Thompson Falls Council rewinds decision on video recordings

The March meeting of the Thompson Falls City Council was standing room only, with many residents attending in support of reinstating video recordings of council proceedings.

During its February gathering, Council voted to discontinue video recordings of future meetings. Under state law, most public agencies are required to record audio of public meetings and make those recordings available within specified timeframes. Many residents argued that video recordings are an important tool for transparency. 

At last month’s meeting, Mayor Gussie O’Connor said the decision to discontinue the video portion of the recordings was made for security reasons. 

“We found another way to handle it. The new Zoom meetings, once approved with a resolution, will have a watermark on them,” O’Connor said. 

Councilor Catherine DeWitt expressed support for bringing the video recordings back. 

“I think it’s great to reinstate Zoom,” DeWitt said. 

State Rep. Paul Fielder also addressed Council, emphasizing the importance of public records. 

“When you have a public meeting, you have a public record as a result of that public meeting,” Felders said. “You can’t have a public record if you don’t know who is saying what. I encourage you to vote for the people to have a responsibility to say their first and last names.” 

Council ultimately voted to reinstate video recordings. Going forward, all Zoom participants will be required to state their name and address before making a comment. The same rule will apply to individuals speaking during in-person meetings. 

DURING THE informational portion of the meeting, Kathy Conlin, a member of the Thompson Falls Community Trails Committee, spoke about a potential future trail project. 

The committee helps maintain several local trails, including the Mull Pasture and Powerhouse trails. The group is proposing a new trail that would follow the river east of town and connect businesses along Montana 200. 

A company has been hired to update a feasibility study for the project. Grants are being sought to help cover the estimated $3 million cost. Because of the trail’s proposed route, cooperation with several landowners will be required. 

Cody Moser of American Classic Garage also provided an update on the upcoming car show, which will be part of the second annual Highlead Block Party Car Show in June. 

Moser said the Thompson Falls car show has grown significantly in recent years and now rivals shows held in much larger communities across the country. Improvements planned for this year’s event include expanded parking and improved handicap access. 

Another major topic of discussion during the meeting was the city’s system for charging water and sewer services. 

Currently, the city charges a monthly fee to property owners who have a sewer stub-out installed on their property. A sewer stub-out is a connection point installed to allow a future connection to the public sewer system. 

Several landowners attending the meeting said their unimproved properties have stub-outs but are not connected to the sewer system. 

Councilor Rusty Leivestad said she supports reviewing the issue but wants to better understand the financial impact. 

“I want to support this resolution (#867), but I would like to ask that we look at what the costs are so that we can appropriately budget for the upcoming year,” Leivestad said. “These are numbers that we have been building into our budget, and we don’t want to see other landowners having to pick up the difference to cover our costs.” 

She added, “I would hate to saddle people with surprises with what the increases might be. I definitely agree that this is a good idea.” 

Council voted to send the resolution back to committee for further review. 

Addressing Council, Fielder questioned the legality of charging property owners for sewer services that are not being used. 

“I asked the mayor where the legal authority comes from to charge people for sewer services when they have zero effluent going into the sewer system,” Felders said. 

He noted that other cities have similar policies regarding stub-outs, but said he plans to address the issue at the state level.

“One of the first pieces of legislation I’m going to bring, if I’m reelected again, is to make sure that if there is no effluent going into a sewer system, there is no charge for it,” Fielder said. 

DURING PUBLIC comment, Gordon Wood raised concerns about “No U-Turn” signs along Montana 200 through Thompson Falls. 

“People are being issued citations for making a U-turn across the double yellow line into parking spaces of businesses like Minnie’s,” Wood said. 

Thompson Falls Police Chief Chris Nichols clarified how the rule is currently being enforced. 

“Yes, in the past that was considered a U-turn. If you do a full U-turn, that is still a violation,” Nichols continued, “However, if you make a left-hand turn into Minnie’s, that is no longer being enforced.”

    State Rep. Paul Fielder speaks before the Thompson Falls City Council. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)