The Butte Silver Bow Council of Commissioners held its regular meeting on November 5, 2025, with 11 commissioners present and Commissioner Healy absent. The meeting included standard approvals of minutes, public hearings on budget amendments and grants, the appointment of an interim coroner, discussion of several development agreements and land sales, and an emergency resolution to fund SNAP benefits. Key procedural discussions focused on adherence to policy for late applications and transparency in entity changes during property sales.
I'd like to call the Butte Silver Boat Council of Commissioners regular meeting for Wednesday, November 5th, 2025 to order. Clerk, could we please have roll call? 11 present one absent. Eleven present one absence. Please note that Commissioner Healy is absent from tonight's agenda. Um Commissioner Walker, could you lead us in the prayer in the pledge? Next, we'll move on to any public comment on any item on tonight's agenda. If you'd like to speak on any item on tonight's agenda, please come forward, say your name, address, and the item that you would like to speak about. Seeing none, I will uh move to the approval of the minutes of the October 15th, 2025 meeting minutes. Commissioner Morgan. Thank you, Mr. Chief Executive. At this time I'll make a motion that we approve the minutes of the October 15th, 2025 meeting. We have a motion and a second to approve the October 15th, 2025 meeting minutes. Is there anything on the question? Could Commissioners please vote? And would anyone like to change their vote? Clerk, please cook record the vote. Eleven A zero nay. Eleven Ye Zero Nay. Motion passes. Next we'll move on to the chief executive's report. I'll try to make a brief. Um there's been a lot that's going on in the last day or two. Um as many people may have seen that uh uh the EPA administrator Zeldon was in town yesterday. Um it was a uh quick stop over that he came in. Um the EPA let us know that he was coming to visit, but never gave us an agenda and never gave us really times of what was going to happen until his arrival. So I found out really that morning where we were meeting and what was going to be done. There wasn't very much time for uh for a lot of conversation. I did express the uh the challenges of of the change of of the lead level and uh the concerns of the community and uh how you know from different administrations it's it's gone back and forth and so that there's a big concern about that and hope that we could get have some more answers to that. Um there was conversation that um sometime in January they may have a plan coming forward, um, a proposed plan, and so um we'll see if that's happened, but more of his visit was just seeing the sites and getting an update from EPA staff that was on the ground here. So we didn't get a lot of uh of actual FaceTime with them other than touring sites with uh with his uh entourage and uh all the people that were involved with that as well. And then also as as many seeing today did a proclamation of emergency on uh the snap benefits and just wanted to just give a quick overview why we did this. And um I think everybody understands the the significance of the to the community, what losing snap benefits can do to many community members. And um, I think everybody understands the the significance of the to the community what losing SNAP benefits can do to many community members and um for for some people they think that this is a handle, but there's a lot of people on SNAP benefits that are hardworking individuals with with kids with families, uh disabled people that that are losing those benefits. And um, you know, I'm not gonna go get into the federal politics or state politics on this all, but I um working with our community action team, it was contingent on us to say it's important for us to support our local community, and so um as chief executive, it was uh my directive to to do emergency emergency proclamation to um to ask tonight the resolution to assess what's equivalent of two mills. Okay, it it it will not be assessed to anybody taxpayers. It's we will be drawn from our reserve uh funds, and that's why we have reserve um to for times just like this where we can help the community and and help people in need, and so um those those benefits will be used to help support those in need in the community, the food bank, uh it could be um the the Butte Rescue Mission and then those that are putting pantries up just in the community, and so that's the reason that we're doing this. Um it's something that Butte always does. I think Bud's gonna come out and support whether you know local government did this, but I thought it was important that local government took the lead and said it's important to us and our community to do this. And so that was why I took the action that I did today. So with that, I know we have a long agenda. So we're going we're gonna move forward and uh we're gonna go through section one uh bid openings public hearings, and then after we get through that section one, we are going to move section three ahead of section one. Oh, we have one item not addressed on tonight's agenda that I just talked about. Um Commissioner Morgan. Thank you, Mr. Chief Executive. On the section of items not addressed on the agenda due to what you just stated. Um in accordance with the provisions of Rule Six of the Rules of Order of the Council of Commissioners of the City and County of Butte Silver Bow, State of Montana. The council hereby finds an emergency condition exists which requires that the council rules be suspended to allow for resolution number 2025-67 to be added to tonight's agenda.