Bozeman City Commission Adopts Priorities, Approves MSU Liaisons, and Cash-in-Lieu on March 3, 2026
Bozeman City Commission Meeting Summary: March 3, 2026
The Bozeman City Commission met on March 3, 2026, for a regularly scheduled meeting. The meeting began with a moment of silence and remarks from the Mayor and City Manager addressing recent community tragedies, including a teenage suicide and the traffic death of nurse Leslie Brown on Oak Street. This prompted significant discussion and public testimony on traffic safety. The Commission approved three major action items: the 2026-2027 City Commission Priorities, a resolution creating ex officio non-voting board seats for Montana State University (MSU) students, and the cash-in-lieu rate for the Affordable Housing Ordinance. General public comment focused strongly on demands for improved pedestrian safety on Oak Street and calls for police use-of-force policy reform.
Consent Calendar
- The Consent Agenda (Items F1–F4) was approved unanimously (5-0). City Manager Chuck Wynn highlighted Item F2, the Branch Out Bozeman grant, which provides 40 trees for public spaces and 100 vouchers for private property.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Traffic Safety & Vision Zero: Residents Nick Hagerty and Mark Aggi testified strongly in response to the recent death of Leslie Brown on Oak Street. Mr. Hagerty urged the city to implement a "road diet" by converting Oak Street into a human-scale street with one lane in each direction. Mr. Aggi criticized the city's budget for multimodal safety improvements, stating it remains stuck at $150,000 annually, and urged the commission to adopt a formal "Vision Zero" resolution to prioritize eliminating traffic fatalities through street design and policy changes.
- Police Use of Force: Community members Anthony Smith and Amy Kirk presented extensive testimony regarding the Bozeman Police Department's use of flexible batons (beanbag rounds). They stated that between 2023 and 2024, five deployments resulted in three deaths and one severe injury with no significant policy reform or accountability. They requested the commission prohibit use in non-life-threatening situations, mandate public transparency, and demand specific questions be answered at the April 7th coroner's inquest. They criticized the mayor for not directing the city manager to take action on police leadership.
- Commission Priorities & TIFF: Catherine Barry (Gallatin Watershed Council) requested adding watershed health to Goal 4. Mark Campanelli spoke critically about TIFF funding for the MSU Innovation Campus.
Special Presentations
- Wireless Code Updates: Assistant City Attorney Jen Gutiari presented proposed updates to the city code for wireless facilities to comply with federal law. The project, supported by a $50,000 contract with Cityscape consultants, seeks to modernize definitions, adopt new safety terms like "breakpoint technology," and streamline the review process. A formal zone text amendment will follow.
- MSU Strategic Plan: Dean Adams and Ellie Staley presented the process for MSU's next strategic plan under President Brock Testman. The process includes community surveys and listening sessions from May through July, with a final plan going to the Board of Regents in November.
Discussion Items
- I1: AHO Cash-in-Lieu Rate: David Fine and Molly Fitzpatrick presented rates calculated using the "affordability gap methodology." Commissioner Sweeney opposed the resolution, arguing the Affordable Housing Ordinance is critically weakened by recent state law restrictions and that allowing a buyout promotes economic segregation, preferring a more deliberate policy conversation. The resolution passed 4-1, with Commissioner Sweeney dissenting.
- I2: Ex-Officio MSU Student Board Members: The commission adopted a resolution creating non-voting seats for MSU students on five consolidated boards plus the Historic Preservation Advisory Board (added via an amendment by Commissioner Sweeney). An amendment to prohibit participation in appeals on the Community Development Board was approved. The resolution passed 5-0.
- I3: 2026–2027 Commission Priorities: The commission approved the two-year strategic priorities after extensive discussion. Key amendments included changing the first priority from "Make/Keep Bozeman a safe and welcoming place for all" to "Advance Bozeman as a safe and welcoming place for all," adding the word "natural" to the fourth priority, and adding a sub-priority "4C: Support efforts for long-term watershed health." The resolution passed 5-0. Commissioner Sweeney expressed a desire for a dedicated work session to define the specific actions and implications of each priority before staff finalizes the work plan.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda: Approved 5-0.
- AHO Cash-in-Lieu Rate: Resolution adopted (4-1).
- MSU Ex-Officio Board Seats: Resolution adopted (5-0) with amendments.
- 2026–2027 Commission Priorities: Resolution adopted (5-0) with amendments refining language and scope.
- Traffic Safety Directives: City Manager Wynn provided data on enforcement (over 2,200 traffic stops in January 2026) and planned Oak Street improvements (turn lanes, flashing beacons). The Mayor and Deputy Mayor strongly supported scheduling a work session on the Safe Streets plan and Vision Zero.
- Next Steps on Work Plan: Staff will use the approved priorities to finalize the city manager's work plan, defining specific initiatives and timelines for commission review.
- Community FYIs: Commissioner Sweeney noted the Anne Frank exhibit at the library, the extension of the second home property tax application deadline to March 20th, and the upcoming deadline for neighborhood traffic calming applications. Commissioner Bodie updated the commission on the Urban Parks and Forestry Board's review of the Bike Fill Park master plan and the Urban Forest Management Plan.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us tonight. We will call this meeting to order for the Tuesday, March third Bozeman City Commission meeting. A few ways to make sure that folks know how to follow along and participate.net and clicking the view live event link. Um on the calendar invite on the city of com city commission's agenda calendar, um, as well as the link that's on the actual um meeting agenda as well. Um lastly you can of course just call in to listen via the same number that's on the meeting, um, the meeting agenda. Um that will be audio only. You will not be able to um opine and give any public comments um joining that way. Um if you are ever having this is for anybody here or listening online in an evergreen and perennial sense, if you're having connectivity issues to just you know the the the age old tactic of exit and try to join again and it'll probably address that issue. Um if you are trying to submit written public comments, um any public comments that were received by noon today were distributed to each of us and that is true for all meetings in all boards um by noon the day of that meeting. Um when we get to items that have public comment, we will start with public comment in the room before opening it up to online public comment. There will be public comment uh as an opportunity during just general public comment on issues that are not on our agenda tonight, as well as on uh for associated with each and every action item that we will have before us this evening. Um if in just to as a also reminder for anybody that has any uh accessibility needs uh to participate, either to to hear to to speak, um, or any other needs that are related that we can accommodate here at City Hall, um our deputy clerk Alex Newby will be the point person to to let us know that you have those needs. And without um further ado, we will move into our Pledge of Allegiance in a moment of silence. Before before we do so, um the the city manager and I are going to to share a a few remarks um and just keeping in mind um a lot of heaviness and pain that uh many in our community are experiencing after um some some deep tragedies that our community experienced over the last week. Um and so perhaps um an opportunity to keep those families and those neighbors um in your thoughts this evening during our moment of silence. Thanks, and I'm gonna go to the other side. Okay, moving on to changes to the agenda for this evening. City manager, are there any changes? There are no changes tonight, Mayor. Okay, moving on to FYI. I will start and then open up to my to my colleagues. I know there's a few thoughts on this this item or as well as from the city manager. It was hard to figure out exactly what to what to say in seeing families in in our community experience tragedies all the time. And yet we had two in the span of a few days that were extremely public that shook the community in a different way. One of which was a teenager of high school age who appeared to have ended ended their own life. A tragedy that is all too common to so many Montana communities. Always feeling powerless to have intervened, never knowing what the signs are, and just wanting to lift up there are resources in our community, there are resources available to help those in crisis, those that whether that's you or someone that's close to you, um 988 will take you straight to our local suicide crisis line. Um some incredible, incredible people over there that save lives every day in this community, answering answering our crisis line. And it feels as though no matter how much we we talk about the the truth and the the pain of this issue, it doesn't, it doesn't always, it doesn't seem to make a difference on our trends. Um we're still in Montana um often fording with the top position for suicide rate in in this country. Um we're still well above double the national average. Um and and just knowing that the only things are our control is to make sure that we seek help when we need it, um, to encourage those around us to seek help and to connect and be gentle with with one another. The other, of course, was was the tragic loss of life of Leslie Brown, a uh a hero in our community working as a who's a nurse um who was um taken from our community in a in a fatal traffic accident. And I think this was this this seemed to really reverberate deeply throughout the community. Um in part the sudden and deeply almost nightmarish tragedy of losing someone doing something that they do every day that I think many of us may feel with our loved ones when we watch a family member, a friend, a spouse walk out the door to do something they do all the time, we expect them to come back. And somebody in our community um didn't get to have that experience, got to see um uh an enormous, almost unimaginable tragedy befall them. And just wanting to honor that that pain and make sure that those folks in that neighborhood and in that family that they're not holding that alone and that city halls hearts go out to them. Um we will talk um uh potentially tonight if if of what uh what items we're working on in future opportunities to address these. Um any traffic death is too many. Um and it unfortunately is is too common. Um and and it takes the you know the work of of government and of our partners to to do what we can to address those, but um just as a as a stalwart reminder to be caring, be kind, be gentle with one another, um, help one another mourn together. Um these are tough, these are tough moments in our community, and and we can only do them together. Um other FYI from my colleagues. Yeah, Deputy Mayor. Um well, thank you, Mr. Mayor, for putting voice to what so many of us are feeling. I I wouldn't fully associate myself with your comments, and just thank you. Uh, and again, the heart goes out to the community and to the neighborhood. I um on a more pragmatic scale, I would love to to have um there's been a lot of discussion about speed limits, road safety, um, this uh you know, our safe streets plan.
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