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.

We it's it's on one of the priorities we'll be talking about later tonight.

I would love to elevate that, and I hope maybe some fellow commissioners might join me in in saying we need to have that as a as a as a work session, get some information from the city to have a discussion here among us about kind of how we make sure that this this doesn't happen again.

You know, I want to I would like to bring Kelly Fulton into the room.

You know, it's another tragic accident that is still with us.

Um a high school um geometry student who brought so many students out of that you know, math um hell, and um was again lost crossing going to work, you know, crossing crossing Oak Street.

So I would just love to bring that in and ms you know, Mr.

Mayor, Mr.

City Manager, if we could put that on sooner rather than later on our agenda.

Thank you.

Commissioner thanks.

Um to both of you.

Um I have a couple FYI, so I'm gonna wait until the last the end.

Yeah, Commissioner Sweeney.

I do have some FIs, but they're not related to this, so I'll save them for the end as well.

Okay, I'll just I'll I'll give one um kind of wrap to this and then kick it over to the city manager.

Um yes, I've heard from I I think virtually everyone the desire for us to um at a at a meeting and and perhaps in other in other spaces as well, give out information about what what we're doing, what we're working on, um, and and to see what future what more action we we can be taking.

Um the other the other piece that I would just add for members of the community as well as I know this is uh this is a commission that that tries to work their butt off and make themselves very accessible.

I I know that's true of all of us, and um I've been making it very clear to anyone that's reached out to me that we're all happy to to meet to walk about the neighborhood to meet with um with aggrieved neighbors on on this and um just want to extend that and make sure that the community knows um we want to make ourselves available.

Umager, do you have any FYI for us?

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, uh Commission for those comments.

Um as you mentioned, a beloved um member of our community, Leslie Brown died while crossing Oak Street near the Gallatin Regional Park.

Uh we want to express our condolences to Leslie's family and recognize the emotional impact on the community and our own city staff who responded to that.

This incident brings back memories of the 2022 death of Kelly Fulton, which influenced the creation of the SAFE plan at the city commission's direction.

So following Kelly's fatality, the city enacted the SAFE plan with coordinated actions in transportation and engineering, police communication, and the commission.

So the commission lowered the speed limits citywide.

You prioritized traffic safety as an ongoing focus, and you supported efforts to achieve gold bike-friendly status.

The engineering and infrastructure improvements include roundabouts, became the preferred intersection type.

Updates were made to the engineering standards and the unified development code to improve safety.

The city expanded its budget for bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

Over $500,000 was invested in improvements on Oak Street alone last year.

And we have nearly one million dollars planned.

It's already budgeted for this coming construction season.

In terms of traffic, police department re-established a traffic unit last year.

Increasing traffic citations citywide, but they do target high crash sections of town.

We created the traffic dashboard for public transparency.

And just since January 2026, a couple months ago, over 2200 traffic stops citywide that averages over 39 a day.

279 traffic stops occurred on Oak Street alone.

And that is just the traffic stops where the car stopped on Oak.

That does not include where the car pulled off oak.

Um planned and upcoming safety projects include a million dollars this coming year and additional Oak Street improvements scheduled for this summer.

We're gonna add turn lanes, and we're gonna complete the flashing pedestrian beacon project that we started last year.

We're gonna continue our emphasis and even improve our traffic enforcement and public education about safety.

The commission's priorities, which you'll be discussing later tonight, include advancing multimodal transportation improvements and seeking additional funding opportunities to make those and other improvements.

But none of this matters very much if drivers don't take responsibility, pay attention and follow the rules.

Despite engineering and enforcement improvements, driver behavior remains the key factory and key factor in all of these crashes, fatalities, and injuries.

So we urge everyone in our community to slow down, avoid distraction, and drive safely.

And I say all of this to show that we care deeply about transportation safety and we'll continue to take action on this issue.

Thank you.

Thank you, City Manager.

Um FYI from the commission on items unrelated to what we've been discussing so far.

Okay.

Uh Commissioner Sweeney.

Sure, thank you.

Um I I just wanted to give you guys an FYI and the public if you're interested on Monday, April 6th and April 7th.

Um there is a use your voice civil conversation on tax policy uh put on by the Burton K.

Wheeler Center.

And it's gonna have a keynote speaker, uh Bob Story, former senator.

Um breakout sessions, roundtable discussions.

It'll have a moderated discussion with Mark Roscoe and Dorothy Bradley, and then a panel discussion with tax policy and local economic experts.

So I know something that you know we struggle with a lot is the tax structure that the state imposes on us.

So uh this is um the registration is still open if you search for Burton K.

Wheeler tax policy conversation.

Should be a great dive into that.

So thanks.

Great.

Thank you.

Commissioner Magic.

Um I'm gonna wait.

Oh, to the end.

Yes.

I now understand.

Yes, I was.

I was like, I think we're at the end here.

Clear.

Okay, great, thank you.

Um, moving on from FYI to disclosures.

Are there any commission disclosures related to any items on our agenda this evening?

Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to consent.

Uh city manager, any items on our consent that you'd like to highlight.

Yeah, I'd like to highlight um F2, please.

Um, it's been a uh priority of the commission and the community to um increase and protect our urban forest.

And this is an opportunity uh for a grant uh that is branch out Bozeman and it includes uh 40 additional trees, fully paid additional trees to be planted during community volunteer efforts.

And this is typically in our parks and public spaces, and then it also includes 50 100 vouchers that help offset the cost of planting trees on private properties.

So pretty excited about this.

Another opportunity for to um reach out and get grant funding to uh increase our urban forest county.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, City Manager.

Um, we will open up uh public comment on consent.

Um so we'll just on our consent agenda.

Any public comment in the room this evening on our consent items.

Second call for public comment in the room, and one final request for public comment in the room.

Mr.

Newby, are we seeing any public comment requests online?

Mayor Morrison, I see no request for public comment online.

Understood.

Um we'll bring it up here for a motion discussion or sorry, no discussion, motion and vote on our consent agenda.

So I moved agenda items F1 through F4 as presented.

Second.

It has been moved and seconded.

Mr.

Newby.

Deputy Mayor Fisher.

Aye.

Commissioner Magic.

Aye.

Commissioner Bodie.

Aye.

Commissioner Sweeney.

Aye.

Mayor Morrison.

Aye.

Our consent agenda is approved, five to zero.

And now we'll move on to our two general public comment on non-agenda items falling within the purview of the city commission.

Um, so for um for those wanting to give public comment um on anything that's not on our agenda this evening, we'll open it up here.

Um, you'll have three minutes.

Um, and please just state your name and and what your relationship is to the city, or whether you're a resident, property owner, business owner, um, etc.

And you'll have two minutes before a light will change, and that'll indicate that you have only one minute remaining, and then a uh and a beep will sound to tell you that you've used your three minutes.

And then we'll respectfully ask you to move on.

Um open up for any public comment in the room this evening.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Um clarification.

I I apologize for missing the first part.

Um this is related to road safety and the the death this past week.

Is this appropriate time for you're in the right spot?

Okay, great.

Um thank you.

Um my name is Nick Hagerty.

Um I live in Bozeman, um, just across Oak Street from the Gallagher County Regional Park.

Uh my two-year-old loves going to the park, but every time we cross the street, I fear for our lives.

Um yesterday uh not yesterday.

Last week, my fears came to pass uh when a driver struck and killed someone just like us in one of the crosswalks we use every day.

Um since then I've been devastated and feel like throwing up constantly.

Umig that I heard mentioned earlier.

I hope that stretch of oak is in the plans for that at all three crosswalks on that stretch of oak.

My neighbors have been asking them for this for years, is the very least you can do.

Um but flashing lights are not enough to to make it safe to cross Oak Street.

Um it's not gonna stop people from speeding, it's not gonna stop them from swerving around into the other lane.

The deeper problem is how the road is designed.

It's designed to maximum to, you know, it's a it's it's a wide straight boulevard with two lanes in each direction.

It's designed to maximize traffic throughput, not for pedestrian safety.

And it runs straight through a residential neighborhood.

The only way the only way to make Oak Street safer in a durable way is to change the physical infrastructure.

Um I I would urge the city to uh narrow Oak Street, turn it from a four-lane highway into a human-scale street with one lane in each direction.

This is known as a road diet, and it's been used in many other cities to reduce speeds and makes streets safer.

We don't have to accept random deaths of our neighbors on a Thursday morning.

We can't we can make changes to our city.

We can choose to value human lives more than the ability to drive fast.

I want my kid to grow up playing in the park across the street, but more than that, I just want him to grow up.

Please do the right thing in narrow oak stream.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Haggerty.

Good evening.

Good evening, Commission.

Uh my name is Mark Aggy Bosen resident.

Roadway deaths are not an inevitable consequence of human fallibility, but rather a consequence of roads that require human perfection to be safe.

In the last 10, 12 years, Alexa Zintars was killed riding her bike on 19th Avenue.

Richard Everds was killed riding his bike on Huffine Lane.

David Brock was killed riding his bike on Huffine Lane, Kelly Fulton was killed on Oak Street, and lastly a week, Leslie Brown was killed on Oak Street.

There's a pattern here, and it's that these high-speed four or five uh roads are deadly.

Uh these are roads where it's easy to drive drunk, easy to run red light, uh, or easy to drive 60 miles an hour if you're running late.

The city that you lead is spending tens of millions of dollars a year building new roads and widening existing roads.

And very little at all, making the roads that it does have safer.

And it's streets are for everyone, safe plan.

The city commission stated by the fall of 2023, the city will increase the amount of budget we have dedicated to bicycle and pedestrian facilities, resulting in more bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure around town.

Well, it's 2026, and while the city has allocated some additional funds to charities paths, the 500,000 that was mentioned earlier.

The budget for multimodal transportation improvements that includes safety improvements like flashing beacons and hawk signals is still stuck at 150,000 a year.

That's half of 1% of the city's FY26 transportation budget.

There was nothing unavoidable about Leslie Brown's death.

Imagine if there had been a rapid flashing beacon, a hawk signal, a raised crosswalk, a two-lane road next to a busy park instead of a four-lane highway, a tunnel, a bridge.

Any of these would have been a great investment two years ago.

I'm here to take to urge you to take action to prevent similar tragedies.

Vision zero is a road safety framework originating in Sweden, built on the principle that no deaths like these are acceptable or inevitable.

It shifts responsibility away from drivers towards system designers, emphasizing street design, speed management, and policy changes that make fatal and serious crashes physically unlikely.

Since Sweden adopted Vision Zero in 1997, it's reduced its road fatality rate by more than 70%.

Could we do the same?

Safe is a good start, but I invert I urge you to be more ambitious.

Consider bringing a resolution making Bozeman of Vision Zero City and to ask every roadway design that you all consider.

How does it protect vulnerable road users from driver errors?

And ask you to invest in improving the safety of the city's existing streets.

I love the idea of a work session on this and ask Director Nick Ross how much budget he would need to make a meaningful improvement to the safety of our streets.

Urge you to consider increasing the STR20 multimodal improvement budget line item that pays for things like flashing beacons from 150,000 to 1.5 million in next week's budget.

I'm glad that safety is number one in your draft of priorities tonight, and I challenge you to get to the end of budgeting this year and be able to show the community in the budget that safety is a priority.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other public comment in the room.

Good evening.

Good evening.

My name is Anthony Smith, and I am part of the community.

My number, my phone number is 406-209-0350.

Today marks the 35-year anniversary of the beating of Rodney King.

That event became a national turning point, not only because of what the widespread violence captured on video, but because of the institutional response that followed.

What many forget is that in 91, the mayor of Los Angeles was actually attempting to address long-standing problems within the LAPD.

He publicly acknowledged failures and pushed for change, even as the broader system resisted him.

The lesson from that period is not that Los Angeles and Bozeman are the same.

The lesson is that systemic harm grows when leadership becomes complacent, when harmful practices are normal normalized, and when those with the authority to intervene choose not to.

Unfortunately, Bozeman is showing that same pattern of complacency today.

In recent months, I presented the mayor, deputy mayor, and commissioner Bodie with body cam footage from the incident involving Lee Carlson.

That footage makes the issues unmistakable.

Mr.

Carlson was experiencing a medical crisis, yet officers approached with weapons drawn, issued commands without identifying themselves, and escalated immediately to firing beanbag rounds.

Some of these rounds struck areas that policy design designates as off limits firing beanbag rounds.

Some of these rounds struck um, I'm sorry.

Only after several minutes did officers identify themselves, and only because Mr.

Carlson asked, who are you?

He had no weapons.

Witnesses confirmed he had not threatened anyone.

Despite this, the official reports did not reflect what actually happened, and leadership labor later provided explanations that can contradicted both the video and eyewitness accounts.

Rather than acknowledge errors, responsibility was shifted under Mr.

Carlson's medical condition.

This is the same type of institutional instinct that fueled the outrage after Rodney King, the gap between what the police can see and what leadership is willing to admit.

Over the last 19 months, community members have repeatedly raised concerns about the misuse of flexible batons, often called beanbag rounds.

Between 2023 and 2024, five deployments resulted in three deaths and one severe injury.

Yet there have been no clear indication of significant policy reform, transparency review, or disciplinary action.

Some of the officers involved remain on duty.

And this goes beyond the police department.

The Bozeman City Commission has the authority to direct change through the city manager.

The mayor also has the authority to request that change.

Thank you.

Good evening.

Good evening.

My name is Amy Kirk.

I'm a resident of Bozeman, and I am finishing for Anthony Smith.

Between 2023 and 2024, five deployments resulted in three deaths and one severe injury, yet there has been no clear indication of significant policy reform, transparent review, or disciplinary action.

Some of the officers involved still remain on duty.

And this goes beyond the police department.

The Bozeman City Commission has the authority to direct change through the city manager.

The mayor also has the authority to request that the manager take decisive action, including leadership changes when necessary.

In 1991, Los Angeles had a mayor who at least recognized the seriousness of the issues and attempted to intervene.

And Bozeman, our mayor has declined to make such a request even after nearly two years of document concern.

This is why the lessons from 35 years ago matter now.

Less lethal weapons are being used in situations with no imminent danger.

Reports do not match body cam footage.

Public assurances conflict with observable facts, and leadership has repeatedly chosen not to intervene.

These are the same structural failures that allowed harmful practice to continue in Los Angeles, not because the cities are identical, but because complacency functions the same way everywhere.

I am also concerned about the upcoming April 7th coroners inquest related to the death during December 3rd through 4th, 2024 standoff.

On January 12th, I submitted 25 essential questions to the county attorney, questions that must be addressed if the public is to trust that this process is meaningful.

These questions remain unanswered.

For this reason, I'm formally requesting that the city demand that the list of questions I proposed to the county attorney on January 12th be answered when the coroner's inquest occurs on April 7th.

Finally, I'm asking this commission to take the following actions.

Prohibit the use of flexible batons and similar impact munition in any situation where there is no immediate threat to life or serious bodily harm.

Strengthen all less lethal force policies so they cannot be used simply for compliance or convenience.

Require detailed reporting for every use of less lethal force with public transparency as the default.

Acknowledge publicly that the patterns raised by residents over the last 19 months require substantive change.

Direct the city manager to take appropriate action regarding police leadership if compliance with policy and accountability standards cannot be demonstrated.

Ensure that the 25 questions submitted on January 12th are answered in full during the April 7th inquest.

Bozeman has an opportunity to avoid repeating failures of the past.

The question before you is whether our city will continue defend the defending the status quo or whether it will choose a path of transparency, transparency, responsibility, and meaningful oversight.

Thank you for your attention.

Thank you.

Any more public comment in the room this evening?

Second request for general public comment in the room.

Final request for comment in the room.

Mr.

Newby, are we seeing any public comment requests online?

Mayor Morrison, I see no request for public comment online.

Okay.

Seeing no further public comments to come before the city commission, we'll close that section of public comment.

And as a reminder, um, there will be public comment available in associated with each action item as well this evening.

Um then we'll move on to we have two special presentations, one from in-house and one from our friends at Montana State University.

And I think we have uh the attorney's office up first.

I'd like to welcome up Jen Gutiari for a special presentation on changes to the wireless code provisions in the Bozeman municipal code.

Good evening.

You have the floor.

Good evening, Mayor Morrison and members of the commission.

Tonight I'm here to provide a special presentation on changes to the Bozeman Municipal Code section governing wireless facilities.

Robust cell coverage is vital for our community.

As our community continues to grow, so will the need for enhanced cell coverage.

Consistent coverage is not only necessary for public safety and emergency responders to do their job, but it's also essential for businesses operating in our community, like retailers, service providers, like financial institutions and uh health care, and educational institutions.

It's necessary for them to be able to effectively operate and provide services to our community.

And of course, I don't think anyone would argue that reliable communication is necessary for us to be able to communicate with our families, friends, and neighbors.

Until this project, and at least throughout City Attorney Sullivan's tenure, this the city has not conducted a comprehensive legal review of the regulations related to wireless facilities.

Because of this, this project is intended to review our current local regulations on wireless facilities in light of changes in federal law.

So there is a very narrow scope to this project review.

For example, local governments are federally required to approve a request to modify an existing wireless tower or base station, base station if certain federally established criteria are met.

So to tell you a little bit about our process.

Over the years, federal law has changed, particularly in regards to local government's ability to regulate wireless facilities.

So with this consideration in mind, our office decided to be proactive by undertaking this project to make sure our code complies with federal law as is today.

For this project, our office requested uh $50,000 in the fiscal year 25-26 budget.

In March 2025, the after cross-departmental staff scored and interviewed all of the respondents to an RFP that was uh published, the commission approved a PSA for Cityscape consultants to provide legal advice and consultation on our wireless facilities code.

Cityscape's work is still ongoing.

While completing a site visit to Bozeman last June, the consult the consultants developed a comprehensive wireless facility inventory and also a wireless facilities coverage map, which to my understanding we did not previously have.

The hope is that these two tools, although we weren't specifically requesting them, will be helpful as the city continues to improve and maintain the wireless facilities throughout City Limits.

The City Attorney's Office, we are working alongside with both the consultants and the city's planning staff to work on the code changes that are required by federal law, or are currently the industry best practice since our code has not been touched in quite some time.

The consultants review thus far has been positive about our code, so that's great news.

And we've learned that our wireless code is in fairly good shape, but there are some minor changes, some tweaks that need to be made to make sure that our code is in compliance with federal law.

For example, the consultants recommend changes to the definition section, which would include updating and modernizing existing definitions that are already in the code, and then also they're recommending to include new diff new definitions that are not currently in our code, but which federal law requires.

Some of these definition changes are necessary, as I say, because of federal law, and then also because of best practices.

We're currently going through the list of definitions trying to parse out what we're required to have in the code and maybe what would be best practice and what would be best for our community.

So, for example, antenna, as currently defined in our code, needs to be updated because the definition that is there now is not actually the modern definition of antenna.

Likewise, the co the consultants recommend updating the definition of co-location, which is mounting, installing or modifying multiple antenna facilities on a preexisting structure so that it aligns with the current federal definition of co-location.

The consultants also recommend including new definitions that we don't have in our code.

For example, breakpoint technology is now used by the wireless industry as a safety requirement to ensure that the wireless structure is engineered in such a way so that if it fails, it fails at the break point instead of at the base or at a lower point of the structure.

There's no mention of this in our code.

Another example is an is that there's an outdated term in our code.

We use the term stealth, uh, which is no longer um how the federal government or the wireless industry um refers to that term.

So to remedy to this, the consult the consultants recommend including uh the term concealed, uh which is the more modern version of the term stealth.

Another recommendation from the consultants is to improve the overall review process for wireless facilities when there is a request to put in a new facility or to put in a modification to an existing facility.

Discussions between the consultant, our department, and planning staff are ongoing regarding this because we're trying to figure out how we can simultaneously streamline the city's review process and then also make sure that the code is comporting with federal law.

So our next steps, um, along with city sta cities planning staff and the consultants, we'll continue to work on um the details of the code changes for the wireless facility section of the code.

Once the amendment amendments have been agreed upon by staff, the zone text amendment process will begin before eventually coming back to the commission to present you with an ordinance for your consideration.

This concludes my presentation, and thank you for your time tonight.

Great.

Thank you.

And I understand we have a second special presentation this evening.

We do.

I'd like to welcome Dean Dean Adams up to I had to say that.

It's um Dean is uh a longtime friend of mine, all around good guy, and he uh is going to talk to us tonight about uh the upcoming uh Montana State University University Strategic Plan effort.

I am thank you.

I just don't see which PowerPoint to click on.

Thank you, uh commissioners uh for the privilege of your time and this forum.

Yeah thank you, City Manager Wynn.

Do you need any help with the slides?

I do.

Great.

Thank you.

Let's see.

Do these uh cards you hit you gave us, do they get us any um anything in the bookstore?

They get you an excellent opportunity to participate in our strategic planning process.

Making sure if we needed to report this as a gift or otherwise.

No.

Okay.

So it's none of these.

That's none of those are my title.

Okay, what's your title?

I think it said strategic plan.

Okay.

It's not in the presentation.

It's all right.

I can do it without the images, even though I'm used to talking with images.

Um give us a minute here.

Let me just make sure it's not somewhere else.

Presentations.

Have you got it?

So you can tell me.

I could have you email it, and I could maybe if we take a short break, I could probably get it in here for you.

I think you said it's an MSU strategic plan.

Why don't you send it?

Um I can get this in here if we take like a really short recess.

Um I can I'll have to run upstairs and stick it in the presentation folder, but it shouldn't take too long.

I can talk with Adam too.

If would you be able to email it to the city attorney?

Yep.

You could send it to him right now and he can stick it in there.

All right.

We're not going to count this against the two and a half minutes you have for your presentation.

So we're already almost to roll in credits.

I'll do it so quickly.

But with the proper pace and cadence.

Try it one more time.

Just click the space bar afterwards.

Email addresses.

And it might be that we need to try the old one.

There we go.

Okay.

I am a proud alumnus of Montana State University.

I'm a proud employee of Montana State University, and I'm a proud parent of a student at Montana State University.

And I am the connective tissue between the executive team and the strategic planning committee.

And the strategic planning committee is made up of faculty, staff, students, and uh city uh resident.

And the job of that committee is not to write the strategic plan, but to design and coordinate a process that is inclusive of voices from across our campus, from around our city and our county, from across our state and to wherever our alumni and our stakeholders are.

And it's a process that we want to make sure everybody has the opportunity to be heard and help us create the next strategic plan for Montana State University.

We're really excited about this.

This is uh, you know, this comes with a new president, Brock Testman, recognizes that our mission, our values uh are solid and intact, so this is not a strategic planning process where we're starting with that.

We are starting really with the big ideas, the things that MSU can do better, how we can better connect ourselves to our community, and uh and ideas that we haven't thought of.

And it's why it's so important that we hear from everybody what we can do better to ground ourselves more in Montana, to move forward to the next stages of what MSU is gonna be.

And we're super excited about the future of MSU.

We've got a solid foundation, and uh we're gonna do big things and we're gonna do it together with our community and our students and our staff and our faculty.

So thank you.

Dean Adams, if you could try saying that again for some reason the attachment didn't go in.

I'll do it for my seat.

We can talk.

Yeah, if if you want to, if if if you have more to your to your presentation and things that you want to make sure that are are clear, um we can take a recess if it feels that that it would you know betray the spirit and the the content.

The big thing is this is the snap code, the QR code that allows people to be able to go to a survey.

So we have a survey, five question survey that you can go to right now, and we will have listening sessions uh in the community in May, June, and July.

And so if you know of a of a listening session that we should have, a stakeholder group, uh please email strategic plan at Montana.edu and we will help facilitate that meeting.

Great.

Um and to to tee you up.

So often we don't have uh we don't do a QA, but if there's um maybe other information that we'll probably we would have seen in the slides is you know what's the timeline of this, um are you hoping to wrap up?

What are the what are some just quick ways that folks can find information we have the rest of your cards that we can make sure at least folks in the room get it?

Excellent.

Thank you.

So the timeline, thank you for bringing that up.

That was in the slide.

And um so right now we're working primarily on campus and a little bit in the community.

We've had community stakeholder uh uh meeting already on campus.

But we are going to continue to work on our campus through the semester, and then in May, June, and July, we will be in the community and across the state, and then August will be further out in the state, and then September, our plan is to have a draft for stakeholders to start to provide feedback on, and the the ultimate plan then is to present this to the Board of Regents meeting at Montana State University in November.

And you can go to our website which is Montana.edu slash strategic plan you'll find a link to the survey there as well as uh other information including um upcoming sessions listening sessions that we're that we're facilitating any any other final points that'll do it thank you for your time I appreciate it really rolled with the punches um and uh yeah thank you thank you for making the time this evening oh thanks for letting me yeah of course um some real MSU pride um I I will just comment really quick on this as a committee member member I will keep you all updated on this um through emails I know you all um get information from us and if you do have any ideas about uh locations that would be accessible easy for our community members to be involved I think that would be really helpful.

Thanks and could you introduce yourself so I'd be sorry Ellie Staley downtown Bozeman Partnership and committee member on the MSU's strategic strategic plan so thanks everybody for having us thank you um yes there's a lot of uh energy and excitement around um transition of of presidents is it is an exciting liminal time in a university's history and um yeah we're grateful for the opportunity to to participate and have this as one of your your public events for folks get to learn about it.

Moving on from our special presentations we have three action items before us this evening and our first up is from our economic development folks city manager.

It is mayor thank you item I one is the resolution establishing the cash in lieu amount under the city's affordable housing ordinance.

And it's good to see David Fine.

Thank you Mayor members of the commission I'm David Fine.

I'm an economic development manager uh with the city and um while the affordable housing program is transitioning to another staff member in our office this is a project I was working on before the transition so I'm happy to uh get it across the finish line so um last February the City Commission adopted the the new affordable housing ordinance after um pretty robust public engagement and conversation including um you know uh at least four public meetings community development board August 12th uh economic vitality board the community development board and finally final adoption um in front of the city commission so what we're we've already set the policy the commission has already set the policy related to how this rate is calculated and then tonight we're just setting the rate we're doing the math um and to put a finer point on that um here's here's the text of the alternatives for landation and cash and loo cash and loo is subsection B.

So three main things an applicant can provide a cash and loo payment to the community's housing fund in lieu of providing the units.

We can establish administrative rules and procedures for the calculation and implementation of that cash and loo program and then finally the city needs to use all the cash and loo funds to support the creation or preservation of affordable dwellings.

I will editorialize a little bit about this policy uh before turning it over to Molly Fitzpatrick from uh from Root Policy the the tricky thing and the needle we're trying to thread with this policy is we have a voluntary incentive program and an even more voluntary cash and loo program.

It's our intent in coming up with these cash and loo numbers and an apply in the formula to come up with a cash and loo form number that is fair and that is also achievable because in many cases it's better for us to take cash than it is for us to take one or two units here or there.

We can make cash go farther by harnessing federal subsidies by high nursing private subsidies and by managing more units in in one spot more efficiently because often the units come with a 50 year uh stewardship commitment and so this this is a it's not the only tool it's at the developer's discretion whether they use the tool or not but but if we set the number too high they may either not provide affordable housing units or not provide cash and loo and and build a housing unit.

And so those are some of the balancing things that we are doing with this policy.

Thanks, David.

Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners.

I appreciate the time to be here.

I'm here to do the math and talk you through the math a little bit.

So as David mentioned, all of this is specified already in your reporter affordable housing ordinance.

So I'm just kind of walking through.

As a quick recap on what the ordinance says related to the calculation, as you can see on the screen, it needs to be a per dwelling price.

It needs to be based on the difference between the average new construction rental rate and affordable rental rates that are specified in your affordable housing ordinance.

And it needs to be determined based on the number, type of dwellings, and mix of bedrooms.

So I want to talk just briefly about that methodology that is mentioned.

It is a very, very common methodology for calculating cash and loo or fee and lieu, both in these voluntary incentive-based programs like you have, also very similar or the same methodology that's used in inclusionary programs throughout the country as well.

And that's called the affordability gap methodology.

And it is really the theory behind this is that we are looking at the difference between a market rate unit and an affordable unit.

And the gap between those two is called the affordability gap.

And theoretically, the city could be using the money that you collect, the fee and loo, in order to subsidize a market rate unit.

And so that's how we get that exact affordability gap is looking specifically at that differential.

Very common methodology.

It's as you can see, sort of theoretically designed to buy down the cost of those market rate units.

So actually, as we look at those in Bozeman, we're looking at 2025 data.

And you can see here on the screen that the blue uh bars there is what is new construction market rate rent.

This policy or this incentive applies specifically to new construction.

And so we care about new construction market rate rents.

Those are typically a little higher than you might see as an average rent across the city or as uh a potentially sort of older or shadow market rent, like we uh as we call it.

So we're looking at that new construction market rate rent.

You can see in Bozeman in 2025, that ranged for about $2,100 a month for one bedroom up to $3100 for a three-bedroom.

In the green bars, you can see what is considered an affordable rent at 80% AMI as well as at 60% AMI.

Both of those are thresholds that are specified in your affordable housing ordinance.

You can start to see where those gaps are going to form as we look at the difference between the blue and the green on these bars.

So taking that into table form and extending it out, um you can see in this table, this is this is literally how we're calculating this, as you can see the market rate units uh and we're considering new construction, anything built after 2023, comparing that to affordable rent, in the top half of the chart, it's the monthly, and the bottom half of the chart, we're extrapolating that over 20 years, which is also specified in your ordinance.

And you can see kind of surrounded in the orange box is really where that affordability gap falls for that 20-year time horizon across those different bedrooms.

So if you think about that as an example, if I'm a developer, I come to the city, say I'm gonna build 100 units, they're all gonna be two bedrooms.

I want that incentive that you're offering, and I am willing to give you the units or the cash and loo at 5%, which is what your affordable housing ordinance specifies, 5% of units at 60% AMI, I would owe you five units of affordable housing at um at 60% AMI.

So if I decide to pay the fee and lieu, what that looks like is five units of that affordable unit price affordability gap, which is 242,000.

So I'd take that two bedroom affordability gap, multiply it by five, and owe the city 1.2 million dollars.

That's how it works.

That's how it kind of flows through for a developer as well.

And then these is actually the proposed cash and loo rate, which is based on that 60% AMI affordability gap.

Again, we've talked about what that is, and then calculated over the course of 20 years.

It would be differentiated by bedrooms here, one bedroom, two bedroom, or three plus.

And that is where the recommendation falls based on the math.

And happy to take questions on that calculation or the other proposed amounts.

Excellent.

Thank you for that presentation.

Bring it up here for questions from the commission.

Thanks, Mayor.

Um thanks to both of you.

I have a question for both of you.

Um perhaps started with David, and it's the same question.

David, can you kind of talk about the success of this program, how much interest there's been, how much follow-through, and then Molly, if you could talk on kind of a grander scale other cities just as a comparison.

Sure.

So um I apologize for not having the number committed to memory.

I was saying it for a lot of the fall during public education uh presentations, but we we have a number that's um approaching uh approaching to almost 2,000 units, um, both either constructed or in the pipeline.

Um I think I think we're a little bit below that, but um a lot of of uh housing units have been able to use the incentives in the affordable housing ordinance.

Um cash and loo is new.

It's only existed for about the past year, so we're only just now starting to see the first couple site plans where they're requesting to use cash and loo, and both of them are using the provision we had related to rounding.

So in the past we'd apply standard rounding rules if it was below 0.5, we'd get nothing.

If it was above 0.5, the developer had to reach and build another unit, even if the math didn't make sense.

Our current our current ordinance allows uh developers to pay cash and loo for the fraction of unit that they owe.

And they when it's 5% doesn't produce an even number of units.

And so that's that's what's happening here.

So we only have two applications at this point that have used used the cash and loo, but really that's about yours about how long it takes people to get to the point where they might be making that request.

So we we expect to see more.

Appreciate that.

Thanks.

Molly.

Sure.

And just to just to add kind of context uh sort of throughout the country, I would say yes, this this program is well designed in terms of its comparability to other programs.

As we think about cash and loo, uh, as I mentioned before, the methodology you're using is very robust.

It is the most common methodology used for determining a cash and loo.

Having a cash and loo option is absolutely a best practice.

Um I think it it is it is an important component of helping make this program successful and giving the city the flexibility as well as the developers the flexibility to make sure that that you're meeting those needs.

In terms of where your cache and loo is coming out, it's really similar to other communities as well.

So a lot of because we're using that similar methodology, um, we looked at a couple of peer communities, and and the amount per unit is really on par with lots of other programs of this size and scale.

Okay.

Um how about just other programs that you're seeing?

How much is the catch and loo component being used?

Great question and widely varying.

Um so it it really depends on um some of the policy choices within that.

So we do have some communities that intentionally set uh a high cash and loo because they want developers to deliver units.

We have other clients that intentionally set a really low cash and loo because they want all of the developers to deliver cash and loo.

And so finding that balance is really challenging.

And so it is a policy choice, and so it's hard to say this one's working, that one's not, because most of them are working the way they were designed to work, if that makes sense.

Um so I think we certainly have communities that that revisit and recalibrate and kind of tip the scales and say, well, we we want to be receiving a lot of cash and loo, let's let's tweak it this way or that way.

Um and so it's hard to answer that question, apples to apples because it really is a policy choice, but I would say the the steps that you're taking to implement it are the are on the right track, and as with any new policy program option or incentive, you'll want to continue to monitor it and make sure it's delivering the outcomes you expect and the outcomes that are serving the community.

Is there a community out there that is kind of a shining example of how affordable housing policy is really working and doing a good job?

I would say uh on an incentive basis, it's um it's a little bit hard to answer, right?

So so Bozeman uh has to use incentives and voluntary policy based on your state requirements.

So you can't necessarily say we're requiring this, you're requiring that, right?

It has to be incentive-based.

Um this is gonna sound a little bit strange, but um incentives work best when your zoning is really bad.

And so it when I if I had a shining star to say this incentive is working really well, it's probably because their zoning is broken.

Um because generally, if you really want the incentive, it's because there's something that's not market-aligned in the zoning.

And so it it it kind of becomes this trade-off in terms of policies and incentives.

And so it's a little bit hard to say like this is a shining star.

Um, when we know that that all the time we don't want to hold good zoning hostage to affordable, we also want to deliver affordable outcomes.

That can be it is a balancing act when you're working within the construct of needing it to be a voluntary incentive-based system.

Got it.

Great.

Thanks.

Thanks, Mayor.

Commissioner Bode.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, and yeah, thank you for the presentation.

I just have a couple of questions.

The the first one is a minor content question.

I was reviewing um the affordable housing ordinance in our code, and just noticed that the code section path didn't quite match the one in the resolution.

Um I don't know if it's that that our UDC is getting updated, and so you guys are predicting where it's gonna land or or what, but can you just um affirm that we've got the right code section?

Commissioner, I I apologize for a typo on on my behalf.

Um we we wrote this before the code went into effect, and then I found three of the four code citations.

So um in paragraph, whereas number three, the second code citation needs to be 3834020, and and we can make that change before it's um okay, great.

No amendment needed that can be uh administrative.

Okay, awesome.

Um and then my my second question is just about um reducing our workload in the future here.

I think we've got this great formula.

We've got a lot of um evidence to support why this formula works.

And I'm just curious if you all and staff have a plan to make this update regularly as the market changes.

Um and is there a mechanism for us to do that without having to uh vote on it each time?

So our our intent right now is to budget for and do this rate study every two years, kind of coinciding with the with the biannual budget process.

Um right now the code says you must adopt by resolution, which is in line with all the other cash and loo rates that we adopt as a community.

Um we made this an action item tonight because it's the first time we'd done it, and we thought you might have questions, but I think in the future it's as likely as not we would place it on the consent agenda uh if we're using a similar methodology and we've thoroughly discussed the policy.

Okay, so we we can't just like go look at the most recent published HUD data and kind of calculate it ourselves.

We we have to go and have a a study of the market.

Yes.

Okay, that's that's helpful too.

Um those are all my questions.

Thanks.

Commissioner Sweeney.

Sure.

Uh thank you guys for the presentation.

Um I have a couple questions.

So um, Mr.

Fine, when you said 2,000 units, are those units using the affordable housing ordinance or are those LITEC units?

Those are units using the affordable housing ordinance, many, if not most of which are LITEC units.

Okay.

And so um if I could expand on that a little bit.

Um I started here, um, many LITEC projects had a two to three million dollar plus gap in in making them pencil.

A few things have changed.

One of them is the affordable housing ordinance.

Um the most recent wave of projects has not been showing a gap.

There's a number of reasons for that, but this subsidy is part of that story.

Um so um it this has been a popular tool for LITEC units.

Um and there have also been market rate projects that have used the tool.

Thank you.

Um and then I have a question about the methodology for calculating these numbers.

Um is it possible?

So a lot of communities recognize the vitality of having mixed income people living near each other.

Um but we know some areas of town are much more expensive to build than other areas.

So just for example, if we were going to have a project, a multi-family project in the B3, go after this incentive.

Is there any way to do a variable rate calculation so that it reflects the gap in B3 rather than the gap somewhere greenfield development west of town where that gap is much lower because what we might want to do is actually use the money to subsidize someone living in a unit.

Sure.

And I'll uh I'll let Molly think a little bit while I talk about um ways that other communities approach this.

Um one thing I'd just like to frame up for our community is that right now this is a rental um affordable housing incentive program.

And that the methodology for calculating cash and loo for for sale housing could be dramatically different and is uh differentiated.

So I think you know, when sometimes when you see uh five-story condo project or more, or a five-story rental project, their economics are dramatically different.

And and honestly, the gap between the market rate unit and the affordable unit is not as big with the rental as it is with the condo.

And so we can capture some of that with how we we approach a cash and loo rate for for sale housing, and um as well as you know, differentiating and saying, you know, if this is a mostly for sale project, we're going to use the cash and loo rates for sale, not the rental ones.

And um as well as you know, differentiating and saying, you know, if this is a mostly for sale project, we're going to use the cash and loo rates for sale, not the rental ones.

You can't just stick a couple rentals in there and make it work.

Um so I think that's a that's a opportunity.

I we're we plan to do that work this year if you want to elaborate on how people might do that.

Sure.

Um so yes, to to David's point, certainly looking at a differentiation by for ownership or for sale housing relative to rental is a different conversation.

As you're thinking about geographic areas, I would say we we have seen um uh cities do that.

I would say there are two very legitimate challenges that make that difficult.

One is administrative.

There's certainly an additional administrative burden and um a transparency challenge when it's it's different either by different jurisdictions or different project to project.

The other challenge is is simply a data challenge.

So when we're doing this calculation, we're pulling data to say, okay, how many new rental units have been constructed in the last couple of years and what was the average rent of those?

The smaller we get in terms of geographic area, the harder it is to say maybe there wasn't one, right?

It's like looking at comps, right, from a real estate perspective.

And so how big do we have to get to do that?

So those are those are two very real challenges to that process.

Um I do have one client that that initially set theirs up and they were calculating it on a project-by-project basis and saying, well, what are you gonna rent these for?

And we're gonna calculate it by that.

Um it became very burdensome uh on the their administrative staff.

It also was a challenge in terms of timing of when you want to collect that payment versus when they're actually getting their CO and doing those.

So I would say not impossible, um, but challenging certainly, and probably um if that's something that the city would want to consider down the line, I would say consider it down the line after you've kind of uh started to feel out how does this cash and loop process work?

How are things going?

So do so do it for a bit and then and then think about it um to see what's working, what's not working?

Okay.

And I mean, just for clarity, I know this is the for rent.

We're not anywhere close to doing our for four sale product, so I wasn't even going there mentally, but thank you for that explanation.

And yeah, I think that's all my questions.

Thanks.

Okay.

Deputy Mayor.

Thank you.

Yeah, I always I always benefit from my fellow commissioners' questions.

Thank you.

And Ms.

Fetch Fitzpatrick, it's really great having you in the room so often, our consultants or some disembodied voice coming to us over a microphone.

So, or speaker.

So my my only question is just really why are we why the focus on new construction if uh if the shadow market or the regular rest of the the older kind of stock is um is lower.

I mean, great question.

And and the answer is simply that this policy applies specifically to new construction.

So because it is a new construction policy only applies to new development, that's who can take advantage of the incentives.

That is the gap that we're looking at is where would those units hit versus what affordable units?

And so we're really thinking about the economics of that development.

They would price them here, and then this is where we want them.

So it's the same differential theoretically that they would be taking a hit on um if they built the units.

Perfect, thank you.

Um I had all my questions asked.

I have no questions.

Any further questions?

Okay.

Um we will open this item up for public comment then.

Any public comment in the room on our cash and lieu of affordable housing rates.

Good evening.

Um, Natsuki Nakamura.

Um, I'm a member of the economic vitality board, but just speaking for myself tonight, just a quick comment.

Um thank you to our consultant for making the point about um how it's calculated, what it's like a kind of sets the intention of it.

So I've heard in the past that our inclusionary zoning ordinance was a failure because we got 17 units out of it.

But I think you could also say it was working as intended because we did get uh steady funded a community housing back when we could do that.

So I think we've had that's an example of we priced it pretty low in order to get that cash.

We weren't really trying to get the the affordable units when we set that price back back when we had inclusionary zoning.

So I guess I'm just curious.

Um I'm kind of curious what those two interested applications are, which neighborhoods I'd be kind of curious.

Um given that in the B3 zone, we've given extra height to 90 feet without being able to get any cash and low um for that extra um height.

Um I worry that if the cash loo amount is relatively low, we'll continue to have certain areas of town that are for the rich and other areas that are for working class.

So just to maybe consider the ne calculation of how much we should be asking for.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Any other public comment in the room this evening?

Second request for comment in the room.

And one final request in the room.

Mr.

Newby, are we seeing anyone phoning in this evening?

Mayor Morrison, I see no request for public comment online.

Okay.

Um seeing no public comment to come before this commission on this item.

We will bring it up here for a motion, a discussion, and vote.

Commissioner Magic.

Yeah, uh, I move to adopt the resolution.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

Commissioner Magic, would you like to speak to this motion?

Yeah, um, I'm gonna support the motion very much.

Appreciate this evening's presentations.

Um, and I appreciate the fact that this was uh put as an action item tonight with the thought that uh subsequent um rate increases, rate changes might go on our consent.

That kind of makes uh sense, but I appreciate kind of us being able to hear and see um how these rates work and how they were calculated.

I think that uh was very valuable and just has been interesting to me over the years to kind of watch our affordable housing ordinance and how it has worked in this community.

Uh I do think that there has been success.

Um I credit our staff uh for that, David Fine and others.

Um I appreciated my dunce.

Um appreciated the comments from Commissioner Sweeney as well as the member of the public just expressing concern about geography and where different incomes in our community live.

It is increasingly the pattern in our country that in incomes are segregated.

Um housing of different incomes occupy different parts of town, and the two don't mix.

There are certain parts of town where we still have mixed income neighborhoods, and I personally think they're some of our best neighborhoods in town.

It's good, it's healthy to have that mix.

So just kind of keeping that thought alive and um just trying to educate ourselves on how we can make that happen uh and avoid that segregation that's happening.

That's all I have.

Commissioner Bowdy.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, yeah, I'll associate myself with the comments of um Commissioner Magic.

I I agree with what you said, and uh will also be supporting this resolution.

Um I just also want to add that I'm really excited about the potential to have some um cash on hand for some of the affordable housing endeavors that this commission hopes to undertake in the next couple of years.

We're gonna talk about our commission priorities later this evening, and um I I think there's a lot of appetite and um hunger here for us to get creative and start looking at ways that we can be um building housing for for housing's sake and um having this this pot of money through the cash and loo option, I think will um facilitate us to be more creative and build the types of projects that our community is asking for.

So I'll be in support.

Commissioner Sweeney.

When I first saw this agenda item, I thought, aren't we putting the cart before the horse because we have a priority to rewrite our AHO because state law has taken away the incentives that we are allowed to use our most effective incentives um, which is parking, and now they're regulating um the low height uh limit that we're allowed to do.

And um so yeah, this this the fact that this is on our agenda is because it is needed for developers for their projects, and I don't like making policy because a developer needs something from us.

I prefer to make a policy in a cohesive manner based on public feedback and what's best for Bozeman.

So I'm not gonna be in support of this.

Um it's no secret that I don't like our affordable housing ordinance.

I don't believe in gaining.

I don't think the community gains anything by allowing developers to break code.

Um I think the damage is worse than what we're getting because our zoning is very liberal.

Um I do worry about the economic segregation of what we're gonna do.

I know we need money for housing.

I would like us to have a more deliberate conversation about how we do that.

So thanks.

Deputy Mayor.

Well, I appreciate all these comments.

I always emerge smarter when Mr.

Fine is at the microphone, and so I appreciate that too.

Um and so I I will be supporting this because I I think this um I have seen the value that um that that cash and lo, the power that that the magnifying power that we're able to use with the cash and lieu.

Um I understand that we have affordability as an as a main priority.

This will remain a key community conversation, and so I'm looking forward to kind of we'll be watching this closely and looking forward to seeing how it how it works moving on.

Um thank you to my colleagues.

Um I will be supporting this as well.

Um yes, this is just the the um effectively the output of the input that is the formula put into the affordable housing ordinance.

Um and and I think I resonate with some of what Commissioner Sweeney had mentioned of you know, feeling that uh it seems like every component of our AHO that we put in place, this the legislature sort of looks closely at it and says, ooh, could we could we take one part of that out and make that a little harder or make that irrelevant?

Um and still at the end of the day, if there are um uh folks in the community or applicants or or builders um that want to utilize it even in its weekend state, um, you know, so be it.

Um but I I I hope that we'll be able to have a a more structured conversation on what the future of the affordable housing ordinance is um and how we um yeah, bake in resilience to um what the legislature may or may not um deny us or take away, and and maybe that's a fool's errand.

Um but all that to say the other the last piece on sort of process of where we are, just in case there's folks um inquiring as to why this an action item versus you know parkland in lieu um does it just goes on consent.

Um I appreciated staffs um kind of walking through the first time we're updating it.

Um and also I think this is probably of interest to many in the in the public.

Um the other piece is why it didn't go in front of our um economic vitality board um that I think was a a question of you know not wanting to put something in front of the board that they really couldn't take much action on because it's more or less just the um the output of a calculation and not wanting to put them in a position of not being able to um to deliberate.

But I still I I think still in the future I think it would be of interest, and I've heard this from many of us to just give them that shot to to chew on it anyway.

Um that's not necessarily direction that I'm I'm trying to give here, but just um to to illustrate that I think our boards um are hungrier more than they're what wanting to pass on things.

Um any other discussion from my colleagues this evening.

Okay.

Mr.

Newby, could you poll the commission?

Commissioner Magic.

Aye.

Commissioner Bodhi.

Aye.

Commissioner Sweeney, no.

Deputy Mayor Fisher.

Aye.

Mayor Morrison.

I this item passes four to one, and we'll move on to our second action item.

City manager.

Thank you.

Mayor, this is a resolution uh adding an ex officio MSU members to certain city boards, and if it's all right, I'll present from the podium.

And and if you get smarter with um David Fine up here, I guarantee that's not gonna happen with me up here.

Okay, so at the Commission's direction, we prepared this resolution and uh we're presenting it tonight.

Uh you will uh remember that on the December 2nd we had a presentation uh presentation by uh uh MSU uh to the city commission uh with a request to add a non-voting ASMSU student member to each of the five consolidated boards.

This resolution does that tonight.

Um ASMSU would vet uh accept and vet um applications from a current student up at MSU.

There is this is intended to put one student on one board, a different student on each board.

And the commission would consider and would make the appointment through your regular appointment process.

So MSU would not be appointing students directly to this board.

They would make recommendations to the city commission, and you would do that appointment.

Um a couple things came up since this resolution was drafted.

Uh Chris Saunders brought up a very important uh important point that the community development board now is an appeals board, and we think it's um not appropriate for an ex officio member to participate in the discussion during an appeal.

So we would I would recommend that you uh consider adding that to the resolution tonight.

There's also some conversation about the Interneighborhood Council, also known as Inc.

Inc.

is not a creation of the city commission.

You do not have the authority to appoint Inc.

board or members to the Inc.

Board.

That is done uh through a process that's outlined in the city charter.

Certainly, a student could be a member of one of the Inc.

neighborhoods and participate that way, but the Commission in the Charter does not have the uh authority to add representatives other than is contemplated in the charter.

So that's it for my presentation.

The recommended motion is on the screen in front of you, and I am happy to answer any questions.

Thank you.

And you didn't introduce yourself at the beginning of the item.

I am sorry, I'm Chuck Wynn, I'm your city manager.

Thank you, City Manager, and we'll bring it up here for any questions from the Commission.

Um Commissioner Bode.

I have no questions.

Thank you for the presentation.

Okay.

Commissioner Sweeney.

I have no questions.

Okay.

No questions.

And no questions.

Okay, I only have one.

Um, and it's uh to clarify um some of the the hub up about uh amending for Inc.

or historical preservation advisory board.

So understand the guidance on Inc.

It's a separate, effectively a separate board, they get to do it however they want to do it.

They can even take our um take our model off of what we're doing here.

Um is the historic preservation advisory board.

Is there any reason to not consider adding anybody to that?

No, that's certainly uh you could do that as the city commission.

Our understanding of the direction from the commission was for the five um large uh boards, and that's how we wrote it.

Understood.

Any other questions?

Okay.

Um I think we will move on to public comment on this item.

Is there any public comments in the room on the ASMSU ex officio member action item?

Good evening.

Good evening.

Uh good evening, Mayor Morrison and members of the commission.

Uh thank you for the opportunity to comment this evening.

My name is Lenny Tream.

Spell, you want to spell it?

Uh the president of ASMSU, the associated students of Montana State University.

Uh I'm here tonight to express ASMSU support for the resolution, adding ex officio uh MSU student seats to several city advisory boards.

MSU students make up roughly a fifth of Boseman's Bozeman's population.

We ride the bus, we rent apartments, we use parks, and we contribute to the local economy.

While students uh are members of this community and participate in its civic life like any other resident, uh we haven't had a dedicated presence on the advisory boards that shape policy recommendations on these issues.

Uh boards where student perspectives can meaningfully inform the conversation.

This resolution changes that.

And it does so in a way that's both thoughtful and well structured.

I also want to speak to the structure of this resolution because I think the commission has gotten it right.

The non-voting non-quorum framework is appropriate for this type of position.

It avoids legal complexity while still granting full participation and deliberation, which is where advisory boards do their most important work.

The appointment process with ASMSU recommending be recommending and the commission appointing maintains your authority while giving students a structured channel to contribute to city governance.

ASMSU takes this responsibility seriously.

We manage an organization of several dozen student personnel and several million dollars in financial resources.

With dedicated support from full-time MSU professional staff, we are well equipped equipped to recruit, vet, and recommend qualified students for these positions, and we will ensure that our appointees are prepared to meet the conduct and ethics standards required of all appointed officials.

Finally, I'd note that this resolution creates an institutional bridge between the city and the university that will outlast any single administration on either side.

That kind of durable partnership benefits Bozeman long term.

On behalf of ASMSU and the students of Montana State University, I urge the Commission to adopt this resolution.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening.

An MSU alumnus who, as a grad student between 82 and 85, lived on the second floor of the former Shall I Sports on the corner of Wilson and Olive.

I'm commenting on action item I too as follows.

I asked the commission to vote no on this resolution as it is currently written.

As currently written, the resolution does not include language that explains the city's purpose for having MSU students as exoficial members on five advisory boards.

Perhaps a clear clearly worded amendment could correct this flaw in the resolution.

Provided the city can provide a clear clearly worded language.

This board is just as important to Bozeman residents and likely to students as the other five boards on the list.

Like all Bozeman residents, students can already apply to sit on advisory boards as voting members.

Consequently, other than verifying that a student applicant is in fact a student, I don't think ASMSU should screen applicants in any way.

Instead, ASMSU should act only as a pass-through for applicants, because adding an extra layout, extra layer of application review bureaucracy to the city's already well-established selection process is not necessary.

All other things being equal, student applicants who live off-campus should perhaps be given preference for ex officio seats, if only because off-campus students are more likely to be dialed in to the day-to-day life of the community as a whole.

Finally, it's important that there be two-way communication between the city and MSU.

So perhaps quarterly reviews should be held to determine how the process is working, and I would suggest that commissioners do a rotating seat as exoficio members on every meeting of MSU ASMSU.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening.

Good evening, Commissioners.

Good meet uh good evening, Mayor Morris.

Um, my name is Rebecca Eberlin.

I am the program manager for the Office of Off-Campus Student Life here at Montana State University.

The role of the office is specifically to share resources that encompass housing, transportation, and child care with currently enrolled MSU students, and it acts as a point of contact to develop a stronger town and gown relationship with the city.

One of my roles in this office is to act as a liaison and a point of contact and a go-between between four members of the city, which I have done with Commissioner Bodie and which I have done with Chuck Wynn in the past.

And to advocate for the needs of students and for the needs of the community as a whole and to bring those two groups together to have a stronger, more collaborative relationship.

One of, again, that jobs is to strengthen that partnership and allow student and non-student community members to connect with each other in a more immediate capacity.

And I feel that this is also supported by the resolution to add an ex officio seat for MSU students to the five consolidated city boards.

I will stress that there is, in fact, already a template for a similar program that exists.

It is called boardroom Bobcatz.

The framework and the structure is much the same, and its goal is not to take seats away from larger other community members.

The goal is to create a shared government front model, a governance model that encourages and enfranchises students to come and participate and to learn from longer standing non-student community members who sit on these boards.

Know that if this resolution passes, off-campus student life can and will be a point of con of connection between ASMSU and the boards.

It can help preserve that institutional knowledge and support ASMSU in the long-term success of this program.

I am currently the program manager for off-campus student life, and I intend to be for many years to come.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening.

Good evening, Mayor Morrison and Commissioners.

My name is Izzy Watson.

I'm a junior at Montana State University studying political science and philosophy, and I'm also the Senate speaker for the associated students of Montana State University Senate.

I'm here to comment on your resolution.

Firstly, I'd like to thank Gracie Caldwell for all of her hard work on this, both on the Commission side as well as with her work uh with our president and our government affairs director at ASMSU.

Last semester, the Student Senate passed 2025 R19, a resolution in support of establishing a student advisory council to the city of Bozeman.

This resolution is a clear statement from the ASMSU Senate that we are in favor of expanding student representation to the city of Bozeman.

I think Lenny did a great job of exploring expanding and explaining the impact of this resolution.

So I'm here to also provide context, having served as the ASMSU student lobbyist, who I was the sole representative for the student body to the legislature and the 2025 legislative session.

During that session, there was a Senate bill, SB 210, which was a bill to quote revise Board of Regents laws to remove statutory requirement for the student regent.

The student regent is the student representative on the Board of Regents, and during the 2025 session, we opposed this bill and it died in committee.

I use this as an example to say that students are often the most outspoken and creative voices on governing boards.

For example, the student regent who served from 2004 to 2005, Kayla French from Callis Bell, she was one of the biggest proponents for integrating online web-based components into classes.

So she was about 16 years ahead of her time with that one.

Montana set a precedent in the 1970s that student voice on governing boards is important when it created the Board of Regents with a student regent position.

Bozeman should continue this tradition as it is home to our state's flagship institution for higher education.

Students deserve a voice at the table.

I hope you will carefully consider this and pass this resolution.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Any more public comment in the room.

Good evening.

Hello, Natsuki Nakamura Bozeman resident, and again, member of the Economic Ballotale Board, but speaking only for myself.

Generally, I'm supportive of more communication between the university and the city.

I think those have been a lot of issues in our growth that could be better coordinated.

So in general, I think coordination would be good.

Are you trying to get students to give, you know, share have more back and forth communication, some mode ink and try to be kind of a two-way communication, just expressing some of those goals so we can see if this is the most effective way to do it, or if there's other things that would also be helpful, maybe creating a board that includes staff, faculty, some of the office people from the office of the president, something that closer to the other decision makers.

So I would also say maybe for the interview process, maybe ASMSU can recommend any qualified candidate that they think is worth a good up for consideration, and then the board, or the you can go through your normal process of interviewing them instead of just only recommending one person, maybe recommend anyone who would be qualified for the board.

Um also it would be great if the ex officio student could make a year-round commitment as someone who's newly appointed to a board.

I would say our first three meetings, really just trying to get a work plan, get um kind of we had an onboarding session, so there's a lot of it's pretty slow for the first two, three meetings that you're trying to just learn how the process works.

So if you're only here for you know eight meetings and then you're taking the summer off, you you might not be able to contribute much learn much, and it might not be that beneficial for the board either as well.

So maybe a year-long commitment um including the summer would be great.

Um maybe the preference for an off-campus person, given that they have more connection maybe to a specific neighborhood or can kind of speak to both on-campus and off-campus um positions.

Um lastly, just make a point that I noticed in the ASMSU resolution, they had were thinking about having a student advisory council, and that's kind of on their side.

So but there's some some recommendation that's coming from ASMSU, it'd be great to see that also go to the university side as well.

I've heard anecdotally that some um ASMSU senators have tried to push a little more aggressively on issues on housing and kind of was stifled a little bit on the university side, be like any criticism of what the university is doing in terms of not enough for housing or not enough for parking, it kind of gets stifled.

So empowering them to also push on the university front would be great.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Any more public comment in the room this evening.

Good evening.

Good evening, commissioners.

My name is Gracie Ann Caldwell.

I'm a senior in environmental science at Montana State University and a lead on the Student Advisory Council initiative.

I want to use my limited comment time tonight to thank you all rather than stating points that have already been said multiple times.

This initiative feels like it's been a long time coming.

What began as a nervous sophomore simply looking for a way to improve the city has grown into a program initiative designed to institutionalize and strengthen the relationship between nearly a quarter of Bozeman's population and its local government.

That growth has only been possible because of the many people who invested their time and belief in this idea.

To my peers at MSU, thank you.

For months, you have shown up, gathered support, refined language, and believed that students deserve a structured seat at the table.

To city staff, thank you for helping shape this resolution into something workable and thoughtful and for guiding us through the process with patience and professionalism.

And to the city commissioners, thank you.

Every single one of you has met with me, except somehow Deputy Mayor Fisher, my apologies for miss missing you, and provide a clear feedback that directly influenced the structure of this program.

I deeply appreciate the time each of you took to engage, offer suggestions, and help refine the idea into something stronger and more practical for a city.

I will never be able to serve on this program myself as I graduate in December.

But it's something I would have loved to have participated in my sophomore and junior years when I was gaining more experience in environmental science and sustainability.

I'm incredibly excited to see what the talented and thoughtful students at MSU will bring to you, especially as our city continues to grow and navigate its challenges.

Thank you for your time and believing in student partnership.

Thank you.

Any more public comment in the room this evening?

Second request in the room and one final request.

Mr.

Newby, are we seeing any online public comment requests?

Mayor Morrison, I am seeing no request for public comment online.

Okay.

Um seeing no further comments on this item, we'll bring it up here for commission motion discussion and vote.

Commissioner Bodie, I believe it falls to you.

Thank you, Mayor.

I move to adopt the resolution adding ex officio MSU students to certain city boards.

Second.

It has been moved and seconded.

I understand there may be some amendments proposed, um, but where do we want to start with a round of discussion about the item generally before, or would we like to just get into amendments?

Let's get into amendments.

Amendments first.

Okay, sure.

Um I I'd be happy to lead the staff um suggested amendment about um appointees not participating in appeals.

So the amendment would be um ex officio student appointees cannot participate in appeals.

On the community development board.

On the community development board.

I'm not sure that's even necessary, appeals generally.

Um, if you leave it at five, even if you added the historic preservation advisory board, none of them have a judicial role.

You could certainly leave it as a generic thing.

And if for some reason in the future they did have a judicial role, then it would what your amendment would be applicable to all of them.

Great.

So I'll keep my my amendment as originally stated.

Second.

It has been moved and seconded.

Would you like to speak to that amendment?

Sure.

Um I I have little to say beyond what the city manager already uh communicated, which is just that when you're in a judicial um role, I I think all of the people participating in discussion ought to be voting members, and so I I agree that I don't think it's appropriate for a non-voting uh member of the board to be participating in that that conversation.

Commissioner Sweeney, I agree with everything Commissioner Bowdoin just said.

I'm seeing nods.

Okay.

Um Mr.

DeB, would you poll the commission?

Commissioner Bowdy.

I Commissioner Sweeney.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Fisher.

Aye.

Commissioner Magic.

Mayor Morrison.

Aye.

The amendment passes uh as it is written.

Uh they will not participate in appeals.

Um, any other amendments from Commissioner Bowdy?

I'll I'll pass it on, and if there's anything that I feel like is unresolved, and we can look back.

I I know Commissioner Sweeney has some some prepared thoughts.

Great.

Commissioner Sweeney.

Thank you.

Um, just as part of the full context for the public record for posterity.

Um this resolution of the commission was not created in a vacuum.

Um, there is a resolution from the associated students of MSU, and their resolution is really clear.

They spill out, as Ms.

Watson pointed out, they spell out what the intent is.

Um, whose candidates uh you know they will put forth as recommended members of our advisory boards.

Um, but our resolution doesn't clarify what our intention is or what our expectation is.

Are we attempting only to educate MSU students about civic life?

Are we intending to have these students work with the corresponding departments at MSU?

Community development, transportation, sustainability, to be a true bridge between the two entities.

But I just I just think if we could take a moment and add some descriptive language.

Um together.

So I just would like some clarity in our findings in section one.

Would you like to propose an amendment or do you want to get reactions first before?

I'd like to see what everybody's thinking.

I mean, it just doesn't really say what we're doing.

Understood.

Yeah, Deputy Mayor.

So my sense is that is that the um those resolutions that are referenced, and I confess I did not dive deep into that, but those set up our boards and set up the purposes and reasons and behind those boards.

And also I think our boards have long-standing at this point.

History just it's it's they're there to um bring input to this to the city from the public.

And that's you know, to me, that's I I don't need I don't know how much it means to have a bunch of whereas in this resolution.

I we could we could entertain that, but I just I feel like we've got those those, you know, the superboard, the board resolutions kind of created the the expectations for the boards and the and the purpose behind them.

And we're just we're adding uh a member that we expect to have that same kind of you know, with the with the same intent and purpose.

Um, in terms of to the board, just they're not not a voting member.

And so I I feel comfortable that between um this this hearing, our previous um discussion on this, uh when I forget when that was.

December.

And then joint meeting with ASMSU kind of laid enough of a groundwork.

I don't feel the need, but uh, Commissioner Sweetie, if there's specific language that you want to propose, um, you know, I would just uh I think we briefer is better, but um, but I I feel like we have enough in the record and to to move forward.

Yeah, Commissioner Magic.

Yeah, thanks, Mayor.

And thanks, Commissioner Sweeney.

Um, I tend to agree with um deputy mayor that the boards have structure already, but I we talked um before the meeting, and I thought about this a little bit.

I would be open to adding a very short whereas uh and it would state the intent is to encourage successful collaboration on matters of mutual interest between the city of Bozeman and Montana State University, and I would support an amendment on that.

Okay.

I know it's uh pithy, um, but to me, it kind of gets what we're trying to do here.

Really appreciated the comment about this being an institutional bridge, and uh think that that's exactly what we're trying to do.

Thanks.

Commissioner Bowden.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor.

Um I I also agree with um the deputy mayor that I I think the um record is is present both in the public comment um referral where we got the ASMSU resolution that is that is in our documented repository, and also in this conversation that we are having as a bona fide hearing on on this matter.

Um I I could be in support of um Commissioner Magic's proposed language, and if this is gonna be a make a break between your support of it, um I I think we could point to our strategic plan.

One of the goals there is to foster an engaged community.

Um there's also a goal in the belonging and boseman plan, um, community safety and civic health goal 2.4 says foster relationships with student organizations at MSU to reduce barriers to accessing community spaces and events.

I think is um in in the spirit of of this resolution.

Um and and so if if you're seeking um uh you know city plans to reference those could potentially be whereases.

However, I don't want to get overly um prescriptive here from from the day SSS where writing this as we go.

Sure.

I like um Commissioner Magic's suggestion as a starting point.

I wonder if we could add any words that would um I I keep being reminded of, and I'm gonna paraphrase JFK right now.

Ask not what your city can do for you, but what you can do for your city.

I really want this to be a two-way um thing, and actually, you know, having been a neighborhood chair on the inner neighborhood council, I know those guys are always struggling to get students to join their neighborhood association, and so I was really hoping, you know, this is a two-way thing.

Like, look, you guys go back to your university and bring in the students, get them to join up, get them to participate, you know, rather than just issuing proclamations to the city about what we need to do.

So for the the sake of efficiency here, uh, do we have uh some proposed language for us to consider?

Sure.

Sure.

Could you read the proposed an amendment?

Um so I would propose adding aware of the states uh the intent of this program is to encourage successful collaboration on matters of mutual interest between the city of Bozeman and Montana State.

Can I offer a friendly amendment, please?

Um, which is just instead of Montana State, we could say Montana State University student body specifically because um this is about ASMSU, not the MSU administration.

Yeah.

From the amendment seems received.

Do we have a second?

Second.

Okay.

Um is there any more discussion on this amendment?

Mr.

New York collaboration can cover it.

Would you poll the commission on this amendment?

Commissioner Magic.

I Commissioner Bodie.

Aye.

Commissioner Sweeney.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Fisher.

Uh Mayor Morrison.

Aye.

Okay.

It is amended with uh a brief um statement of intention.

Um Commissioner Sweeney, do I understand you have more amendments to propose?

Yes.

Um be simple since we know the answer about Inc., thank you for providing that.

Um I would move to amend to add historic preservation advisory board um to the list of ex officio assigned boards.

And the reason for this, um, you know, some boards are given more weight by this commission.

And the historic preservation advisory board really wants to this recommendation came from a member of that board.

Um wants that board to be treated similarly to other boards.

And there is a historic district on the MSU campus.

Um, and maybe some architecture planning majors will find this a really engaging opportunity.

And I guess I'm gonna take this moment to say that our historic preservation advice um officer has tendered her resignation, and she was an absolutely fabulous please everyone, go and listen to the extreme history podcast called The Dirt on the Past, Crystal Allegria interviews, Sarah Rosenberg.

And what Ms.

Rosenberg was trying to bring to this city is historic preservation for the 21st century.

It's very inclusive, it's more about culture than about national register architecture.

It's more about culture than about national register architecture.

It's about elevating minority communities and marginalized communities in our past.

And so, you know, I think this could be a great collaboration between MSU and the City of Bozeman in reframing how we do historic preservation.

So yes, thank you.

If that's I move to add historic preservation advisory board as one of the ex officio-assigned boards.

Yeah, I seconded it.

I agree with many of the reasons, Allison stated, I think it could be a very positive thing to have that student member on the TRAC preservation board.

Any more discussion on this amendment?

Um I just say I'd be thrilled to have another board with a student ex officio member.

Um I think the original conversations I had with my colleagues here was let's not bite too much of a bite off the apple here and and kind of constrain this just to our super boards.

And I wanted to be respectful of that feedback, but upon getting this and realizing HPAP was not in fact a superboard, I was disappointed.

Um so if it has the support of this commission, I I would be excited to add HPAP to the list.

Great.

Mr.

Newby, would you pull the commission on this amendment?

Commissioner Sweeney.

Commissioner Magic.

Aye.

Commissioner Bowdoin.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Fisher, uh Deputy Mayor Fisher.

Uh, Mayor Morrison.

Aye.

Amendment passes five to zero.

Commissioner Sweeney, any further amendments that you'd like to propose.

Um I would like to clean up.

Section two, item two, ASMSU will advertise for appointment to the ex officio position and pursuant to its organizational procedures, we'll recommend a Montana State University student for appointment by the city commission.

Um I would like to modify, I move to modify section two, item two read.

ASMSU will advertise for appointment to the ex-officio positions, and pursuant to its organizational procedures will recommend multiple Montana State University students for the commission to appoint through their established board appointment procedures.

And the reason I just want to clarify that is I would love it if you guys give us like three or four recommendations of students who want to serve on there, and then we can have the interviews with the chair, um, the department head and the commission liaison.

Um, that just feels like if we have a few more candidates, it's a little bit more in our hands.

I'll suck in that for just for discussion.

Okay.

Is there anything further you want to add to um I appreciate the spirit of that?

I I think the spirit of of also of this was to um to not overload um I should say I'll back up.

I can't support this in part because um we are already asking a lot of of staff and our commission liaison and our board chairs in terms of you know vetting voting members, and I think there's a higher standard that we should appropriately hold our our voting members to.

Um I feel like like to have that kind of interview process to schedule that time with again our volunteer board chairs, um, this um the city commission liaison staff.

It's just it's it's too much um it turns this into a makes us a really heavy process.

And given that they don't have a vote.

I I trust the um and and I also I just knowing how you know the tradition that ASMSU holds to for its and its governance and its you know it's its membership, I uh I feel comfortable kind of taking their recommendation.

We certainly, you know, we are the last stop.

We have to vote to approve them.

Um so if something comes up, you know, we'll we will we we have that vote to say no, but but I would I don't want to engage in a whole big vetting process.

Okay, so for clarity, the way the resolution stands right now.

ASMSU recommends a person for a seat to who, the whole body, or to the liaison for whichever board it is.

They would be just like all the rest of any other appointment, at least how I'm reading this, that we would approve them similar to any item.

Um, we sort of out of respect often say um the commission that the commission that's at liaison, we trust their judgment on on who they're appointing, but at the end of the day, it's a full commission vote on how that person gets appointed.

Okay.

So they'll go to the commission liaison and then that person will bring it to the full body.

Yes, it will potentially.

So I think that's the other piece too, is that this is what's not involved in this conversation is the rigor of ASMSU's betting of who they put forward.

Presumably they students apply likely an interview, especially if they're emulating boardroom bobcats, which is uh extremely rigorous.

Um, it is truly like the cream of the crop of MSU students that make it into that program.

Um, if that's what they're emulating with, um, it's our discretion as to whether we trust the rigor with which they put forward somebody.

Mayor, can I add something else?

So during the drafting, you'll see in the resolution there's a requirement that they're also subject to the high performing boards resolution.

And so where applicable, the recruitment provision in there, certainly applicable, which would be the process the mayor outlined.

Um even an interview of the candidate that ASMSU had done prior to bringing it to the commission.

That's also allowed pursuant to the resolution.

Perfect.

Thank you for that one.

Yeah, just I'll just add to interject here, because I I also don't um feel that feel that I will support this amendment in part because I don't think it's necessary, um, because it it brings in and cites the other resolutions, the um our high performing board resolution, our other the creation of our other boards also doesn't don't include any of this.

Um it's they don't say uh here's what you have to do to get appointed.

We have other resolutions that do that, and these are just those those apply in in this case, if if I'm understanding these these pieces correctly.

And I agree with both the views.

So I'm not gonna support the motion as well.

I appreciate the spirit of it.

Yeah, um, then we can withdraw, or I would withdraw.

Just for the record, I'd like to say a couple of of notes here.

Um I also will be in support, just I I wanna lift up that when Gracie came to me with this concern about students having a hard time engaging in advisory boards, one of the original ideas was what if we create an entire advisory board just for students to engage on city matters?

And um feedback we got from staff was oh boy, that sounds like a lot of work.

Like that's a whole nother evening, a whole whole nother facilitation process.

And so um one of the the emphasis in how this um proposal was crafted was how can we do this to be minimally um um taxing on our current staff load?

And I I think the way as it currently is written achieves that.

Um the other thing I'll just note for the record here is that the last point in the written resolution says um not the last point, apologies.

Oh, wait, the last point.

Okay, um, that this appointees serve at the pleasure of the commission and may be removed by a majority vote of the commission for any or no reason.

Um and so if for some reason something goes wrong with one of these recommended students from ASMSU, we reserve all the power of this body to make any course correction needed.

Okay.

So yeah, I'll withdraw.

Okay.

No point.

Um Do you have any further amendments?

Yeah, the final one that I I wanted to move, I move to add an item 11 to section two detailing the requirement that if these ex-officio board members as part of ASMSU's student advisory committee issue a recommendation, resolution, opinion, or any type of suggestion on policy to the city of Bozeman, that the recommendation, resolution, opinion, and official suggestions also be issued to the appropriate MSU counterpart in order to encourage further coordination between the two entities in addressing concerns of the entire community.

I'll second.

Okay.

It has been moved and seconded.

Would you like to speak to your thoughts on this motion or this?

Yeah, yeah, I we have really important work to do with MSU as a city.

I'm super excited that we're both doing our strategic plans at the same time, because this is a lot of opportunity to really tackle some things as a community.

Um I don't think this gets us there.

We need to get decision makers from city departments and MSU counterpart departments, policymakers, experts in transportation, housing, engineering, you know, all of these sectors together to really go forward as a coordinated partnership.

And you know, I just I feel like if there is a student committee issuing recommendations to the city, it would be really beneficial to have those also go to their counterpart at MSU.

I hear that.

Um I'm gonna I'm gonna struggle.

I I can't support this either, in part because I feel like this is just focused on our boards and and how we you know bringing a bringing a student representative onto our boards.

Um and I don't want to turn it into a whole kind of quote unquote crow, or or just or even start to even say, well, okay, if you're gonna do that, we need this from you, or we need you to do that.

And and uh, you know, I don't want to have to kind of police that personally.

I I agree we have work we need to do, and maybe this discussion we could have as we start to do more of that work, it is going to be one of our priorities, we'll discuss here shortly.

Um but I just don't think this is the right spot to put that kind of a requirement.

I don't tend to agree.

Yeah, Commissioner Bowdy.

Um yeah, and I would also just say um ASMSU is a government in its own, and we as the City of Bozeman don't reserve the right to tell ASMSU what they they can and cannot do.

This is this is a good faith handshake agreement between our two governments that um we want to have this relationship.

And um I I think while it's important that we ask um MSU administration to be our partners in solving important problems.

I actually think that responsibility falls on us as a commission to hold that relationship with the university.

And um I I think through a strong relationship with ASMSU, we we can probably be even more effective in um lobbying MSU administration to help us solve our most pressing problems.

Yeah, I I don't think I have anything to add.

I think I appreciate the spirit in which in which the the amendments coming, but I I similarly, yeah, the challenges of their separate jurisdiction.

I I think actually the the lift here is so light.

These is somebody we can remove at any meeting.

Uh they are actually will end up being effectively more vetted than any other person on our boards of having applied, been interviewed by another entity recommended to us.

We may volunteer an interview as well.

Um I just don't think that the spirit of this entire process, I don't think is necessarily um that I feel a concern um about what that's addressing, but at the end of the day, yeah, we'll we'll talk about um here probably in 15, 20 minutes about our relationship with MSU.

Very well.

Motion withdrawn.

I just want to say this is a very unique thing where we are giving another government jurisdiction on our boards to participate, and then they go back and convene themselves and make recommendations to us.

So, you know, bear that responsibility well.

So back to the original motion of just the resolution as now twice amended to add historic preservation remove appeal discussion authority and the uh three, yeah, and the the additional statement of intent.

Commissioner Bode, would you like to speak to the motion as amended?

Yes, thank you.

Um yeah, I'm I've been really looking forward to having this discussion um and the vote before this commission.

It's it's an exciting day.

Uh I want to start with my appreciation for Gracie Caldwell going above and beyond to uh bring an idea to this body and um just weather the ups and downs of the the sausage making that is involved in crafting a policy that's gonna do meaningful work and last long long beyond the time that Gracie is president at ASMSU.

Um I also want to uplift um the ASMSU leadership, President Lenny Tream, um and I've also been talking a lot with government affairs director Kai Hinka.

Um they've both been really instrumental in crafting what this can look like, setting up the kind of institutional structure for this process to carry on past their administration.

And um lastly, I want to thank Rebecca Eberlin for um providing the support from off-campus student life.

And I just have so much more confidence in this resolution and program, knowing that there will be some staff members writing the ups and downs of student transitions and keeping this program strong over time.

So with that, I want to spend a little bit of time talking about the value of the student voice in our government.

We all know that students provide and contribute a lot of vibrancy to this community.

And they have demographic specific challenges.

Affordable housing is a problem for everyone, and I think there's a very acute problem for students who are trying to rent in this community while also going into debt as they earn degrees to further their careers in the future.

It's a huge group of people looking for meaningful entry-level jobs that will allow them to stay in this community and grow, not just trying to be service workers or jobs that don't have the opportunity to grow into an ability to afford this town.

But folks that want to want to stay here and invest in longer term.

And I don't say that to say that our service workers are not super important to this community, too.

And then lastly, this is a demographic that I think faces transportation challenges in a very unique way.

These are the people who I think are one of our most likely demographics to walk, to ride a bike or to take the bus across town.

And I think their voices will be really valuable as we consider how to improve both the safety and functionality of our transportation system.

Our past engagement processes have made an admirable effort to try and engage students and have fallen short.

We heard from Commissioner Sweeney how difficult it is for Inc.

to engage, and this doesn't necessarily address that specific concern, but I've again again asked our staff to go out of their way to engage students, and unfortunately, we're we're just not reaching them.

Our deep dive UDC survey, we had only 20% of respondents who are renters, but 55% of all households in Bozeman are rented.

We know students make up a huge portion of our renter community.

18 to 25 year olds in this town make up 25% of our population.

Only 2% of all of the respondents to our UDC deep dive deep dive survey were 18 to 24-year-olds.

Not all students are 18 to 24, but a huge chunk of them are.

And so I think the problem is spelled out in the data of who we have participating in some of the most critical policy-making decisions that we approach in the city.

I recall my experience as a student leader at MSU.

I was really passionate about climate and sustainability, started my own sustainability club, and I met so many of my peers who were incredibly passionate about what the city is doing to make this town a more livable place, but just didn't know how to engage at the city level.

And we have in the room right now a group of students who developed a solution to that problem.

I want to note we have city plans that support this resolution, a strategic plan that seeks to foster an engaged community, our belonging and Bozeman plan that seeks to foster relationships with student organizations at MSU to reduce barriers to accessing community space and events, and also has a goal to identify funding resources and partners to develop a civic academy program to create a pipeline of talented and connected and diverse staff advisory board members, elected officials, and nonprofit leaders.

And I think this takes a little bite out of that belonging and Bozeman goal as well.

There's precedent for this type of thing.

Our school board has had a student seat for as long as I think any of us can recall.

Our urban transportation district created a seat for an ASMSU senator, and that ASMSU senator has already contributed really meaningful content to our conversations on transportation.

This is about developing future leaders and engaged residents.

But it's not just for the benefit of the students that participate for their resume.

It's about improving the perspective that this commission has that'll help us govern better.

It'll give us a cohort of student leaders that are a direct link to the student body as we develop really important policies and need the student perspective.

And I also want to address just a couple of concerns I heard in public comment that we didn't fix in our amendments, which is that this should be for off-campus students only.

I think that all students on campus have a unique perspective and important voice for us to be listening to.

So I'm not sure that I buy that argument.

But if I did, um I will note this process will actually exempt all first-year students at MSU because they have to go through the interview and selection process in the spring term and start in the fall.

So second year students are much more likely to live off campus and be more integrated into our community than first-year students.

I heard a comment about needing students to be engaged year-round if they're appointed to these terms.

That is the intent.

We do have some remote participation capability in our advisory boards, and so that's that's an opportunity.

And I think those are all of my bits and bobs.

I'm I'm gonna stop there.

I'm just really excited to support this, and I hope my colleagues will join me.

Commissioner Sweeney.

Thanks.

I I just want to make clear, students are able to participate in our advisory boards now.

So please get your friends to come and give public comment, maybe assign some members to shadow the boards and track their projects.

You know, um, all of these things are possible.

So, you know, it's it's never been trying to keep students out of participating.

Sometimes I think people show up when something the city is doing, they really care about, in which case the transportation.

So I hope you guys can increase student participation beyond the ex officio member itself.

Thanks.

Deputy Mayor, I I don't have much more to add.

I I am excited to vote for this.

Um I I do want to just having served on the Bozeman School Board, it's an imperfect, uh, I don't want to draw too too many parallels given the given the vast gulf in in maturity lived experience and the issues we cover.

But it was it was really helpful to have those students on the board.

Um just just again, because you get a whole different perspective.

And so um I'm I'm C equal, you know, or even more potential here with us, and I'm excited to do this.

I perhaps should have disclosed that I do teach a course on campus, and I will be printing out this resolution and taking it to my 15 students tomorrow.

Um they're all freshmen.

Um, and so encouraging them.

Um then the other thing that totally confounds me is like wait, Gracie.

You started coming as a sophomore.

Yes, I started coming in spring 2025.

That's a stoning.

So you're not a you're not not a fifth-year senior, but you are a senior, and it's just amazing that we're so I'm glad we're gonna be here.

I'm gonna miss you after December when you graduate.

Um, but happy to have this as as part of your legacy.

Yeah, Commissioner Magic.

Yeah, thanks, Mayor, and thanks to my hello commissioners.

Thanks to Commissioner Bodid for being so thorough.

I agree with you.

I'm gonna support the motion.

Um really appreciate the attendance tonight, and um just the passion that has gone into this and the hard work.

So thanks very much.

Um I don't have too much to add.

Um just a few pieces, one uh just appreciation for for Commissioner Bodie.

I think this is a good um a good practice of governance as a as a team of um you know, collaborating, communicating with community interests, um, bringing your colleagues along, and and I'm glad that we're here and appreciated the the amendments that we've been um undergoing as we've been as as this process has you know been continuing.

I think each of us each you know, many many amendments have been made by different commissioners, and I think it's stronger for it.

Um it is it is I I just have to respond a little bit to well one just to lift up how um really lucky we are to have a university in our town.

Um it of course brings um strain and pain at times, but it also brings beauty and vibrance and um and I you know I think this is a continuation if the you know we're the ones taking this action, but I would believe this is in the spirit of the land grant university mission to um deepen the relationship and make make practical um the the classroom into uh into policies outside.

Um I think it it's just been really cool to see I worked in the office that uh that launched the board and bodcats program when I was in undergrad.

And it was crazy how quick the reception was of how um powerful it was for the students, how much the boards loved it.

Um I had a friend who was on the Eagle Mount board and just the the the fast track of experience that that gave to this person as well as clear Eagle Mount realizing their blind spots of not knowing what the student experience was like.

Um and I suspect that is true for many of our many of our boards um today.

I do just I uh it's hard to not um react a bit to the the what is felt like some real like uh some drama around this item.

Um it is uh so petite in in function.

Um students that get vetted multiple times.

Um easy process to remove them.

Um they don't even get to vote.

Um have we become so scared of ideas that having somebody who can't even vote but gets to just participate in the conversation that we're worried about what that does.

Um I hope we're not there.

Um but but uh that is some of what I've seen in uh public comments and um more so in the initial round then than I think this time is we're entertaining this item.

Um the other piece that came up was the concept of uh of transient residents versus permanent residents, as if there is such a thing as a permanent resident.

Um as if there is no no circumstance that could ever make someone move, leave, displace someone.

Um we I think all of us endeavor to be permanent residents of a place that we are, but we are all temporary and liminal in where we are living, and I think it's it feels a little um silly at times to imply some people.

Um there are folks that are MSU students who've lived in this valley or lived in the state longer than some people who submitted public comments, alleging that those individuals are not legitimate residents of the community.

Um so all all in all, really excited, grateful for my colleagues and the and the the chewing on this that everybody has has undergone um and really excited for this um this next chapter of working with MSU in this way.

Mr.

Newby, I believe you can pull the commission.

Commissioner Bodie.

I Commissioner Sweeney.

Uh sorry, I don't know why I'm trying having trouble saying that Deputy Mayor Fisher.

I Commissioner Magic.

I Mayor Morrison.

I motion passes five zero.

Um and yeah, Deputy Mayor Fisher just doesn't quite roll off the tongue the way Deputy Mayor Morrison did.

Uh so we will close the hearing on this item and we'll move it on to our final action item of the evening, the adoption of the 2026-2027 city commission priorities.

Wow, be okay.

Permissible.

Yes, absolutely.

We'll we'll uh re we reconvene my city computer at 8 30.

So about eight minutes.

Okay, we are moving on to our final um but certainly not least action item of the evening.

Um our resolution adopting our priorities.

Um I want to just uh sort of ground us in where what translated to these, what and and then I know the city manager has more of our slides and we'll talk a bit together about what the priorities are and are not the relationship between priorities and the city manager's work plan.

Um but I I think just wanting to um clarify some of what um what what the the purpose of priorities are and why um commissions adopt them and and sort of what I think is some of the spirit of of how we got to where we are um and why priorities aren't necessarily a community-wide public engagement campaign in the way that uh strategic plan is or um growth policy UDC, etc.

Um, and in part because actually each of us had to undergo a huge community engagement effort to sit in these chairs, and we then get to take the will of that community effort uh of what we sold to the community and said, here's what I want to do, elect me to do it.

Um and they answered, and now each each of us up here um sits with that mandate and that pressure um to make good on what we told the community were our ambitions.

Um throughout the last couple months, um the translation of those mandates and those those electoral messages into um with one another of what we believe is the manifestation of of those priorities.

Um we came from we got to the point of basically looking at one an intention of not having so many and such varied priorities that they were uh they looked really good on paper, but were inachievable, um, were so wide-reaching that their the the focus was not clear.

And just wanting to um uplift that every every commissioner's fingerprints are on some um some on on in bedded in each one of these buckets.

Um but none of us got everything.

Um some of us did not get our our priorities to the finish line.

Um though we've we've not approved them yet tonight.

Um so perhaps there's still room.

Um the the first time where we got to uh discuss these together in a public meeting was um the second Monday in January when we got to meet with the the director team as well as the full commission um for around four hours to chew on these together and to get reactions from staff on things, to hear um parts that the city manager was already talking uh as work plan items from the previous city commission's priorities and holdover from the last budget cycle.

Um and consequently, here we are uh working to approve and finalize what our priorities are over the next two years.

Um these are at times they may feel uh extremely ambitious and hard to achieve in two years, and some feel yes, we could quite easily do that in two years, maybe one year, and there might already be overlapping pieces with with existing work plans.

Um all that to say, there's there's no perfect uh document that we can create here.

And I think uh many of us felt some urgency to to continue this process along.

One, um to have it in the rear view mirror, but also because we know that it translates into the city manager's work plan and then into department's work plans and not wanting to stymie and slow that process down any further.

Um also we wanted to do a good job and get to what we feel um confident in and feel like when there's members of the public that are asking what is city hall working on, this document exists to say this is what city hall is focusing on.

Um the last piece just uh I don't necessarily think we include it in a slide, but just uh as it's come up in a few comments.

Um my understanding is there is no hierarchy of these four buckets, that these are co-equal um priorities.

Um public safety is not necessarily what we're putting above or below um community engagement, affordability gap or history and heritage of our community and neighborhoods.

Um these are these are set up such that they are all the priorities that could be enumerated in any way.

Without further ado, I will open it up for our city manager to walk us through a brief presentation.

Thank you, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Commissioners.

I'm Chuck Wynn.

I am your city manager.

Uh this has been a fantastic opportunity to talk about what's important to this commission, what's important to this community, and uh I really uh appreciate the uh intention that this commission has addressed that, these things.

Um I also appreciate the mayor's um note about I numbered them so I we could talk about them.

It could have been a square, a diamond, a circle.

Um, but these are all important.

And we have opportunities as a staff to use uh our resources and be uh very responsive to community needs to opportunities where we have staff time available, where we have uh um resources available and be opportunistic in the accomplishment of these priorities.

And please stop me any time that you have any question.

So in years past and in in this year, the intention is to adopt uh the city commission priorities that fits within the mayoral term.

So that's why it's a two-year uh city commission priorities that also comports with our two-year biannual budget.

So we can talk about these things, we can uh talk about funding them, allocating resources in two-year chunks.

These priorities will inform the development of our budget and work plan.

So right now we uh the city commission has heard the um the CIP.

You'll hear it again, I think on the 10th, and then you'll do final adoption of that as amended any amendments that you propose um, I think on the 24th.

So we we have that coming up.

These priorities will inform the development of the CIP and certainly inform the uh development of our biennual budget.

The mayor indicated this uh earlier, but these priorities don't necessarily fit within um um neatly into calendar years, into political terms, into fiscal years.

So we want to talk about them in the context of two years.

We think we can accomplish a lot of this work, but I think we saw with the UDC effort that it didn't fit neatly into a mayoral term.

And I think there's a lot of lessons that we learned about doing it right is more important than doing it fast sometimes.

And so we are um cognizant of that as we talked about this.

As the mayor mentioned, we did meet uh with the commission and the director team on January 12th.

We talked about the items on the city manager work plan, but we also talked about the city commission priorities, and I'll talk about how that informs my work plan.

So just as a reminder that these are broad, high-level goals that guide the community's long-term vision and policy direction.

So the city commission uh is primary responsibility is to identify the policies which shape our community moving forward.

Then through your staff, we accomplish that work.

We accomplish that work through the work plans and what you see uh come to you every Tuesday night.

So these priorities is set the what and the why, the outcomes that we aim to achieve and the values that shape our decisions.

Your your fingerprints are all over this draft and your fingerprints will be all over the uh finalized uh priorities as well.

So each of these has a set of uh supporting actions or supporting initiatives or supporting strategies to help accomplish it to make sure that we understand what each of those priority means and how we can accomplish them.

So tonight we'll be looking at the city commission priorities.

Those will uh greatly inform the city manager's work plan.

I am required by my contract to present to the city commission a draft work plan.

I have done that, and these priorities that are adopted tonight will help prioritize that work plan and even may uh result in the addition of certain things or the removal of certain things.

So with that work plan, then we will prioritize those efforts as a staff, and again, it goes into the preparation of our budget.

The four priority city commission priorities that you have in front of you are to make Bozeman a safe and welcoming place for all, to engage meaningfully with the community, to bridge the affordability gap, and to protect Bozeman's heritage, neighborhoods, and environment.

And we'll take those one at a time and we'll talk about the supporting action strategies and initiatives.

So under make the broad term here is uh safety.

So it's to make Bozeman a safe, and I think I would propose to change that to keep the Bozeman a safe, and I think that's in the draft that's in front of you.

It didn't make my slide edit.

But to make Bozeman a safe and welcoming and then those those four things which I think are important enough to read is that is defining what that means.

Ensure city policies, practices, and services foster a community where all people feel safe, respected, and able to participate fully in community life and identity and address service gaps when they arise.

Ensure appropriate funding and staffing for police, fire, and emergency response service, and support coordinated responses to behavioral health and crisis situations.

Work with the school district and continue to work with the school district and other partners to ensure Bozeman remains a welcoming place.

And then advance multimodal transportation improvements from safe streets for everyone and urban transportation district and explore funding opportunities.

So that has to do specifically with streamline, but also some of the projects that we have identified and seek uh grant funding, other funding opportunities.

Under engagement, the priority is to engage meaningfully with the community.

Things that are supporting that effort is to strengthen the city advisory board efficacy to ensure alignment with community goals, and that's the board review that's currently underway.

Strengthen the relationship with Montana State University.

We talked a lot about that tonight.

In fact, I talked with President Tessman this morning about strengthening our town gallant relationship.

He's very excited about that, as is the Dean of Students, Matt Kyrus.

So we're really excited about that effort.

Cultivate public-private partnerships and collaboration.

We know that we can't run this city alone.

We need our community to be a part of pretty much everything we do.

And want to cultivate those efforts where they exist and look at new ones, new opportunities to work with our community.

Review the city's strategic plan to ensure it reflects current community goals.

It was adopted in 2017, I believe.

And we haven't really looked at it since then.

Certainly our community has changed.

Some things remain the same, but we need to look at our strategic plan as our North Star, our guiding document that we look at when we decide what we're going to do and how we're going to do it.

And then leverage evidence-based survey methodologies to understand community attitudes.

So we know who comes here every Tuesday night.

We don't know who doesn't come here.

And we don't know what the silent majority out there is thinking a lot about what we do, and I think it's important that we work hard to understand what that voice is for the people who don't show up.

Under affordability, bridge the affordability gap.

Improve housing access through a variety of programs and strategies.

Some of those are ongoing.

We need to certainly celebrate those, communicate those more, and look for new opportunities.

Review and revise the affordable housing ordinance.

That efforts are important and it's a commission priority and a staff priority too, and a community priority.

Streamline the development review process to eliminate unnecessary steps that add cost and delay while maintaining quality and compliance.

I've met with the director of planning and the director of transportation to who that work, look at the development review applications and do the review on the development applications.

And we want to make sure our process doesn't contain regulations that aren't necessary anymore.

And we have an efficient process for development.

Also support efforts to improve living wage opportunities in Bozeman and support efforts to improve access to child care.

And you heard a con uh report from Tori Sprolls a couple weeks ago about the uh program that we're doing that uh connects um need with availability in our child care in real time.

Last priority is place.

And this is to protect Bozeman's heritage, Bozeman's neighborhoods, and Bozeman's environment.

And we've got a lot of efforts underway that fall into that.

Uh we've talked about the importance of finishing the work that we've started well.

And we know that we have ongoing work uh with the city's landmark, historic preservations and neighborhood conservation overlay district, uh the integrated water resource plan, our urban forest management plan, and other neighborhoods and environmental plans and initiatives that are too lengthy to list but in this particular document.

But we know that we take the um direction of the commission uh with community input as we decide what we're going to do next.

And then make necessary edits or revisions to the uniform develop unified development code, the UDC and the zone map for clarity and efficacy, and those are those uh we have this new UDC.

Um we're learning about it, the community's learning about it, and we need to give it a chance to work and see uh we know that there will be some tweaks in there.

There always is.

It's an imperfect document.

Uh and we need to um address those and our intent and we will come back to the commission with the things that we see, the things that we hear, and possible solutions to that.

So that is the four city commission priorities along with the supporting actions, initiatives, and strategies.

And this is a work session, and I'm really anxious to uh hear what the commission has to say and how we make this even better.

Um I do have, and I think I give a copy of this to you.

This is a draft city manager's work plan for 26 and 27.

I call it the green sheet because it's green.

And we'll call these city commission priorities the blue sheets when we have those two.

They do interact in really important ways.

And that's the work plan that we are going to present, develop after we adopt the commission priorities, and then for each of those items on the work plan, we're calling them initiatives.

And each of the initiative will have a title, but it will have a description of what it means so that we can agree, all agree on what we're trying what we're trying to accomplish with that initiative.

It'll have a dec a definition of success or a definition of completion so we know when we're done.

Uh we'll assign a resource level to it so we know how much it's going to cost, um, both in terms of staff uh or budgetary uh input uh and community engagement.

And then we will uh identify the team, a lead and the team that's working on it.

A lot of these across departmental initiatives.

And we need to identify that so we can figure out and balance the workload.

Some departments are gonna have a lot of things to do, and others are gonna have less.

And we have all the ongoing work of the city occurring at the same time.

So really want to be respectful of staff.

I want to be respectful of the community in terms of engagement fatigue as we schedule, we we decide how and when we're gonna do these things.

And then we'll put a uh projected timeline.

And we'll make these documents public.

We'll make them available to the commission and to the community.

So if somebody wants to know where we are on any particular uh particular initiative, uh we'll be able to um have that information available.

And as we make progress on those initiatives, we'll update those.

So it'll be a um probably not real time in the sense that uh you know, we'll update it every day, but we will update it.

Um our intent is to update it quarterly, and then to come back and report to the commission on the success of the work plan and the city priorities regularly.

Um so we can talk about the cadence of that and the frequency of that.

That concludes my presentation, and I'm ready to either answer questions or to uh how whatever the commission's pleasure is.

Great.

Thank you, City Manager.

And just to clarify before I open it up to my colleagues for questions of what we're um considering and essentially approving tonight.

So you you'd said at one point that this is a work session.

Um we see in front of us a resolution it might understand that the staff are looking for guidance or wanting us is the our expectation to approve um this resolution codifying our priorities this evening.

Yeah, this is this is the commission's document.

And so um it would be great if you would approve it, approve it, amend it and approve it, or tell us that you want to start over.

Whatever the I hope you wouldn't do that, but um yes, it is the document that's included in your packet.

Not the work plan.

Okay.

Um bring it up here.

So to to clarify what's in the packet is a resolution.

So approving our priorities.

Um so there is not a there's not a work session tonight future meeting um that's scheduled for us to deliberate on those.

This is this is the night, of course.

You know, we we can amend, we can make changes, etc.

But the purpose for this time together tonight is to get to a spot where we feel these are our priorities that we're gonna focus on in the next two years.

Um I believe Commissioner Sweeney is up.

Thank you for the privilege of going first.

Um and thank you for that clarification of like we're fleshing some stuff out tonight, because that was my first question is like when are we making the work plans for each of these?

So okay.

Um yeah, so how do we want to do this?

Do we I guess if there's I think where we're right now before we'll open up for public comments questions?

Just questions questions to the city manager, I I guess for for myself.

Yeah, I I think I think it's pretty clear.

I I do appreciate that it, you know, the statement that this will inform the development of the budget.

So yeah, I I don't have any questions.

Great.

Thank you.

Um Deputy Mayor, any questions?

Sure, just to be clear, we are not creating the work plans tonight on this.

We're not saying, okay, you know, for for make making you know to ensure city policies, or or you know to strengthen the relationship with MSU.

We're not going to say this is how we're going to do that, and this is when we're going to do that tonight.

That's right.

Correct.

Okay.

This is the codifying of the priorities, translation of these into, you know, that we have a draft city manager work plan, finalization of that work plan, and departments then inform their work plans off of that.

Right.

So again, just to be clear, then um so this city manager, you'll be working with the mayor in terms of of working this, you know, coming up with with kind of a a schedule of um, you know, the time frame for these.

I I guess my question really the question is we have you know almost 20 sub-priorities, you know, kind of how do when it will be the opportunity or or what's the process for deciding which of these trains leaves the station first?

Because they all can't head up.

Yeah, I thank you for that.

Um, as is listed in that slide tonight, once we have the priorities, whenever we have the priorities, then we'll get to work.

I'll get to work right away.

It's that's why you hire me to um take what we know at as an organization and our director team has been intimately involved in the creation of this draft work plan.

And we will um look at our calendars, look at our um what we believe are the priorities and put that together in the city manager's work plan, which the commission then would review and approve.

And certainly we have conversations all the time.

Um I meet with every one of you once a week, and we can have and do have really important conversations about so I hear a lot, I can take that information, I'll create a draft that you can review and we'll move forward.

Yeah, so I guess that's that's my next question, maybe for all of us is um then we're gonna get kind of essentially a suggested kind of roadmap from you or train schedule, and then we can have that discussion.

I mean, maybe Mr.

Mayer, that's the question for you.

Do we then have another kind of work session on okay?

Yeah, uh actually, can we elevate you know X over Y, or or is that is that do you envision like another work session where we then do look at that the roadmap or trade schedule you give us and say, okay, wait a minute, we want to tweak it a little bit.

Or is or is this you know I guess that's the main question.

Yeah, I um the answer to that is yes, you will.

You we need opportunities for you to be in involved in the in the priorities.

Um I think if you adopt the priorities tonight, I think we have a really great start on, and a lot of these are ongoing right now.

So we're gonna finish them and we're gonna finish them well.

That's that's our commitment to you.

Uh commitment to you also is that um through the budget process, you support these things, and we will present a recommended budget that that has these initiatives in a time frame that we feel we can do the work well in the next two years.

So to to clarify, you know, we're not all looking at the work plan in front of us, we've all seen it.

Um it has on the far right um column, and and presumably the commission priorities will as well, a timeline.

We approve that that work plan.

Um so that's not what we're looking at in front of us here.

Staff will get to take uh and and you know, come up with a proposal of of a timeline for these.

Um that's our job to negotiate around those um with one another with with the city manager um to match what we believe um is the merited timeline for for that for that program.

And I'll just say to um add a little clarity to that.

Um there are things in this work plan that are not commissioner, commission priorities or internal uh processes that we need to uh complete and work on to be a best in class employer or to have um you know uh enable professional development for our staff.

Those aren't the kind of things that will probably rise to the level of the commission reviewing them.

That's the work that we know we have to do all day, every day.

But I wanted to make something we really haven't done well in the past, I believe, is to talk about all of the ongoing efforts of of a staff while the commission talks about what it wants to do.

And and ultimately it it's your decision, but I I want you to know what's going on in your city and how we are addressing some of these uh concerns we have as we try to be to professionalize and update um our organizational processes and our internal services to provide service to the community.

So open it back up for any questions for the city manager, sure, Commissioner Bode.

Um just to make sure that I'm understanding and for our visual reference, I I have last year's um or last two year cycles um priorities and this kind of like roadmap um document where where we kind of got a chart with the timeline for commissioners' meetings benefit.

Um yeah, is that what you're imagining producing for this commission?

And once we have a document like this, that's that's what we'd be providing the feedback on.

That's correct, Commissioner.

Okay, great.

Um, and then I just have a quick semantics thing, which is not a hill I'm gonna die on, but I'm just curious about the changing of the word from make to keep Bozeman safe.

Um I just reflect on how we do so much to make this community safe.

And we also have as in FYI, we acknowledge tonight work to do to make this community safer.

Um and uh yeah, I'm I'm just curious the choice of of that word.

I I wasn't involved in that particular word spitting.

Um was one of my colleagues in particular the one who did that or city manager was was that your wordsmithing choice?

Yep, that was um my change when the staff read it, they said it sounds like Bozeman's unsafe right now, and we didn't want to um give that priority that we're not a safe community.

We know we could be safer, but you know, the sense of safety that our community feels is real, but there are a lot of opportunities that um we can continue to address that proactive way, and we talked about some of those tonight.

Okay, thank you.

Commissioner Sweeney, any questions?

Yeah, I'm like this is so not the meeting I prepared for.

Um so on January 12th.

We were given 10 pages of the staff as doing all of this, and then we spent the whole time weeding off our priorities.

What are we not gonna do?

Because the staff is really busy.

And I respect that.

I understand that we're doing really big projects.

The ERP enterprise resource planning system is an enormous thing that nobody knows we're doing.

But that's gonna totally affect what we're able to do as a commission because of staff bandwidth.

And so, you know.

I am wondering, so it sounds to me like staff is gonna create a document.

Thank you for printing this out like this, based on what they think.

Believe these priorities mean, and then come back to us and ask if they got it right.

Like I so when are we gonna have the work session about what does keep or make Bozeman safe and welcoming place for all?

When are we gonna have a conversation about what those A, B, C, and D mean and the specific items and defining success.

Is that something that we get to do?

I think that's why we're here tonight.

Okay.

Yes.

So what I've seen, what I'm envisioning why we're here, and why there's so little detail on each of these.

Is this the place for us to begin?

Um when we uh that that comes, I mean, there is some level of granularity with some, right?

There's some pieces that are quite clear that it's finishing up on plans that we have.

Um this is certainly not the last time we'll ever touch these.

And I think part of this is uh is it's coinciding with um in some ways, sort of the modernization of how uh these are gonna be, you know, with these this task management software that that staff are gonna be implementing um to make work plans talk with priorities so that there's real-time updates as to what's going on.

So this is far from the last time we'll touch any of these.

Um but I think that what I hear from the public, what I hear from staff is when are we gonna know what the universe is?

And I think that's what we're here doing tonight is clarifying what the sandbox is, what's on the menu, and what's not on the menu.

Okay.

So are we gonna go through it like by buckets of priority, like number one, number two, number three, what do we each think those are, or we can entertain that conversation.

That I don't necessarily think that that's something that we have to do tonight, but we we are there's there's nothing prohibiting us from having that conversation here.

The item that's in front of us tonight is specifically um the the resolution of the priorities.

So to clarify what we did two years ago, one we set priorities that we didn't touch them for almost 10 months because we had uh some change in personnel.

Um then approve those priorities as of as very small items, and then they became what Commissioner Bodie was showing us.

We then negotiate on those things um to with one another and with the city manager during the budget process to make those priorities become a thing that's material to the world.

Yeah, Deputy Mayor.

So then so I see two different approaches.

Am I hearing this?

Right?

One one is that we kind of approve this list or or discuss this list and say, yeah, this list looks white.

Give this to staff to say, okay, incorporate this in with the the green sheet or the work plan and come back to us with essentially your a guess on or not a guess, but just their estimate of of what it would take to um make this work, what sort of timeline, what's involved.

And then we have a discussion on, yeah, okay, maybe can we accelerate one or the other?

Or we take the time tonight to go through each one of these and say, we really think 2B needs to leave the station first, and and this is how we would like to see that approach best handled.

Is that am I misinterpreting that?

I would hope.

So you have all seen this before.

This is not a surprise.

You have suggested edits, and I've tried to incorporate those edits as best I can.

Um, this is the final document that you all saw.

Um so I hope that it's closer than far away from what you want.

Um, you you have an incredibly talented staff who um who listens, um, we pay attention, we read tea leaves, we do all sorts of things.

And based on the conversations that we've had together and the conversations that we've had separately, and the conversations we had at the workstation on the 12th, I believe that we can we have a pretty good idea about what this commission, the majority of this commission wants to do.

And Commissioner Sweeney's shaking her head, so evidently I'm not said something that she agrees with.

But I that's that's where I am, and that's as your professional city manager, that's where we are tonight, and we can certainly go a different direction.

We need to start with these big things so that we can take the and the actions that we're gonna take to accomplish them, put a recommended plan together for this commission to review and approve, and then we'll get to work on the budget, and we'll get to work on the initiatives.

Many of these things are already ongoing.

Okay, so just to clarify we vote on these very nebulous sort of unspecific things, and then staff decides the specifics.

Wow.

That is not what I thought I ran for office for.

So can I talk about my understanding?

So this is the third time I've gone through priorities, and this to me is the sticky note on the blackboard where we're coming up with a high level sorts of goals and priorities.

Very high level.

We won paid parking downtown was one five years ago.

Then over the course of the next couple of years, staff is gonna come back to us with that priority and fine-tune it.

We'll have a work session.

Uh, you know, we'll be able to talk with the city manager or one-on-one with one another.

Staff kind of crafts it.

So we touch base with the priority over the next two years, and then always have the ability to kind of provide input, like the fine tuning, like the paid parking downtown.

You put a plan together, you start looking at the plan, you start, you know, it forms from this point forward.

So my understanding tonight is did we hit all those high-level things that we want to hit or did we miss something?

And if we miss something, let's add it now.

But I think that these are generic enough, high level enough.

Uh in my mind, I think that I'm happy with what we've come up with.

So thank you, Commissioner Magic.

And I want to own if if we're in a in a spot where it feels uncertain what we're approving here, um, I I think that's part for me to own.

Um, I've met with each of you to discuss this.

This is the first that these concerns have been raised in uh about what we're approving necessarily, and I apologize if we haven't touched base recently enough as to what these are.

Um I think for us to uh to this is part of this is a function of our form of government.

The city manager runs the city, we direct the city manager and staff dutifully pay attention to the dynamics of this commission, its ambitions, and what we're talking about in our deliberations.

Um, often watching them in real time during our meetings to ensure that they're not behind on anything.

And consequently, the city manager takes what is is our ambitions and turns them into a translated work plan.

We don't approve work plans for individual staff.

That's not that's not the role of in this form of government.

We get to still have touch points with those procedures in so many ways in our individual relationships with the city manager and our in our one-on-one check ins, check-ins with each other, as well as how we budget.

That's that's a a big part of this.

We get to then be as granular in these conversations as we'd like to be or or not, but I think the purpose of this document is to be as high level as we can be.

And my understanding of what we were coming into this evening was that virtually everybody had their say on each item that we've gone through so far that we're approving as the priorities.

Um if that's not the case, then I apologize on not preparing this this commission for for what we're getting into tonight.

Yeah, I think it's the idea that it is very generic and vague, and that allows for different interpretation.

So if I may, could I give an example of what I was thinking?

And you can tell me if I'm way off base.

So the priority of streamlining review in community development.

That can go all sorts of ways, right?

Um I've been told that staff are already working on this.

For me personally, I think it's helpful to have staff, you know, identify areas that make it work better for them.

But I was imagining that this would be a more public-facing process where we would have small builders design professionals, um, you know, people who've done projects come and give feedback on like here's where the sticking point is for me in this process.

Here's where you know, there's a real hiccup in getting a project from submittal to approval.

And then I also think sometimes it's a great idea to have an outside audit.

Okay, so those are the types of notes that I made on each of these.

Um I know it's late.

I mean, how how do we have that conversation as a group in public so that people really know what we are talking about and what we are agreeing on?

Or is that just totally not what we do?

Short, Commissioner Mack.

Can I take that?

It is what we do, but not here tonight.

It's what we're gonna do over the next two years.

I mean, this is a huge lift.

That's gonna have many conversations, many work sessions.

It's not our role tonight, I don't think, to dive into details.

This is high level interesting.

Okay.

Short, Deputy Mayor.

Oh, no.

Yeah, I I have I have that similar question, Commissioner Sweeney.

Um, but my understanding is I want I want to give staff, you know, the professionals a chance to come back to us and say, you know, here's here's where they see fitting in, giving resources, um, other other constraints.

And then I I would suggest, you know, that the maybe that's that's when we have a uh kind of a work, a work plan where we look over that and we again because it's really difficult because we never this is our only chance for the five of us to talk together.

And it it could be helpful to have um a work session once that document is prepared to say, okay, this is how I envision this thing going, or could we as a group say, yeah, um staff staff kind of played down 3D?

We would like to really emphasize or accelerate that more than then say 3C, right?

Uh and I think that's where your kind of comments would come in, and we could have a discussion about what that would look like, see what staff envision and proposes, but that would not be happening tonight.

Tonight is where we give um staff a very clear sense that this is the important things, these are the ones we want to stick to the wall, and um and it are we missing something here, you know, that we we want.

Is that yep?

Okay, okay.

Yes, then I do have a few things, but otherwise totally fine.

Okay.

So, yes, I mean I think historically looking at past commission priorities, they I mean, as right to council as one as the community resilient or the Bozwood Creek resiliency then vision plan, multiple work sessions on each of those, um, multiple opportunities where staff are saying, here we took a swing at this.

Is this right?

Um, that that happens here in a city commission meeting on a Tuesday night.

Um so this is far from the last time, and I think this is to say, do we believe this is the right universe that we are consenting to say this is what we want the city manager to direct staff to come with what we're gonna be working on.

Okay.

Okay, so okay, sorry, not to flag this, but uh I think this is super important, and it's and it's definitely worth making sure that the five of us, since we're here are have some there are we yes, the um for the right to council or for the creek plan, we had separate work sessions on those priorities.

But I'm just wondering if we could have a work session on our priorities overall, just to make sure that that staff has got the understanding of us as a commission correct in terms of the approach.

And then we'll we'll deal with items as they arise on their on the agreed upon time schedule.

Is that is that I mean these are adopted by this commission?

These are the commission's priorities.

I don't unless there is a thing that I'm overlooking to see why that would not be the case.

Or why what that would not be an option.

Okay.

Commissioner Sweeney, any questions on that priorities with our newfound collective understanding.

Right.

Um I think there's just two things I'd like to add, but we'll do that when that's the time for that.

Sure.

Any other questions?

So far.

Commissioner Bowdoin.

Okay.

Um so our our next piece before I'll open it for public comment will be us talking with one another about where we think they're at and if there's any changes that we think need to be made.

Okay.

Um so we'll open this up for public comment, um, starting in the room.

Any public comment in the room on the draft priorities.

Or then the proposed priorities.

Good evening, Commissioners.

My name is Catherine Barry.

I am a resident and a renter, and I'm sorry I have a cold.

Um, but I also work at the Gallatin Watershed Council.

And today we submitted a written comment asking the commission to add one additional priority under bucket four to support efforts and strategies that build long-term watershed health.

I think what's different in this priority list versus maybe past priority lists is it seems that there is both the what and the why.

So to stay in line with Commissioner Fisher's metaphor, um we have the trains, which maybe are the what, and then we have the tracks, which are the why.

We have this direction and we have this intent.

And from looking over the priorities, it appears that bucket four, which is protect Bozeman's heritage neighborhoods and environment, is the only bucket that does not include this high-level visionary priority that articulates the why that sets those train tracks.

Um currently, under this goal, the commission has prioritized the completion of very important and specific plans and tasks like the integrated water resources plan, but misses a vision around environmental protection that can provide city staff with creative direction and flexibility in their work plan.

We hope you will consider including efforts that build long-term watershed health as a commission priority.

This also encourages the city to actively participate in or lead initiatives that protect and enhance our water resources across the valley.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Any more public comment in the room this evening.

Good evening.

Good evening, uh Mark Campanelli, Bogart Park neighbor.

Um I actually really like the transparency of having a work session to kind of come back to this.

So just add that in ad hoc here.

Uh so greetings, commissioners.

Um, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on our city's priorities in light of recent events.

Uh I must admit that I was skeptical at first when I saw that tax increment financing or TIFF monies are being used to fund the infrastructure for the engine works uh the MSU's innovation campus, especially when the innovation had to be extended recently to the TIFFS bond loan to value ratio.

However, I now see the amazing foresight of the economic development department has had for this project.

Let's consider a couple of the major tenants in of Engine Works.

First, there's MSU's quantum collaborative research and education or Q Corps facility, whose main funding has been a 26.7 million dollar grant from the US Air Force, followed by more recently a 31.5 million dollar contract by the Air Force Research Laboratory.

That's actually true.

Uh second, there's the defense innovation on Ramp Hub, Montana, which I quote, will bring the university's cutting-edge facilities and highly trained researchers together with companies to scale up technologies for use in defense projects.

Uh one note here, we call it the Department of War now, not defense.

So maybe this ND should likewise be renamed the war innovation on Ramp Hub Montana.

Given the war of choice in which the US is now engaging with its abundance of photonics enhanced weapons systems hitting military targets ranging from heads of state to schools.

I now see how the commission priorities, such as strength strengthening the relationship with Montana State University and cultivating public-private partnerships and collaboration, have so much potential for traded sector employment and Bozeman.

So much opportunity here to trade our economic advantage for other people's safety and security.

Whatever you do, resist the temptation to exact extend too far geographically the commission's priority to keep Bozemans a safe and welcoming place for all.

In closing, I suppose all this new economic activity is very much worth the diversion of a few million in tax increment from the Commission's other priorities, such as safe streets for everyone and bridging the affordability gap, including essential workers trying to jog across the street and veterans trying to receive some decent physical and mental health care.

I know three veterans in my men's group.

They're destroyed by these wars that we do.

Physically, emotionally.

I want our guys to have the best weapons.

Don't get me wrong.

But like we got more important community things to do with our money.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening.

So Daniel Cardi, Bozeman resident.

Um I want to thank Mayor Morrison for stating explicitly that all four um priorities are co-equal.

And I wanted to make a suggestion for bucket four, which currently reads Protect Bozeman's Heritage Neighborhoods and Environment.

I would ask that the commission add the word natural before the word environment.

And that's all I got.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Any more public comment in the in the room this evening?

Good evening.

I was also expecting kind of more of a conversation to talk through some of the differences of what those priorities might mean.

I think it would have made sense to do that before staff puts time into trying to interpret it instead of them interpreting it and then and then have a network session and staff maybe have wasted time if they misinterpreted uh a thing or two.

Um for example, uh as Commissioner Sweeney said, the streamline for development, I think could mean a lot of different things.

Um what kind of development are we trying to streamline?

I think you guys talking about Commissioner Sweeney add some ideas of what what are these ideas that are feasible or not?

I think that kind of conversation would be helpful as to Mark Caminelli's point.

What is um supporting living way to opportunities mean Bozeman to you guys?

I think that would be helpful to talk about.

Um, the advisory boards, what are the community goals we try to align to?

I think just having some explicit conversation about what these mean would be helpful.

Um I understand that it's it's helpful to hear from staff what they're already working on and how they might fit into these buckets, but I think the point of the commission priorities is talk about what the commission would like to see them to do instead, or in addition, um not just what they're already doing and how everybody fits into this.

So having some converse time to put aside to talk about specifically what this means and what maybe we do need to take away from in order to do something else.

Thanks.

Any other public comment in the room?

I don't think I see anybody unless there's someone hiding on the other side of the podium.

Um appreciate the public comments from folks in the room.

Um public comments online, Mr.

UP.

Uh huh.

Yes.

Uh we have Marcia Caveny.

Marcia, are you here?

I am.

Thank you.

Um thanks very much.

Marsha Caveney, Bozeman resident.

And I also um want to say that I agree with the public comment about adding the word natural to environment.

I think it's an important one now because it there are a lot of different types of environ environments like work environment or safety environment.

So adding natural, I think would clarify that bucket.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We're seeing any other public comment requests.

Mayor.

Well, I almost said Cunningham there.

Mayor Morrison, I see no further requests for public comment online.

Thank you.

Okay, seeing no further public comment.

Um we'll bring it up here for um for our discussion.

Um I I think I just want to to further reiterate my desire is for us to approve our priorities tonight.

I understand uh folks may have camp come in with different expectations of what we're gonna get into.

That's that's real, and I don't want anybody to feel um that they're not able to show up as the way that they believe that they were elected to do.

Um but I just kind of want to keep that as that's that's my priority for this evening.

Um just trying to kind of read the room if that's the the ambitions here.

Okay.

Um are there any proposed amendments to our current priorities?

Sure, Commissioner Magic.

Um per public comment, I have I think two amendments to item four.

Um the first would be adding natural to an increment.

To the overall yeah.

So I'm not formal motion.

Okay, this is formal or that was it.

Wordsmith thing.

Formal.

Yeah.

Okay, so motion to add natural.

Great.

Second.

Okay.

Um I don't think there'll be too much to belabor on this.

I think are we comfortable just polling?

Yep.

Great.

Mr.

Newby.

Commissioner Magic.

Commissioner Bodie.

Aye.

Commissioner Sweeney.

Hi.

Mayor Morrison.

Aye.

Okay.

Natural is added.

Okay.

Second is adding a C that would state support efforts to maintain and improve long-term environmental health, long-term.

Um are you referencing?

I don't want to say watershed because I think it's the entire um environment, the entire natural environment.

We want to maintain and improve.

So could we say including the watershed?

I you know, it's air quality, it's plants, it's wildlife, it's um the natural environment.

Health.

You're my next editor.

So support efforts to maintain and improve.

The natural environment.

It could be the natural environment.

Go ahead.

Should I second for the purposes of wordsmithing?

Or helping.

I I'm looking for help.

Okay.

Okay, so so we're not seconding until the yeah.

Okay, all right.

So we have a clear what we're I mean, I kind of view the watershed as our region.

You know, it's a little larger than the city, but it's it's our watershed, and I would say that that watershed health includes air, water, and quality.

Environmental health tends to be more like um, you know, kind of plastics and water or or chemicals in ourselves, or you know, it's the about how the environment affects our health.

Um the health of the watershed.

Sure that could be could be that the yes.

I mean, I I see the watershed as like our ecosystems, right?

You know, we could also say ecosystem health um if you want to, but I think watershed is an elegant way to say it.

Okay.

But can I just clarify here the the purpose of keeping this a little bit more vague?

Because I I think in point four A, at the very end it says, and other neighborhoods slash environmental plans and initiatives.

So we kind of already have this catch-all of other environmental plans and initiatives.

We've now clarified it's natural environment plans and initiatives here.

So I I think a more general thing has been captured.

So I uh my friendly amendment would be if if you want to put this on here, I I think the specificity is what would make this a unique bullet point from what we already have.

I uh the only piece that I would add, and it's funny now we're seeing in real time the ways in which these translate, I think, to um staff work, is if we say uh protect the health of the environment, then our our staff feeling that they're here in the direction of holy cow, right?

We need to drop tools and do all these other things when they're the health of the environment decided in multiple other plans that are more specific, but not as I think that's sort of the the tension that I'm feeling here.

That I think actually the the proposed the the public comment was quite elegant in its simplicity and directness to watershed health.

Yep.

And I not not to editorialize whether that would be incorporated into the all ongoing integrated water resource plan or not.

I like where you're going.

I just have to say, because I actually wanted a few more specifics.

I was gonna ask for dark skies to be added because 4A is very specific.

It says we're doing the landmark, we're doing the integrated water resource, we're doing the urban forest.

So you know, I'm the one who wanted a chapter in our growth policy about heritage conservation.

So yeah, I want to single out wildlife corridors and agricultural overlay zones because staff is going through all of these 10 pages of things that they're doing, it's those things are gonna touch on a lot of them.

I I will just note that in our um first conversation we had that the big retreat style thing, we just um identified that we aren't going to be able to review our growth policy within this two-year period.

Yeah, and the time to start thinking about those natural corridors um and preserving them is kind of in um the coinciding moment of reviewing our our growth policy.

So I'm yeah, no, I got that really clearly.

No, no, I'm very with you on that's something I want to do in my four-year term.

Um, but I I don't think it would be um realistic for us to put it as a bullet point under um you know our our number four um goal here for for this two-year priority setting session.

Okay.

And I I think we heard the same thing about dark skies from staff that we weren't prepared to engage that in the next two years, but maybe I'm misremembering.

We could put dark skies under item B because it's essentially a UDC thing, isn't it?

But then there's a whole bunch of other UDC things that we haven't listed specifically.

So the UDC item, I think is intentionally open-ended so it can catch things like dark sky.

So just I think for the sake of trying to tighten what our conversation is, if there's a proposed amendment still on the table to just let's just put it out there, get some language, vote yes or no.

Yeah, I'm it did not come prepared to make an amendment.

I'm only responding again, and I like the idea of kind of keeping it simple.

And uh I do believe that we've kind of caught it in item A and other neighborhood environmental plans and initiatives, maybe something like that can be its own C and we can set it apart.

So support other neighborhood environmental plans and initiatives or protect.

I uh I mean I I think I'm a little bit kind of with with Commissioner Bodhi on this is that I feel like you know, A, we want this to keep high level.

Um and and on purpose, you know.

Um not to say it's generic or vague, but I think it's just it needs to be high level.

And I think um that a kind of captures that.

Um I did like the elegance of of Miss Barry's amendment or suggestion, but uh you know, I just um I'm worried about the downstream impacts of that, so to speak, you know.

Oh, I got it.

Um and I, you know, so I think that there's uh you know, it's a somewhat sense we we need to recognize also that there are going to be tasks that are going to be important, and there's going to be priorities and goals that are important that are not we're not necessarily captured in here, but that we're going to do nonetheless, you know, and and um but uh so I I'm I guess I could go either way.

Good leaving it as is, and I appreciate the conversation we've had, which kind of explains our intent.

I'll I know that you've dropped it already, but just for for the record and kind of for the purpose of folks listening, um, I I think if we don't add this subpoint as you know, point C and goal four, um, folks should know that in the work plan is the belonging or the the Bozeman Creek initiative, and we have really clearly laid out the the progress we anticipate making on that in the next two years.

Um, and that's like the kind of concise goal-shaped thing I like to see in a priority is here's exactly what the community's expecting to get done.

And then we also have the integrated water um resource plan, which I think is is related to this long-term watershed health.

Um, and I would feel more comfortable in the future if we were gonna put something more about watershed um health that we we kind of drilled down to some specifics.

So I I feel comfortable that we are checking off some good boxes on on watershed um in this two-year period as as these currently um sit.

Okay, so just so I hear this correctly, there's no amendment on the table at the moment.

Are there any remaining?

Commissioner Bodie.

I'm not again, I'm not gonna die on this hill, but I'm just like thinking about this make versus keep language.

Um I I was actually looking through uh our two years ago list, and we had a whole section called safe and welcoming community, just just safe and welcoming.

Um I noticed in all of our big buckets, we have really nice active verbs at the start of each of them, um, which I think communicates more of this commission's trying to act on these things.

So I'm not suggesting that we move to say just safe and welcoming community, but this whole debate between make and keep really just sounds like two presidential slogans, make America great again, and then I guess we did it, so we'll keep America great.

Like I I just question if that's really um what we're trying to tell folks is that that Bozeman is totally safe and we're we're just keeping it safe now.

Um I don't have a lot of great suggestions.

The best I could come up with would be to amend that to say advance a safe and welcoming community, or promote a safe and welcoming community.

Is there any interest in in support for that kind of wordsmithing at this point?

And I'm I'm open to hearing that's too in the weeds of this venture.

I hear completely what you're saying.

Um I'm glad we're having this conversation for the record, and I'm almost okay just with the conversation and not making the change.

I think going into the set goals kind of helps bolster it a little bit, and I'm good with that.

Yeah.

Any other thoughts on this?

I yeah, I think this is important, frankly, because these are like our top-line goals that that I I want on that bulletin board, you know, that we're staring at every day.

And so I think we need to get it right, and I want to make sure that you're comfortable, right?

So, but could you help me?

Is the concern that you feel that the both keep and make neither of those words really fit, and that you're looking for a better verb?

Yeah, I my concern is that make um Bozeman a safe and welcoming community says that we're not already safe, right?

Like that's what that's what staff said.

Oh, are we signaling that Bozeman is a very dangerous place?

And I I think that's not true.

Um I think there are elements of our um our transportation system and our resources and things that need to be improved, and that there are people in this community who are unsafe.

I think that's that's just the reality that we live in.

And it's our job as our local government to care for and and advance the safety of our residents.

Um and so I think what we're trying to acknowledge here is that we're we're working on that.

If we say keep Bozeman a safe and welcoming community, it kind of says, oh, we we did it all, we're just gonna monitor now to make sure it stays that way.

And um I think there's a middle road there.

Yeah, Commissioner Sweetie.

Is it a bad idea to just keep the same wording?

I I thought about that.

And I think if we did um just in the interest of uh consistency with our our rhetoric, our other goals say engage meaningfully with the community, bridge the affordability gap, protect Bozeman's heritage, and then it would just say safe and welcoming community, like we've got all these active verbs, and then that would just kind of flop.

Yeah, okay.

So yeah, I I think my my two proposals would be either promote a safe and welcoming community or advance a safe and welcoming community.

I I could entertain actively promote a safe and welcoming community.

Then it'd be the only one with an adverb.

I think I think I I think somebody should just prom uh make and propose an amendment for either of those words.

Um I'll say I similarly I think keep um feels too self-congratulatory, and and I think it's a it's a north star of all cities to focus on safety and um what about something like ensure Bozeman is a safe?

So yeah, insure, but and then it I mean, there's a lot of insurance.

I I think we don't need to be too perfectionistic.

If there is somebody who wants to propose a more active word to go at the front that's not make or keep, we'd love to hear it.

If if nobody has any major concerns with either promote or advance um I would say promote a safe and welcoming community, a grimace from the remote sounds like we're the becoming the chamber.

Nothing against the chamber comes, but it's like we're do you advance?

Advance like advance advanced Bozeman as a safe and welcoming place for all.

Is that is there a second full language?

Second.

Sure.

Okay.

Advanced Bozeman as a safe and welcoming place for all.

All right.

Okay.

It's been moved and seconded, Mr.

Newby.

Uh who seconded?

I did.

Okay.

Commissioner Bodie.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Fisher.

Aye.

Um Commissioner Sweeney.

Aye.

Commissioner Magic.

Aye.

Mayor Morrison.

Aye.

Okay.

It is amended.

Can I just say one more thing about the environment before we move on?

I'm sorry.

I just it it feels really big to me.

Um the the public comment, Ms.

Barry so eloquently put forward.

There's a different perspective between the integrated water resource plan, which is kind of more heavily human focused, how we use our watershed, how we use our water resources and watershed health is acknowledging ecosystem services beyond a human-centric focus.

So I just now that that's on the record, if nobody wants to pursue that further, I just want to point that out, you know.

That's an important distinction to make.

Could we Mr.

Wynn?

I'm I'd be curious your thoughts.

I mean, this is gonna land on your team, right?

If we have a uh kind of a sub goal of support efforts for long-term watershed health, do you feel like that opens?

Does that really muddy the waters or um opening?

Sorry.

I think it's a great addition if the commission wants to add it.

Amendment.

Okay.

Then I'd like to propose that we add a C to the I'm looking at an older version of this commission priorities, sorry.

Yeah, I'm adding a C under the Protect Bozeman's Heritage Neighborhoods and Natural Environment to quote support efforts for long-term watershed health.

Second It has been moved and seconded.

Do you feel like there's discussion?

Were we ready?

Ready.

Okay.

Mr.

Newbie.

Deputy Mayor Fisher.

Aye.

Commissioner Magic.

Aye.

Commissioner Bodie.

Aye.

Commissioner Sweeney.

Aye.

Mayor Morrison.

Aye.

Amendment passes five to zero.

Are there any other standing amendments before we move to the Oh my God, I'm just I mean, we didn't even make a motion for the whatever.

We can Oh, the main question.

No worries.

Oh, mayor.

It'll be it's clear what the intention was.

Yes.

So now we'll roll back to this the motion as it is.

Um that we still need an original motion.

Okay.

We were given language, which tab is it in here?

Thank you.

Perfect.

Um I move to adopt resolution approving the 2026-2027 City Commission priorities as amended.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

Would you like to speak to this motion?

Yeah, so um thank you for all of the you know tiny pieces that meant a lot to each of us.

And we kind of inserted you know different words and and words are important.

So you know, thank you for including the ones that were really meaningful to me, and I appreciate that.

Um yeah, I do hope we can follow up with a work session.

But happy with the priorities we have created.

Thank you.

Deputy Mayor.

Well, I want to thank um the mayor and the city manager uh for having a process that has a lot more rigor that I've only been through this once other time, and and it was it was much less rigorous, and I really appreciate a chance that gives us uh a document that I think we all we all really uh feel pride of ownership in.

I've over the past few months I've been going to various groups and handing you know the the working draft and and getting feedback and it's just been really lovely to be able to show people that this is these are our values, this is what we're working on, this is what we intend to do.

Um, you know, like Commissioner Sweeney, I'm I'm eager to see how this what this plan to implement this looks like, you know, and how you know which of these trains are gonna leave the station and how that's gonna work um and how it fits in with the city um you know, the other work that we're doing.

There are items on this that are important.

You know, there's no there's no plowing the streets.

There's no um, you know um there's a picking up garbage, making sure your tap water is is is is clean when it and and that your sewage goes away when you it disappears when you don't want it, you know.

So but those are important, really important things as well, right?

And and I think there's there's maybe another one on there that it's funny.

What though what as I would be with groups, they often said you know the conversation was these look great.

What are you gonna do about taxes?

Right?

And so that's another thing that again maybe ours and necessarily here, but it will be important.

Um but I think I want to emphasize that these are high level ambitions for a that it would be appropriate for a high functioning commission for us to we're not we're not in in there hiring uh uh hiring uh uh someone to promote um you know uh jobs.

We're not in there, you know, we don't afford to think, but we're not down there saying we need to hire someone to do this.

This is gonna be the city manager's job.

I think our job is to make sure that that we are focused on what how we ensure that we have a well-functioning city government that supports a thriving city where people can live their best lives.

And I think we're close with this.

What I would really love to I I'm not kidding, I've we have an empty bowling board that we stare at and that any advisory panel that sits here stares at, and that anyone coming in is gonna see first thing.

And I would love to have an 120, 160 point font on the back there so that I don't have to use my greeting glasses to read what our top four top line um goals are.

Just so we're just it's it's it's there in our room.

I like that idea.

Um I'm excited about this list more so than past lists that I've worked on, past priorities in that this is really um kind of all-encompassing comprehensive, it touches upon all the things city government kind of cares about and gets involved with, and everything that this particular commission cares about and gets involved with.

Um there are going to be many work sessions that flow out of this.

You think of all the work sessions you know we've had in the past two and four and five years, they've all come from the commission priorities, unless it's you know a little odd thing that slips slips and so I'm gonna be supporting it, and I look forward to the next two years.

Commissioner Bowdy.

Thanks.

Yeah, I'm also really excited to support these priorities.

And um I I just want to take a moment to remind this commission that our advisory boards are now tasked with um putting together their own two-year work plans.

And uh to that vein, I just want to lift up that as the commission lays on to the sustainability board.

I would expect the sustainability board to weigh in on goal 1D, advanced multimodal transportation improvements for safe streets for everyone in the urban transportation district, explore funding opportunities.

Transportation has a big overlap with our climate goals.

Um I'd expect all the boards to be kind of engaged in this strengthen advisory board efficacy and ensure alignment with community goals.

And um, one other place that I really see the sustainability board engaging is of course um goal 4A, the landmark, historic preservation, um, integrated water resource plan, urban forest management plan, neighborhood environmental plans, et cetera.

So um just if if city staff are listening and wondering what what I would hope the sustainability board could dig into, that's that's it.

Great.

Thank you.

Um to each of you both for deliberations tonight and a lot of work over the last several weeks with one another, with with myself with the city managers.

We're um chewing on these together to feel that they are um the proper mix of ambitious and visionary and practical and feasible.

Um I think if if this is all that we got done in the next two years, I feel like I would feel pretty proud.

Um, and and there will be more, you know, that there are things that each of us are doing that are not even included in this.

Um my you know, desires and focus to um you know strengthen regional relationships with mayors around the state.

It's not necessarily falls squarely on this, it'll touch taxes, it'll touch other things.

That's a priority of mine that is not necessarily something that the that the commission alone gets to do.

Um, but it also doesn't mean we don't get to do it.

Um, there are things outside of what we are proving tonight that that we obviously will still get to continue to do.

There'll be more opportunities that that may arise that we're gonna be able to swarm to and react to as that arises.

And there's obviously a myriad other things that the city does that we didn't include in priorities.

We didn't include um picks up the trash, you know, as a commission priority because you know that's we were trying to get to specifically what is the unique mix of desires and ambitions and electoral mandates that the five of us uniquely breathed into um into City Hall.

And I and I I feel confident that we got there and we only got there because everybody was willing to put in the work.

Um so just want to uh appreciate everyone and and of course um appreciate the city manager um for your uh advice and guidance and push and and uh and question answering over the last several weeks as well as tonight um to help get us here.

So without any further discussion, we'll put it to a vote.

Mr.

Newby.

Commissioner Sweeney.

Aye.

Deputy Mayor Fisher.

Uh Commissioner Magic.

Hi.

Commissioner Bodhi.

Aye.

Mayor Morrison.

Aye.

The priorities are approved five to zero with with amendments, which I guess to clarify for any um future audit of our Roberts Rules of Order adherence that there were amendments that were clearly intended to follow with the the proper stack of commission uh of the original motion.

Um sorry I didn't make that clear at the beginning of the meeting that I wanted to do the FYIs at the end of the meeting.

So I have three really quick things.

Uh so I think we all know there's uh Anne Frank exhibit happening at the library.

It goes to the end of the month.

Uh there is a reception tomorrow evening at the library from six to seven.

The second home property tax application thing I talked about last week.

That deadline has been extended by the governor to March 20th.

People, umers who have second homes who are renting those homes should fill out an application at homestead.montana.gov, excuse me, homestead.

And this is really important for renters to make sure their landlords are filling out these applications to help keep rents down.

Last thing is a street department is taking applications for neighborhood traffic calming projects.

They're due at the end of the week, March 6th.

You can find details on the city's website.

I was told last week that the um not many applications have been turned in.

So that deadline might be extended, but if you have a neighborhood traffic calming thing you want to do, um take a look at the website and see if you might be a good bit.

That's all I have.

Thank you.

Any other FYI from the commission.

Sure, appreciate it.

I did have two.

So since we're working on our advisory boards, you know.

I use the FYI to give you all an update of what the advisory board that I'm the liaison to, because you know we have not established how we're going to do that yet.

So I want I promised the urban parks and forestry board, I would give them an update, give you guys an update on the meeting last week.

Um it was a big meeting.

They had a presentation from the consultants CRO about the engagement results for the bike fill project.

Huge participation in that survey, a thousand people.

Uh so people are really excited about this project.

Um, while also mentioning proper erosion control, wildlife, and water course setbacks.

So uh there was a board discussion, several aspects of the design concept came up.

Uh, will there be enough parking?

And what other options might be needed when they have special events at the park.

Um, someone talked about shuttling from story mill park, which has a much larger parking lot.

Um, and then potential to use trees for shade rather than too many structures, man-made structures, uh, what types of groups might be using the park for programming, um, signage to make sure dog owners know to please visit snowfill, not bike fill with your fur babies.

And the specific location of trails around wetlands and water courses was a pretty big topic.

Um, and we were informed that next at the March 26th meeting, the consultant will present the master plan, which will have a little bit more specific detail on the location of trails and features based on public comment.

And so, this is again, you know, the difference between a conceptual design and a master plan.

Um, and then the board also discussed the update to the urban forest management plan and their work plan for the next two years.

So, you know, they got the street tree guide updated, um, you know, checked off the last work plan.

Uh, but then it was acknowledged there was conversation about um heritage trees and tree protections.

One of their previous work plan priorities had been to support the historic preservation efforts uh around tree policy, but now trees have come solidly back, and they are in the urban parks and forestry management plan update.

So everyone's agreed on that.

Um there was a discussion about assessing tree canopy coverage uh as far as what we've lost to development and areas of the community that need more tree canopy as an equity issue.

Um insect and disease management, the board is really concerned about that.

Uh, we've nearly reduced the ash tree population to about 20%, which was a goal.

Um, though Wilson Avenue remains entirely ash trees.

So if there was something to happen to that, that would absolutely alter the character.

Um, and then just kind of a really exciting connecting of the dots uh between different advisory boards.

The public comment about Bozeman Creek north of Tamarack.

This was originally a comment to the TIFF board, uh becoming like a pocket park using some of that Northeast tax increment.

Urban Parks and Forestry staff actually pointed out that that is in the Pratt plan as part of the seventh to Front Street Connector Trail.

And that document goal number three says to use this as a guide for infrastructure investments.

So maybe this is a really cool way where our advisory boards, you know, certain things are coming together, the stars are aligning, and we might get to do a cool thing with all that.

So also tomorrow night, the story of us.

I don't know if anybody has ever watched the first two episodes.

Um extreme history working with PBS and historians, um, telling the stories of early Montana women.

So that is tomorrow night uh at the Museum of the Rockies free.

Um they'll have a panel discussion with the historian, filmmaker, and Montana PBS.

So that's it.

Thank you.

Super briefly, I am your, I should have mentioned this during the MSU ex officio, but I am your commission liaison to the INC, the Inc.

I, with this commission's um approval, I could I'd be happy to take our resolution to them and offer it as hey, this is what we just did.

You guys have your own rules, but you could do this too if you would like.

Sure.

Okay.

I like that.

Great.

Any other FYI?

Okay.

Seeing no further FYI, any FYI from staff?

Right a 10.

Uh, don't even have to extend.

Uh, seeing no further business, we will adjourn this meeting.

Goodbye.