During the Polson City Commission meeting on Nov. 3, multiple city departments gave presentations on projects, accomplishments, and policy development and implementation from the dates of July 2024 to November 2025.  

According to Meece, finance officer Jodi O’Sullivan and her team managed $6.8 million in grants last year and the City of Polson completed $9 million in infrastructure projects over the last three years.  

Among those:  

• Funds from the State-Local Infrastructure Partnership (SLIPA) Program, allowed the city to spread $384,000 across six facility maintenance projects, including investments in the Fire Department, three park-improvement projects, plus sidewalk replacement and weed mitigation.

• Money from the Montana Emergency Tourism Assistance Program (METAP) went to the Fire Department ($66,000) and Police Department $50,700. The Fire Department also received $7,500 drom the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and the Department of Justice added $217,490 to police department coffers.

• American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grants helped finance nearly $5 million in water and sewer projects.

“We implemented a tool called the Presidium tool. It's a free piece of software,” Meece said. “It helped us create a child welfare policy that we will be training to and implementing across the organization (for) the purpose of preventing and reporting child abuse and other types of serious infractions.”

The IT/GIS Department director, Adam Reed, said the department strengthened its overall infrastructure in cybersecurity, upgraded technology systems and expanded its GIS capabilities. The department partnered with the University of Montana and the Center for Cybersecurity Workforce and Rural Policy to bring real-time network monitoring to Polson.

Reed said connectivity was a major focus for them, which included new points of connection in locations such as the golf course pump stations, wastewater treatment plant and O’Malley Park. These connections improved communication and reliability across Polson’s network.

Polson also standardized its internet provider to Spectrum Enterprise and installed new firewalls. As part of a Polson High School senior project, the IT/GIS department collaborated to outfit a DNRC wildland firefighter truck with radio, lighting and electronic systems.

Throughout the year, the department ran 4,000 feet of networking cable, installed 40 new security cameras and replaced 10 old computers. 

Within GIS, an Open Drone Map Server project was completed by Reed. This repurposed an old surplus server and will save the city about $10,000 in hosting and licensing costs per year. This will advance their overall mapping abilities. 

Police Chief George Simpson gave an update focused on how the department is strengthening its relationship with the Flathead Tribal Police. He noted they have done a significant number of investigations with the Tribal Police and taken more cases federally than ever before relating to drugs and domestic violence. 

Assistant fire chief Kevin Straub, who will replace Coddle as chief, also gave a presentation, where he noted that 91% of fire response calls were at an 80-second response time, and EMS calls had a 60-second response time.  

The fire department also welcomed eight new members, which Straub said represented one of the largest growth years in the department’s history. 

The Park & Recreation director, Pat Nowlen, said Polson Bay Golf Course completed phase one and two of its autonomous mower project, which has allowed them to mow 120 acres out of the total 180 of irrigated turf with robots. This reduced the amount of noise and has decreased fuel consumption by about 3,000 gallons of diesel each year, according to Nowlen. 

Zach Maassen, a project manager with HDR Engineering, noted that portions of First St. West and Fourth Ave. E. were rebuilt, while sections of First and Second streets east were “milled and filled” in the past year. 

Maassen also explained they have replaced booster pumps at the Hillside Lift Station, and given the building a facelift. ARPA funds also financed the new design for Hillside Reservoir. In addition, access was improved to Well No. 8. 

Supervisory controls and data acquisition upgrades for the entire water system were also completed. 

The Water and Sewer Department replaced 410 feet of four-inch sewer force main on the Lakeview Village Apartments Lift Station; replaced 900 feet on the main extension on 13th Street; and upsized pipe along Seventh Avenue East.

City manager updates on staff changes  

The City of Polson’s food and beverage manager, Tammy Fisher, who operates Bunker's Bar & Grill, had her last day on Nov. 3. City manager Ed Meece said Bunker’s will be operating in a “stay-stable mode.”   

Meece said they will not be changing the menu or anything else until the city hires a new manager. He had a good conversation with the restaurant staff and believes they are ready for this change. Meece said they will get the position posted and start recruiting as soon as possible.  

Polson Fire Chief Clint Cottle’s last day was Nov. 6. Meece said they will invite him back to the commission at a later date for a formal exit.  

“It has been a real privilege and an honor to serve the community and serve the citizens of Polson for the last 25 years,” Cottle said. “It’s not an easy thing to move on from. It’s been a huge part of my life.”   

Agricultural covenant changed in response to new statute 

Chris and Sue Toppen from Arizona requested the Polson City Commission to revoke the agricultural covenant – a legal agreement that restricts a property to being used for agricultural purposes and is often put in place to prevent farmland from being developed – on a tract of land they own off of Shaeffer Road in order for them to build a home there.   

According to community development director Rob Edington, the property is a little over three acres and is within Polson’s Low-Density Residential Zoning District.    

This property was annexed into the city limits of Polson on Sept. 15, 2014, and an agricultural exemption was created on Nov. 14, 2014. However, during 2025 the Montana Legislative Session passed Senate Bill 275, which reads in part, “A governing body may revoke an agricultural covenant, and division of the land may proceed without subdivision review if the land is annexed into a municipality.”   

Edington explained that any other use for this land, beyond agricultural, would require a review as a minor subdivision, even though there are no changes to property boundaries. He said the Toppens’ have proposed developing a single-family dwelling.   

City commissioner Brodie Moll moved to remove the covenant, and Laura Dever seconded it. Other commissioners raised questions about property tax revenue and the location of water and sewer connections.   

Lisa Rehard challenged the interpretation of Senate Bill 275.   

“It was after the annexation that the agricultural exemption was implemented,” she said. “So, it was already city property when the agricultural exemption was implemented. I think, in order to take advantage of this exemption, the reverse needed to be true.”   

She also said she doesn’t believe this situation is what legislators intended when creating this statute. Regardless, the motion passed with Carolyn Pardini and Rehard voting against it.