Butte Silver Bow Study Commission Meeting - August 10, 2026
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Butte Silver Bow Study Commission Meeting - August 10, 2026
The Butte Silver Bow Study Commission met on August 10, 2026, to address critical ballot language for fire services governance, approve minutes, and discuss voter education materials. The meeting was efficient, with key decisions on ballot formatting and future meeting cadence.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes from the August 3, 2026, meeting (motion by Shaw, second by Dennehey, unanimous).
Discussion Items
- Ballot Language Revision: County Attorney Enruth reported that the Montana Secretary of State required splitting the original three-part fire services governance question into two separate questions. The first asks whether to retain the existing charter language or change it; the second, contingent on a vote for change, offers two options: "volunteer" or "under the county." No substantive wording was altered. Enruth noted that after repeated inquiries, the Secretary of State responded with the formatting change this morning.
- Voter Education Materials: Ms. Adams presented a draft voter education pamphlet, which will be revised to reflect the new ballot language. Discussion focused on timing: materials should be printed by the week of September 14 and mailed by September 21 to reach voters before mail-in ballots (expected late September/early October). Ms. Shaw offered to confirm the exact ballot mailing date with Clerk and Recorder Cindy Sherman. The commission decided to shift from weekly to every-other-week meetings, with an education committee (including Mr. Steppen and others) potentially working in the off weeks to assist Ms. Adams. A final public educational meeting and civic group outreach were also planned.
Key Outcomes
- Approval of Amended Ballot Language: The commission voted unanimously (6-0, with all present members including Matt Steppen who arrived later) to approve the revised fire services questions as presented by County Attorney Enruth. The motion was made by Shaw and seconded by Dennehey.
- Meeting Schedule Change: The commission will adopt an every-other-week meeting cadence, starting with no meeting on August 17. A timeline for remaining tasks will be prepared by the chair and Mr. Dennehey.
- Next Steps: Ms. Adams will incorporate feedback on the voter pamphlet via email; the commission will coordinate with the Council of Commissioners for an update presentation, and respond to media inquiries.
Meeting Transcript
All right, guys, I'm gonna call us to order. I'll call the August 10th, 2026 meeting of the Butte Silver Boat Study Commission to order. I have Laurie Casey, myself, Dan Dennehey, Chad Silk, Cindy Shaw, and Mary McCormick in attendance, and I believe uh Matt Steppen will be late. Um Cindy Purdue Dolan and Ben Thielen have been excused for tonight. So if we can have our Pledge of Allegiance and prayer. Amen. All right, public comment on any item on the agenda. Public comment on anything not on the agenda but within the jurisdiction of the study commission. And I'll have the approval of the minutes of the meeting held on August third. Ms. Shaw. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh at this time I would move that we approve the minutes of the meeting that was held uh last Monday on August third twenty-sixth. Is there a second? Second. I have a motion by Shaw and a second by Denhee. Is there any discussion? Um all those in favor, please signify by saying aye to approve the minutes. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. All right. Um I'm gonna skip forward because we're on a tight timeline uh with the update on the ballot items getting to our clerk and recorder to get them sent out tonight. So um Mr. Enruth. I'm coming down here because I I don't like people staring at the back of my head. Yeah, it kind of blinds us. I mean, he's gotta do it every Wednesday, so uh commissioners, uh Chairman Brandle, thank you. Um the Montana Secretary of State uh through Scott Fuller contacted us last week after both uh Commissioner Dennehy and myself harassed them repeatedly. Um we got an answer back on our question with regards to the uh how fire services should be governed in the county uh structure of the question. Uh they did not have a problem with the structure in the sense of can we ask the question? It was uh a problem for printing purposes. They could not print it the way we presented it. So Scott Fuller sent an email back and said you just must present the question in this manner. So if you'll look um the question was simply revised into two questions rather than one. The first question is if the revised charter is adopted, how should fire services be governed? It's for either maintaining the existing charter language or for changing it. And then if uh the voters determine that they want to change the charter language, then it goes to the second question, which is if number four passes fire services in Butte Silver Boat County shall be governed by then the volunteer question and then the under the county question. Uh not questions, excuse me. The the volunteer section and under the county section, none of the wording was changed. None of uh uh the way it was presented was changed, the volunteer question is still first, the career question is second. The only thing that changed is the very first part of that question that says whether or not to retain it, uh retain the charter language as is, became its own question. Um so that is how the question was went from being a three-part question to simply split into two. Commissioners, do you have any questions for Mr. Enro? And uh Mr. Denahee and Mr. Enro, thank you for all of the detailed follow-up. I know that you guys were both on the phone quite a bit last week, and then there were emails, and we have the chronology of all the emails, and then today is when they got back to you, correct, Mr. Enruth.
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