Bozeman City Commission Meeting – February 3, 2026
Bozeman City Commission Meeting – February 3, 2026
The Bozeman City Commission met on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Commission Room at City Hall, 121 North Rouse. Commissioners Joey Morrison (Mayor), Jennifer Madgic, Emma Bode, and Alison Sweeney were present; Deputy Mayor Douglas Fischer was excused. The meeting covered a consent agenda, public comment on a non-agenda item, and a single action item regarding the Gooch Hill Area Plan.
Consent Calendar
- H.1 Accounts Payable Claims Review and Approval
- H.2 First Amendment to Professional Services Agreement with Dowl, LLC for MSU Interceptor Improvements
- H.3 First Amendment to Master Services Agreement with Hennebery Architects, LLC for Public Works Facility Expansion
- H.4 Resolution approving Change Order Two to the Smith River Construction Contract for the Story Mill Splash Pad (installing a fence and relocating a UV water-cleaning system to comply with state law)
- H.5 Resolution authorizing an INTERCAP Loan with the State of Montana Board of Investments for a jetting and vacuum vactor truck for stormwater
- H.6 Resolution confirming City Commission Liaison Assignments
All consent items were approved unanimously (4–0) without public comment.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Daniel Carty (Bozeman resident) spoke during general public comment. He urged the Commission to reconsider its December 16, 2025 decision that increased the maximum allowable building height in the B3 zone from 70 feet to 90 feet “by right.” He requested the issue be placed on the commission’s calendar as an action item within four months and argued that returning to 70 feet would allow the city to collect affordable housing funds via the AHO, preserve historical character, and provide a gradual transition from the 60-foot limit in B3C (historic Main Street).
No public comment was offered on the consent agenda or on the action item.
Discussion Items
- J.1 – Gooch Hill Area Plan – Professional Services Agreement and Community Engagement Plan
- Utilities Director Shaun Kotz presented the background on the proposed Gooch Hill Sanitary Sewer Lift Station, which would serve a service area of roughly 3,166 acres. The first phase (approximately 2,000 acres) would provide sewer capacity for about 20 years, with a long-term build-out capacity of about 5,000 acres extending south of Huffline. The lift station is in the city’s CIP but the area plan is not legally required—it is a proactive planning effort.
- Consultant Chris Naumann (Sanbell – Rocky Mountain) outlined the scope of work, which includes layering the Transportation Master Plan, Trails Plan, and Gallatin Valley Sensitive Lands Plan to create a base map, then conducting community engagement through Engage Bozeman (webpage, direct mail, social media, online surveys, and in-person events). The plan will comply with the Montana Land Use Planning Act (MLUPA) and support the Community Plan’s seven themes.
- Commissioner discussion covered: how to engage private property owners (direct mail, yard signs, partnerships with organizations like Gallatin Valley Land Trust); the use of Sensitive Lands data (wildlife corridors, groundwater recharge, prime farmland); coordination with the Triangle Plan and the MPO; and the need to involve additional city boards (Sustainability Board, Transportation Board). Commissioners emphasized that this is an opportunity to proactively plan for growth, protect natural resources, and create walkable neighborhoods with commercial nodes.
- Commissioner Sweeney disclosed that her father and stepmother live in the Gooch Hill area. Commissioner Bode asked that the Sustainability Board and Transportation Board be added as stakeholders; the consultant agreed.
Key Outcomes
- Authorize Absence: Motion to excuse Deputy Mayor Fischer passed 4–0.
- Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the December 17, 2024 regular meeting approved 4–0.
- Consent Agenda: Items H.1 through H.6 approved 4–0.
- Motion 1 (Professional Services Agreement): Authorize the City Manager to sign a Professional Services Agreement with Sanbell – Rocky Mountain for the Gooch Hill Area Plan. Passed 4–0.
- Motion 2 (Community Engagement Plan Resolution): Adopt the resolution for the Gooch Hill Area Plan Community Engagement Plan. Passed 4–0.
- Commissioner Bode mentioned a written public comment inquiring about installing summer recreation equipment (tennis/pickleball nets) due to the lack of snow; the City Manager agreed to discuss with the Parks Director.
- The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:05 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening and welcome to the Tuesday, February third, twenty twenty six City of Bozeman City Commission meeting. So any time somebody submits public comment virtually, um, as written public comment to Commons of Bozeman dot net or to any of us individually, if you get that to us by noon, the day of the commission meeting, those are distributed to us, we'll have time today on each of our agenda items for public comment in person, and we have the option for um virtual public comments as well. Um those will be associated with each of our agenda items will also have public comment on our um general public comment for non-agenda um non-agenda concerns um for that fall under the purview of the city commission. Um most of what we are going to be focusing on today, we just have one action item on our Gooch Hill sub area plan. Um, otherwise we have a typical consent agenda and we'll get underway. Um, if you would please join us in a pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. We know of one. Um, we need to authorize the absence of our deputy mayor. There are any other changes to our agenda this evening. There are no other changes, Mayor. Thank you. Um, would anybody be able to help me out in authorizing the absence of our deputy mayor? I live to authorize the absence of commissioner fit. Thank you. Commissioner Magic. Commissioner Sweeney. I. Commissioner Bodie. I mayor Morrison. I the Deputy Mayor's absence is authorized. And then we will move on to our FYI. Any FYI from the Commission this evening. I have one. Just as a as an announcement. There's some press release that went out about this yesterday, but just wanted to also echo this sentiment from the from the commission. We have launched a podcast, the City of Bozeman. I, as the mayor will be the host, the Bozeman Beat. We had our first episode drop yesterday. This episode was just a conversation between me and the former mayor Terry Cunningham about legacies and impact and vision and how do we know what we're doing and why we're doing it. This is going to be basically the idea is hosted by the mayor, so I'll host the next two seasons of this podcast. And if it seems like something worth pursuing, then we'll continue it with the next mayor. There's a variety of reasons why this is in our consideration. A lot of people listen to podcasts. Not a lot of people can come to City Hall and sit through a commission meeting or participate in in that way. And also there's a lot of conversations that we don't get to have in our findings on a decision here. So this will cover really anything that falls under the you know the interest of the citizens of this community. We've talked about talking of interviewing authors or business leaders or or otherwise. So there's really that's any anything's on the table in these conversations. So if anybody ever has either to my colleagues or anybody from the public a consideration for a topic or someone we should interview, or even if you would like to be interviewed and you think you've got a great story to tell to this community that that has an impact here, um reach out to us at podcast at Bozeman MT.gov. That's where we're just going to be collecting all this information about where we want to go with it. Um we've got a few ideas for the next couple, but nothing is immutable. Um if anything comes up, we want to be nimble and being able to react and swarm as things come up. Um really excited to try a new strategy for um communicating and getting getting some stories out about what the city's up to. That is the only FYI from me. Any FYI from staff this evening? Thank you, Mayor. A couple. Um we have a new traffic calming program out there. I just want to give a shout out to our director Nick Ross and his staff for launching this. And it's to respond to residents' requests for seasonal neighborhood traffic calming measures.
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