Good evening and welcome to this the uh Tuesday, September first commission meeting of the Bozeman City Commission.

Um we'll call this meeting to order, um, a few points of order for so folks know how to be able to participate.

Um there's an opportunity for public goodness throwing the gavel around, uh, for public comment, we will start with public comment in the room, then we'll move to public comment uh that's accessed by our um online video page as well as uh in our considerations of any public comments that were submitted to us prior to noon today.

Um, for anyone that's wanting to follow along, uh, you can also dial in to the phone number on the agendas.

Um or via cable channel one ninety or from the city's uh video streaming page.

Um you will not be able to provide public comment from there, but you'll be able to follow along.

Um I'll make it quite clear each opportunity for public comment so that nobody misses their chance.

And if there's anyone that ever needs any accommodations to be able to participate, um, please let us know, and we will ensure that you have the accommodations you need to be able to participate in this meeting.

Um, without further ado, um, if you are able, please stand and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence.

Good evening, Mayor.

There are no changes tonight.

Okay.

Moving on to FYI.

Um, any FYI from the commission this evening.

Yeah, Commissioner Sweeney.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I just wanted to give a shout out to the staff and the consultants and all the members of the public who turned up for it the final in-person engagement yesterday for the urban forest management plan.

And there was a great opportunity for dialogue between community members and the consultant team and our staff.

So it was it was a really productive session and thank you to everyone who attended.

Great.

Any further FYI?

I have two brief ones.

One is start of a new month.

So our next episode of the Bozeman Beat, our podcast is out.

It's a conversation with myself and an incredible music leader in our community, Norman Wynne with the Bozeman Symphony.

And I'll just say it was one of the it was one that I was really looking forward to because part of the idea with this podcast was not just to talk about city services and what we're working on or the challenges the city's facing, but also to talk about the things that are placemaking about the community, why we're here, what are the things that are growing pieces of our community, whether it's music, art, you know, the the incredible food scene that we're seeing national and international accolades for that are that are no doubt you know core to the fabric of our community.

So that's out anywhere you listen to your podcast, you can find it there.

Um the other I didn't really prepare to say something, but it just felt I I spent a lot of my time growing up in in part in billings and have just been feeling this the immense shock and pain that their community is going through after an extremely tragic um shooting and and death of an entire family, um generations of a family, and just wanting you know, wanting to remind all of us as Montanans that we're we're connected to their struggle as well, just keep um the the families of of Billings residents and the residents affected by this incident um in in your mind and in your heart.

Um FYI from staff.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just two quick ones.

I got to do one of my favorite parts of my job this afternoon.

I got to swear in four brand new police officers at the uh public safety center.

Um they all four are different, they have amazing backgrounds.

The one thing they have in common is a heart for service and to serve our community.

And I just want to make a shout out to the uh our police chief and the uh um number of officers and families that turned off for that.

It was it was heartwarming.

The second thing is is that if you have a sprinkler system and you want to save some money and have healthier grass, there's still time to book a free sprinkler system assessment with our water conservation team.

Um during these assessments, a technician will visit your home and test your sprinkler system, and they provide any advice on repairs that you need and customize water watering schedules.

So this not only saves water, it saves you money, quite a bit of money sometimes.

Uh one common misconception we hear is that people are concerned uh will force them to stop watering and end up with a yellow lawn, just the opposite is true.

You'll have a more healthier lawn with deep roots if you um water the correct amount.

So we have a uh great train staff, um, and they are just waiting for you to call and set up your free sprinkler assessment.

Thanks, Mayor.

Thank you.

Yeah, Deputy Mayor.

If I could just embellish a little bit on what the city manager said, you know, those four police officers, one of them is a uh a former Army Ranger and a former professional guide server.

Another is a former three, I think of them went through the city's uh Citizen Police Academy.

I think three of them came from MSU.

So it's just a great uh mix, and I'm really pleased.

I was really pleased to see the the experiences, the life experiences that these offices are gonna bring to the street.

Thanks for adding that.

Um from FYI to disclosures.

Any disclosures from anyone on the commission related to items before us this evening?

Yeah, Commissioner Sweeney.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Um I should disclose that I do have a family member on staff at Haven uh working full-time as a chaplain.

So um that has implications for one of our consent items this evening.

Um, but I'm really grateful to see our community support for that organization.

Thank you.