Bozeman City Commission Meeting – April 7, 2026
Bozeman City Commission Meeting – April 7, 2026
The Bozeman City Commission met on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at 1:00 PM (MDT) in a regular meeting that included a mayoral proclamation, two special presentations, a public hearing and vote on the Bike Fill Community Bike Park master plan, and various administrative items. The meeting began with a brief technical delay to connect Commissioner Magic. Public comment was heard on several topics, including annexation zoning, women’s rights, sustainability, and the bike park. The commission approved the park master plan unanimously, along with consent agenda items and a board appointment.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes Approval: The commission voted 4-1 to approve the regular meeting minutes as submitted, with Commissioner Sweeney voting no.
- Consent Agenda: Items G1 through G17 (fiscal year 2026, corrected from 2025 typos) were approved unanimously (5-0) after a public comment period with no speakers.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Heather Higgs (Harvest Creek resident): Opposed the requested R3/RB zoning for the Hanson Lane Annexation (25-775), arguing RA zoning is consistent with the growth policy and surrounding single-family density. Requested the city include the parcel in a consensus process and install traffic calming on the planned Fowler Avenue connector near Emily Dickinson Elementary.
- Jan Strout (co-chair, Bozeman City for CEDAW Task Force): Celebrated the fourth anniversary of the CEDAW resolution and 11th anniversary of the Equal Pay resolution. Recommended intersectional analysis in the Equal Pay Report, use of best-practice research, and creation of a City Human Rights Commission.
- Leana Bertelson (co-chair, CEDAW Task Force): Urged the city to collect intersectional data to inform training and resource allocation for women’s rights.
- Gracianne Caldwell (CEDAW Task Force member): Supported a new Human Rights Commission to address safety and equity issues, citing personal experiences of harassment.
- Mary Allen (Politics of Climate Change class): Recommended incentivizing green building certifications (e.g., LEED) for all new developments to reduce emissions, noting that 50% of Bozeman’s greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. Suggested models from Boise, Rockville, and Greensburg.
- Kylie (Politics of Climate Change class): Proposed a “reuse-first” policy for city-owned land, citing that adaptive reuse can reduce embodied carbon by 50-75% compared to new construction.
- Public comment on Bike Fill Park (see Discussion Items): Six speakers expressed strong support, representing Bozeman Youth Cycling, Eagle Mount, Southwest Montana Mountain Bike Association, Gallatin Valley Land Trust, and individual advocates. One speaker requested annual bird surveys and respect for nesting seasons.
Discussion Items
- Mayoral Proclamation – Equal Pay Day: Mayor Morrison proclaimed March 26, 2026, as Equal Pay Day in Bozeman, recognizing the gender wage gap (nationwide 82 cents, Montana 84 cents per dollar) and urging continued action.
- Equal Pay Progress Update: HR Director Cassandra Tozer reported that female city employees earned between 71% and 106% of male earnings in 2025 (depending on education level). Graduate-degreed women earned 106% of male counterparts. The city’s turnover rate dropped to 14% (from 35% in 2019). Paid parental leave usage was evenly distributed (35% female, 65% male). Challenges remain in lower-wage positions, where female representation increased by 17%.
- Fire Department 2025 Annual Report: Chief Josh Waldo presented key stats: call volume increased in 2025 after a strategic reduction in 2022; EMS accounts for 46% of calls (below national average due to resource management). Response times: dispatch processing averaged 2 min 59 sec (above the 64-second national standard). The department added 12 firefighters via a FEMA SAFER grant, became accredited, and implemented a Quick Response Vehicle (QRV) that handled 20% of calls in Q1 2026. A new ladder truck is on order but not expected until 2028. Gaps remain in community preparedness and the need for Fire Station #4 in the southwest.
- Bike Fill Community Bike Park Master Plan: Parks Planner Addie Jaden and GVLT’s Adam Johnson presented the plan. The park is located on former landfill land north of the solid waste facility, adjacent to Snowfill Dog Park. Key features: beginner zone near parking, progressive trails, one-way directional trails, a riders’ hub, boardwalk crossing over Churn Creek, and a 200+ foot riparian setback. The project has 800+ private donors, a $1.2 million city investment (including a $750,000 LWCF grant), and partnerships with GVLT, SWMTMBA, Audubon, Gallatin Watershed Council, and Eagle Mount. Public engagement included a survey with over 1,000 responses. The Urban Parks and Forestry Board unanimously recommended approval, with conditions including bird surveys and attention to native vegetation. Commissioner Sweeney disclosed her husband is a member of SWMTMBA but felt able to vote impartially.
- Transportation Board Appointment: Commissioner Magic moved to appoint Grace Gilbert to the Transportation Board; no public comment was received.
Key Outcomes
- Votes:
- Minutes approval: 4-1 (Commissioner Sweeney dissenting).
- Consent agenda: 5-0.
- Resolution adopting the Bike Fill Community Bike Park master plan: 5-0.
- Appointment of Grace Gilbert to Transportation Board: 5-0.
- Decisions: The commission adopted the park master plan, allowing staff to proceed with a site plan application, final design, and construction. The plan includes continued collaboration with environmental partners for bird surveys and riparian restoration.
- Next Steps: Staff will refine the park design through a site plan application; the bike park is expected to open after construction. The city will continue monitoring equal pay metrics and fire response improvements. Commissioner Bodie requested a future work session on AI ethics in city operations.
Other FYI
- Commission FYI: Updates from Urban Parks and Forestry Board and Historic Preservation Advisory Board; Streamline’s 20th anniversary celebration; and the release of the third episode of the “Bozeman B” podcast on snowpack and water conservation.
- Staff FYI: City Manager announced 14 transportation projects totaling $29 million for 2026, including the MSU Interceptor sewer line, safety improvements on College Street, and four new shared-use pathways. The city is on track to meet the DOJ’s April 24 deadline for ADA-compliant digital content.
Meeting Transcript
Yeah. Yeah, thank you for your patience on that. Okay, sorry. With that brief technical delay while we're making sure Commissioner Magic can participate, we'll get this meeting started. Thank you all for joining us here today and online for those participating in our April 7th, 2026 Bozeman City Commission Commission meeting. Just want to walk through a few uh procedures of how this meeting is going to go as well as how to participate. So those of you that are here in the room, you'll have the opportunity to public comment. Those that are online and joining us will be able to participate and give public comment via the raise your hand feature if you're video conferencing. You can also watch these, of course, via uh cable channel 190, and you can listen in from the city's website or dialing in on the phone number that's on all of our agendas. Um, those are the various ways that you can participate during this meeting as we're going. Uh, if anybody has submitted written public comment prior to noon today, that was distributed to all of us, and we were able to read that and factor that into our deliberations. Um, but just wanted to make sure that everybody knows those are the ways to be able to participate. If anyone has any uh um accessibility needs to be able to participate, um, Mr. Moss, our clerk is the guy to go to to make sure that you can be accommodated. Um we will have opportunities for public comments associated with each of our various agenda items, and I will call those out as we're going. Um, so if you're here for general public comment or for particular item, we'll make sure that you are uh squared away so you're not you don't miss your opportunity. Um so without further ado, we will uh begin our meeting with a pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. Thank you. Moving things right along. We were looking at any changes to our agenda. Mr. City Manager, do we have any changes? Good evening, Mayor. There are no changes tonight. Great. Um now moving on to FYI. We'll start with the commission. Any FYI from my colleagues on the commission this evening. I do have two. Commissioner Smee. Um so I just wanted to give an update for both of the advisory boards, um, urban parks and forestry, and then the Historic Preservation Advisory Board, which have met since our last meeting. Um the Urban Parks and Forestry Board had a packed agenda with the engagement plan for the urban forest management plan update, the bike fill master plan, and the board's two-year work plan. There was some public comment expressing concern that a heritage tree program was not listed as an essential component of the urban forest management plan, and we've received some comment along those lines as well. Um the board did make a recommendation to amend the engagement plan to add a final board review meeting uh to examine the draft uh before it comes to the commission. And then several members were actually able to attend a walkthrough of the bike fill site with city staff and GVLT members, and they were all very impressed with what they saw. Um I was bummed I wasn't able to go, but the board members all liked the choices that were being made for placing features in different areas. Um they saw the value of the decisions that were being made. Um, two of the members did actually express concern for a bird survey. Um, and I believe we're gonna hear uh some updates on uh that is likely gonna be part of it. So um, and then the board did end up moving their work plan to the next meeting in order to have more time to review it and discuss because it was a packed agenda. Um and then the historic preservation advisory board received an update from community planning collaborative on the progress of phase two of the landmark program. Uh no proposed code changes were presented, but the presentation did include examples of regulatory and non regulatory preservation programs across the country. A major point of discussion was how the landmark program is going to interact with the neighborhood conservation overlay and how the process for nominations would differ for single structures or sites versus districts. I just wanted to share one insight that the vice chair made. It was an analogy of how the current historic districts being surrounded by the NCOD is kind of like Yellowstone or another national park being surrounded by conservation districts or a national forest. The distinction between preservation and conservation, and both of those are really important roles. Staff did inform the board that any regular regulatory components will need to be housed in chapter 38 of the Unified Development Code itself. So that's a really important thing for the community and for all of us to understand going forward. They expressed interest in a program with a low barrier to participation in order to make historic preservation more accessible and inclusive. And they received a rundown on engagement events for next week, which staff has been really great about including us in those.
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