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Record of Proceedings

Butte Silver Bow Council of Commissioners Committee of the Whole Meeting - April 22, 2026

Council of Commissioners & Committees — Thursday, April 23, 2026

BodyButte Silver Bow, Montana

SessionCouncil of Commissioners & Committees

DateThursday, April 23, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 2:45:38

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

1:09

Could the commissioners please check in?

1:18

Commissioner Gerbrand.

1:21

Okay.

1:25

I'll bring the Butte Silver Bouncil of Commissioners Committee of the C whole meeting to order for Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026.

1:33

Can we please have a roll call?

1:35

One presiding, ten present, one absent.

1:38

Okay, please let the record reflect uh Commissioner O'Leary is excused for tonight.

1:43

Uh Commissioner Walker, would you please lead us in the prayer and the pledge?

2:12

And two of the approvals of standards under God is to next item on tonight's agenda is any public comment on any items that are on tonight's agenda.

2:29

If there's any member of the public that would like to speak on any item that's on the agenda, now would be your opportunity.

2:37

Okay.

2:38

Seeing none, I'll move on to the report of the chair, and I'm just gonna keep on rolling on to section one, bid openings, public hearings and or presentations.

2:47

We do have a couple of public hearings.

2:49

Uh we have communication twenty twenty-six-171 and communication twenty twenty-six-one seven-two.

2:57

County attorney Enruth, do we have proof of publication?

3:01

Chairman Morgan, yes, we have proof of publication for both communications.

3:04

Okay, thank you.

3:06

The first one, uh communication number 2026-171.

3:11

Karen Hassler, Finance and Budget Director requesting Council of Commissioners permission to schedule a public hearing on April 22nd, 2026 for the purpose of amending the fiscal year 2526 budget to allow for increased expenditures of unanticipated revenue in the parking garage budget in the amount of 21,000 dollars.

3:31

Um Director Hassler.

3:33

Uh thank you, uh Chairman Morgan, members of council.

3:36

Um again, as you just stated, the purpose of this public hearing is to take public comment on amending the 25.

3:42

26 fiscal year budget for unanticipated revenues and expenditures for the parking garage.

3:48

Um the budget amendments are due to increased revenue uh collected for permits and violations in the amount of 21,000.

3:56

Um the increased expenditures are related to our revenue sharing contract that we have with municipal parking services.

4:04

Okay.

4:04

Do any of the commissioners have any questions for Director Hassler?

4:08

Uh Commissioner Thatcher.

4:09

Thank you, Chairman Morgan.

4:11

Not really a question, just Jack to see that there's revenue going back into the parking fund.

4:16

And so nice job, David.

4:20

Okay.

4:21

Any other questions?

4:23

Okay, at this time I'll open the public hearing for proponents.

4:27

If there's any member of the public that would like to speak as a proponent for communication 2026 171, that would be your opportunity.

4:41

Okay, I'll move on to opponents.

4:43

If there's a member of the public that would like to speak in opposition to communication 2026, 171, that would be your opportunity.

4:50

First call for opponents.

4:58

Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing.

5:01

Number two, communication 2026-172.

5:05

Karen Hassler Finance and Budget Director requesting Council of Commissioners permission to schedule a public hearing on April 22nd, 2026 for the purpose of amending the fiscal year 25-26 budget to allow for increased expenditures of unanticipated revenue in the parking commission budget in the amount of $25,000.

5:28

Thought you left.

5:31

I'm just that short.

5:33

Thank you, Commissioner Morgan.

5:35

Um, members of council.

5:36

Again, this public hearing is to take um public comment on amending the fiscal year 25-26 budget for unanticipated revenues and expenditures in the parking commission fund.

5:47

Um the budget amendments are due to increased revenues collected for permits and violations in the amount of $25,000.

5:54

The increased expenditures again are related to our revenue sharing contract with municipal parking services.

6:01

Thank you, Director Hassler.

6:03

Is there any questions or comments from the commissioners?

6:08

Okay.

6:09

Seeing none, I will open the public hearing for communication 26172.

6:14

If there's a member of the public that would like to speak as a proponent of this, now would be your opportunity.

6:19

First call for proponents.

6:22

Second call for proponents, third and final call for proponents.

6:28

Please state your name and address for the record.

6:31

Ready for us, 2000 Roberts Avenue.

6:34

I am a proponent of this.

6:35

Thank you.

6:36

Okay.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Government Structure███████████████████████████████31%

Procedural█████████████13%

Transportation Safety█████████9%

Employee Benefits████████8%

Public Engagement██████6%

Community Safety██████6%

Personnel Matters█████5%

Fiscal Sustainability████4%

Economic Development████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Butte Silver Bow Council of Commissioners Committee of the Whole Meeting - April 22, 2026

The Butte Silver Bow Council of Commissioners held a Committee of the Whole meeting on April 22, 2026. The meeting included public hearings on budget amendments, presentations on passenger rail, a study commission on government structure, health insurance renewal, and a community safety task force. Several routine communications were approved.

Public Hearings

Communication 2026-171: Budget amendment for the parking garage to increase expenditures by $21,000 due to unanticipated revenue from permits and violations. The increase relates to the revenue sharing contract with Municipal Parking Services. No public comment was offered. The communication was placed on file (11-0 vote).
Communication 2026-172: Budget amendment for the parking commission to increase expenditures by $25,000 due to unanticipated revenue from permits and violations. One proponent spoke: Ready (address: 2000 Roberts Avenue). No opponents. The communication was placed on file (11-0 vote).

Presentations

Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority (BSPRA)

Dave Strohmeyer (Missoula County Commissioner, BSPRA Chair) and Dan Bucks (Senior Policy Advisor) presented on the progress of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority.
Key points:
- Butte Silver Bow is a founding member of the authority, established in 2020 by 12 counties to restore passenger rail service across southern Montana.
- The North Coast Hiawatha route (Chicago to Pacific Northwest) is recommended for restoration, with an alternative through Butte via Homestake Pass.
- The authority is in a Corridor ID program with the Federal Railroad Administration, the only new long-distance route accepted. A service development plan (estimated $11 million) will be developed over two years.
- Goals include twice-daily service in each direction, 21st-century trains, on-time performance, and connections to rural communities.
- Other work: high-performance rail (e.g., $15 million grant for Montana rail improvements), workforce development ($6 million grant with MSU).
Commissioners asked about funding and political challenges. BSPRA emphasized bipartisan support and no current federal clawbacks. The presentation was informational.

Study Commission Update on Government Structure

RayLynn Brandle, Chair of the Study Commission, presented preliminary findings from the commission elected in November 2025.
Key recommendations (still preliminary, subject to public input):
- Retain charter form of government.
- Replace the elected chief executive with a city-county manager hired by the council, and create an elected mayor at large to preside.
- Reduce the council from 12 to 4 full-time district commissioners (plus the mayor), with redistricting to improve rural representation.
- Formalize neighborhood councils with council-established policies.
- Add Reclamation & Environmental Services and Parks & Recreation as standalone departments in the charter.
- Two options for fire services: (1) make volunteer fire departments fully independent, or (2) unify all fire services under city-county authority with clear leadership.
Public survey results: 63% said 12 commissioners are too many; 52% think the current elected chief executive model is not effective; strong support (44% strongly, 24% somewhat) for a professional city-county manager.
Next steps: Final public hearing on May 4, 2026; final report due July 2026; ballot initiatives possibly in November 2026.
Commissioners raised concerns about costs, tax impacts, implementation timeline (estimated up to 2030), and complexity. The commission acknowledged these are still under deliberation.

Health Insurance Renewal (Self-Funded Plan)

Beth Worm (HR Director) and Emily Joan Art (HR Generalist) presented the renewal for the self-funded health plan for July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027.
Key changes:
- Plan One (traditional): deductible increases from $1,000/$2,000 to $1,500/$3,000 (individual/family) with 15% premium increase.
- Plan Two (high deductible): deductible increases from $3,300/$6,600 to $3,400/$6,800 (per IRS) with 10% premium increase.
- Plan Three (high deductible): no structural changes, 5% premium increase.
- Stop-loss insurance will increase by 14.2% (but less than market 15-20%).
- New 340B program for specialty drugs saving about $7,000/month.
Other benefits unchanged: dental, vision, EAP (Intermountain Health), telemedicine (MD Live), health concierge (Rightway), life insurance, etc.
Open enrollment meetings May 5-7, 2026.

The presentation was informational; the communication was placed on file (11-0 vote).

Butte Community Safety Task Force

Jesse Gonzalez (Butte Strong) proposed creating a Butte Community Safety Task Force to coordinate responses to federal enforcement actions (e.g., ICE), provide know-your-rights education, and build trust.
Requested: official recognition and endorsement from the city, a liaison from the executive director, seating of representatives, and quarterly reports.
Commissioners expressed concerns about taking an official political position that could affect state funding. Chief Executive Gallagher noted they already have relationships with local law enforcement and preferred the task force form independently without official city designation.
Several commissioners encouraged the group to continue meeting and invite commissioners individually, but declined official endorsement.
The communication was placed on file (11-0 vote) without formal action on the request.

Key Outcomes

Communications placed on file (all 11-0 votes): 2026-159 (BSPRA presentation), 2026-163 (economic development mill levy proposals call), 2026-164 (mill levy grant reports schedule), 2026-165 (Belmont Water Tower Park bid opening), 2026-171 (parking garage budget amendment), 2026-172 (parking commission budget amendment), 2026-178 (Study Commission presentation), 2026-179 (Community Safety Task Force presentation), 2026-180 (health insurance renewal presentation), 2026-181 (District 9 cleanup event).
Held in abeyance: Communications 2026-102 (land purchase request, pending land sales committee report) and 2026-177 (fire district boundary expansion, pending May 6 public hearing).
No formal vote on the study commission recommendations or task force request; both are still in development.

Public Comments & Testimony

Alison Anderson (District 9) expressed concern about fire service issues and asked for follow-up on House Bill 547 and leadership talks. She supported the task force approach.
Commissioner Fisher noted that April 22 is Earth Day and the anniversary of when Atlantic Richfield shut off pumps, leading to Berkeley Pit flooding.
County Attorney Ann Ruth announced guilty verdicts in a child pornography case prosecuted by Ann Shea and Caitlin Lamb.

Other Business

The meeting adjourned following the announcements.

Meeting Transcript

Could the commissioners please check in? Commissioner Gerbrand. Okay. I'll bring the Butte Silver Bouncil of Commissioners Committee of the C whole meeting to order for Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026. Can we please have a roll call? One presiding, ten present, one absent. Okay, please let the record reflect uh Commissioner O'Leary is excused for tonight. Uh Commissioner Walker, would you please lead us in the prayer and the pledge? And two of the approvals of standards under God is to next item on tonight's agenda is any public comment on any items that are on tonight's agenda. If there's any member of the public that would like to speak on any item that's on the agenda, now would be your opportunity. Okay. Seeing none, I'll move on to the report of the chair, and I'm just gonna keep on rolling on to section one, bid openings, public hearings and or presentations. We do have a couple of public hearings. Uh we have communication twenty twenty-six-171 and communication twenty twenty-six-one seven-two. County attorney Enruth, do we have proof of publication? Chairman Morgan, yes, we have proof of publication for both communications. Okay, thank you. The first one, uh communication number 2026-171. Karen Hassler, Finance and Budget Director requesting Council of Commissioners permission to schedule a public hearing on April 22nd, 2026 for the purpose of amending the fiscal year 2526 budget to allow for increased expenditures of unanticipated revenue in the parking garage budget in the amount of 21,000 dollars. Um Director Hassler. Uh thank you, uh Chairman Morgan, members of council. Um again, as you just stated, the purpose of this public hearing is to take public comment on amending the 25. 26 fiscal year budget for unanticipated revenues and expenditures for the parking garage. Um the budget amendments are due to increased revenue uh collected for permits and violations in the amount of 21,000. Um the increased expenditures are related to our revenue sharing contract that we have with municipal parking services. Okay. Do any of the commissioners have any questions for Director Hassler? Uh Commissioner Thatcher. Thank you, Chairman Morgan. Not really a question, just Jack to see that there's revenue going back into the parking fund. And so nice job, David. Okay. Any other questions? Okay, at this time I'll open the public hearing for proponents. If there's any member of the public that would like to speak as a proponent for communication 2026 171, that would be your opportunity. Okay, I'll move on to opponents. If there's a member of the public that would like to speak in opposition to communication 2026, 171, that would be your opportunity. First call for opponents. Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing. Number two, communication 2026-172. Karen Hassler Finance and Budget Director requesting Council of Commissioners permission to schedule a public hearing on April 22nd, 2026 for the purpose of amending the fiscal year 25-26 budget to allow for increased expenditures of unanticipated revenue in the parking commission budget in the amount of $25,000. Thought you left. I'm just that short. Thank you, Commissioner Morgan. Um, members of council. Again, this public hearing is to take um public comment on amending the fiscal year 25-26 budget for unanticipated revenues and expenditures in the parking commission fund. Um the budget amendments are due to increased revenues collected for permits and violations in the amount of $25,000. The increased expenditures again are related to our revenue sharing contract with municipal parking services. Thank you, Director Hassler. Is there any questions or comments from the commissioners?

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