Laurel City Council Workshop Meeting – September 1, 2026

The City of Laurel held a workshop meeting on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at 6:30 PM in Council Chambers. The agenda included new fire department personnel, an MLUPA update, several executive-review resolutions, an annexation moratorium ordinance, lengthy discussion of the proposed managed network services contract with Systems Technology Consultants (STC), and draft project proposal guidelines. Because it was a workshop, no formal votes were recorded during the main agenda; several items were scheduled for action at future meetings.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Laura Kirschman (939 West 4th Street) asked whether city staff or elected officials had communicated with the governor’s office, the Board of Investments, the budget director, or DPHHS in recent months about the mental health facility. The mayor replied that the city was meeting the next day to review the revised environmental assessment with the city attorney and expected to issue a statement. Later, Kirschman said the revised assessment appeared to ignore what the judge asked the state to do, described it as the state “flexing their muscles,” listed concerns including buying and decommissioning houses and challenging the city’s moratorium, and urged the city to consider intervening because “they are bullying us.”
• Elizabeth Gilgloral asked the council not to renew the STC managed IT services agreement and to direct staff to issue a competitive bid. She provided a packet alleging that a public records search was performed incorrectly and that renewing the contract would be “a betrayal of public trust.” She later alleged that an STC employee, John Roberts, entered search terms in a way that minimized results, such as failing to search the mt.gov email domain, and said the failed search had prevented her organization from reviewing records before a public hearing. She cited Montana’s constitutional guarantee of public records access.
• Laura Kirschman said the STC employee has a right as a citizen to personal opinions, but should not bring his city role into social media because it reflects on the city.
• Shilly White (512 Wyoming Avenue) asked what query language STC uses and requested that the query used for the records search be produced.
• A resident at 606 10th Avenue said public records work requires discretion and that the council should seriously consider whether to renew the contract if the employee in question cannot exercise proper judgment.
• Susan Canopy (1026th Avenue, Laurel) supported renewal, stating that STC’s service to the city and police department has been consistent and exemplary, that the company has completed security awareness training and background checks, and that the council should “resoundingly approve” the contract renewal.

General Items and Executive Review

• Fire department personnel: The council took up the approval item for fire department personnel. The agenda listed Mich Löwe, Nicholas Blair, and Kevin Geriak, but the fire chief said there were five names total, adding Tristan Barry and Courtney Rathburn; only three were present because the other two were out of town working. The three present introduced themselves, and the chief said he would get them into training and continue working on staffing.
• MLUPA update: Staff reported that the planning board received a consultant update at its August meeting and heard a clear request for more public input—to “get it right rather than get it done quickly.” A steering committee has been created, and the consultant has been asked to rescope the project with a significantly expanded timeline, which is expected to increase cost. The revised scope and fee will be brought back to the council. Planning Board member Ron Benner said the extension was needed to get full community input and to include the extraterritorial area outside the city, because excluding that area would make the growth plan “pretty much unusable.” Another planning board member said Laurel is already behind schedule but faces no penalties, so the city should take time to do the work thoroughly. The mayor discussed “visioneering,” noting Laurel’s growth is constrained by city boundaries and housing supply, and said the consultant should look beyond city boundaries, as studies in Belgrade, Kalispell, and Bozeman have done.
• RRGL planning grant subtask order (Triple Tree Engineering): Staff requested after-the-fact approval of a subtask order signed by the mayor so the city could meet the RRGL grant application deadline about three weeks earlier. The grant-funded preliminary engineering report would study ways to remove 100-year floodplain limitations along Main Street and side streets, with a $5,000 local match if the grant is received. A successful study could lead to FEMA Building Resilient Communities funding and reduce floodplain-related delays in the TIF district.
• LURA SE 4th Lighting District survey and design (Morrison-Maierle): Staff explained that the task order funds survey and design work needed to establish tight district boundaries and negotiate easements with 24 affected property owners because there is not enough street right-of-way. All 24 owners have indicated willingness to participate or would agree if their property or business operations are not adversely impacted. The project is in the fiscal year 2027 LURA budget and is on time and on budget.
• LURA sidewalks and lighting change order (Knife River): Staff said change order #1 covers additional improvements required by MDT along Main Street and urban routes for the downtown project. Funding was already included in the council-approved contingency budget, and the project remains on time and on budget despite state approval delays.
• CHS water supply agreement: The resolution was presented without substantive discussion or council questions.
• CHS stormwater MOU: Staff said the city currently has one south-side stormwater outlet that runs through the CHS refinery property. CHS initiated a proposal to pay for an alternate route outside the refinery, creating a second outlet and addressing street flooding near Woodwin, Yellowstone, and I-90. The existing outlet will remain in place as a backup, and CHS will maintain it through its property. The project is expected to take two or more years, and cost-sharing details have not yet been determined.
• MDT utilities MOU: The resolution approving a memorandum of understanding with the Montana Department of Transportation relating to utilities was presented without discussion.
• Fire department compensation resolutions: Three resolutions were reviewed: increased monthly compensation for designated officer positions, an increase in firefighter call-out pay, and repeal of Resolution R21-57 to replace drill pay with a training pay rate for active volunteer firefighters. The mayor noted the officer compensation item was discussed during budget deliberations. Councilmember McKay said she was glad to see the items addressed, particularly compensation for training hours.
• Annexation moratorium Ordinance No. 26-4: The mayor noted that a public hearing on second reading is scheduled for the following week. The ordinance would impose a moratorium on annexation applications while the city evaluates infrastructure capacity, water system demands, recent changes in state law, and future growth plans.

Council Issues: Managed Network Services Resolution R26-70

• The mayor said the resolution authorizing an agreement with Systems Technology Consultants (STC) for managed network services had been tabled at the previous council meeting for discussion, and no vote would be taken that evening. Councilmember McKay asked how STC was handling an employee whose online posts appeared to speak for the city. Thad McGrail, STC’s sales and marketing manager, said the employee had been counseled by him and by the former STC CEO, who recently passed away, and asked for specifics so the company could continue to address concerns.
• Councilmember Wilkie said social media conduct that reflects on the city “has gotta stop,” and Council President Canopy defended the employee as a Laurel citizen with a right to an opinion while praising his service. Staff and STC clarified that the employee’s contracted city role had been discussed and he had been asked to refrain from speaking on behalf of the city in public forums.
• Councilmember Banks raised concerns that the public records search had not been completed correctly. Elizabeth Gilgloral and Laura Kirshman provided examples of employee social media interactions and search-term concerns. STC agreed to look into the records query and offered to rerun the search with revised scope and terms, noting that time-and-materials costs could apply.
• McGrail presented service metrics: 10 open tickets; a rough 119-minute average ticket resolution time over the last 14 days; about 30 percent of help-desk tickets classified as general IT support; a 90 percent completion rate for monthly security training and phishing simulations; and an estimated 68 days of downtime eliminated through security measures.
• The mayor said the public records request form should be revised so requesters specify search terms, and staff will commit to that change. No action was taken on Resolution R26-70; it is expected to return at the next council meeting.

Project Proposals and Funding Requests – Guidelines

• The mayor introduced draft guidelines and a request form for staff and committees. The goal is to ensure that project proposals come to the council with complete information on funding, insurance, labor, ongoing maintenance, equipment, and lifecycle costs so the council can make decisions without repeated delays. The mayor described it as an administrative routing document and requested council feedback.

Announcements

• Elizabeth announced that a state public hearing is currently set for September 8 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM in Billings. The city’s representation has requested that the hearing be moved to Laurel on September 15 after 4:00 PM so affected residents can attend; she said she would share updates.
• The mayor noted he would be absent from the next council meeting and confirmed the other council members’ attendance expectations.
• The mayor announced a special city council meeting immediately following the workshop to review and approve an emergency resolution related to a project described as “out front,” then recessed the workshop.

Key Outcomes

• No formal votes were taken during the workshop; Resolution R26-70 remains pending and is expected to return at the next council meeting.
• The MLUPA consultant will be asked to rescope with an expanded timeline, with the revised scope and fee to be brought back to the council.
• The city will review its public records request form so requesters specify search terms, and may conduct an additional records search with revised terms.
• The annexation moratorium ordinance will have a public hearing on second reading at the next council meeting.
• A special city council meeting followed the workshop to consider an emergency resolution related to the front project.