Verde Park – Marge Anderson said they are looking into a Park Trust Fund matching grant, if funds can be raised. They are also checking on future road changes and making a larger parking area. Someone suggested that they look into funding for sidewalks around the park

Police Advisory Board – Sally Macmillan said that Police Chief, Corky Grove, discussed the Public Service mill levy that will be presented to the City Commission to fund the Police and Fire Departments. She said only 6 of the 18 members attended the meeting.

Council of Councils – Matt said they are still working on funds for the Parks.

Jim Rearden presented an overview of the water system upgrade. He said the project has been completed except for some testing. The upgrade affects people from 13th to 20th Street and between 11th Ave. S. and 26th Ave S. He suggested that owners locate their water turn-off in advance in case they have a problem. A few people stated that they have already installed pressure valves for around $180. The City will send a letter to the 900 people affected by this project telling them when the new system will be cutover. The anticipated date is Saturday, December 15.

Neighborhood Concerns:

Sally Macmillan stated that the Montana Archive Business has still not completed there landscaping and they may be sighted by the City.

A new apartment building is being planned near the Amigo Lounge that may present a parking problem.  On 13th Street between 13th Ave. and 17th Ave. South there are no lawns, and this creates a dust problem.  Not sure who is responsible for planting the lawns.

Patty Cadwell mentioned that the swearing in ceremony for Neighborhood Councils will be January 8, 2008.  Since Neighborhood Council No. 6 meets before that date, they will be sworn in before the City Council meeting on December 18, 2007.

Mary Jolley said that any citizen can submit a request for an ordinance to the City commission to correct a problem.

Verde Park – Marge Anderson said there was nothing to report.

Police Advisory Board – Sally Macmillan said they did not meet in October, but will meet in November.

Council of Councils – Matt said they sent a letter to the City requesting that they dedicate funds to the Parks. He said the one-way street conversion issue was dead as the City will not allocate funds for the project. Matt said matching funds for the City Parks are due in December.

Jim Rearden presented an overview of the water system upgrade. He said the project should be completed by Thanksgiving. When the contractor is done with his work, the City will send a letter to the 900 people affected by this project telling them when the new system will be cutover. The anticipated date is Saturday, December 8.

Jim said that the cutover to the new lines should take about an hour. This will increase the pressure in most homes from 30 lbs to about 90 lbs. The letter sent to everyone will have a phone number for anyone to call if they experience trouble with their water lines. The City expects a few people to have problems, but not many.

Jim said there are about 12 houses on the South side of 13th Avenue that are tied to a 24 inch main, so their pressure will remain low. In the Spring the City will connect these people to a 6 inch main, which will increase their pressure.

Many people expressed concerns about the expected 90 to 95 lbs of pressure. They wondered if they needed to install a pressure valve before the new system was cutover. They also asked if the City was going to assist anyone with the expense of the pressure valves. Jim said he did not expect many people to have a problem. Some would, but they could wait until the cutover was completed and then check for leaks. He said the City might help poor people with loans for the pressure valve, but the details of that plan had not been worked out.

The water meeting took a long time and then everyone left, so there was no other business discussed.

Verde Park – Marge Anderson said Nona Volk will donate some funds and will do some fund raising, maybe at Christmas time. Some of the neighbors are interested in doing something with the Park, such as a walking path around the park.

Police Advisory Board – Sally Macmillan said they did meet on Sept. 20th to discuss the City Budget. The Police and Fire Departments take about half of the Budget. Not many people are attending this meeting.

Mat said the Action Committee is still working on pamphlets to hand out to people moving to Great Falls.

Mat is checking on State funds that might be available for sidewalks around Sunnyside School. He believes the School is on the list, but not near the top.

Floyd Christenson said there is a problem in his neighborhood on 13th Ave. and 14th Street with cars speeding and noisy mufflers. He would like to see a 25 MPH sign posted there. He also stated that Sound Pro sometimes has very loud speakers blaring in their parking lot.

Sally said the Montana archival Business at 4th Street South and 13th Ave. has until Oct. 19th to finish their landscaping. They have been working on it for two years. She also stated that a vacant house on 7th Street near the Labor Temple has been removed.

The water main project has been completed around Sunnyside School. The City is still working on the water mains on 12th Ave. South from 15th to 20th Streets.

Candidates are still needed to serve on the various Neighborhood Councils. Anyone can file as a write-in candidate until October 22, 2007.

There will be a Council of Councils meeting on October 30th at 7:00 p.m. in the Gibson Room. One topic of discussion will be the City Disaster Plan.

Verde Park – Marge Anderson has held several informal meetings with people interested in helping. Nona Volk said she will do some fund raising, maybe at Christmas time. There is some interest in planting trees and flowers. They will have to check with Jon Thompson about the City plans for this park. Ken said they probably could get a sign similar to a National Historic Register sign from the State Historical Preservation Office to honor the Dempsey Boxing Training Camp which was at the Park in 1923. They also need to check on an area for parking cars and see if there are any plans to widen on change Upper River Road.

Officer Dan Smith, Warrant Officer for the GFPD gave an update on the Police Dept. He said there have been 52 complaints on violations in School Bus Zones. There are 11 Neighborhood Watch units in the Council 6 District. The Police Dept. will have a Civilian Police Academy to train more volunteers and a member from each Community Council will be invited to attend. The Police Dept. has established a 501C Police Fund to receive donations. There are currently 80 Police Officers and 2 in training. They are authorized to have 85 Officers. The Police Dept. has received 114 calls from District 6 for suspicious activity. They appreciate these calls and wish there were more of them, as the calls alert the Police Dept. to problems they might otherwise not know about. There is still a problem with Meth in Great Falls, mostly with adults, but there are very few Meth Labs in the City.

Mac McGiboney discussed the Neighborhood Watch program. There a lot of Neighborhood Watch Units, but not all of them are active. One of his jobs is to visit with them and try to get them active. They are looking for volunteers to train schools on the weather alert system and to do data input for the Sheriffs Office. He discussed a number of fraud schemes in this area, many that are directed to older people. Some fraud schemes originate in Spokane and move here. The first Tuesday in August was National Night Out for Neighborhood Watches. A local woman, Nancy Hampton, won a National Award for her service.

Patty Cadwell said that National Good Neighbor Day is September 23, 2007.

Robin Baker discussed the Open World Program. A delegation of Russian political & civic leaders will visit the United States to visit with US counterparts. They will visit Washington, D.C. and Great Falls, MT. There will be a reception for them sponsored by the City of Great Falls on September 25, 2007 in the Gibson Room at the Civic Center.

Sally said that the Montana Archival Business has done some landscaping, but they need to do more.

Ed McKnight introduced himself as a candidate for Mayor of Great Falls.

There will be a meeting on September 10th, at a place not yet announced, on the BID proposal to eliminate some one-way streets in the City. There will also be a meeting the same day at 2 p.m. in the Gibson Room to discuss the South Arterial.

Verde Park – no report

ACTION TEAM – Matt made a pamphlet to hand out to new neighbors. The Action Team will have a booth at Riverfest on July 14.

Council of Councils – The Council of Councils voted down the proposed Council Boundary changes. The City will develop a plan for appealing the animal ordinance. When they do, Neighborhood Council 6 will consider whether or not we wish to participate in the appeals process. The City will spend $375,000 for two new spray parks.

Police Advisory Committee – Sally said that the meetings are interesting and informative, but that only 5 people attended the last meeting. The next meeting will be in July.

Officer Ed McClean said the Police Dept. needs more officers as their coverage area is always expanding. They have recently lost 3 officers, but there are several officers in training. One of their officers is paid by a grant, so his time is dedicated to under-age drinking. He said the Police Dept. has a large area to patrol, so they depend on citizens to call them when they seen a problem. Several downtown problem areas have been cleaned up because of people phoning in complaints. He gave the statistics for the trouble calls they have responded to. Ed is currently in Support Services, but will return to Patrol duty in March. Officer McClean said there are new rules for fireworks this year. The City will be stricter about fireworks enforcement. There will be no fireworks in the Parks.

Jim Rearden gave a report on the proposed water main improvements. The City will let bids for two water projects on June 20th and award the contracts on July 3rd. These projects will be for larger mains and will improve the water pressure in the Sunnyside area. He said the water mains lose 1 pound of pressure for every 2.3 feet of elevation.

Sally said that the Montana Archival Business had until the end of May to do something about landscaping, and they haven’t finished yet. She will remind them.

Kenneth Robison said there are new filing dates for Mayor, City Council members and Neighborhood Council members. He urged people to file.

Council of Councils – There was a discussion of the proposed Council Boundaries and Boundary changes. The Council members present believe that splitting Council No. 6 would be a mistake and that no changes are necessary. They asked Matt Ott to vote No to any Council Boundary changes at the Council of Councils meeting.

Verde Park Committee – nothing new to report.

Police Advisory Committee – nothing new to report.

Jason Kindsvatter of Elder Abuse discussed the Adult Protective Services volunteer guardianship program. They are looking for volunteers to visit elderly people in Nursing Homes to help them make decisions. Many elderly people in Nursing Homes have no relatives in town to help them make decisions about their care, and some of them are not capable of making their own decisions. The volunteers must visit them at least 4 hours per month, perhaps 1 hour per week. They will also be the contact person if the Nursing Home needs a form signed. Jason said there is a Gatekeeper Program for people living in their own homes that need help.

The Community Council has not made a decision of their involvement in the hearing process for Animal Control.

Sally said that the Montana Archival Business has until the end of May to do something about landscaping.

Patty said that Jim Rearden was unable to attend this meeting, but should be able to attend our next meeting in June.

Nancy Hampton said that Mac McGibony will help organize a Neighborhood Watch program if any one is interested in doing so.

Council of Councils – nothing new to report.

Marge Anderson reported for the Verde Park Committee. She said she is waiting for some people to get back so they can organize the committee.

Sally Macmillan read a report on the Police Advisory Committee’s last meeting. Chief Corky Groves said he needs 11 new officers and 5 civilian workers, but there is no funding available to hire them. He will approach the City Council to ask voters to approve a mill levy to pay for additional Police and Fire Department officers. He was interested in hearing what the Community Councils thought about this proposal.

Peggy Bourne talked about the present Council Boundaries. She said there is some interest in changing the Community Council Boundaries to match the City Precinct Boundaries and perhaps increasing the number of Councils. She presented a map showing the present nine Neighborhood Councils, a map showing 12 Councils matching the City Precincts and a third map showing 11 Councils which she called the Great Falls Core. Councils five and six would be cut up to add two new Councils. The Council did not vote on these options, but will consider them by E-mail soon.

Sheriff David Castle discussed his job duties as Sheriff and explained some of the problems he has had since taking office three years ago. After he was elected his deputies filed 70 complaints against him. Sixty-six of the complaints were dismissed and four are still pending. Two of those are wage disputes arising from actions of the previous sheriff and the other two are against the County Commissioners.

He said that before he took office the County Commissioners signed a 30 year contract with the State of Montana to house 150 inmates at the Regional Prison. The contract provided for cost-of-living annual increase, but they had to be documented and filed annually. No increases were filed for six years and during that time wages had increased dramatically. The State would not accept a big one-time increase in the costs and then changed the formula for determining expenses. All of the Federal Agencies that house prisoners here did accept the cost increases. The Sheriff had to take drastic measures to make up the loss caused by the State prisoners but is getting little help from the County Commissioners. The Sheriff wants $67 per day per prisoner. He said Shelby gets $58 per day per prisoner plus $9 per day per prisoner for capital improvements, which Great Falls cannot get. Great Falls gets $47 per day.

The Great Falls Regional Jail is a minimum security facility, but must accept any prisoners that the State sends here, and they send some maximum security prisoners. He thinks we should put more money into treatment centers such as the Meth treatment facility at Lewistown. Recidivism for prison inmates is 66%.

The Sheriff is a State officer, not a municipal officer. He is responsible for all warrants and extraditions in his area and is also the coroner.

One of the neighbors brought pictures of the dandelion problem at Sunnyside School and said that a letter should be sent to the school from the Council requesting that they spray for dandelions. Matt Ott said he would take care of this problem.

Patty Cadwell said that April 18th and May 5th are the May-April cleanup dates and asked for volunteers. She said there are a lot of projects for people to work on.

Matt Ott reported on the Council of Councils meeting decision to write a letter to the City Commission requesting that they provide some money to the Park Improvement Fund. He said he was disappointed that they did not take stronger action.

Marge Anderson reported for the Verde Park Committee. She said she has recruited some people to help her on the committee. Marge thinks we should be looking for money, perhaps from the Historical Society for a sign or from the Boxing Club. Jon Thompson said he and the Verde Park Committee should meet again to discuss their plans.

The Police Advisory Committee meets every other month so there is no report this month. Bill Sigler will attend the Police Advisory Committee meeting on March 15th...

Jon Thompson gave a presentation of the Natural Areas Program that his department will present to the City Commission. Natural Areas are areas of land or water that have not been developed and could, or should, be left in their natural state. The City does provide some maintenance of natural areas around the City now, but does not have a Management Plan for those areas. There are a number of entities that would help the City maintain and develop these natural areas if they had a specific plan. Money is always tight, but the planning has to come first. The Plan will go to the City Commission near the end of March and he is requesting that Council No. 6 write a letter to the City Commission supporting the need for a Natural Areas Program.

A motion was made by Sally Macmillan, seconded by Marge Anderson and unanimously carried to send a letter to the City Commission expressing support for the Natural Areas Program as presented by the Park & Rec. Dept.

Kory Larsen discussed the new Animal Control ordinance that takes effect on July 1, 2007. The new ordinance defines “adequate shelter” and “dangerous animals”, requires the registration of dogs and cats, sets a limit on the number of dogs and cats a person can own, provides for multiple animal permits, defines the removal of excrement and penalties for not removing excrement, defines the leash law, nuisance animals and nuisance behavior and dangerous animals. It also establishes an appeals process for the denial of multiple permits.

Community Council No. 6 will discuss their involvement in the hearing process at the next Council meeting in April.

Marge Anderson reported for the Verde Park Committee. Marge got the list of members and other material from Carrie Koppy and will try to reorganize the committee. She will contact the Volk family to see if they will participate. There was a question on where the Verde Park sign on Upper River Road went. Patty will inquire about this.

Ken Robison reported that the Park Dept. is working on a grant to construct a walk to the Vinegar Jones Cabin in Gibson Park.

The Police Advisory Committee will meet on Jan. 18th to receive more information on how the Police Dept. works.

Matt Ott said there was nothing to report on the Community Action committee. The Council of Councils meeting will be Wednesday, January 17th at 7 p.m. in the Gibson Room of the Civic Center. Matt Ott will Chair the meeting. Patty will E-mail a request for items to discuss, and then the Councils will rate the items by priority. The Council of Councils is a forum to compare notes on issues that should be presented to the City. Some items they should discuss are Capital Improvement money for City Parks, development of a Southern Arterial around the City and development south of the Malmstrom Base runway.

Office Edward McLean said the Human Resources Dept. in the Civic Center will take applications for unpaid volunteers to work with the Police Dept. They will do desk work that will free Officers for patrol.
He said the Police have started using a WEB Site at www.Crimeweb.net to disseminate information to the public about crimes in Great Falls and to answer questions about legitimate fund raisers for the Community. This WEB Site has links to the National Crime web Site. He said the local banks, pawn shops and some business have signed up to receive daily Alerts. He said this is a way to communicate information to the public and businesses and free up officer time for patrol work.
He said the Neighborhood Watch program is another important way for the Police and Citizens to work together.
Officer McLean said the “Single Can of Beer” ordinance is still in the works. Officer Jessie Slaughter is pushing this ordinance and it is now in the hands of an Attorney for correct language.
The downtown merchants have donated office space at #6 5th Street North for a satellite police office. The purpose is to have a convenient place for people to talk to an officer about any problems in the area. He thinks it will improve public relations with the police and merchants.
Officer McLean quoted the crime statistics for 2006. He said there were 2,390 incidents that required police attention in the Neighborhood Council 6 area. He said more Neighborhood Watch programs could reduce that number.

Heidi Gibson, Center for Mental Health (formerly the Golden Triangle) spoke to the Council about what the Center for Mental Health does for the community. They have therapists who help people in crisis. They also train people that have been help thru a crisis to volunteer to help others who are in crisis, until a therapist can be assigned. She said they have 4 day-care centers and 4 group homes in their Region, which serves: Glacier, Toole, Liberty, Hill, Blaine, Pondera, Chouteau, Teton, Lewis & Clark, Cascade, Jefferson, Broadwater and Meagher Counties.
They have been promised the donation of 4 acres of land south of the ball parks between 13th street and 9th street in Great Falls and want to build a six-bed group home and day care center on this land. This group home would treat children from 7 to 11 years of age. They are asking the Neighborhood Council to help get the property annexed by the City.

There was a question on the annexation of the Lower River Road and the Pearson Addition. Patty checked with Mike Rattray who said the recommendation goes to the Planning Board on January 23rd. If it passes at the Planning Board, it will then go to the City Commission for setting of the public hearing at the first meeting in February.

Motion by Marge Anderson, seconded by Kenneth Robison, that the Council Officers should keep their present positions on the Council for another year. Matt Ott, Chairman; Kenneth Robison, Vice-Chairman and William Sigler, Secretary. Motion carried.