10/07/2024“Great Falls This Week” is reported and written by Matt Hudson. Send your news and tips to [email protected] arguments, commissioners circle back to solid waste feesIt was a bumpy week in county government, as personal frustrations among commissioners bubbled up into arguments during a packed work session on Oct. 2.At that meeting, Commissioner Rae Grulkowski introduced a late resolution proposing to revise board meeting procedures and rules. Commissioners Joe Briggs and Jim Larson declined to put it on the next regular meeting agenda, saying it required additional review and that meeting procedures had been previously approved by the county’s legal team.The discussion deteriorated from there. As Larson called for public comment, Grulkowski aired complaints about being left out of commission deliberations and being unable to expand board discussions at work sessions. Larson’s frustration culminated when he suggested Grulkowski go to the podium and enter a public comment.Simmering disagreements between Cascade County commissioners have led to arguments during recent meetings.Bitterness has grown for years between Grulkowski and the other two commissioners. Following the work session, Briggs told MTFP that there are misunderstandings about how to conduct day-to-day business when department heads might seek guidance from commissioners.At the meetings, Briggs said that decorum has been an increasing problem, and he’s found it difficult to work with Grulkowski.“I genuinely think that Jim [Larson] and I are trying to make this work,” he said. “It’s not working.”Grulkowski said that she feels too much official business happens outside the public’s view and, at times, outside her own view.“I’d like to definitely get back to the day when we welcomed our electeds and department heads into our meetings to openly discuss, just as other counties do,” she said.Commissioners convened again the next day, Oct. 3, for a special meeting to amend solid waste assessment increases for county residents. The special meeting took place two weeks after commissioners initially approved solid waste increases and a month after approval of the 2025 budget. The proposed resolution and rate increases weren’t available for public view until an hour before the meeting.The revised resolution clarified that the solid waste assessments apply to county residents in Cascade and Black Eagle, while the previous resolution said those residents weren’t part of the assessment. The new resolution also listed assessment increases for more than 50 different commercial and residential property types. The previous resolution only included one type, “regular house,” and didn’t address other assessment rates.Most property types will see a 45% increase in their solid waste assessment over the rates set in 2013, the last unilateral increase. For a typical single-family home, that amounts to an increase from $120 to $174. The resolution passed on a 2-1 vote with Grulkowski opposed.Solid waste assessments will get a deeper review in the future, according to county officials. County Chief Financial Officer Trista Besich said that she worked to compile three different rate sheets that showed different figures at times, as some rates had been updated individually over the years.Assessment changes can be viewed here in the “45% over FY13” column.Comings and GoingsManufacturing is under-represented in Great Falls’ economy, but local officials are courting an as-yet-unnamed business to open up operations in town.Great Falls Development Alliance Executive Vice President Jolene Schalper allowed some details during a presentation to city commissioners on Oct. 1.“The company has never been disclosed. This is not a company that you’ve heard of before, nor is this an industry that you’ve heard of before,” Schalper said.She added that the business has other locations currently, and Great Falls is a finalist for a manufacturing facility. The company hopes to make a decision by the first quarter of 2025.Schalper also said that the target area would be the AgriTech Park, the industrial area with rail service on the northeast side of town. That area is also a tax increment financing district, which can be used to encourage incoming businesses to help pay for development.This new business will almost certainly apply for tax increment financing, Schalper said.“There will be a tax increment financing component in order to provide the public services to that area of town that we’re looking at; we will have to increase the public services and the city shouldn’t be on the hook for that,” she said.Commissioner Shannon Wilson asked if this put the cart before the horse.“Does this mean we have to dangle the carrots out there before we even know what’s out there to entice them?” she asked.Any TIF approvals would go through the normal application and vetting before the city commission, Schalper said. The initial capital investment from the company is estimated at $600 million.Photo Op Fall colors are starting to appear in Great Falls, including along this stretch of the Missouri River off of Lower River Road.Calling all photographers: Submit a photo for Great Falls This Week to [email protected] Things to Know in Great FallsSarah Justice, executive director of the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, announced her departure, effective at the end of October. She will move to Missoula to direct the Zootown Arts Community Center (ZACC). In a post, Justice wrote, “All I have ever wanted to do as the past Education Director and present Executive Director of The Square is to breathe new life into things with hard work and dedication. I feel that the museum team has made great accomplishments.”Great Falls Planning and Community Development Director Brock Cherry told city commissioners on Oct. 1 that providing two hours of free parking at the north garage was an overall success. The trial took place over the summer. The north garage saw a 145% increase in daily users over the previous year and lost $896 over three months this summer compared to the period last year. Overall parking revenue for the city was up. Cherry suggested some facade upgrades for the garage, which is on Fourth Street downtown, to encourage use and to free up curb parking.Faculty members from Great Falls College MSU were recognized as top fundraisers in a round of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl for Kids’ Sake event at Little’s Lanes. They included Elfie Neber, Becky Tyler, Selena Coburn and her husband, Craig Gaslow, and daughter, Suri. Two more Bowl for Kids’ Sake events are scheduled for late October.To get into the holiday spirit, The History Museum is hosting a spooky storytime event focused on grim tales. The event isn’t recommended for young children and is hosted by The History Museum’s Archives Administrator Megan Sanford. It takes place Oct. 12, at 1 p.m., at the museum’s Ozark Club.Photographer Kirk Clark will present a “visual safari” at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center Oct. 8. Clark is an outdoor photographer, and his presentation focuses on open spaces and the stories behind the scenes he has captured. The event begins at 7 p.m. and is presented by the USDA Forest Service and the Portage Route Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance.The post Frustrations apparent among county commissioners appeared first on Montana Free Press.