Neighborhood Council #1
Meeting at Meadowlark Elementary
December 11, 2007

Council members present:  Ron Mathsen, Jesse O’Hara and Lynn Steinmetz
Citizens present:  listing available upon request.

- Call to order:  7:00 PM by Chairman, Ron Mathsen

- Jesse moved to approval of minutes for November.  MSC

NEW BUSINESS:

• Jesse received a call from a neighbor concerned about the number of cars for sale being parked on Fox Farm Rd. Jesse inquired about them with the police dept. The dept. responded promptly posting notification to remove the vehicles. The problem appears to be handled.
• Fred Rauch is our newest council member.
• Our next meeting is January 8th. At this meeting we will hold elections for officers of the council.

REPORTS:

• Brian Rogers, chair of the Belview-Palisades Park Committee updated us on their progress. They have raised over $23,000.00. A commitment to purchase playground structures has been made

Meeting adjourned at 7:30PM

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Neighborhood Council #1
Meeting at Meadowlark Elementary
November 13, 2007

Council members present: Ron Mathsen, , Jesse O’Hara, Lynda Sowell and Lynn Steinmetz
Citizens present: listing available upon request.

- Call to order:  7:03 PM by Chairman, Ron Mathsen

- Jesse moved to approval of minutes for September and October meetings.  MSC

NEW BUSINESS:

- Ed Boland updated the council on the South Park Addition. Phase 2 is beginning with approval of the planning board already in place. Mr. Boland was looking for the councils blessing. For any questions on the addition call Boland at 761-1063.

- Brian Rogers, chair of the Belview-Palisades Park Committee updated us on their progress. They have raised over $18,000.00 which will pay for play structures. A matching grant application is to be filed in December. Rogers requested a letter of support from the council to satisfy one requirement on the matching funds application. Jesse moved that we write this letter of support. Lynn Steinmetz will write the letter upon further information from Lori Purpurra.

- Jesse O’Hara reported on the Action Team he is involved with. This is a team of neighborhood council members, neighborhood watch, housing etc. trying to establish some connectedness in our neighborhoods. Currently they are trying to establish funding to put together new comer packets containing useful information for new residents in Great Falls.

- The Police Advisory Committee will meet on November 29th. Jesse plans to attend.

- Patty Cadwell reported on the Council of Councils meeting.

- It was reported that Susan Kahn, former mayoral candidate is interested in joining our council. She can’t confirm her joining until all write-in votes are counted. Jesse O’Hara moved that the council write a letter to the City requesting that they review the feasibility of such a transaction. The motion was seconded and carried.

OTHER NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERNS:

Two neighbors are concerned about a rental property with a number of cars in and out and excessive animals. The question raised was: is it a zoning violation? Patty doesn’t believe so. The residents were referred to Mac McGiboney at 454-6987 or Heather Rolf at 455-8574.

Meeting adjourned at 8:12PM

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Neighborhood Council #1
Meeting at Meadowlark Elementary
September 11, 2007

Council members present:  Ron Mathsen, James Ford, Jesse O’Hara and Lynn Steinmetz
Citizens present:  listing available upon request.

- Call to order:  7:02 PM by Chairman, Ron Mathsen

- Approval of minutes for June’s meeting was tabled until October meeting.

NEW BUSINESS:

• Police officer Bill Klundt, visited our meeting.
  There have been 51 school bus zone complaints filed by bus drivers for motorists parking in bus zones. 32 citations have been issued.

  There are currently 103 neighborhood watches city wide with three in our area.

  Klundt discussed the forces plan to institute a “citizen academy.” This is a 9 week program designed to train volunteers. The volunteer program is still active. Volunteers work mainly in records and evidence. In 2008 the force plans to expand the program to allow volunteers to do more patrol work.

  The Great Falls Police Community Foundation has been awarded 501 (c) (3) status, which allows them to apply for grants to pay for equipment and other things. A 9 person board oversees the foundation.

  G.F.P.D. currently is authorized for 85 officers, but has only 80.

  Area Stats Jan – Aug. 2007: 23,974 calls city wide. 984 from our council area. Many were car alarms and dog and cat calls.

• Council member, Lynn Steinmetz, discussed the traffic study that was conducted during the summer on 18th Ave SW. An average of 119 vehicles travel at speeds in excess of 32 mph during a 24 hour period on the street. However, police will not ticket a motorist until they are traveling 10 mph over the limit In the case of 18th Ave SW that would be 35 miles per hour. The number traveling at that pace is about 8%. This is a rate in which the officers will not patrol.
• Attendees echoed concerns of speeding on their streets as well. One particular problem area is the south end of Fox Farm Rd. Ron Mathsen moved that the council draft a letter to Jerry McKinley with Public Works requesting a traffic study for the area. The motion was seconded and carried.
• The area east of Fox Farm Rd., South of Grizzly Dr. out to 45th Ave is state land. Neighbors voiced concern that the state land not be purchased and developed. They would like to petition the appropriate powers to see to it that the land is preserved before it is too late. The concerned resident is compiling a case in writing to present at our next meeting. The residents are seeking our endorsement.

Meeting adjourned at 8:30PM

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Neighborhood Council #1
Minutes from meeting on April 10, 2007
Bethel Lutheran Church

Council members present:
Ron Mathsen, Chair
Lynn Steinmetz
Lynda Sowell
James Ford

Residents and others in attendance:
Complete listing available upon request.

-Ron Mathsen called the meeting to order @ 7:03PM

Cynthia Schultz with the Airport Authority gave a history and update on the noise attenuation process that was mobilized by residents of West Hill approximately 2 years ago. When complete, the residents will qualify for new noise reducing windows. It has been determined that the noise created by the F15s at MANG will not make a significant enough difference to warrant redoing the entire study. Currently we are in the 6-month “comment period” which began in February 2007. In August 2007 the FAA will rule on whether or not Great Falls will be programmed for the funding. Basically the process is 4 fold:

1. grant application from authority board
2. consultant selection
3. inventory of homes – list physical addresses of homes affected
4. Define implementation program

The first homes to be covered will be ordered as loudest first and longest owned.

Some residents have complained about the messy condition of the area between Treasure State and Flood Rd. This is the railroad track area behind the hotel.

Council chair Ron Mathsen has organized a Mapril cleanup of the area on April 28th and May 5th.
The council voted to extend this support and Ron Mathsen will draft the letter.

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Neighborhood Council #1
Minutes from meeting on March 13th, 2007
Meadowlark School

Council members present:
Ron Mathsen, Chair
Lynn Steinmetz
Lynda Sowell
James Ford

Residents and others in attendance:
Complete listing available upon request.

-Ron Mathsen called the meeting to order @ 7:00PM

-As quorum was not met for the February meeting there were no minutes to approve.

Nancy Clough with Clough Development is seeking to annexation of her property south of Huckleberry to develop a planned unit development consisting of 13 condominiums. The annexation will add city services, but there will be no sidewalks or streetlights. Clough has met with the planning board who has yet to make decision. She seeks neighborhood council #1’s approval and asks we draft a letter of support to the planning board.
The council voted to extend this support and Ron Mathsen will draft the letter.

George Littlefield presented a non-profit program called “Keep Kids Alive, Drive 25. This is a signing program that George has asked the council to review and decide if we could pursue it.
George also seeks to win a board seat with the committee that will be reviewing and changing the drivers’ guide.

Kory Larsen presented the newly adopted animal ordinance due to take effect July 1, 2007. A hard copy is available at the city attorney’s office. Included in the ordinance is an appeal process to a multiple animal permit. If a person’s permit is revoked they can ask neighborhood council to hear their plea and seek support for having the permit reinstated.

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NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL 1

Short summary of the February 2007 meeting

Council members in attendance were Lynda Sowell and Ron Mathsen.

Presentations:

• Clough Development made a short presentation. At the initial presentation Clough made to the planning board, several neighbors made comments against the development plans. Mr. Clough indicated they would make changes based on the comments and present revised plans in March.
• Assistant Fire Chief Steve Hester made a presentation on pandemic preparedness stressing the need for all organizations, families and individuals to recognize the potential for problem in the event of a pandemic. He indicated there was a non-trivial expectation of such and event by the CDCs.
• City Forester Jon Thompson presented some initial city plans to manage several undeveloped areas owned by city as natural management areas. This would restore or preserve the area in its natural state saving water and maintenance costs while still allowing some typical park uses in these areas.
• VISTA volunteer Gary Nowell introduced himself and talked about some of the programs with which he will work through the RSVP office. CASA and the Excel mentoring program in the GFPS were mentioned.
• The Bellview Palisades Park Committee made a short presentation on the progress they had made in getting neighbors involved and meeting with the city park and recreation department.

There was not a quorum, so no official actions could be taken.

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Neighborhood Council #1
Minutes from meeting on January 9th, 2007
Meadowlark School

Council members present:
Ron Mathsen, Chair
Lynn Steinmetz
Lynda Sowell

Residents and others in attendance:
Complete listing available upon request.

-Ron Mathsen called the meeting to order @ 7:03PM

-As quorum was not met for the January meeting there were no minutes to approve.

Community policing Officer Bill Klundt gave a report.

Officer Klundt gave some current statistics regarding the number of outstanding warrants, traffic citations, thefts, etc.

He also reported that the Downtown Association has offered a free office for the downtown community-policing officer at #6 5th St. North.

Also, a new website is currently enacted for the community: crimeweb.net

The department is in the process of developing a volunteer program. They are looking for individuals over the age of 21 available from 4 to 30 hours per week.

A new non-profit foundation is being formed so that the community can donate money to the police dept. to cover necessities not covered by city funding.

Mac McGibney from Neighborhood Watch reported that soon they would be setting up information booths in various grocery stores to promote the Neighborhood Watch program.

The Bellview-Palisades park council updated the council on their progress.

Brian Rogers has been elected president.

They have surveyed hundreds of people on the layout of the park and developed a desire list.

30 residents have volunteered for the council.

An architect has drawn the plans.

Viddo Anderson informed the council of the noxious weed problem in his area and throughout the city. He has made a plea to the city to take this problem on, and he feels they are obligated to take action although they have not.

Meeting adjourned at 8:00PM

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