MINUTES OF PUBLIC HEARING May 5th, 2026 at Town Hall, 109 Main Street, Hot Springs, Montana, to consider the petition for abandonment of the following described public street:

Legal Description of Street to be Vacated: The portion of Central Avenue from the East Edge of A Street to the East Edge of B Street located in Garret’s Addition.

Open public hearing 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Woods

Present: Weatherly, Smith, Carr, Welker, Woods, Gray

Also present: Charlie Scott, Trudy Berge, Michele Bangen, Shanna Weatherly, Judy Norgaard, Christine Walsvick, Ron Szmergalski, Starla Rice, Eric Larson, Tony Tinacci

Woods explained which portion of the street was to be abandoned as shown on map.

The abandoned street will be used for the skate park.

Woods asked for any public comment. Welker asked if this portion of street was currently being used. It is not. There was no further public comment.

Public hearing closed 7:02 p.m.

MINUTES TOWN COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY MAY 5, 2026

HOT SPRINGS CITY HALL 109 MAIN ST, HOT SPRINGS MT 59845

MEETING ALSO HELD VIA ZOOM

CALL TO ORDER By Mayor Woods at 7:02 p.m.

ROLL CALL Weatherly, Smith, Carr, Welker, Woods, Gray

Also present: Charlie Scott, Trudy Berge, Michele Bangen, Shanna Weatherly, Judy Norgaard, Christine Walsvick, Ron Szmergalski, Starla Rice, Eric Larson, Tony Tinacci

MINUTES Welker explained that she was asking for the curb to be painted at the corner across from the post office. This was not clear in the minutes. Motion made to approve minutes Smith/ Carr 4-0 pass

CLAIMS Mayor and Council discussed claims. Inforad is the paging system for fire and ambulance. Big Sky Fireout is for annual servicing of all city fire extinguishers. Motin made to accept the claims Smith/Carr 4-0 pass

FINANCIALS Gray explained that she ran out of time to complete the financials before having to leave for Clerk’s Institute.

REPORTS

MAYOR Busy getting things ready for Homesteader Days. Working with Sanders county OEM on a grant for a generator.

PUBLIC WORKS- Works is down one employee out of medical leave for an unknown period of time. Mike will begin chlorinating the water system next week. The process will take a few weeks from the time it is injected until the system is completely flushed out. Hydrant flushes may create

sediment to appear in water during this time. Chlorination is done once per year as a precautionary measure. The water is still safe to use. Public works will also start clean up days this month, There is some controversy on list serv because this is an unfunded service. The town may have to look into fees for service at some point. The big topic on the Mayor list serv is use of public property parks and rodeo grounds. There is also discussion on insurance requirements, who has authority to give permission for park use, and we need to look at creating an ordinance for park use and permits. Welker question what else would be affected besides the park and rodeo grounds. Woods explained street closures may also be included.

FIRE DEPT- Fire Department had a couple of car crashes this month and several training events

POLICE was provided by Chief Larson

CLERK open burning season is closed therefore open burning in town is no longer allowed. Gray also explained she is gone for the week at Clerk’s Institute in Billings.

LIBRARY report presented by Rice. Woods explained CERT training that is scheduled for May 30th at the Library. Starla also shared that the library will be getting a grant for an AED to be kept at the library and that the library employees would be getting trained to use it.

PARKS AND REC – Weatherly notified council there is no longer a chairman for the parks and rec board and one other member needs to be replaced as well. The park received a grant for new picnic tables. They used the money to purchase four tables and the supplies to stain them. Weatherly also stated Petra Stone wants to do a new BBQ in the park and Winn wants to redo the gazebo and if the city could give it a name of Tom Jeffries memorial park, a lot more stuff would be done for the park.

ZONING COMPLIANCE Woods explained the zoning compliance items that have been brought to city hall are on this agenda.

PUBLIC COMMENT FOR EACH AGENDA ITEM WILL BE ALLOWED

NEW BUSINESS

Mayor Woods explained that a lot of water is coming into town on 1st and 2nd Ave S and the town needs to look at ways to keep it from coming in. Some citizens are complaining of water getting into crawl spaces.

DRAIN LINE ON 1ST AVE NORTH- Arlee to half way up the 200 block, property belonging to Abby Coleman, Travis Felts and Flo Monroe. There is a need for a culvert to from Flo’s property to the creek to move the water from the right of way along those properties. Woods explained it would be on city property. Smith stated the Town should pay for it. Weatherly stated the Town should not pay for it. The property owners knew they were in flood plain when they bought the property. Tootie recommended having the Town Attorney look at the situation. Discussion only. No vote

ADVERTISE FOR HIRE TEMPORARY PUBLIC WORKS -SET WAGE Woods explained the need for additional summer help. There are a lot of projects to complete and we are currently short one public works employee out on leave for an undetermined amount of time. Woods suggested the wage be $15-$18 per hour for a temp hire until other public works guy can come back to full time work. Smith made a motion to hire a

temporary public works person and set the wage at $15-$18 an hour depending on experience. Seconded by Weatherly 4-0 pass

WATER COURT- OBJECTION AND REQUEST FOR HEARING -Woods explained that we have water rights from the old water system. Gray explained we received paperwork from four different sites and that the paperwork is unclear. We have tried contacting them to ask questions and have been unsuccessful. Woods stated he would like to pursue our appearance in water court and we need to get an attorney to help with some clarification about if or what we need to do to proceed. Woods will look into whether our attorney can do it or we need to hire one who knows more about the water court actions. Motion to investigate water court situation and if we need to hire a water court attorney Smith/Welker 4-0 pass

GRANT MATCH FOR GENERATOR Sanders county OEM has been working on a FEMA grant. The grant would have a 25% match This is a county wide grant and they are looking for support from the Town. The Town’s share could be up to 25% of $100,000 but is likely to be about half that. Motion to approve grant match for generator Smith/Weatherly 4-0 pass

RESOLUTION 2026-08R – A RESOLUTION TO ABANDON A PORTION OF PUBLIC STREET DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: CENTER STREET FROM THE EAST EDGE OF A STREET TO THE EAST EDGE OF B STREET LOCATED IN GARRET’S ADDITION WITHIN THE TOWN OF HOT SPRINGS, MONTANA

Resolution was read aloud by Mayor Woods. Woods asked for discussion on the abandonment. Smith stated we have talked about this a lot over that past year and it will be good for the town. Motion to accept resolution 2026-08R Smith/Weatherly 4-0 pass

REQUEST TO GRAZE CATTLE ON RODEO GROUNDS TEMPORARY Bangen has submitted a request to graze cattle on the rodeo grounds property to help get the grass and weeds knocked down for fire safety before Homesteader Days. She also explained the cattle would end up on Buechels property because there is no fence between the two properties and she has gotten his approval

Motion to accept request Smith/Welker 4-0 pass

REQUEST FOR PLACING POSTS FOR FLOWERPOTS- CHAMBER The Chamber of Commerce is asking permission to place posts next to power poles on Main Street for hanging flower baskets. Initially, they were hoping to use the power poles but the request was denied by Mission Valley Power. Poles would be black powder coated, 10 foot post. The pots will sit 7 ft high right next to the power poles so they wont affect parking. Charlie Scott explained the commerce is still discussing but would like to request the city help install the poles. Woods clarified the request that the Chamber is asking permission to install poles and for the city to help install. Smith stated there would be 7 poles. Welker asked who would pay for the poles. Smith stated Chamber intends to pay. Motion for permission for placing posts next to power poles on Main Street and using city workers to install them Smith/Carr 4-0 pass

PERMISSION FOR PUBLIC WORKS TO WATER CHAMBER FLOWERPOTS

Mary Patterson submitted a request for the city crew to water the flowers once they are in place. She is asking that they be water 3x per week. Smith/Welker 4-0 pass

HOMESTEADER DAYS CELEBRATION STREET CLOSURE, PROCEDURE AND OPEN CONTAINER REQUEST Council and public discussed Homesteader days events, times for street closure and location of the stage, vendors and car show. A motion was made to approve street closure and open container request. Carr/Welker 4-0 pass. Gray explained the actual agenda request was for Street Closure, Procedure, and Open container request and that this hadn’t been fully addressed. Gray also explained her concern for the movement of vehicles on the street, especially car show cars, while the public is present. Council decided to Recall previous vote and make new motion to approve street closure, procedures and open container request including changing the car show cars placement on Main Street to occur between 9 am and 10:30 am. Carr/Welker 4-0 pass

VARIANCE REQUEST 319 N. CHARLOT There is part of a stairway coming from a deck, and a portion of fenced yard that sits on city alley behind 319 N Charlot. Request was made for a variance allowing that to remain as is. Woods explained there is sacred tribal rock at one end of the alley section that can not be moved. Motion to approve variance Smith/Carr 4-0 pass

PUBLIC COMMENT NON-AGENDA ITEMS -Woods asked if there was any public comment on non-agenda items

ADJOURN 8:20 pm. Welker / Carr 4-0 pass