REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Tuesday June 9, 2026
ALL PRESENT: Commissioner Morse, Chair; Commissioners Waters and White; Board Clerk Teri Reitz; Clerk and Recorder Jeff Martin.
PLEDGE: MOMENT OF SILENCE, Held.
9:00 a.m. BID OPENING – A.) Open and Acknowledge the RFP for MS4 Permit Compliance Assistance. Bids were opened and acknowledged from Water and Environmental Technologies, HDR and Respec Company LLC. Commissioner Waters made a MOTION to refer the bids to staff for recommendation back to this board, Commissioner White seconded. Passed Unanimous. B.) Bid Opening for 2026 County Roads Crack Seal Project.
Lump Sum
Z & Z Seal Coating, Inc. $146,126.08
Hardrives Construction, Inc. $112,202.07
Commissioner Waters made a MOTION to refer the bids to staff for recommendation back to this board, Commissioner White seconded. Passed Unanimous.
9:00 a.m. PUBLIC HEARING – First Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Public Hearing. Ms. Dianne Lehm, Big Sky EDA stated the Department of Housing and Urban Development appropriates the CD funds to the State of Montana Department of Commerce for competitive
Distribution among Montana's non-entitled. Those are defined as
the community outside of the cities of Billings. All CDBG funds must be used
for projects that meet the HUD national effective, along with benefiting those
low to moderate income individuals and households. In a targeted area of the
jurisdiction, city, county, or specific districts or legally formed governing
authorities. Any proposed CDBG projects that displace low to moderate income
individuals are likely to or unlikely to receive funding. Montana has four CDBG
Program categories. Housing has two programs, the affordable housing
development and rehab. It is intended for construction or rehabilitation of
affordable housing projects. The next submission deadline for this program is
September 5th. 2026. The second program under housing is the housing
stabilization program. It is for construction or rehabilitation of
owner-occupied rental units that benefit low to moderate income. There is no
maximum grant amount. Funds are allocated based on the individual level of
need. Applications are not being accepted currently. Commerce has paused this
program because all of the funds have been allocated. They expect to receive
additional funds in the fall of 2026.
The second category is public and community facilities. It is for basic
community infrastructure improvements such as water and sewer facilities, and
for community facilities designated for UI or benefit to moderate income, such
as nursing homes, Head Start centers, and for mental health centers. The
maximum grant is 750,000 and a 25% match is required. The closing date will be
set in August of 2026. The third category is planning grants, which may be
used for the preparation of plans, studies, training, or research in several
areas, including growth policies, housing plans, comprehensive economic
development strategies, preliminary architectural or engineering reports,
on-site specific development plans. The maximum grant amount is $50,000, and a
match is required on that. The deadline for 2026 is July 10th. So that is fast
approaching. We do have an open grant in this category. It is close to being
committed. If someone wishes to apply by the July 10th, deadline, we will have
to do a quick turnaround and assure that the current project is almost complete
to make Yellowstone County eligible to apply. The 4th category is economic
development. Funds are to stimulate economic growth by helping Montana's
private sector create or retain jobs for low to moderate income persons. Makes
fixed finance, fixed rate financing available at a reasonable interest rate.
This is intended to bridge the funding gap where alternative sources of
financing are not adequate. The maximum grant amount in this category is
$525,000. A 100% match is required. Applications are accepted on an open
cycle. To compete for these CDBG funds, Department of Housing and Urban
Development and the Montana Department of Commerce require the county to hold
two public hearings. Today’s hearing is the first CDBG for Yellowstone County
outside the city limits. It's a general needs assessment public hearing to
provide the opportunity for citizens to inform Yellowstone County Commissioners
about specific community economic development projects they have in mind and
formally request the Commissioner’s and or Yellowstone County to sponsor a CDP
application. This hearing also provides the opportunity for citizens to tell
the commissioners about their needs when it comes to affordable housing, public
facilities, planning, and economic development. But at this time, in
preparation for this first public hearing, the Commissioners published a notice
of public hearing twice in the Yellowstone County News and the Laurel Outlook
on the 29th of June and June 5th. Affidavits of
publication are available.
Commissioner Morse asked when we open the public hearing, we want people, if
people wish to come up and speak, they should identify the specific project
they want to, or the specific one of those four categories that they want to
address for you. Ms. Lehm responded that they can do that. Commissioner Morse
opened the Public Hearing. One citizen talked about the need for a solution of
the highway coming out of Lockwood and the need for more affordable housing.
One citizen spoke about needing more funding to help with the Allies with Aging
programs. Hearing no other comments Commissioner Morse closed the Public
Hearing. No action was required today on this public hearing.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON REGULAR, CONSENT AND FILED AGENDA ITEMS – Jarod Toavs - 296 Lightstream Lane, 48th and Central. I've been emailing back and forth with Monica on trying to get easement for the rear of my residence because the front is blocked by the 35,000-gallon water tank for the fire department. So, I have no easement to my backyard and for our HOA the compliances say you are not allowed to have anything in your driveway. You're not even supposed to have anything over a three-quarter ton truck. My work truck is a 1-ton. So technically I'm supposed to have it in a fenced area. So, I guess I am trying to get an easement off 48th Street to be able to be HOA compliant in the Sundance Subdivision. Hearing no other comments Commissioner Morse continued the Board Meeting.
METRAPARK – MetraPark Accounting Update. Mr. Stoney Field, General Manager stated that this past weekend, we had the Renaissance Fair, which they'd moved from Red Lodge up to try us out at MetraPark. We feel like it was successful on our end. Our initial estimates are probably between 16 and 18,000 people that were on the grounds. We had great weather for it. So, we're looking forward to seeing if they want to come back. We have Matt Rife coming up on Sunday. We have about 7,200 tickets out for him right now. I want to introduce Tim Wombolt, our Comptroller. Tim stated that they are finishing up their busiest time of the year. I am working on the budget, and I will be back here to present that. Of course, we have had several very good events. I think we're going to finish out this year very, very strong. Matt Rife will be that nice little cherry on top this year. We're ahead of where we were last year and expect to much better than we did last year.
FINANCE
– Resolution 26-62 for Elected Official Salaries – FY27. MR. Scott Twito,
County Attorney, Good morning. Scott Twito County Attorney, but
I stand before you in my capacity as the chair of the County Compensation
Committee. And I have for your consideration, resolution 26-62. By state law,
the County Compensation Board is required to make a recommendation the
Commission on what the salary should be for the elected officials. I have been
the chair of this for 16 years, one of the permanent members, I'd rather face
down a murderer than have to sit there in open meetings and discuss salaries of
folks. But I will say that this year, the two meetings that we had that were
properly noticed and held included our resident members, as well as the other officials
that are on that board. I had a spirited discussion about what's going on. We
had information about CPI and other things from Ms. Jones our Finance
Director. It is our unanimous recommendation to you as a board that the
elected officials, and it's all attached to the resolution, there are
spreadsheets that show how these functions, that a 3% raise be given to the
elected officials in Yellowstone County. That is consistent with CPI and other
factors, but that is the recommendation to the public. I can certainly answer
any questions about it. One thing that...and this is set by state law, which
people may or may not know this, what this recommendation is and then what you
decide to do with it affects not only elected official salaries, but also could
affect deputy sheriff salaries, could affect non-union employees in the county.
All those folks are affected by what
happens when you make this recommendation and that is something that we
consider, and that's probably the most significant consideration when we get
together and make these decisions. That is the recommendation contained in
resolution 26-62. Commissioner Waters stated for you as a county attorney,
your caseload, does it remain consistently high and you're competing for
attorneys in this environment? County Attorney Twito stated yes, and it's kind
of an unfair competition. It is what it is. We've been consistently down about
5 attorneys. Other county departments have vacancies as well. It's just the
sort of the nature of the beast. My salary, which is contained in one of the
attachments to this resolution, it doesn't, it's tied to another state official
salary, so it doesn't go up this year. But my salary, I have several of my
folks tied to my salary as well. So, it is a, it is, it is kind of a delicate
thing to thread this because we want to be respectful to the taxpayers, but we
also want to have good people in positions to make sure that the county's
business gets done properly. Commissioner Waters stated that the Sheriff’s
Office is down five or six deputies and trying to compete with other law
enforcement agencies across the state is difficult. Mr. Twito stated that
consistently, we compete across the state, but we also compete locally. It is
very difficult, and currently we are in negotiations with the deputy sheriffs,
and so what we do, this affects that. Commissioner Morse stated speaking
specifically of the sheriff, people will note that he got a 7.13% pay increase,
which largely was driven by the other pay. So, just so people understand, if
we approve this, he will get a 3% increase to the base pay. But then, since
his deputy's pay is a percentage of his pay, we have to give him what's called
other pay, which is quite substantial, to get his salary enough to get a
meaningful raise to our deputies. Mr. Twito stated absolutely, you'll see
that. I think it's attachment B. It's not just base pay, it's not longevity,
it's other pay, which the statute allows for us to do. And so, we, as a comp
board, decided that would be the recommendation to help with those negotiations
with those deputies. That's the only reason for that. Exactly. The other thing
to, I just want to note this. When I look at it, I take the names out because
these are positions. And as an elected official, and I think I've been an
elected official going on 17 years, I look at the position because you need
good people in those positions. If you're not competitive and having good
people making these decisions for the county, you can be in difficult times, 3%
is not outrageous. The total dollar amount on the county budget is minimal.
But like I said, it really affects what other employees feel. And so that's why
we have to make sure that we're considering that when we make these
recommendations to you. So again, it's a unanimous recommendation, 3%. The
other pay is factored in for the sheriff's deputy’s potential. That's why we
did what we did. But again, these were two public hearings, completely
transparent in terms of how we did this. We went through several iterations of
what it should look like, and we picked one that was on the lower end. It was
also in line with what the cost of the CPI, the cost of living. Commissioner
Waters made a MOTION to approve Resolution 26-62, Commissioner White seconded.
Passed Unanimous.
LAUREL PLANNING DEPARTMENT – Preliminary Plat of Lazy JX Subdivision. Mr. Kurt Markegard, Laurel Planning stated that the proposed subdivision would create 1 new lot and allow for proposed residential development on the parcel. The property is located Southeast of the City of Laurel and north of River Road in Yellowstone County. The property is undeveloped and is not zoned. The lot is proposed to be developed with two single-family residences. Because this parcel is currently under an agriculture covenant any change in the us of land other that agriculture purposes subjects the property to review and approval following procedures established for review of subdivision. The property is not served by a public water and sewer system and therefore must be approved by DEQ. The planning board is forwarding a recommendation of conditionally approval. Mr. Markegard went through the proposed conditions. Commissioner Waters made a MOTION to conditionally approve the Preliminary Plat of Lazy JX Subdivision with the Findings of Fact and the SIA, Commissioner White seconded. Passed Unanimous.
PUBLIC WORKS – Variance Appeal – Approach – 296 Lightstream Lane. Ms. Monica Plecker, Public Works Director, stated you have already heard from Jarod Toaves, who owns property at 296 Light Stream Lane. Jarod came to our office because he was looking to get access to the backyard, as he explained. Because of where the dry hydrant is constructed in the subdivision, he's not able to access that area from his current driveway approach. He was looking for a new approach off 48th Street West. In talking with him, we were not comfortable allowing that. There were a few reasons for that. First being there's a platted no access strip along 48th Street West. Secondly, in looking at other parts of our road policy, there's issues with where his approach would need to be located off 48th and an adjacent street and not meeting separation distances, as well accumulative impact being of critical concern as well. The subdivision there, Sundance Subdivision at the corner of 48th and Central, it has several residential lots that run along that frontage. If we look at it, we must think about what it would it mean if everybody needed this access. Ultimately, Public Works did deny his request for an approach off 48th Street West. The road policy says that if any party wishes to appeal the decision of public works, that they need to bring that to the county commissioners. So basically, you all can make a different decision than public works has. The only thing that I would ask is that if you do decide to approve his access just to help provide guidance to the public works department about what was unique about the situation so that we can understand that moving forward as additional requests were to come in. So, with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions. Commissioner Morse asked if any of the Commissioners had any questions. No questions. Commissioner Morse asked if there was no access strip, that is adjacent, or would it be on the west side of 48 and it that basically just to prevent traffic from entering onto 48th, which is considered an arterial rd. Ms. Plecker stated that's correct. When we go through the subdivision process, especially on arterials, we do always require no access strips because those roads are intended to grow in traffic. They're intended to potentially grow in capacity. It is our practice to focus on access to local streets or collectors, but not arterials. We want to see like roadway intersections at arterials, but not driveway intersections. So, that's just basically a function of traffic engineering. Commissioner Morse stated that the second point is, if we were to grant Jarod access, what we do for him, we would have to do for up his neighbors along there if they requested access. Ms. Plecker stated yes, so technically to remove a no access strip there would need to be an amended plat that removes that access strip and now it goes on file with the clerk and recorder’s office. Commissioner Morse stated that, that would need to be something that gets addressed if there were to be an approval. Commissioner Morse stated lastly, I'm not sure if this was an existing residence when Jarod purchased it, but obviously when he purchased this, the dry hydrant had already been installed. It wasn't installed after the fact. Ms. Plecker stated correct. Commissioner Morse stated hydrants must be installed prior to final plat approval. So that would have been there before any property could be conveyed from the developer. So, as we see his house in this now, I mean, that's how he purchased it, knowing that there was a dry hydrant there. Ms. Plecker stated correct, that was an existing condition. Commissioner Morse stated I think that answers my questions. Gentlemen, any other questions? No, thank you. Thank you, Monica. All right; we'll bring it back to this board for action. Commissioner Waters made a MOTION to deny the variance request, Commissioner White seconded. Passed Unanimous.
CLAIMS – Batches 26-163 & 26-164. Commissioner White made a MOTION to approve the Claims, Commissioner Waters seconded. Passed Unanimous.
CONSENT AGENDA – 1. CLERK AND RECORDER – Plat of Luster View Acres Subdivision and the S.I.A. 2. COMMISSIONERS – A.) Board Appointment – Anne Holub to the Yellowstone Art Museum. B.) Regrets Letters – Yellowstone Art Museum Board. C.) Board Reappointment – Billie Ruff to County Compensation Board. 3. COUNTY ATTORNEY – Resolution Appointing Interim Sheriff. 4. FINANCE – A.) Finance Contract – Sletten Construction – Courthouse Renovation. B.) Change Order #5 – Dick Anderson Construction – Ostlund Building. C.) Request for Proposals – Janitorial Services. D.) Lockwood Pedestrian Safety District Contract – Askin Construction – Sidewalk Repair Project. E.) Con’eer Change Order – Ostlund Building. F.) Bond for Lost Warrant. 5. METRAPARK – MetraPark Trust Check Log May 2026. 6. PUBLIC WORKS – A.) MOU – City of Billings, Traffic Signals at Central Avenue & 48th Street West. B.) MOU – MDT, LPSD Johnson Lane Interchange. C.) MOU – Worden – Ballantine Water Sewer District – Phase 2&3. 7. HUMAN RESOURCES – PERSONNEL ACTION REPORTS – Detention Facility – 1 Appointment, Youth Services Center – 1 Salary & Other; Clerk and Recorder – 1 Termination; Justice Court – 1 Termination.
FILE ITEMS – 1. CLERK OF DISTRICT COURT – Checks and Disbursements for May 2026. Commissioner Waters made a MOTION to Approve the Consent Agenda and place the File Items to file, Commissioner White seconded. Passed Unanimous.
PUBLIC COMEMNTS ON COUNTY BUSINESS – Hearing no comments Commissioner Morse adjourned the meeting at 9:41 a.m.
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