Council to discuss CIP at June 25 meeting

The Three Forks City Council voted last week to table comments and input on the latest draft of the Capital Improvements Project (CIP) until Tuesday, June 25.

The city is currently working with Great West Engineering to update the CIP, a prioritized list of infrastructure projects with a schedule for the projects and funding sources. According to Jerry Grebenc of Great West Engineering, the CIP helps funding agencies see the city’s overall priority list and helps everyone understand their priorities.

Mayor Randy Johnston said there is a lot to look at in the latest draft, and a special meeting on the 25th would allow everyone the time to go over and study the document, adding the public is also welcome to attend.

Jessica Salo with Great West Engineering said the latest draft is hopefully a more complete document to review and asked the governing body to think of their top priorities, noting they currently have some planning grant money to do a Wastewater Preliminary Engineering Report.

Salo also discussed the possibility of the city considering stormwater as a top priority because it has many paving projects it wants to do and will need to ensure everything is taken care of underground before it starts paving.

Salo told the Council that the PER would be the first step in wastewater, and they need to look at everything in the wastewater system, from treatment to collection. She added that the PER helps determine the greatest needs, and from there, a project is presented, and ultimately, a funding plan is put together.

She added that funding agencies require PERs to apply for grant funding, and they can also be used for other purposes, including as a mechanism to serve areas of growth.

In May 2023, the City of Three Forks completed a community survey to gather input about updating the CIP.

Grebenc said residents identified water and sewer as the best improvements the city has made in the last five to ten years, adding that critical things residents want the city to focus on are streets, water, addressing growth issues, and emergency services.

At last week’s meeting, City Attorney Susan Swimley told the governing body she had requested the budget committee consider adding $10,000 to address 5G Communications.

Swimley said she attended a presentation two years ago from a Nebraska law firm that creates zoning ordinances specifically for 5G Communications.

Swimley said 5G does not use towers; instead, it is bundled on public poles.

She added that the Federal Communications Act protects 5G, and if someone were to come into Three Forks to put up 5G on public poles, the city does not really have any zoning to protect them.

According to Swimley, Montana City is the only municipality in the state that has addressed this, and it wants to ensure that the issue is included in the budget cycle for the governing body to consider.

Councilmember Gene Townsend said they will discuss the issue at their next meeting.

The Council voted 6-0 to approve closing all City Departments, including City Hall, on Friday, July 5.

According to the resolution, all city staff may take a compensatory or vacation day at this time or may leave without pay.

On-call essential services will remain available on July 5.

At their meeting, the Three Forks Community Library Board approved closing the facility on July 5.