our uh respective um elective bodies compiled some of the pieces that we were gonna d dive into tonight um first and foremost i'm just thrilled one to um have all of you here with us we were in in your home turf last year um and also just to for the the record this is only the to our understanding the second time this has ever occurred um so this is if in further efforts of you know deepening the relationships between our two two jurisdictions and also to uh bring closer some new council members commissioners on on each of our respective sides um mayor meese and i uh on unfortunately for him we have to spend a lot of time together um we serve on a variety of of boards and but our colleagues don't necessarily uh interact with each other quite as often so i'm excited to have an opportunity for us to um think through discuss items that we're currently working on as well as um think about what we're gonna be looking forward to this upcoming legislative session um mayor meese is there anything else that you'd like to add in our grounding here I would like to uh thank you for the invitation and and accepting us here with you tonight and I I too echo that having our two uh governing bodies jurisdictions coming together and and having discussions I think makes sense for each of our towns and and the region as a whole better so I appreciate the opportunity great um is there anything any opening remarks or thoughts that anybody else from our commission would like to add okay welcome yeah yeah I'm I'm really grateful we're doing this again and it's um two years running so let's keep the streak going we scraped by we've only got a couple more months and we would have already ruined our one year streak um just for the for the the folks um in the in the audience and and at home um we basically came down to four different items um of talking about regional growth and infrastructure um there's a variety of ways that we um overlap in our planning jurisdictions as well as um in in some um district boards that overlap regional transportation uh regional mental and behavioral health and our considerations for the 2027 uh Montana legislature and what our joint priorities may be um we hadn't necessarily prepared a way that we wanted to kick this off per se they are there are sample questions for us to consider um for regional growth and infrastructure our question of ponderance is what does the Bozeman Belgrade corridor look like in 2045 and where should urban growth occur is there anything that Belgrade especially would like to add with um the uh extraterritorial jurisdiction changes the relationships with the county and the the donut um if there's anything that would be important context sure I'll I'll uh jump in a little bit um with some of the changes at the last legislator legislative cycle uh Malupa kind of made sense for the city of Belgrade to kind of stay within our city limits um we used to have a joint partnership with Gallatin County where when that donut area outside of the city limits uh that several mile donut there is that it was our planning department that was uh processing all of those requests um with Malupa made it more uh difficult and more complicated to you know go with what the county regulations were versus if you were within the city um and so just this past year uh we decided to uh hand that back over to the county and us focus on on the city jurisdiction uh but one thing with Malupa as well is that it doesn't take any of our work from zoning away from us even if it's not within uh the city jurisdictions right is that we can go through the zoning processes and identify those parcels that are are right outside of our our boundaries and so then it I think it also for property owners and developers and builders and and such if I think it gives a clearer picture is that hey if you do annex into the city um this is kind of what the the zoning that we're looking for and through that process so even though that we kind of shrunk down a little bit of the formal uh process we're still looking at that greater area as well so great thanks for um adding that that bit um I know uh many of us have been following along that process um so appreciate a bit of an update um is there anyone uh from our commission that wants to kick us off um on this growth and infrastructure question of really thinking about the corridor between Bozeman and Belgrade

So

great.

Thanks for um adding that that bit.

Um I know many of us have been following along that process, um, so appreciate a bit of an update.

Um is there anyone uh from our commission that wants to kick us off on this growth and infrastructure question of really thinking about the corridor between Bozeman and Belgrade,

yeah,

Commissioner Sweeney.

I

suppose I'll take a stab at

it.

Um thank you guys all for being here and having this conversation.

Um

I

took some time to look through the triangle community plan um before this meeting, and you know, growing up here, it was always this joke like you know, Bozeman's growing so fast, eventually we're gonna smash into Belgrade.

And you know, only a few years ago I learned that actually is the plan.

Um I have reservations about that.

I would actually prefer to see uh an open space delineation between the two communities, and not just for nostalgic reasons that feels very Montana.

You leave one city and then you have a little while and then you enter a new city, but because of the work that um a lot of people did over a few years for the sensitive lands plan, I think there are some really important wetlands and some environmental resources and some wildlife corridors in that area that I would really like to see us start actively working towards protecting um maybe funding conservation easements, maybe um looking into wildlife overlay zoning, um, lots of different tools, but basically starting to bring that sensitive lands plan into both of our planning documents and actions.

Maybe I'll I'll kind of um jump in a little bit.

You know, I know I know at last year's meeting uh we had our our public works and engineering directors uh from both uh City of Belgrade and and director uh coates there from the city of Bozeman, and and really what makes sense.

I I don't know if I'm really focused on the boundaries and where we may end up smashing together, but from a utility perspective, whether it be water, sewer, roads, is that we are we need to kind of plan together, right?

And and for one thing, you know, is that um just with the topography and things like that, where you know, Belgrade could potentially you know help out Bozeman or Bozeman could potentially help out Belgrade, you know, I think it could be stronger and and really kind of focusing on that utility aspect.

I do think you know the planning and and all of that, but where my mind is is always kind of gone is is to the is to the infrastructure, right?

Of what we both need to maintain, and instead of potentially each of us doing our own thing, is that there may be make sense of when we kind of start getting closer is looking at some of those different alternatives of you know, maybe just not staying within the city of Belgrade or not staying within the city of Bozeman, and how does that regional utilities kind of look at like so

uh

Chris Minacucci.

I agree.

I think uh I lived in Melgrade 36 years, so I was there when it was 3,000 people.

Um I think surprisingly, we're going south instead of coming um east.

So our growth now is north and south.

So I don't know what that means in the future, I'll be dead probably, but um I I'd like to agree with Mike that we and uh Alison that we are cognizant of the things that we have that are can't put a monetary um section on, and so um I don't know what's going to come.

It's surprised all of us.

I've been on the council about 14 years, and it's shocking, it's shocking.

So that's my four sense.

I like to talk, by

the

way.

It seems to me that growing towards Bozeman is impeded by the gravel

pit.

And I'm curious if there are any plans to do to the gravel pit, what has been done kind of on the north or close to the airport um ramp.

Any plans to kind of wrap up the gravel pit and fill it?

Or is that uh pipe dream towards some future generation?

Yeah,

I I might jump in here a little bit on maybe look to our city manager to fill in any holes.

But um the original uh in the pit, essentially on the north side of the airport interchange there, uh is that they really kind of just done phase one, right?

And I don't think that it's um taken off quite as quickly as they at first hoped.

And so multiple phases as it continues to east into the development there, um, you know, a lot of like the asphalt and and other things are gonna eventually transition to the south side, and that development's gonna keep on going uh further east.

But I think it's a little bit of trying to you know wait for the developer and and them, you know, business partners.

But we have just recently opened up the second hotel down in there, the Hampton is in there.

Um there is uh some uh apartment buildings as well, and then we also I know have a low-income uh community that's that's looking at uh also going into that area.

So we're starting to see some a little bit more action on that front, but yeah, it is I think slowly um kind of on the at least the the north side of the interstate with uh gravel pit operations and things that I think will you know continue to develop over the next 10-15 years or so.

Okay.

Um so you're still operating within phase one.

Are there other phases contemplated?

I saw the the master or the visionary plan at one point where they did have uh proposed some different uh entertainment.

There was one time movie theater, bowling alleys, things like that that but I think that's a little bit of um a pipe dream, and then COVID did you know happen, and so whether the developers still have the the same thought.

I'm I don't believe that they've shared anything with the city, and I don't know if our city manager has any newer information there, but but yeah, at least for the original things when charter development was uh proposing that build out uh through there is that they had uh a lot of aspirations, but their their first piece that I think has gone on slower uh from uh you know vertical construction perspective.

So haven't heard of any timelines yet for their subsequent phasing there.

Got it.