Belgrade City Council

CITY OF BELGRADE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES COUNCIL CHAMBERS September 15th, 2025 7: 00 PM This meeting was open to the public and attended in person. Deputy Mayor Mike Meis called the meeting to order. Council Members in attendance were Jim Simon, Kristine Menicucci, Erin Bell, and Renae Mattimoe. City staff in attendance were City Manager Neil Cardwell, Assistant City Manager Greg Tryon, City Attorney Kyla Murray, City Clerk Camille Gregory, Executive Assistant Dana Jambor, Executive Finance Director Charity VanKirk, Chief of Police Dustin Lensing, Municipal Court Judge Chris Gregory, Executive Consultant Jason Karp, Chief Building Official Lucas Sobeck, Director of Human Resources Becky Wilbert, City Engineer Joe Hauck, and Public Works Director Camaree Uljua. Others in attendance were Dede Semerad, Trey Olson, Bryan Tate, Pamela Watson, Stephen Mueller, Carrie Fisher, Julie Marshall, Scott Mueller, Clint Illum, Dylan White, and Erin Howard. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to excuse Mayor Nelson and Council Member Guffey. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the Motion. All voted aye, Motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC FORUM Deputy Mayor Meis called three times for public comment. There being none, the Public Forum was closed. CONSENT AGENDA Consider Approval of Council Minute Draft ( S): 6. 30. 25 Joint Bozeman/ Belgrade Workshop ACTION: Council Member Simon moved to approve the Consent Agenda as submitted. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the Motion. All voted aye, Motion carried unanimously. Page 1 of 6 PUBLIC HEARING Discuss and Consider Ordinance No. 2025- 9, a Zone Map Amendment to Zone the Belgrade School District Ridgeview School Property in River Rock to ( EI) Educational and Institutional District as Defined by the Belgrade Zoning Ordinance Executive Consultant Karp explained that any property being annexed into the City must be zoned under the jurisdiction of the Belgrade Zoning Ordinance. He further noted that the Belgrade School District has filed a petition with the City of Belgrade, requesting that the Belgrade School District Ridgeview School property be annexed into the City of Belgrade. This move is being made primarily for law enforcement purposes. Karp also mentioned that the annexation will not have any other impact on surrounding properties or the school property itself. The only potential impact he could think of is if the school ever expands in the future, they will have to get their building permits and land use permits from the City of Belgrade instead of going through the state of Montana. Karp advised that the City staff is recommending that the Ridgeview School property in River Rock be zoned Educational and Institutional ( EI) District- which would overlay the similar county zoning of the site. Brian Tate, a Belgrade School District representative, advised that he had nothing else to add beyond what Mr. Karp already covered. However, he advised he was available if Council had any further questions. ACTION: Council Member Mattimoe moved to open the Public Hearing. Council Member Simon seconded the Motion. All voted aye, Motion carried unanimously. Deputy Mayor Meis called three times for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Mattimoe moved to close the Public Hearing. Council Member Menicucci seconded the Motion. All voted aye, Motion carried unanimously. ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to adopt Ordinance No. 2025- 9 that upon annexation into the City of Belgrade, the Ridgeview School property will be zoned EI- Educational and Institutional District as defined by the Belgrade Zoning Ordinance. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the Motion. Deputy Mayor Meis called for a vote. All voted aye, Motion carried unanimously. Page 2 of 6 Discuss and Consider Ordinance No. 2025- 10, a Zone Map Amendment to Zone the Belgrade School District Bus Barn Property to ( I) Industrial District as Defined by the Belgrade Zoning Ordinance Executive Consultant Karp explained that this item is, for all intents and purposes, the same as the previous item on the Agenda. He advised that the Belgrade School District has petitioned to annex their bus barn property on Frontage Road into the Belgrade City limits. He noted that this is, again, done primarily for law enforcement purposes. Karp also noted that the zoning proposed for this property is industrial. He explained that this is because zoning the bus barn as an Educational and Industrial, like the school, would require the bus barn to get a conditional use permit any time it wants to expand. He noted these permits are difficult to process. However, he also noted the School District has no plans for expansion of that property at this time. Brian Tate, the School District representative, agreed with Mr. Karp' s assessment of the Agenda Item. He again advised that he was happy to answer any questions from the Council. ACTION: Council Member Mattimoe moved to open the Public Hearing. Council Member Menicucci seconded the Motion. All voted aye, Motion carried unanimously. Deputy Mayor Meis called three times for public comment. There was none. ACTION: Council Member Simon moved to close the Public Hearing. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the Motion. All voted aye, Motion carried unanimously. ACTION: Council Member Mattimoe moved to adopt Ordinance No. 2025- 10 that upon annexation into the City of Belgrade, the Belgrade School District Bus Barn property will be zoned I-Industrial District as defined by the Belgrade Zoning Ordinance. Council Member Simon seconded the Motion. Deputy Mayor Meis called for a vote. All voted aye, Motion carried unanimously. DISCUSSION AGENDA Discuss Belgrade School District 2025 Bond Request City Manager Cardwell introduced representatives from the School District to provide an overview of the upcoming 2025 bond ask. Belgrade School District Superintendent Dede Semerad and Assistant Superintendent Trey Olson explained that the Bond will be on the November 4th mail- in ballot. The total bond amount, if passed, would be $ 6, 630, 000. They noted that the money from the Bond would be added to the remaining $20, 000, 000 from the 2019 bond that previously passed. This would give the School District a total of$ 26, 630, 000 from the combined bonds. Page 3 of 6  Semerad and Olson explained that the Bond will go to help the School District build a fourth elementary school. This new building would allow the District to bring fifth graders back into elementary school, instead of leaving them in Belgrade Middle School. They further explained that the new elementary school would be half the size of a typical elementary school with plans to expand later. However, the new school would come with full- sized offices and a full library so that when the time came to build the other half of the school, the library and offices would already be equipped to serve a normal- sized school. Semerad and Olson also advised that the upcoming November ballot will also include a second bond question, authorizing the School District to move ahead with building a full- sized gymnasium as part of the new elementary school, if the first bond measure were to pass. The total amount for that second question would be an additional $ 5, 000, 000. Deputy Mayor Meis asked what the start timeline would be if the Bond passes. Semerad explained they put this on the November ballot so they could start construction in March and be ready to open in the Fall of 2027. Council Member Simon asked if there would be a need for additional funding for operations if this bond passes. Semerad answered that they already have most of the teaching staff required for the new school, and current calculations indicate that they could absorb some of the changes into their regular budget. Deputy Mayor Meis called three times for public comment. There was none. City Manager Cardwell thanked the School District for coming and presenting the facts on the Bond. He also asked if they had a spare poster to post in City Hall, going over the talking points of the Bond. He further added that the City will post that information on their website, as well. Cardwell also added that the City will have its own ballot question on the November ballot. This question will ask the public to approve changing the City Charter, so that the Belgrade Mayor' s term is four years instead of the current two- year term. Resolution 2025- 35, a Resolution to Adopt the Belgrade Safety Action Plan City Engineer Joe Hauck explained that the project for the Safety Action Plan was started in December of 2024. He noted that this project was funded by the Safe Streets 4 All ( SS4A) Grant and that the City contributed matching funds. He further explained that the Plan has been available for the public to review on the city website and beheardbelgrade. com since August 11 th, 2025. Hauck advised that the City has not received any public comment on the Plan. City Manager Cardwell added that this resolution is an advisory document and not law. Deputy Mayor Meis called three times for public comment. There was none. Page 4 of 6  ACTION: Council Member Menicucci moved to adopt Resolution 2025- 35 to adopt the Belgrade Safety Action Plan. Council Member Bell seconded the Motion. Deputy Mayor Meis called for a vote. All voted aye, Motion carried unanimously. Recess for Council Tour of Belgrade Justice Center ( Heck) and New City Hall ( Quaw). ACTION: Council Member Simon moved to recess the meeting to tour the future Belgrade Justice Center ( Heck) and City Hall ( Quaw). Council Member Mattimoe seconded the Motion. City Manager Cardwell advised that, since the buildings are active construction sites, the public cannot come on the tour. However, they are welcome to stay in the community room until the Council reconvenes. Council Member Simon again moved to recess the Council Meeting allowing the Council to tour the old Heck and Quaw Buildings. Council Member Mattimoe seconded the Motion. Deputy Mayor Meis called for a vote. All voted aye, Motion carried unanimously. The Council recessed at 7: 33 p. m. to tour the construction site at the Heck/ Quaw elementary schools, strictly for informational purposes. No deliberations, decisions, or actions took place during the tour. The Council reconvened the meeting at 9: 14 p.m. in the Community Room for reports. REPORTS Deputy Mayor Meis had nothing to report. City Attorney Murray had nothing to report. City Manager Cardwell had nothing to report. FOR YOUR INFORMATION Council Member Simon had nothing to report. Council Member Menicucci attended the Urban Transportation District( UTD) Board' s recent meeting, where a consultant was brought in to revamp the Streamline bus routes. She Page 5 of 6 mentioned that the possibility of adding a Streamline route to the airport was brought up a lot. Unfortunately, the logistics currently prevent that route from happening. Council Member Bell had nothing to report. Council Member Mattimoe had nothing to report. ADJOURN Council Member Mattimoe moved to adjourn. Council Member Simon seconded the Motion. Mayor Nelson called for a vote. All voted aye, Motion carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9: 16 p. m. Attest: Clilitalt 1G mille Gregory, C ty Cl k f'. 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