the uh trash disposal, the flower baskets, the beautification and the snow plowing.

It is a great benefit for those businesses that are paying a little bit more uh into the district.

So uh we uh not only on behalf of my wife and I, but on behalf of the billings chamber as well, uh, would encourage your reauthorization of this important program for the city of Billings.

So thank you.

Great, thank you.

Uh other public uh comment.

This is a public hearing.

My name is Mike Matthew.

I live at 115 North Broadway, um, which is uh pretty close to the heart of downtown billings.

I've lived wherever you are, Mike is the heart of downtown.

I've lived there for 22 years, actually.

Um a little over about 24 years ago, long before there was a BID, we condoed that building.

Um we have a total of 24 units in the building.

Some of them are quite small, some of them are large, like the first floor is one unit, the fourth floor is one unit.

Um I'm very supportive of downtown billings, obviously.

And I'm supportive of the BID.

I do, however, think there's a better way to do some assessments on condominiums.

And the reason I say that is within my own building, I own all of the third floor.

I own other parts of the building too.

But I'm using the third floor and the fourth floor as an example.

I own all of the third floor.

I have nine tax codes on that third floor.

I get a separate assessment for each one of those tax codes, which means my total BID assessment is 487 41.

The fourth floor, which has only one tax code, has a BID assessment of 228.

The difference in those two numbers over the 10 years of this of this BID is 2,592 or identical floors.

And um prior to being kind of a downtown redeveloper, I was a county commissioner, dealt a lot with taxes.

But prior to being a county commissioner, I did a property tax consulting business.

And I name that business tax equity.

Because when you complain about taxes being too high, that's one thing.

But when you say, well, I'm paying this, and they have the same thing, and they're paying this, that's not equity.

And that's that's the issue that I'm um trying to bring forward at this point.

When the BID was set up, it was set up with a separate assessment on each tax code.

Every condominium and the unit, and there's getting to be more and more condoed buildings, has multiple numbers of tax codes.

So it makes it very hard to do an equitable assessment.

So my thought is we just need to condos have their own way of splitting things out.

We need to say not just tax codes, it either's a separate tax code or it's a separate registered condominium project.

And then once that's done, the documents that created that condo split the split the fee out equitably.

And that's my concern.

It's just not equitable the way it's set up right now.

Very good.

Thank you.

And while we are certainly on the northern side of downtown, we very much experience exactly what council has been describing in terms of having lots of folks who are on our property, lots of homeless and transient members of our community who we oftentimes need to engage with to create a safe and welcoming space for our visitors.

Um, and there are very real challenges about running an organization downtown right now.

We also experience great benefits as being part of the bid system and being within the bid boundaries.

I can say that my staff feels really grateful for the opportunity to reach out directly to some of the safety services offered through the bid.

They feel really um connected to and like they get quick responses for things that oftentimes don't require police part participating in.

You know, we really don't need to escalate it to the level of being a call to the police, but we feel like we get a great response and really good support um from the bid team, any number of the categories, whether it be SK security or some of the other community um security teams that they have that can come out and talk to folks on our property.

We've seen a real increase in support just since starting SK security.

I know that's been a really recent addition to what the bid is offering.

Um, but during the hours that they are patrolling downtown, we do see them coming through our property and have had fewer folks who are staying for longer periods.

The museum looks into our security costs annually, and we always wish that we could afford to have more um security on our property during our open hours.

And the reality is that we can't.

And being part of a collective group that can provide more support than we could do individually has been unbelievably helpful for us.

Um, I just I don't know what our property would look like without that collaborative effort through the bid.

So we are certainly grateful and appreciative for all that they do.

Thanks.

Very good.

Thank you.

Additional comment on item number two.

I'm nervous.

You can't speak, speak right at that, Mike.

Thank you.

My name is Sherry Daly.

I've owned and operated Montana Vintage Clothing downtown for the last 27 years, starting on Montana Avenue and moving to North 29th Street.

Um, I have seen starting back in 98.

Yeah, we go ahead and put that right up in front of you and talk right now.

Perfect.

I've seen starting back in 98, the um quality of the businesses downtown as far as the support that we had versus now.

I'm a staunch supporter of the BID.

Just want to let you know.

Thank you.

Very good.

Thank you.

Other uh comment, any other public comment.

This is a public hearing on item number two.

Any other public comment before we close the public hearing?

Uh no one's standing up, no one's coming forward.

So we'll uh close the public hearing.

And there were some questions raised.

I'm sure uh council will want to know.

Um I'll I'll look to staff and to uh the DBA.

Uh the issues that came up were specifically the issue of uh uh the uh three to five uh residential homes in the in the district, um, and whether that's really changed um since it was issued.

I didn't realize there was any changes in what was in the district.

So that'd be one thing.

And then the condominium issue, more specifically, I suppose how the assessments get determined and what that might mean for condos.

Um one issue there is is there a way to approve this and then come back to that issue, or we've got to set this issue and determine it for the next 10 years.

So I'm gonna just ask staff if they want to comment uh or if they want uh Katie to go first.

I'm sure she'll want to.

So I'd ask Katie to tackle that first part for you.

Okay.

Perfectly.

Uh Katie.

Mayor and counsel, council member, or sorry, mayor Cole.

Um, I think that the first uh topic is is fairly easy to answer.

We do still have a number of residential uh properties within the business improvement district.

And when the bid was created, the board did elect to allow residential properties that are owner occupied and not part of a multi-unit property to be exempt from paying into the business improvement district.

That has been the case since the inception of the very first BID in 2005.

Um, Mr.

Llewellyn is one of our exempt properties and will continue to be so uh be one.

Um if there are further residential properties that again are owner-occupied, not revenue generated as a multi-unit uh property.

Um, they just have to fill out a very simple form that is just an affidavit that says they do occupy and own that property.

And then it's as easy as me hitting delete on my assessment workbook and when I send that off to the city for uh final approval, it's it's just part of the formula and they their property will not be assessed.

So that is a very simple way to exempt yourself if you are a prop an owner of a residential property.

Um as far as the condo, if you want me to take a stab at that.

Oh, sorry.

Just on that point, is that something the property owner has to do every single year?

Uh Councilmember Nees, no.

Once they've filled out that affidavit, um, I continue to exempt them throughout the year.

The majority of them do continue to resend that to me simply because they want to be assured that they are exempt from paying that assessment.

And it's it's absolutely no hassle on my part to receive that every year.

But if they've done it once, I will continue to do so until we see a new property owner come as an owner of that tax parcel.

I can I track all of that as well.

So if there was a new owner coming in, I would probably reach out if if it was somebody different.

But once they filled it out, they're exempt until the ownership changes.

Okay.

And do you send uh do you contact them now that there's a new bid here and letting them know to to re-exempt themselves?

Is that something you do, or you just wait for the them to do it?

Um, I wouldn't plan to to reach out to them.

I would continue to exempt them through this new creation of this new bid because they are still a residential, uh, an owner of a residential property that is owner occupied.

And that has not changed if the the owner name does not change on that property.

And so I would just assume that they would continue to want to still be exempt from that assessment.

Okay, so a new new form, it's gonna be careful.

Great.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Very good.

And then the condo issue.

So the condo issue, one of the pieces that exists within our assessment that's approved by the bid board is that each tax parcel has a very small um administrative fee.

Uh, this is very common in every bid across the state and across the country.

Um, we are the one of the smaller admin fees at $50 per parcel.

Um, this allows for all of the the mailings that happen throughout the um the year for every assessment um and and goes back into the assessment as a whole, managed as part of the whole budget.

Um, so when you do have a condo property, for example, if a building is broken up into 10 properties, that will be 10 different tax ID codes.

Each tax ID code will be assessed the admin fee, which really is where you see that difference that that Mr.

Matthews speaks of when he talks about one floor that has one tax code versus one floor of the identical size that has 10 tax codes, that is truly the the difference there.

Um I would invite anybody who wants to discuss their assessment and how that works, um, especially within the clean zone.

Um, if they don't believe they receive those those full services at 100% to come and visit with the bid board, um, and we can absolutely have that conversation.

This bid board is uh made up of property owners representing all 1000 plus properties within the bid.

And so um, if the property owner wants to come and be heard, that is an open invitation at any time.

Okay, uh Council Mr.

Kenny.

Katie, as I've been going through the list, you don't have the chamber of commerce in here.

Um, Councilmember Kennedy, no, they are outside of the safe zone.

They are outside of the bid boundary.

Okay.

Thank you.

Very good.

Uh, Councilmember Gillett.

Uh yes, I'd like to make a motion.

Um, and it'd be underlined motion if nothing else.

Let me just make sure there aren't any other questions for Katie.

I don't see any.

So thank you very much.

Councilman Gulli.

First of disclosure, uh, my business um is within the um both uh clean and safe.

Um, we're supportive of it.

I'm happy as um in the bid, but um I don't think it requires my recusing myself.

Um so uh I would move to um having conducted a public hearing, consider written in public spoken public testimony.

I move to approve resolution and creating downtown business improvement district uh bid 000 one as recommended by staff.

Second.

Very good.

So my council member Nice.

Uh any further discussion on the motion.

Um for the second for the motion, Councilmember Noan.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I'll support this tonight.

I assume most of us will, but I just wanted to share a thought with the city administrator.

I think the folks at the DBA do their job, they're advocates for downtown, they're passionate about town downtown.

But I think we elected officials and the city stuff, we need to be really serious about the downtown safety challenges.

I was sent a photo today um from a constituent driving through downtown and someone was just openly shooting up in front of a vacated building.

Um I was downtown for coffee the other day, and there was a domestic violence incident happening on a street corner.

I think we need to be really sober about the safety challenges that are keeping people away from downtown.

And I would hope that since you're on that DVP board that you would continue to be the voice of understanding that people want to promote downtown, we want to have events downtown.

We want to activate that space.

But I I want reassurance that you will be in there reminding that we must be very, very serious about the safety challenges that are present downtown.

They are not perception issues, they are real issues.

Thank you.

Very good.

Further discussion on the motion.

Is there any further discussion of the motion?

Councilmember McKenny.

I will vote no.

That's no surprise.

Um, but I will vote no because I think there's some problems with this.

And I think uh we need to address more with this before we move it on.

And I think moving it on tonight is just keeping those problems that are in this um ongoing.

So uh I will vote no.

Very good.

Uh further discussion.

Any further discussion on the motion?

We should do a vote.

Okay.

Uh seeing none.

The motion is for approval of um item two, consistent with the staff recommendation and the uh proposed resolution.

Uh, if in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

If opposed, say nay.

Uh voting in opposition, council member Kennedy, all other council members voting in favor.

So uh the motion passes through the math here, eight one.

Thank you very much.

Um that concludes item number two.

Item number three, Tony.

Would you read item number three?

Resolution creating the board of trustees for the downtown business improvement district, bid number zero zero zero one.

Staff recommends approval.

Very good.

Back to uh Chris.

So mayor and council, this will be uh brief, which the request uh has been made and recommendation to appoint the same board members.

They already have had a sitting board.

You've gone through that process to select members.

So that's what you have before you this evening.

You have now created the business improvement district.

Now you need to make uh board appointments.

Very good.

Thank you.

Uh, can I ask uh uh Gina just to describe uh the revised resolution that was sent out to uh the council and also uh uh published for the public at the end of last week.

Gina?

Sure.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um Mayor and Council on Friday, I sent you a revised resolution.

Um the only difference between the one I sent on Friday and the one that's in the packet is clarification of the actual member of the board of trustees is the actual property owner.

And we just clarified the legal, the correct legal name of those um trustee property owners.

So when you look at section two, that first column is the column that changed the representative of the trustee property owner, those names remain the same.

But the actual member of the board is the property owner that is within the district.

Um I think that was the only clarification I needed to.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Uh questions.

This is not a public hearing.

So, council, are there questions for Gina uh or uh Katie on item number three?

And I'll ask uh Katie also if she had any comment for us.

Uh she's uh shaking her head no.

Okay, uh Council Brasspler.

Yeah, I I voted to approve the the bid, but I'm gonna uh vote no on this item when we get to that point.

I fundamentally have a problem with having three nonprofits on a seven-person board.

Um I understand that they they own the property, but functionally, I would prefer to see business owners, people that are making their living um or a business in our business district represented on that board.

Um there's four businesses and then three nonprofits, and and I'd prefer to see us with six businesses and one nonprofit as opposed to a three to four split.

So I'm gonna be a no based on that tonight.

Um I suspect this will pass, but I would hope that as the bid moves forward and is replacing seats that were keeping the businesses in mind, not the nonprofit community in mind downtown.

Very good.

Um okay, any other any questions?

Uh uh for staff before we I look for a motion.

I don't see any.

So is there a motion on item number three?

Council member Gulli.

Um I move to approve a resolution creating the board of trustees for the downtown bid number zero zero zero one as recommended by staff.

Very good.

Uh sorry, my council member Boyette.

Would either of you like to speak to your motion?

Uh yes, I'll I'll speak to I guess maybe address uh council member Aspen Leiter's um point, which you know I think on the face of it sounds like a reasonable point.

Um but I I I think I want to make sure it's clear to to everyone in the council as well as the public that um nonprofits are still paying into the bid.

It's not as though um uh they're they're they pay street assessments and and other things, but they're also paying into the bid.

So they it's not as though they are representing you know, have a free ride or something like that.

Um, you know, there may be other reasons that to have businesses, but I just want to make sure that's clear.

Very good.

Uh nothing else.

Okay, so for the discussion on the motion, customer bridges.

Yeah, because I I do uh I am a little concerned about the lot of nonprofits.

I would like to see uh more businesses be on here, and maybe when these terms come up, we can get more businesses on there.

But did have a question about the big sky economic development.

Aren't they a quasi-government agency?

And they and why would they be serving on the board?

Uh my understanding is they own the the the building, and yes, they do receive some government dollars as well as uh fees for services and other donations.

I suppose the city buildings could be on this board as well.

Uh if it owns property, I uh I'd look to our uh city attorney, but I assume as long as uh somebody owns property, the answer is yes.

All right.

Thank you.

Uh further discussion on the motion.

Further discussion on the motion for a vote.

Okay, seeing none, the motion is for approval.

Item three, consistent with staff recommendation and the revised version of the uh resolution distributed at the end of the week that has the uh technical names of the property owners, the those businesses and nonprofits.

Uh, if in favor of the motion for approval, please say aye.

Aye.

If opposed, please say nay.

Uh voting on opposition council members uh Kennedy and Consper Aspenleiter, all other council members voting in favor.

Uh so the motion uh passes seven two.

Okay.

Uh very good.

That concludes the regular agenda.

Um takes us to public comment on items not on our agenda tonight.

Is there any public comment on non-agenda items, the usual?

Just ask that you come to the podium, tell us who you are, and keep a comments of three minutes.

Hi, my name is Christy Drake.

I reside at uh 2950 Walden Place.

And I um here to uh tell you how I'm thrilled to tell you that um we are starting a trail maintenance project on um the Black Goddard Trail this week, actually today.

Um I ride the trails daily, and I um have noticed that for years the trail, the the cracks in the Black Otter Trail are becoming more numerous and deeper.

Um so I've got some pictures.

Um, but they span the entire width of the trail.

Um there's 271 cracks in this trail.

And it is it sees 200 and it sees more than 250 users per day.

It's uh right on the top of the rims, um, you know, where Swartz Park is, and it looks down over our city.

Um so visitors and and residents use it all the time.

Um I was sitting on the um state trails advisory committee for a couple of years, and he noticed that other communities in the state of Montana are applying for uh trail repair grants.

And so um I thought, well, we can do that too.

And so back in uh January, we we applied to the um fish wildlife in parks for the trail stewardship program.

And um we got an estimate from uh Wharton Asph, and it was about 40,000 to uh crack seal all of these um these cracks.

And so we got the grant, yay, and um it's costing the city nothing because um the links trail net did all the the grant work.

Um and we also got a uh some money from Philip 66 just for trails.

And so we're gonna put the um matching funds toward uh this project.

And um, and then the state of Montana is paying the rest through the uh trail stewardship grant, which is um narrow, some of the marijuana tax and and other um other funding sources are coming from that.

So anyway, um I'm excited that that's happening.

Um also when I was talking with Mike Pig about this back in um when he was working for the city, he said that none of the trails have been seal coated.

Um none of the trails in the in the parks, and they're supposed to be seal coated every five to seven years.

So that is also going to be um done with this project.

There should be more that um get done, and so Billings Trailnet will be applying for more grants in the future.

I know the city of Billings also applied for a grant and is getting some done down at Riverfront Park, which is in big need.

So anyway, yay.

Very good.

Thank you, Chrissy, and we appreciate your efforts and trailnets efforts there.

Yeah.

If you've got any questions on where it is, I've got all the handouts here, but this is the map.

Do the city council members get their name on a crack?

Go up there with a little sharpie.

It wouldn't quite show, would it?

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Other other public comment uh on items not on our agenda.

Is there any other public comment?

Uh before I close the public comment, period.

Okay, I'm uh now I'm new.

Um, this is a new public comment because I know I was using up my three minutes.

So a new three minutes, please.

Uh we can't really do it, but if you could just tell us what it is, okay.

I just want to congratulate you on the two-way uh cycle track downtown.

I know change is hard, and uh people still complain about roundabouts, but they're uh a great way to move um traffic around.

So the two-way cycle track um is gonna maybe take some getting used to, but it is something that has been designed for uh to get people who aren't super comfortable biking downtown to come bike downtown because we've heard over and over and over again how many times um people say I don't want to bike downtown.

It's terrifying.

I have to share the road with um fast cars.

So while I'm kind of fearless and I can bike in traffic, a lot of other people can't, so I can see that this is gonna be a very positive um move.

Thank you very much for um letting this happen.

And we'll just let it, you know, let's see how it goes for the next couple of years.

Hopefully, we'll see a lot more foot traffic and bike traffic um bringing people to downtown and revitalizing our downtown.

Thank you.

Very good.

Thank you.

Is there any other public comment on non-agenda items?

Seeing none, we'll close the public comment period.

Uh council initiatives.

So seeing none, uh, we are adjourned.

Good night, everyone.

Oh, it is.