The Polson City Commission approved many items during its latest meeting on Monday, June 1, and concluded the meeting with an executive session to discuss litigation.  

The commission considered preliminary plat approval for an amended plat of a minor subdivision called Boettcher Terrace on the corner of 10th Avenue East and 11th Street East.  

Polson community development director Rob Edington presented the first minor subdivision to the commission, which would create four lots. The property owner, Ted Gerken, intends to create two multiple-family lots and sell them before development.  

He intends to keep lot one of the subdivision and convert the garage on this section of the property into a single-family home. Edington suggested the approval of this subdivision amendment with proposed conditions.  

After Edington’s presentation, Commissioner Carolyn Pardini said that she is concerned about the increased traffic this development would bring to the area. While the city did recently pave 11th Street, there is no pedestrian access or striping on it. 

“All we did was take a road and put more traffic on it because now it’s a connector and people drive faster,” Pardini said.  

She added that there is already high-density housing in the area, and she receives the most phone calls about public safety on that street. She believes there is incomplete infrastructure in the area, which is not the developer's fault, but adding housing is not “the right path” until something is done about that street.  

Mayor Laura Dever said she appreciates Pardini’s concerns, but housing in Polson is also a concern.  

Commissioner Lisa Rehard suggested adding a condition that the property owner sign a waiver of the right to protest the creation of special improvement districts. Rehard motioned to approve the preliminary plat with this additional condition and the conditions recommended by Edington.  

The commission approved it by a six-to-one vote, with Commissioner Pardini voting against the motion.   

Back on the agenda this week was the second reading of the ordinance to change the commission meeting time from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m. The commission unanimously passed the ordinance, and it will take effect on July 1.  

The second reading of the ordinance to update the city code to include the assistant fire chief position was also presented to the commission and passed unanimously. City attorney Dave Michie has been working to update the city code regarding the city’s current structure and departmental positions. This is the second code adjustment ordinance he has brought to the commission.  

Michie also presented a resolution to rescind a prior commission resolution regarding the open city manager position and hiring process. A resolution passed in 2019 stated that the commission will use a recruitment firm.  

However, in the current search for a city manager, the commission passed a resolution on May 18 to hire a facilitator and complete an in-house search. Michie explained that the commission has to rescind the previous resolution to prevent any conflicts with the new resolution. The commission unanimously passed this resolution.  

As a part of the consent agenda, the commission also approved renewing the contract for Cameron Milton, who is the director of golf for the Polson Bay Golf Course Pro-Shop. They also renewed HDR Engineering's contract for engineering services.  

The commission approved the appointment of Juan Maso to the Parks and Tree Advisory Board. This is to fill the vacant county board position until the term expires in December.  

Comments to the commission  

In other conversations, interim city manager George Simpson said HDR has sent its finalized engineering reports on the turn lanes to be added in front of 400 Horses Casino to the Montana Department of Transportation. HDR is waiting for MDT to rule on how they would like to handle the culvert that would go underneath the road before the turn lanes are installed.  

Zach Maassen, the city’s contract engineer, explained that everyone is pushing to have the turn lanes completed by late this fall.  

Eve Dixon, the president of Woofpack, an organization raising funds to improve the Travis Dolphin Dog Park, also spoke during the commission's public comment period. She said phase one of the project was awarded to Delaney's Landscape Center for $36,089, and the organization has given that full amount to the city.  

Dixon said they intend to start this phase in August, and it will take approximately three or four weeks to complete. 

The last new agenda item was the commission closing for an executive session to discuss litigation strategy. Mayor Dever asked Simpson if the meeting should be closed, and he said yes. She also asked if litigation involved two government agencies, and Simpson said “maybe.”  

The Leader was unable to determine what this litigation may regard or who the other parties may be.