Other Items

5I O N. BROADWAY . BILLINGS, MT 59I OI (406) 657-8257 . FAX (406) 657-8293

December 13.2012

Tom Hornung3555 Clint RoadBill ings, MT 59105

Dear Tom:

On behalf of the parmly Billings Library Board of Trustees, I want to thank you and the Billings

Masonic Lodges for your interest in laying a cornerstone in the new public library building under

construction.

At its November 17 annual planning retreat, the Library Board decided that your request relates

to the new library being a public building, rather than specifically to it being a library- Because of

this, and because the City of Billings will own the building, the Board directed me as its Chair to

send a letter to you, with a copy to the Mayor and City Council, referring your request to the City

Council, for its deliberation and public comment-

Again, we thank the Billings Masonic Lodges for their interest in laying a cornerstone in the new

building.

Happy holidays!

Sincerely,

Shari NaultChairBoard of Trustees

cc: City of Billings Mayor and City Council

IhnnlJ,

CITY CODE ENFORCEMENT MONTHLY REPORT

Month of November 2012

Received Resolved

Violation Central & West End Heights & Southside Commercial Areas Total Central & West End Heights & Southside Commercial Areas Total

Building Code 2 2 2 2 2 6

Clear Vision 1 1 2 2

Commercial 0 1 1

General Zoning 1 1 2 1 3

Graffiti 2 2 2 2

Junk Vehicles 4 8 1 13 5 13 1 19

Miscellaneous 8 37 12 57 7 49 12 68

Nuisance 9 1 2 12 4 2 6

Open Storage of Junk & Salvage 6 17 1 24 6 22 28

RV & Trailers 21 19 2 42 26 20 1 47

Signs 19 19 31 31

Snow & Ice on Sidewalks 0 0

Weeds 0 2 2

Total for Month 51 82 40 173 52 110 53 215

Citations Issued 0

No Code Violations or Unable to Locate 0

Year To Date

Violation Central & West End Heights & Southside Commercial Areas Total Jan-Nov 2011

Building Code 3 4 26 33 49

Clear Vision 58 10 9 77 51

Commercial 19 8 37 64 40

General Zoning 16 26 33 75 85

Graffiti 16 3 9 28 95

Junk Vehicles 123 116 3 242 475

Miscellaneous 206 203 54 463 245

Nuisance 23 19 11 53 199

Open Storage of Junk & Salvage 185 182 19 386 400

RV & Trailers 413 287 7 707 673

Signs 1 1 133 135 78

Snow & Ice on Sidewalks 28 43 1 72 99

Weeds 423 389 1 813 1110

Year to Date 1514 1291 343 3148 3599

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MEMORANDUM Date: December 11, 2012

To: Community Development Board Candi Beaudry, Planning & Community Services Director

From: Brenda Beckett, Community Development (CD) Manager Dina Billington-Harmon, CD Program Coordinator Lynda Woods, CD Program Coordinator Tam Rodier, Seasonal CD Program Coordinator

Re: Monthly Report for November - Community Development Division

The posting for the open Administrative Assistant position has been released and will close on December 14, 2013.

VISTA members with Veteran’s Day Award for work on the Veteran’s Garden - Independence Hall

CORE PROGRAMS

First Time Home Buyer Program: The FTHB program currently has enough CDBG funding to assist four more households.

Home Repair Programs

Housing Rehab: Funding for FY 2012-2013 is 6% committed following an August 1, 2012 program start date. One project is in construction and four homeowners are seeking bids.

Manufactured Home Repair: Funding for the FY 2012 – 2013 is 20% committed following an August 1, 2012 program start date. Four projects are in construction and five homeowners are seeking bids.

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Affordable Housing Development Program

Kings Green Subdivision, 3rd Filing, Phase IV (Please refer to recent monthly reports for previous work completed):

Homes are currently being built in this final phase. There will 2 bedrooms, 3 bedrooms and a 4 bedroom.

Homeword’s CHDO Project: Homeword has begun to expend funds to get the project moving. They have completed a third party review of the agreement between Homeword and Housing Authority of Billings.

Billings Metro VISTA Project (MVP)

Recruitment: In January 2013, 11 new VISTA members will attend a three-day Pre-Service Orientation and will then be sworn into service at the Capital building. On-Site Orientation and Training occurs at the City offices and in the community from January 28 - February 1, 2013. Please help me welcome the following VISTA members to Billings:

Aundi Hunter will be serving her second year with MVP as the very first VISTA Leader in the Community Development office! Aundi is the President of the MVP Bike Club and has already begun organizing bicycle rides for the group! Aundi served her first year at Tumbleweed expanding their mentoring and life skills program to serve youth experiencing poverty and homelessness. Aundi has her BA in Biology.

Juliane Armstrong is living in Cleveland, Tennessee prior to service and she will be working on the Veteran’s Services project with the City. She enjoys shooting, hiking, yoga, cooking and lots of other outdoor activities. Juliane has a BS in Psychology.

Joshua Downes hails from Sarasota, Florida! He has a passion for history and wants to check out all of the parks and museums Billings has to offer. Joshua enjoys city life, the arts, golf, hiking and reading and is looking forward to a cooler climate! He will be working with Tumbleweed to organize Youth Count!; a new program to determine the number of youth experiencing homelessness in Billings. Joshua has a BA in History.

Chelsia Davis is from California and she will be working with Joshua on the Youth Count! project. She is interested in taking a trip to the Tetons and is excited to experience some snow! She likes to cook and bake, she likes to watch sci fi on tv!

Emily Lastinger is from northern California and she loves plants! She loves yoga and jogging, and also outdoor sports. She’s a bit nervous about the bison and other large wildlife in Yellowstone, but it’s not going to stop her from exploring!!!! She’s looking forward to going to a rodeo this summer! Emily has a BS in Agriculture and Environmental Education.

Neil Heckman has earned a master’s degree in environmental policy and has served in the US Army in Afghanistan. He has also studied international relations in Rome, Italy! Neil plays the saxophone and loves music. He will be working with the Housing Authority of Billings to expand community gardening in assisted housing.

Lee Domeika will be working with Neil at the Housing Authority to expand community gardening for low income public housing residents. Lee earned her BA in Community and Environmental Planning and she’s also studied Ecology in New Zealand! She has a passion for working with people on environmental and community issues.

Kelsey Dwyer will be working at Venture Theatre’s Youth Conservatory to implement the Venture Into Schools Experiential Reading program! She is originally from Kansas City, but attended college at our own Rocky Mountain College! Kelsey spent some time in Italy during college and has been working in a contemporary art gallery. Kelsey’s BA degree is in Art.

Chris Cioffi is coming to Billings following an AmeriCorps service year in Alaska! He is interested in bicycles and bike maintenance, gardening, recycling, Ultimate Frisbee and the great outdoors. Chris will be

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working with Kelsey to implement the Experiential Reading program for elementary schools with high poverty rates. Chris has a degree in English - Language, Writing and Rhetoric.

Jessica Engle earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and will be coming to Billings from Kansas! She will be working with Head Start on fund development. She loves kids and is excited about service!

Lauren Bloomfield will be working with Head Start! She is excited to move to Montana and is from Long Island, New York. She attended college in Wooster, Ohio and loves exploring new places and traveling. Laruen loves to cook and bake, especially with friends. Laruen has a BA in Sociology.

Close of Service: Staff is organizing a Close of Service event for the January VISTA members who are completing their service. Aundi Hunter will be working with the Community Development office as a VISTA leader. Andrew Proctor is going to be taking classes prior to beginning graduate school. Lauren Asmus and Jessie Soye are interested in staying in Billings post service and are seeking employment.

Jessie Soye & Lauren Asmus at the Housing Authority Garden

Aundi Hunter

Andrew Proctor

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PARTNERSHIPS

Billings Partners for American Indian Homeownership / Affordable Housing Task Force: Both groups meet quarterly. Next meeting is scheduled for January.

Mayor’s Committee on Homelessness: The Mayor’s Committee met November 8, 2012 at RiverStone Health Center. Topics of discussion included committee membership and the creation of a resource guide and resource map.

Local Continuum of Care (CoC): The local CoC met November 13, 2012 at 11:30 pm at Tumbleweed. The group continues to discuss changes to the statewide process and the implementation of new by-laws which will be decided at the statewide meeting scheduled for December 4, 2012.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP)

Conway House: Rehabilitation is in process.

The NSP Program Income Plan was sent to the Montana Department of Commerce prior to the December 1, 2012 deadline for review and approval.

HOME Rental Project Monitoring & Training

A staff member attended in the HOME Certified Specialist – Regulations training in Birmingham, Alabama, and took the certification exam.

o Trainers opinioned that the Proposed HOME Rule may not be adopted until April, 2013.

o This training was specific to the CURRENT regulations.

Staff continues to work toward resolution of outstanding compliance issues with the Mental Health Center and the Schwend projects.

Staff continues to work toward an acceptable resolution of the Irma House II project. We are proceeding with the plan specified in the Voluntary Agreement signed by Irma House, Inc. and the City of Billings. We have received the title report, ordered the property appraisal, drafted the warranty deed, and we are on track to take ownership on January 2, 2013. The current plan is to sell the property and repay the HOME funds expended on the project.

City of BillingsParks andRecreationDepartment

Michael WhitakerDirector

390 North 23rd StreetBillings, MT 59101

Phone: 406-657-8371Fax: 406-247-8641

Website: www.prpl.info

MEMO

To: Mayor and City Council

CC: Tina Volek, City Administrator

From: Michael Whitaker, Director

Date: December 20, 2012

Re: December Monthly Report

Administration

Dog Parks: The Friends of Billings Dog Parks Committee is working on their next fundraiser, the second annual "Woofstock" to be held this coming February. Seeking toestablish a west end dog park remains a high priority that they are actively working on.

Sale of Parkland Sub-committee: Staff and the committee are working on theprocedures necessary to prepare Wilson Park for sale. Staff is working with the PlanningDepartment to file a appropriate applications for Platting and Annexation. On November29th the Committee toured many of the proposed properties on the east end of Billings.They plan to visit west end sites In January. We also continue to evaluate other park par-cels to see if they are eligible to sell.

On January 24th Staff will hold an interest meeting with area residents to gauge interestin developing Lampman Park. This park would be developed through a SID.

South Park Gazebo: The South Park Gazebo is completed. Trees and shrubs will beplanted this spring around the structure by the Parks and Recreation Staff.

Rose Park Pool Improvements: This project is moving forward rapidly. ARequest for Qualifications is currently out requesting responses by qualified firms to pro-vide the slide equipment. This is an Alternative Delivery Method of providing thenecessary equipment which will give us flexibility to select the type of equipment and atthe same time save the city money. Our intent is to have a signed contract in place inJanuary.

Park Restrooms Renovation Project: We are in contract negotiations with A&EArchitecture. We hope to have a contract approved and signed in January.

"We create community through people, parks, and programs"

Parks

Park Facilities: Staff completed a major clean-up of the Amend Park storage yard and building.All discarded metals were recycled and other broken or no longer used items were taken to theland fill. The remaining equipment, materials and parts were reorganized.

Leaf Cleanup: Staff completed leaf cleanup and leaf mulching of parks, park lots and aroundfacilities. Staff installed mulching kits on several large mowers and mowed over the leaves inorder to compost them into the soil in most parks. Areas where leaves pile up are vacuumedand swept up.

Special Events: Several special events occurred in parks during November including a Toy forTots fun run/walk in Rose Park and a fun run in Riverfront Park.

Dehler Park: The production company filming "Nebraska" for over a week in Billings stagedtheir trucks, equipment and food services at the Dehler Park parking lot and used the meetingrooms in the main building. Staff facilitated their use of those facilities through a rentalagreement with them.

Equipment Maintenance: Staff has begun going through all vehicles, trucks, tractors, large andsmall mowers, weed eaters, leaf blowers and other maintenance equipment replacing wornparts, repairing broken items, readjusting settings, cleaning, etc. in preparation for next spring.

Picnic Tables: Picnic tables were inventoried in all city parks. Currently, there are 352 picnictables including fixed and moveable tables. There are only 87 of the old wooden tables left inthe inventory. Over the past two years, staff has refurbished many of the metal framed tableswith new aluminum tops. Approximately 75 new moveable steel framed tables will bepurchased to add to the inventory by next summer.

Winter Maintenance: Staff is working on the annual winter maintenance of water intakestructures on all irrigation canals.

Snow Removal Program: The snow plow and removal program has been reviewed,

reorganized and implemented. Staff reviewed and adjusted all routes, staff assignments, staff

duty schedules and vehicle placement to improve efficiency and effectiveness. After a snow fall,

staff uses 6 trucks and jeeps with plows, snow blowers and hand shovels to clear snow at 86

locations including parking lots, park and facility sidewalks, park roads and multi-use trails. All

full time staff works on snow removal during snow days.

Park Irrigation Systems: Staff began winterization of irrigation systems in mid-September. Tenstaff members using four compressors worked on this annual project. Winterization of allirrigation systems was completed by October30th.

Playground Equipment Repairs: Maintenance staff has been conducting inspections andcompleting repairs to many of the 39 playgrounds in the Park System. New toddler and regularswings and hangers are being replaced. A new slide was installed at South Park.

Urban Forestry

Tree Care: The Urban Forester has been working with one seasonal arborists on mulchingyoung trees in numerous parks.

Large Tree Care: ProRover Tree Care Company completed the pruning of 53 large trees inPioneer, Highland, North and Rose Parks. The trees that were pruned are in high use areas ofthose parks and had substantial amounts of dead branches. The project will improve the healthof the trees and improve safety for park users.

Tree Removal: Another contract is being developed to remove large trees in the northwestcorner of Pioneer Park that were identified as being hazardous. They have heart rot and severalhave structural failures that make them hazardous for falling.

Recreation

Winter Programs: Staff is putting the final touches on our Winter/Spring program brochure. Itwill be available on our website and also distributed in Simply Family magazine and at variouslocations in early January. There will also be an abbreviated ad for programs inserted into cityutility bills being mailed on Dec. 13, 20, 27 and Jan 3rd. The deadline for signing up for the CityAdult Basketball League is Monday, Dec. 17th with league play scheduled to begin the secondweek of January. Online registration will begin on New Year's Day along with park shelterreservations for 2013 being available online.

2013 Park Special Events and Soundstage Rentals; To date we have received nine responsesfor Park Special Events and eight rental requests for our soundstage for 2013. A letter was sentout in November to organizations that used the parks for special events this past yearrequesting that they let us know of their plans for the upcoming year so that we could put themon a tentative schedule to avoid any possible conflicts with major events. Also, January 1st weopen up the scheduling for park shelter rentals and soundstage rentals to the general public sothese groups need to let us know before the end of December what dates and park facilitiesthey want to reserve for their event.

Website Update: Our main marketing resource and lifeline is our department website. We arecurrently in the process of updating it to the newest web standards and hoping to launch thenew site by May 1st of 2013.

The Times Are A Change'in - Marketing Committee: A committee of staff have been meetingto research different ways to get information out to the community about our programs andactivities. With the advent of mobile devices and social media traditional means no longer arereaching our target markets adequately. We have invited various media & marketingrepresentatives to speak to our staff over the last several weeks. After reviewing our options,we plan to revise our marketing delivery system for this coming summer's activities and stillwork within our limited advertising budget.

Cemetery

Leaf Cleanup: Staff completed leaf cleanup and leaf mulching of the cemetery.

Office: The office is busy with funeral schedules and requests for grave locations.

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PLANNING DIVISION Planning and Community Services Department 510 North Broadway

4th

Floor

Billings, MT 59102

406-657-8246 www.ci.billings.mt.us/planning

November 2012 Report

To: Board of County Commissioners, City Administrator, Mayor and City Council, Planning Board, Zoning

Boards and Commissions, Planning and Community Services Department Director

From: Wyeth Friday, AICP, Planning Division Manager

Date: December 20, 2012

Below is a list of items that the Planning Division has been working on for the past month.

Meeting Management and Support

Planning staff supported the regular meetings of the following Boards and Commissions in November 2012.

Each entity met once unless otherwise noted:

• Yellowstone County Board of Planning (two meetings)

• City Zoning Commission

• Historic Preservation Board

• Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Long-Range Planning Projects:

East Billings Master Plan Implementation – The Form Based Code (FBC) for the EBURD took effect on

October 10. Staff is organizing internal and external training for the new code. The FBC will be the first

regulatory tool of its kind in Billings to focus more on the form and not the uses in the EBURD. An Exposition

Gateway Master Plan and a Hospitality Corridor Study are also being coordinated with the City, County,

Chamber, and BSEDA. A team comprised of LMN Architects, High Plains Architects, and Sanderson Stewart

is the consultant team for the Exposition Gateway Master Plan. Fehr & Peers is the lead consultant on the

Hospitality Corridor Study. Planning staff has included funding of these projects in its 2013 Unified Planning

Work Program based on the availability of other funding and staff resources. Please visit

www.ci.billings.mt.us/planing and www.eburd.com for more information on these projects.

South Billings Boulevard Urban Renewal District Master Plan – The South Billings Urban Renewal

Association is now in the process of identifying projects for implementation from the South Billings Master

Plan. The South Billings Urban Renewal Association Board voted to fund the Newman Lane project as a FY13

project which is already identified in the City’s current Capital Improvement Program for construction in 2013.

The improvements will likely be constructed in spring 2013. The SBURA also has indentified in cooperation

2

with City Public Works the future reconstruction of Orchard Lane and Calhoun Lane and these two projects will

be included in the City’s CIP for construction in future years. The SBURA has also identified a major sewer

project for the area west of Jackson that is currently not served by sanitary sewer. The group is in the process of

contacting property owners and gathering information for this project and also is coordinating with City Public

Works to include this project in the CIP as well. Please visit www.southbillings.com/ for more information.

Infill Policy Development – Staff is moving forward with implementing the strategies in the Infill

Development Policy. Staff is coordinating with various groups and community members to host training

sessions on working with the Building Code when redeveloping old buildings in the urban core are being

planned for winter 2012-2013.

Sustainable Communities Partnership – This group met on November 8 and has completed a strategic

planning process to develop of a mission statement, vision and goals. The group represents more than 20

community partners working to support Billings as a sustainable community, with a focus on implementation of

the EBURD Master Plan and projects in the EBURD. Sub-Committees have been formed to focus on Housing

and Transportation, Community and Economic Development, and Public and Intergovernmental Relations.

More information on the efforts of this group is available on the EBURD website at www.eburd.com

Community Events/Training

The Division hosted two webinars for staff and the public in November. The webinars are advertised via email

and on the Division’s website and anyone is welcome to attend. The webinar topics in November were:

Reaching the Ones Who Don’t Show Up – A review of social media and other tools to support community

involvement; and Ethical Challenges for Planning Consultants.

Special Projects/Assignments

• The US EPA in April announced that Billings received the Smart Growth Implementation Assistance

award. US EPA has completed a draft Statement of Work, which specifies the deliverables and time

frame for the project. A steering committee of six, appointed by the City Council and School District 2

Board of Trustees has been formed and is meeting. EPA is currently in the consultant selection process

and expects to have a consultant selected before the end of the year.

• Staff is working with MET Transit, MSU-Billings, the Downtown Partnership, Big Sky Economic

Development and other stakeholders to determine the feasibility of a downtown transit circulator bus

system to move people from MSU-Billings through the medical corridor to downtown and back. The

steering committee is in the process of presenting the findings of the feasibility study to various

organizations in the community to begin establishing funding sources for running the system.

• Staff continues to work internally with City IT staff to prepare for initial conversion of the Planning

Division’s permits into the new Innoprise project management software system. The permit conversion

process is expected to take place in January 2013. Conversion of the remaining portion of the Division’s

applications is being discussed with an implementation schedule to be developed for 2013.

• Based on an Attorney General’s Opinion issued in January 2012 in relation to definition of and review

procedures for subdivisions for rent or lease, staff drafted changes to the City and County subdivision

regulations. These amendments received final approved by the City Council and the Board of County

Commissioners in late October and early November, and are now in effect.

• Serving on Healthy by Design Advisory Committee through Riverstone Health to participate in various

grant programs to review implementation of the healthy community strategies in the 2008 Growth

Policy. The Built-Environment Sub-Committee is currently looking at Complete Streets implementation

in the City limits.

• Serving on Traffic Control Board

• Serving on Billings Preservation Society

• Serving on Billings Depot, Inc. Board

3

• Attended Monthly Homebuilders Association Meeting with City staff

• Facilitated South Billings Boulevard Urban Renewal District Association monthly meeting

• Facilitated Billings Industrial Revitalization District monthly meeting*

*The City Council in November approved the Billings Industrial Revitalization District (BIRD) hiring City

TIFD Coordinator Steve Zeier full time to provide services for only the BIRD and EBURD. The TIFD

Coordinator position in the Planning Division was vacated in late November. Discussions on how the South

Billings Boulevard Urban Renewal District is going to be administered in the future are ongoing with the South

Billings Urban Renewal District Association.

Department Relocation Status

In June, the Planning and Community Services Department received nine proposals for office space. The

proposals ranged from complete remodel of structures with 5 – 10 year leases to move-in ready offices. The site

evaluations were completed in September considering cost, location, accessibility, and parking. A

recommendation to begin negotiations with the selected site was denied by the City Council at its October 22

meeting and the Council directed staff to start the process over from the beginning and look at sites across the

entire City. The City Council is expected to revisit the process in December and decide whether to start over or

revisit the original process completed by staff.

See Staff Project Priorities and Application Review Activity in FY2013 Below

4

Planning Division Staff Project Priorities 2012 - 2013

Project Priority Completion Date

City\School Collaborative Planning - SGIA Grant 1 12/31/12

Adjacent Neighborhood Meeting Facilitation 1 Ongoing

EBURD FBC Adoption** 1 8/1/12

Boarded Up Structure Ordinance 1 7/1/12

FEMA/DNRC PDM West End Flood Grants* ** 1 5/1/12

SBBURD Master Plan Adoption* 1 5/1/12

Community Outreach** 1 Ongoing

Hospitality Corridor Study (Hwy 87 River Bridge - Airport Rd.)* 1 1/1/13

Zoning Text Amendments* 1 7/1/12

Historic Pres. Ordinance Update* 1 4/13/12

Downtown Circulator Pilot Project 1 6/1/12

Subdivision Regulation Amendments for SLR (AG Opinion) 1 7/1/12

Data Imaging System for Transportation Traffic Counts, other* 1 6/1/12

Business License Ordinance** 2 3/1/13

EECBG Administration 2 10/1/12

EBURD Mini-Master Plan -Exposition Gateway 2 6/1/13

Update Records Retention/Review Process** 2 10/1/12

Highway 3/Airport Road Corridor Study* ** 2 2/1/13

Scan County Historical Zoning Maps 2 9/1/12

City and County Web Page Update** 2 5/1/12

MPO Urban Area Boundary Amendment* 2 10/1/12

Complete Streets Checklist** 2 10/1/12

South Billings Master Plan Implementation (District Rezoning?)** 2 2/1/13

PCSD Move 2 2/1/2013

2012 Western Planner Conference 2 9/1/2013

Innoprise/ HTE2 Conversion Preparation* 3 2/1/13

Priority Based Budgeting** 3 2/1/13

Residential Zoning District Consolidation** 3 2/1/13

Infill Policy Implementation** 3 2/1/13

Whitewater Park (Coulson Park Area) 3 2/1/13

Newman Lane Improvements** 3 2/1/13

Worked on in November

Completed

* Aligns with 2012 Planning Work Plan

** Aligns with Council/Administration/BOCC Initiatives

Priority Index

1 = Next 3 Months

2 = Next 6 Months

3 = Next 12 Months

5

SUBDIVISIONS July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May June

YTD

Totals

Pre-Application Meetings

City 1 4 2 0 0 7

County 4 0 2 3 1 10

Total 5 4 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17

Preliminary Plats

City 1 0 0 3 2 6

County 0 2 0 1 1 4

Total 1 2 0 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10

Final Plats

City 5 1 0 1 1 8

County 1 2 0 0 0 3

Total 6 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11

Exempt Plats

City 4 5 0 2 2 13

County 6 4 3 8 1 22

Total 10 9 3 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 35

ZONING

Neighborhood Meetings

City 0 0 2 0 0 2

County 1 1 0 0 0 2

Total 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4

Zone Changes

City 3 0 2 2 2 9

County 0 1 1 0 0 2

Total 3 1 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11

Special Reviews

City 0 1 1 0 1 3

County 0 0 0 0 0 0

6

Total 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

Variances

City 2 1 1 2 3 9

County 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total 2 1 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9

Medical Corridor 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Zoning Clarifications

City 4 6 7 8 6 31

County 0 0 1 0 0 1

Total 4 6 8 8 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 32

Zoning Compliance Permits (YC) 1 3 3 3 3 13

Fence Permits

City 16 14 12 12 4 58

County 0 1 0 1 0 2

Total 16 15 12 13 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 60

Sign Permits

City 8 13 11 9 15 56

County 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total 8 13 11 9 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 56

Temp. Sign Permits

City 1 2 0 1 2 6

County 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total 1 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6

Temp. Use Permits

City 0 1 0 2 1 4

County 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4

Building Permit Reviews 90 108 93 115 61 467

. City of B¡llingsPu blic Works Adm inistration

Public Works Deoartment2224Montana Avenue - 2no Floor

Billings, MT 5910'1Office (406) 657-8230Fax (406) 237-6291

Public Works'Worhing tor You'

To:

From:

Date:

SUBJECT:

Chri stina )¿ofekxCity AdministratorDavid vu\q,rora,þr¡ifilc works DirectorDecember ò*#

MONTHLY REPORT _ PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

The following is the Public Works Department's Monthly Report for November 2012.

Engineering Division

list, and completing last change order. Projected for January.

approved resolution to proceed with eminent domain at the September 10'n meeting.Preparing for right of entry hearing.

has signed the Right of Way Agreement. Second property owner, DNRC, has the Rightof Way Agreement scheduled for January. It was pushed from the November LandBoard meeting because the November/December meeting agendas were full. Phase Ifunding included in FY14.

of 2013. Working with NWE to upgrade transformer and electrical service.

design submittal on December 7tn.

additional bulb out and signage at2"o Ave and North 22"o. Project was put on hold due topotential conflict with East End Industrial storm drain design.

Page I of 9

review by the City and MRL.

Evaluation and Feasibility Study in late August. City is reviewing options.

approved plans and specs. Decided to put off construction of Phase 5 until 2013 whenadditional funds may be available. Reviewing draft of plans and specs to be able to bidearly 2013.

punch list items remaining.

administrative work.

Ave in the spring.

Preliminary Engineering report and submittedT0o/o of the design plans for review.

paving is completed.

has been reviewing City records to determine the top non-domestic users and isreviewing R&R potential and regulations. The next step is to summarize findings

flow monitoring stage and is in the process of analyzing the data.

assessment on August 8th. Findings were presented on September 6th and the summary ofrecommendations forthcoming.

water model.

scheduled for award at the December 1Otn City Council meeting.

with the railroad.

Page 2 of 9

W.O. l2-29 Solid Waste Management Plan: Map survey of landfill (curent andexpansion area), population projections, and landf,rll traffic study is completed.Expansion alternatives have been started. Update meeting scheduled for December.

W.O. I2-3I East End Industrial Area.' Morrison-Maierle is working on preliminarydesign. Alignment recommendation mid-December and PER should be completed thefirst part ofJanuary.

and approval stage to proceed with bidding.

W.O. I2-45 3MG Staples Reservoir Liner: Consultant has been selected. Curentlynegotiating the contract and is expected to be under contract in January.

W.O. I3-01 Water and Sewer Rehab: Contract recommended for award at October 9th

City Council meeting and DOWL-HKM was selected. Project will consist of bothsanitary sewer and water main replacements. Broadwater Ave between24'h and 19th

Street West sanitary sewer replacement work will be done in the area of.Parkhill Drivebetween N.32nd Street and 1Otn Street West. as well as N. 27th and N. 29th Streets.

MDT Projects Underway:

o Grund, 1/h and lgth: Decision needed on whether signal work will be performedby City crews or MDT will let a construction contract.

o Bench North Phase 1: Right of Way negotiations are underway. However, Rightof Way negotiations have progressed slowly. Construction will most likely bedelayed until the spring of 2013.

o Bench North Phuse 2.' SILMD survey showed majority of owner's responseswere favorable to street lights. LED lights to be designed by the consultant.

o 6'h to Bench Phase 2: Results meeting was held on October 23rd.Recommendation for "Do Nothing" was made for intersection of 6'n and Main.Minor intersection improvements may be made at Itt Ave North and Main Streetin the future.

Miscellaneous Waste Water Treatment Plant Projects:

o W.O. 10-29 West Mechanical Building MCC Panel Replacement Project-MCC Panels on site. Working with contractor to schedule shut downs for MCCinstallation. Project may have to wait until January.

o W.O. 12-09 Access Road Rip-Rap- Project is complete. Working on close outwith FEMA.

o W.O. 12-46 Headworks Blower Replacement: Preliminary discussions withsuppliers.

o \ry.O. 12-47 WWTP Digester Gas Valve Replacement: Bidding on December18th and expected to be awarded in January.

Page 3 of 9

Mi s c e ll ane ous Wate r Tre atme nt P I ant P ro Ì e ct s :

o \ry.O. 08-16 Scada Evaluation - Work has started on Phase I. Terrace Estates andFox Pump Station are complete. Currently waiting on FCC License for FourDances and WTP.

o W.O. 09-28 WTP Backup Power Phase 2 - Construction and site work arecomplete. Need to complete as-builts and Operations and Maintenance Manuals.

o W.O. 10-08 Clearwell Contact Time Improvements - Cold weather is notpermitting the contractor to paint. Project is shut down for the winter.W.O. 11-08 High Service Pump Station 2011 Transfer Pump Replacement - AceElectric was low bidder with Star Service contracted as a subcontractor. Stopwork order was issued until equipment gets here in February/ìV1arch.W.O. 11-11 WTP Rapid Mixer System Improvements - From final studyrecommendations, chose to proceed by replacing mixers now and reconfiguringchannel and putting in a new building in the future. Project bid and was awardedto COP Construction. Curently putting together executed contracts.W.O. 12-21WTP Chemical Building/Disinfection Improvements - HDR workingon investigations and alternatives. Met with Fire Marshall to discuss Fire Codeinterpretation.W.O. 12-28 WTP Transformer Replacement - Colstrip Electric submitting shopdrawings and ordering materials. Waiting for delivery of equipment inDecember.W.O. 12-42 WTP Lab Renovation: Received three proposals for professionalservices. Currently reviewing proposals.

o W.O. 12-43 WTP Backup Power: HDR is working on scope and fee. Project togo to City Council with contract in December.

o W.O. 12-44 WTP High Service Pump Station H2-3 Pump Replacement: HDR isunder contract and working on design. Held a30o/o design meeting with plans tobid Januarv/Februarv.

Administration Division

Administration Finance Division

Met with auditors regarding federal grants for FY12 City audit.

Continued efforts on project to identify property owners in multiple light districts.

Processed 481 invoices totaling approximately 52.7 million.

Federal Grant/Loan Funded P roÌ ects

Page 4 of 9

work on FEMA large project.

Broadwater Connection, and Northern Sidewalks projects.

conference call with DNRC and bond counsel for the 5-Mile lift station project.

Commercial & Meters Division

Distribution & Collection Division

from N 20'n Street to N 22no Street.

Environmental Affairs

collection system completed and signed.

Program.

Page 5 of 9

Water Plan Implementation Study.

Solid Waste Division

were added.

that were land filled, 1,055 tons for compost, 3l tons for metal and white goods, 85 tonsof asbestos , and 735 tons of soil used as cover material.

delivered 13,390 green barrels to the residents of Billings. We have finished picking upgreen barrels for the year.

picked up 494.7 tons of green waste in our green barrels. This comes to approximately5.6%o of the totalwaste that is picked up by our collection service.

Street-Traffic Division

winter.

Page 6 of 9

StatisticsPoles straishtened .A Yards of sweepings 1,356Feet of 2" pipe Gallons of water 10,000Feet of Telspar 228 Broom hours (sweepers) 162.3Street lisht complaints 29 Animals nicked up t6Sisns fabricated t9 Intakes cleaned 261Sisns replaced 30 Feet ofp pe ietted r99Trees trimmed for sisns Feet ofp pe tv'dMisc (welds,paint,clean,hdw) 100 Line locates 791Gallons of vellow center line paint Linear Feet of whiteGallons of white Phone calls received 542Gallons of curb paint Number of times water oumoedLbs ofbeads Number of streets/alleys sraded 53

Total feet of white Yards of material (road mix) A-Total feet of curb paint Yards of material used (sand) 360Total feet of vellow center line Gallons of dust supþressantGallons of white fcrosswalk) 5 Tons of material used (AC) 508.25Manholes repaired Manholes reoaired a

J

Number of disouts & cave-ins Gallons of d-ice used (City) 19.350External sienal requests Tons of ice slicer 90

Water Treatment Division

PRODUCTION SUMMARY:

430.3 MG (million eallons)8.577.3 MG14.3 MG16.5 MG

OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE SUMMARY

Water demands through November were typical for this month. Work focus shifted toannual preventative maintenance checks and services that can best be done during lowdemand periods.

Staff attended a webinar on the future of federal water programs on November 8'h.

Dredging operations in the sedimentation basins were completed on November 8th and acrane was brought in on November 9th to remove the dredge from Sedimentation Basin#2. Following the end of dredging the water treatment facility was reconfigured intosequential operation using both sedimentation basins.

A control valve on #3 Pump at Voelker Pump Station broke this summer. After thedemand season, the station was isolated from the distribution system to remove the valvebody and replace it with a blind flange so that the broken parts can be replaced whilepump station remains in operation. The parts are expected to arrive in December.

Page 7 of 9

An antiquated level measurement system used in the transfer wetwell was replaced with anew sonic monitoring system by our staff electricians. The old system failed in lateOctober causing an early morning flood in the High Service Pump Station before the dutyoperator could get the process shut down. Our electricians installed a temporary levelmeasurement system the day of the failure allowing us to operate with minimal difficultywhile the components for the new system were obtained.

MSU-B has approached the City with a request to enter into an agreement by which theCity would consider MSU-B as an inclusive part of the water quality sampling plan forthe City. Inclusion of MSU-B has no practical impact on our monitoring plans, but doesafford MSU-B the possibility of being exempted from their most of their monitoringrequirements as a Non-transient, Non-community (N1"NC) public water supply. A staffreport requesting that the Council give the City Administrator the authority to sign amemorandum of agreement with MSU-B was prepared and submitted for Council. TheCouncil approved the request and the MOA was signed with MSU-B. We are unsure ifother NTNC water systems will seek the same type of agreement.

Planning meetings were held with HDR Engineering regarding the high service pumpH2-3 r eplacem ent proj ect.

One of the two electrician vacancies was filled. The new electrician besan work onNovember 26th.

Annual preventative maintenance services have been completed or are currentlyunderway at Willett Pump Station, Walter Pump Station, Intake Pumping Station #2 andthe Bulk Chemical Building. The low system demands during the winter allow us isolatesystem components and perform these services.

A meeting was held with Colstrip Electric and HDR on November 30th to prepare for theamival and installation of the new transformer replacing the existing T1-1.and 1-2transformers. The new transformer is scheduled to arrive on December 6'n. The oldtransformers are at the end of their design life and contain PCBs which require that theybe disposed within specified time limits at an appropriately licensed facility.

The division's items on the equipment replacement plan (ERP) and technologyreplacement plan (TRP) were updated for FY 2014.

Wastewater Treatment Division

The anaerobic digesters continue to produce volatile organic acids as they work towardsproper operation. The temperatures are at the proper range and the feed rate is back towhat it was before the cleaning project.

The laboratory personnel collected samples for the Pretreatment Program's Influent andEffluent Scans and Whole Effluent Testins.

Laboratory personnel also collected additional samples to monitor the anaerobic digesterconditions.

Page 8 of 9

Plant technicians performed the following tasks to maintain plant operations:o Cleaned and inspected the #2UV channelo Inserted about 1,500 lbs of lime into Digester #2o Repaired a leak in the heating line between the engine generator and the primary

digester buildingo Serviced the #1 centrifuge

The programmer analyst provided the following services to the wastewater plant:o Adjusted the AFT programming to allow for separate adjustments to both sides of

the AFTo Added new tag points to the AFTo Worked with HDR, contractors, and plant staff on the West Mechanical projecto Reviewed the TRP 2014o Programmed and alarmed the washer compactors in the headworkso Began compiling data from previously performed arc flash analysis

Please let me know if you have questions or would like additional information about any of theseitems.

DDM:kf

Page 9 of 9

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office building on 4th Avenue North ($14.65M), the new Parmly Billings Li-brary ($13.2M), and the new Stockman Bank on Grand Avenue ($4.45M).

The Planning Division has also seen devel-opment increase beginning in early sum-mer when a number of final plats were processed creating over 200 lots. Anoth-er 150 lots were recently platted. Most of this activity is subsequent filings to existing residential subdivisions. Multi-family developments are on the upswing and because of an Attorney General opin-ion, some are subject to subdivision re-view. Aside from development services, the Division has been active with a num-ber of special projects: the EBURD Code was adopted and implementation began in October, 2012; the South Billings Urban Renewal District Master Plan was also completed and has generated a number of infrastructure projects; the Downtown Circulator Feasibility Study was complet-ed and is now in the fundraising stage; and two new area plans focused on the Exposition Drive (Main Street – Hwy 87) area are being developed.

The Department is currently conducting a search for office space. The library building where the Department is cur-rently located is scheduled for demolition in November 2013. We are optimistic that our new offices will provide conven-ient access to all our customers and our service will continue unimpeded. Happy New Year – and we will see you at our new offices next year!

The Planning and Community Services Department felt the first twinges of the recession in October, 2008. At that time, we knew we could not recover from the revenue shortfall experienced during what should have been a more active summer season. By March 2009, devel-opment had slowed down to a mere trick-le and the Planning and Building Divisions could no longer afford full staffing lev-els. Positions were eliminated and re-serves were used to backfill revenue shortfalls. Recovery came slowly, but now, with ever-increasing improvements to the national economy and benefits of the Bakken oil field boom, Billings has officially recovered. Two key indicators

of local economic recovery include building permit valuation and subdivision lots plat-ted. The valuation of construction has nearly doubled from last year from $129,530,376 to $230,590,238. The number of lots platted almost doubled from 161 in 2011 to 350 in 2012.

The Department initiated and completed many exceptional projects throughout the year, despite a very bumpy road to recov-ery. The Community Development Division continued its very successful Ameri-Corps*VISTA project known as the Billings Metro VISTA Project. Ten fulltime members and 12 Summer Associ-ates continued to create or expand com-munity-based programs, services, and systems that prevent and intervene in homelessness through capacity-building activities. Another 13 VISTA volunteers have been recruited for next year. In addition, Community Development success-fully rehabilitated and marketed three homes to low-income families under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Program income from these sales will be used for affordable housing loans.

Code Enforcement Officers will begin enforcing the new “Boarded Up Struc-tures” ordinance adopted by City Council in October. This new code provides a tool to address boarded up houses or business-es that have been abandoned for years. This ordinance may lead to even more property abatements like the two con-ducted on Princeton Avenue and 1st Ave-nue South this year.

Our Building Division has ramped up to deal with the significant increase in build-ing activity. Most notable is the increase in single family home construction from 186 in 2011 to 336 in 2012. Commercial development has really soared too. In 2012, the number of permits remained about the same as in 2011, but the valua-tion more than doubled indicating larger and more complex construction projects. Significant projects included the federal

D i r e c t o r ’ s R e p o r t C a n d i B e a u d r y , A I C P , P l a n n i n g &

C o m m u n i t y S e r v i c e s D i r e c t o r

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Page

P&CSD Director’s Report 1 Boards & Commissions 2 PB President’s Report 3 Homeless Initiative 3 Code Enforcement 4 Zoning 5 Building Division 5 Community Development 6

Trail Highlights 7

Transportation 8

EBURD— SBBURD 9

Subdivision 9

Planning Division 10

Serving Billings, Broadview & Yellowstone County

Planning & Community Services Department 2012 Annual Report

New Federal Building completed in 2012

New Library under construction 2012

Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (Advises City Council, BOCC & Planning Board on bike & pedes-trian facilities and issues) Meets the 4th Tuesday of the month at 11:30 a.m. Meetings are held in the 4th Floor Small Conference Room, Parmly Billings Library. City Board of Adjustment (Decides variances from zoning inside City limits) Meets the 1st Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. Meetings are held in the City Council Chambers. City Zoning Commission (Advises City Council on zoning) Meets the 1st Tuesday of every month at 4:30 p.m. Meetings are held in the City Council Chambers. Community Development Board (Advises the City Council on expenditure of HOME and CDBG funds) Meets the 1st Tuesday of every month at 3 p.m. Meetings are held in the 4th Floor Large Conference Room, Parmly Billings Library. Mayor’s Committee on Homelessness (Citizen advisory committee tasked to develop a 10-year plan to address needs of the homeless) Meets the 2nd Thursday of the month at 2 p.m. Meetings are held on the 3rd floor, Broadway Room, Parmly Billings Library.

Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC) (Decides transportation matters for the Metropolitan Planning Organization) Meets the 3rd Tuesday of the month as needed at 12 p.m. Meetings are held in the County Commissioners Meeting Room.

Technical (Transportation) Advisory Committee (Provides technical advice to the PCC on transportation mat-ters.) Meets as needed (usually five to six times per year) Meetings are held in the 4th Floor Large Conference Room, Parmly Billings Library. Yellowstone County Board of Adjustment (Decides variances from zoning within County zoning jurisdic-tion) Meets the 2nd Thursday of the month at 4 p.m. Meetings are held in the 4th Floor Large Conference Room, Parmly Billings Library. Yellowstone County Board of Planning (Acts as the Metropolitan Planning Organization and advises City Council and BOCC on subdivision, transportation and long range planning) Meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month at 6 p.m. Meetings are held in the 4th Floor Large Conference Room, Parmly Billings Library. Yellowstone County Zoning Commission (Advises BOCC on zoning within County zoning jurisdiction) Meets the 2nd Monday of the month at 4:00 p.m. Meetings are held in the 4th Floor Large Conference Room, Parmly Billings Library. Yellowstone Historic Preservation Board (Citizen board with representatives from Billings, Yellowstone County, Laurel & the Crow Nation promoting preservation and awareness of historic buildings, sites and neighborhoods) Meets the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 8:00 a.m. Meetings are held in the 4th Floor Large Conference Room, Parmly Billings Library.

B o a r d s & C o m m i s s i o n s M e e t i n g S c h e d u l e

P a g e 2

Rural Residents on Billings West End

Plan-Build-

Code CD &

P a g e 3

The Planning Board and staff continued to review subdivision requests and submitted recommendations to the elected officials after holding the required public hearings for major and subsequent minor subdivi-sions. Subdivision development, hampered by economic conditions in recent years, has shown increased activity during the year. With the prospect of improving economic conditions due primarily to energy develop-ment, we are expecting an improved flow of subdivision requests in 2013.

We were requested, by a member of the public, to participate in the permitting process for facilities located outside of Montana as a means to address rail/vehicular traffic congestion in Billings. After serious consideration, the Planning Board recommended to the elected offi-

cials to work to implement recommenda-tions of previous congestion studies and to include a section in the upcoming 2013 Transportation Plan addressing the future needs for coordination of vehicu-lar traffic with rail traffic. The imple-mentation plan will be presented for approval at the Policy Coordinating Com-mittee early in 2014.

The Transportation Improvement Plan was amended twice during 2012 as new information regarding sources of fund-ing and community needs became availa-ble. The major transportation initia-tives that will be under way in 2013 include drafting an updated Billings Ur-ban Area Transportation Plan, with spe-cial emphasis on transit, rail, and freight movement; completing the Hospitality

Corridor Study between the I-90 Lock-wood Interchange and the Airport Road/Main Street Intersection; and completion of several pedestrian and bicycle projects through the Community Transportation Enhancement Program.

Topics of concern for the Planning Board continue to include park dedica-tion and development and the trail sys-tem. We will be asking to review strate-gies and plans for the long term devel-opment of these areas and systems.

I would like to thank the planning staff, on behalf of the Planning Board, for their support of our activities and delib-erations; and their patience, at times, for our meandering educational process-es.

P l a n n i n g B o a r d P r e s i d e n t ’ s R e p o r t

P a u l G a t z e m e i e r , P r e s i d e n t

L y n d a W o o d s , P r o g r a m C o o r d i n a t o r

ensure that everyone in Billings has access to tools and op-portunities for safe, appropriate and affordable housing. For more information on this inititive please visit www.WelcomeHomeBillings.org.

Homelessness remains a social issue in our community, in our state and across the country. The word “homeless” stirs many preconceived images. In reality, homelessness is Billings is much more diverse than popular images convey.

For each visibly homeless person on the street, there are four others that few people know are homeless. Yet, we see them every day. In Billings, it could be the one of almost 500 chil-dren that went to school with your son or daughter last year. Or maybe the family in line ahead of you at the grocery store is one of the more than 125 such families experiencing home-lessness at any time in Billings. These are people that we would never guess are homeless – and who are likely to be shocked to find themselves in that position. Even for those people that seem closer to the preconceived notions of home-lessness, often assumptions accompany the stereotypes due to lack of understanding of converging factors.

Homelessness, for the over 600 individuals experiencing this hardship each day in Billings, is caused by a number of factors that differ for each person. The most significant cause of homelessness in our community is the lack of affordable hous-ing coupled with the inability to find stable employment paying a living wage. Others are homeless because they can’t pay their medical bills or are unable to qualify for public assis-tance. Mental illness, addiction and domestic violence may also cause a person to become homeless.

Billings’ is making a difference through a community wide initi-tive aimed and preventing, impacting and eventually ending homelessness. Community memebers, community partners and over 50 homeless service providers are working together to

H o m e l e s s I n i t i a t i v e s

Project Homeless Connect How you can help!

Billings Community Connect, the 7th annual one day, one-stop event to link people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to services and resources will be held Friday, January 25, 2013 at the Al Bedoo Shrine Auditorium from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. To volunteer at the event, contact Pam Makara at 245-6177 x 202 or email pamm@allianceyc.org ….. or after December 15th visit YouCanVolunteer.Org Donate basic items. Needs include basic hygiene items, socks, gloves, hand warmers, and hats. (see Lynda Woods for more information) For more information about the event, visit WelcomeHome-Billings.Org under Get Involved > Billings Community Connect

For more information, please contact: Andrew Proctor,

AmeriCorps VISTA, Community Development Division, Vista1@ci.billings.mt.us,

406-247-8654

The Code Enforcement Division contin-ues to respond to increasing demands for service and has handled over 3,090 violation cases in 2012. We experi-enced a slight decrease in nuisance weed complaints this past season due in part to drought conditions. We have worked with the new City Forester – Fred Bicha – to help identify and re-move hazardous trees in city boule-vards and streets. In addition, we have worked with property owners to make sure trees and shrubs are not too low over alleys, streets and sidewalks. Our largest violation category for com-plaints (not including nuisance weeds) is still recreational vehicle parking and storage with 682 violations.

Staff Changes

N a n c y McCullough, Com-mercial Code E n f o r c e m e n t Officer, retired at the end of June 2012. She was the city’s first officer to focus exclusively on commercial property and made a signifi-cant difference for those areas of town. Dave Green was hired after a lengthy application and interview process. Dave Green, formerly of CTA Architects and Engi-neers, the Planning Division and Munici-pal Court, joined the team at the end of July. Dave has degrees in landscape

architecture and urban planning. We are excited to have Dave join our team.

Melinda Balter, Code Enforcement Clerk, left to take a position with a local law firm in Septem-ber. The Division recent-ly hired Trina Adams who is scheduled to start in early December. Trina comes to us from Billings Clinic and was previously employed by the Ameri-can Diabetes Association and the Yellowstone Art Museum. Trina will work with us part time.

Code Changes and Expansion

This past summer, the city adopted several code changes that may reduce complaints on recreational vehicle parking and storage. The prior code re-quired recreational vehicles and trailers to be parked at least 20 feet behind a front property line. The new code only requires an 8-foot front setback. RVs and trailers in the front yard still need to be on a hard surface (asphalt or con-crete). Another change will now allow 4-foot fences in front yards. The previous maximum height in front yards was 3 feet. The City also adopt-ed new “good neighbor” standards where commercial uses are near resi-dential zones. We hope this will allevi-

ate some nuisance complaints on noise and lighting from adjacent residents.

This fall, the City adopted a Boarded Up Structure regulation to ensure vacant and boarded structures do not cause a blight in neighborhoods. The new code applies to residential and commercial structures that have 1 or more utilities shut off and have door(s) or window(s) that have been boarded up. The code requires the owner to ensure the structure is not boarded up for more than 180 consecutive days. After 180 days, the owner must re-place the boards with tight fitting

door(s) and window(s). In addition, the code requires the boarding material to be a single piece of material and attached to the struc-ture with wood screws that are not Phillips or slot-head screws. This

ensures the boards will stay secured to the structure so unauthorized persons do not gain entry. The City Task Forces

worked diligently to prepare a list of properties that will be monitored for compliance with the new code.

C o d e E n f o r c e m e n t N i c o l e C r o m w e l l , A I C P ,

Z o n i n g C o o r d i n a t o r & C o d e E n f o r c e m e n t S u p e r v i s o r

P a g e 4

2011 Code Enforcement Team Tanya Punt, Don Vegge, Nicole Cromwell, Mike Schieno,  

Melinda Balter 

2009‐2010 Code Enforcement Team Back : Nancy McCullough, Cal Meyer, Don Vegge 

Front: Colleen Schell‐Berg, Nicole Cromwell, Elizabeth Allen 

2010‐2011 Code Enforcement Team Mike Scheno, Cal Meyer, Lisa Wycoff, Don Vegge 

Nancy McCullough, Nicole Cromwell 

2012 Code Enforcement Team:  Back: Tanya Punt, Front: Don Vegge, Nicole Cromwell 

Trina Adams, Mike Scheno, Dave Green 

Code Enforcement Team 2008‐2009 Colleen Schell‐Berg, Nancy McCullough,  Don Vegge, Cal Meyer,  Doris Cole, Nicole Cromwell    

Several housekeeping changes to the code were also adopted as well as a change initiated by citizens to allow a limited number of hens within residen-tial zones.

Activity in the County has been very limited. The County Zoning Commission and Board of County Commissioners approved 9 amendments to the zoning regulations and approved 3 zone chang-es. The County Zoning Commission and Board of County Commissioners consid-

ered 2 special review requests. The County Board of Adjustment met twice in 2012.

Planning staff is also working on devel-opment of regulatory changes that meet the goals of the City Infill Policy and Complete Streets Policy adopted in the past 2 years. Lessons learned from the form-based code for the EBURD will be helpful as we move to implement these policies.

industry. Most notably are the 14 twelve-plex units being built in the Montana Sapphire Subdivision east of Shiloh Road.

All the construction activity has had a significant impact on the Division’s over-all budget. Just one year ago we were concerned with maintaining existing staff through the lean times. Now with this year’s revival we have seen reserves

stabilize and increasing workloads. The next challenge will be trying to predict what the building economy will do in the coming year.

Each year we see an increase in demand for general information, public records,

and building permit details. To help alleviate the burden we have pointed many businesses and individuals to our online site where most of this infor-mation is available for review or print-ing. Please visit the website at https://www.services.ci.billings.mt.us/citizenaccess/publicAccess.zul to access this information.

Another customer friendly move has been to allow our building in-spectors to approve certain projects without going through the plan review process. When an inspector can determine through field evaluation that these smaller projects can comply with code, the need for detailed plans may be eliminat-ed.

Finally, we would like to wish Gene Hobby, Combination In-spector III, best wishes as he enters retirement. Gene has worked for the Building Division for twenty-five years inspect-

ing a variety of commercial and resi-dential structures throughout the area. We will miss Gene’s expertise and the hands-on experience he has provided over the many years.

What a difference a year can make. After three years of restrained growth, the Building Division has seen resurgence in construction activity. A total of 336 permits for single family homes have been issued for the first eleven months of the year. That com-pares to 186 permits for homes issued the prior year for the same period. That is an 80% increase over the previ-ous year and the best showing since 2007 when 413 single family permits were issued.

While the number of new com-mercial structures has in-creased only slightly, the size and scope has certainly been impressive. Of the 69 new com-mercial building permits issued by the Division, 14 had a value exceeding one million dollars. A few of the more visible pro-jects, which are in various stag-es of construction, include the new library, a federal building that will house the Department of Interior, an Old Dominion Truck facility, and the latest Stockman Bank on Grand Avenue. A foundation permit for the new Scheel’s store was also issued.

The local building economy has also received a boost from the multi family

Z o n i n g N i c o l e C r o m w e l l , A I C P ,

Z o n i n g C o o r d i n a t o r

B u i l d i n g D i v i s i o n K i m P a l m i e r i , B u i l d i n g O f f i c i a l

P a g e 5

In 2012, the City Zoning Commission and City Council reviewed 25 zone changes and 5 special review requests. The City Board of Adjustment heard 20 variance requests but only 3 related to existing nonconforming conditions. The City Council passed 17 amendments to the zoning code including the new East Billings Urban Renewal District (EBURD) code. The EBURD is a hybrid form-based code specifically tailored to the land use goals for the EBURD district.

Stockman Bank under construction on Grand Ave.

The Community Development Division (CD) manages and administers afforda-ble housing programs funded through the City’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Part-nerships program (HOME) and Corpora-tion for National and Community Ser-vices.

As the fiscal year closed in June, CD staff completed an analysis of accom-plishments through the Comprehensive Annual Performance Evaluation Report (CAPER). The CAPER can be found online at www.ci.billings.mt.us/caper.

CDBG / HOME Accomplishments

CDBG / HOME budget totaled $1.6 mil-lion, and six dollars was leveraged for each federal dollar invested in our com-

munity; totaling over $8 million! With this funding, the City has accomplished many affordable housing goals:

43 housing units were rehabilitated, which stabilizes the community’s af-fordable housing stock.

21 households achieved homeownership, and 175 households received first time homebuyer education.

44% of all clients served in CDBG and HOME are minorities, exceeding the City’s average minority percentage (19%).

As CDBG / HOME programs are designed to serve low income households, 99% of the allocat-ed funding supported low income clients.

The City has also invested in public service projects, totaling $60,000 in CDBG allocations to the following organizations: South Side Senior Center /

Kitchen Equipment; and Tumbleweed Runaway Program, Inc.

Special Projects

CD has also spearheaded several pro-jects, bringing over $3 million in addi-tional funding (outside of CDBG / HOME) to the City:

Homeless Initiatives:

Welcome Home Billings - the City’s ten-year plan to impact homelessness was adopted by the City Council in October 2009. The plan can be viewed online: www.ci.billings.mt.us/homeless.

Project Homeless Connect - an annual one-day, one-stop homeless impact event (www.ci.billings.mt.us/phc).

Business Consortium Project - $300,000 in financing was awarded to Rimrock Foundation and The Salvation Army to create a combined housing / social enterprise project. Six men have been housed and are currently receiv-ing employment training. Additional information can be found online:

www.ci.billings.mt.us/socialenterprise.

AmeriCorps*VISTA - Billings Metro VISTA Project (MVP):

49 volunteer positions have been filled to date and these volunteers have gen-erated $2.4 million in both in-kind and cash resources to impact poverty! Vol-unteers are currently assisting in ca-pacity-building efforts for various non-profit organizations, including: Family

Service, Inc.; Youth Conservatory at Venture Theatre; Tumbleweed Pro-gram Inc.; Housing Authority of Billings; and the Mental Health Center. Additional information can be found online: www.ci.billings.mt.us/vista.

Fair Housing:

CD was awarded $125,000 through a competitive process to promote fair housing education in partnership with community organizations, including: Interfaith Hospitality Network; Rim-rock Foundation; Yellowstone AIDS Project; the Billings Partners for American Indian Homeownership; the Self-Help Law Center; and the Commu-nity Housing Resource Board.

CD staff strives to exceed the expec-tations of stakeholders by supporting our housing and community partners with quality leadership, accountability, and innovative programs and services. For additional information, please call (406) 657-8281, or visit our website:

www.ci.billings.mt.us/comdev.

C o m m u n i t y D e v e l o p m e n t

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B r e n d a B e c k e t t , C o m m u n i t y D e v e l o p m e n t M a n a g e r

Award Winning “End Ride” Team Photo

New VISTA’s July 2012

apply for a SRTS again next year.

With the passage of the Complete Streets Policy in 2011, the Healthy By Design Coalition is working towards policy implemen-tation with City Staff. This year’s focus was on development of a benchmark report to use data from bicyclists, pedestri-ans, motorists, and transit users to track the benefits of Com-plete Street projects in Billings over time.

Along with projects and programs, the community held several events throughout the year to celebrate non-motorized transportation. In May, Billings celebrated National Bike to Work Week with its own “Bike, Walk, Bus Week,” encouraging citizens to use alternate modes of transportation other than automobiles. The Downtown Business Association organized the Sneakers, Spokes and Sparkplug Chal-lenge again this year during the week and, as usual, the bikers and walker/

runners end up coming in sooner than the car driv-ers.

The Trail Trek came back to life this year after a year off. The event was held in June as part of the Audubon’s Conservation Edu-cation Center’s “Get Outside Mon-tana” series. Nu-merous events were held through

June, July and August to get families out enjoying the various outdoor op-portunities available to us in the Billings area. The Trail Trek started and ended at the Two Moon Park multi-use picnic area. There was a tour of Swords Park Trail by accessing the park through the trails through Earl Guss Park, the Main Street Underpass and over to the trail by Aronson using the bike/ped underpasses at Alkali Creek Road and Airport Road to the

trail through Swords Park. Everyone enjoyed riding this network of trails and seeing the beautiful views. During the celebration, the City of Billings also received the “Montana State Trail of the Year Award” from Montana State Parks. Beth Shumate, the trails coordi-

nator from Fish, Wildlife and Parks was present to give out these honors.

In June, the Swords Park Trail received national recognition from the Coalition of Recreational Trails in the category of Environment & Wildlife Compatibility. Both phases of the Swords Park Trail development used Recreational Trails Program funds for a portion of the con-struction. Planning and Community Ser-vices Department Director Candi Beaudry received the award in Washing-ton D.C. at the annual celebration for the American Recreation Coalitions, “Great Outdoors Week.”

In September, BikeNet held its 12th Annual Ales for Trails event at Dehler Park for the third year in a row. With perfect weather for an outdoor event, BikeNet hosted well over 3,000 guests and raised $60,000 for the Billings area trail system. “Ales” has become known as one of the best fundraisers in the community with BikeNet as the major source of matching dollars for federal transportation alternative dollars.

For more information regarding alter-nate modes of transportation and our trail projects, contact Alternative Modes Coordinator Darlene Tussing at

(406) 860-6121, or go to http://

ci.billings.mt.us/planning

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Once again, we can be so thankful that we were able to provide additional trails to our non-motorized network during 2012. The Billings community now has almost 37 miles of hard surface multi-use trails and nearly 18 miles of on-street bike lanes.

Some project and program highlights from this year include:

The addition of bike lanes on Over-land Avenue from King Avenue West to 24th Street West as part of a City Public Works project.

A trail connection along the north side of Broadwater Avenue between Descro Park and Zimmerman Trail. This project also included a trail link from the trail along Broadwater to Will James Middle School. Will James Middle School staff uses a 4 wheeler to keep the trail corridor clear of snow during bad weather.

A Safe Routes to School (SRTS) grant for more than $38,000 was awarded to School District #2 to

provide encouragement and educa-tion to more students about biking and walking to school. Of 26 schools that could participate in the grant, 17 of applied for funding for events at their schools. Alternate Modes Coordinator Darlene Tussing also applied through the Spoke Shop for a $5,000 grant from Specialized to purchase bikes for schools to award students participating in the pro-grams. School District #2 plans to

T r a i l N e w s H i g h l i g h t s D a r l e n e T u s s i n g ,

A l t e r n a t e M o d e s C o o r d i n a t o r

Bike Bash 2012

Trail Trek Montana, State Trail Award

In July, President Obama signed into law a new transportation bill that will be funded through Fiscal Year 2014. The MAP-21 (Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century) Act is a two-year bill and is the first long-term highway au-thorization bill enacted since 2005. The total apportionment each year of MAP-21 to the State of Montana is just under $400 million.

MAP-21 creates a streamlined, perfor-mance-based, and multimodal program to address the many challenges facing the U.S. transportation system. These challenges include improving safety, maintaining infrastructure condition, reducing traffic congestion, improving efficiency of the system and freight movement, protecting the environment, and reducing delays in project delivery.

Staff will be continuing to familiarize themselves with the new Transportation Bill, working with MDT, and incorporat-ing its contents into the day to day transportation planning for the Billings Metropolitan Organization.

Billings Urban Area Long Range Trans-portation Plan

The Billings Metropolitan Planning Or-ganization (MPO) will be updating the 2009 Transportation Plan in 2013. In MAP-21, the metropol itan and statewide transportation planning pro-cesses are continued and enhanced to incorporate performance goals, measures, and targets into the process of identifying needed transportation improvements and project selection. Public involvement remains a hallmark of the planning process.

The long range plan will be used to de-velop the short term Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). The TIP must also be developed to make progress toward established performance tar-gets and include a description of the anticipated achievements. The Billings MPO updates the TIP on a yearly basis. As of this printing, the Billings MPO anticipates local funding levels to be slightly lower than levels in the past highway bill.

T r a n s p o r t a t i o n P l a n n i n g

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S c o t t W a l k e r , T r a n s p o r t a t i o n P l a n n e r L o r a M a t t o x , T r a n s p o r t a t i o n P l a n n e r , A I C P

Current Planning Studies

Staff is currently participating in two planning studies being conducted in and near the East Billings Urban Renewal Dis-trict (EBURD). The Exposition Gateway Master Plan and the Hospitality Corridor Study are being coordinated with the City, County, Chamber, and Big Sky Eco-nomic Development Authority (BSEDA). A team comprised of LMN Architects, High Plains Architects, and Sanderson Stewart has been selected by BSEDA as the con-sultant for the Exposition Gateway Mas-ter Plan. Fehr & Peers out of Seattle, Washington, is the lead consultant on the Hospitality Corridor Study. More infor-mation on the Exposition Gateway Master Plan can be found here: http://w w w . e b u r d . c o m / P a g e s /ExpositionGateway.aspx. Information regarding the Hospitality Corridor will be developed as the project progresses and will soon be available on our Planning Divi-sion webpage.

MPO Boundary Amended in 2012

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S u b d i v i s i o n J u l i e t S p a l d i n g , A I C P

S u b d i v i s i o n C o o r d i n a t o r

via final plats dropped 62% in Yel-lowstone County. In total, only 19 lots w e r e c r e a t e d through recorded subdivisions during 2012 in the County.

In addition to re-viewing subdivision applications, Planning staff was busy this year preparing up-dates to the subdivi-sion regulations again. This year, amendments were necessitated by a legal opinion issued by the Attorney General in January. At the request of two Western MT jurisdictions, the AG was asked to review and interpret the subdivision for rent or lease provisions found in the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act (76-3-101 et seq., MCA). In short, the new opinion requires that local governments now review (using the subdivision review criteria and processes) any development where more than one building is being rented or leased on a single lot. Regulation amendments have been approved by both the City Council and Board of County Commissioners requiring such reviews and are now effective. However, it is expected that the 2013 State Legislature will again tinker with the Subdi-vision and Platting Act, so don’t get too comfortable with the new procedures. Supplements with the updates for both City and County Subdivision Regulations are available in hard-copy at the Planning Department or online on the Planning Division’s website at www.ci.billings.mt.us/planning.

Happy Holidays, and all the best to you and yours in 2013.

The creation of new transferable lots through the subdivision process can be one indicator of growth. By looking at this year’s numbers, the City of Billings is on a growth spurt of proportions not seen since before 2009. Maybe most telling is the 115% increase in platted/recorded lots since last year. There are now 357 more lots available for development in the City, and another 310 lots in 11 plats received preliminary approvals this year. These plats and numerous other approved preliminary plats from years past, will make up the lot inventory for next year and years to come once they receive final approval.

Subdivision activity in Yellowstone County, outside of the City of Billings has had more of a mixed report however. While pre-liminary plat approvals almost doubled in number, lots created

Pre-application meetings held

Preliminary Plats reviewed

Final Plats reviewed

City Subdivisions

2009 10 10 (281 lots) 8 (175 lots)

2010 20 8 (140 lots) 16 (181 lots)

County Subdivisions

2009 24 8 (135 lots) 4 (30 lots)

2010 19 2 (9 lots) 13 (114 lots)

2011 14 12 (269 lots) 12 (166 lots)

2012 (Change in 2011-2012)

16 (14% inc.)

11 (310 lots) (+15% inc. in lots)

11 (357 lots)

(+115% inc. in lots)

2012 17 (31% inc.)

6 (41 lots) (95% inc. in lots)

8 (19 lots) (-62% dec. in lots)

2011 13 4 (21 lots) 4 (50 lots)

*2012 Subdivision Activity Totaled through November 30th.

Josephine Crossing Subdivision

E B U R D — S B B U R D R e p o r t C a n d i B e a u d r y , A I C P , P l a n n i n g & C o m m u n i t y

S e r v i c e s D i r e c t o r

Big changes occurred in the East Billings Urban Renewal District (EBURD) in 2012. Earlier this fall, City Council adopted the EBURD Code, the first form-based code adopted in Montana. The code will implement the vision of the EBURD Master Plan. While no building has yet to be totally subject to the new code, the GSA building currently under construction and the new Red Oxx building both include elements of the code. Work has begun on the Exposition Gateway Master Plan for the area adjacent to the EBURD across from MetraPark. The concept emerging from this plan includes uses that compliment the activities at Metra by provid-ing event attendees with lodging, dining and shopping opportunities. The biggest change for the district is the hiring of a full time Tax

Increment Finance District Coordinator. The Billings Industrial Revitalization District re-ceived approval from City Council to use TIF funds to hire Steve Zeier, previously of the City, to provide administrative, project man-agement, and business recruitment services to the EBURD.

The South Billings Blvd. Urban Renewal Dis-trict is also moving forward with projects identified in the SBBURD Master Plan adopt-ed in February, 2012. The Newman Lane project will be completed this coming year and will provide new curb, gutter and sidewalk from Stone Street to Ruth Avenue. Three more projects will be added to the city Capi-tal Improvements Plan to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2016. If agreement can be

reached for how much TIF funds should be used, the neighborhood off of Jackson Street may be able to connect to a new sewer line serving residents on Ryan, Morgan, Mitchell, Vaughn, Clevenger, Arden and Frances Avenues. Informational meetings have been held with the residents and will continue until agreement is reached on the SID/TIF funding split. This project could conceivably happen in FY14. The other two projects are Calhoun Lane recon-struction to be completed by FY15 and Orchard Lane reconstruction to be completed by FY16.

The City Planning Division and the Engineering Division have assumed the administrative and project management duties of the SBBURD until a TIFD Coordinator replacement can be found.

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P l a n n i n g D i v i s i o n R e v i e w

1,560 permits and applications from January 1 through November, 2012, equating to almost 5 permits per day.

The Division staff continues to support nine standing boards and commissions, participate on many staff and community committees, and work on numerous spe-cial projects. The following are some examples of projects Division staff has been working on through 2012:

Worked with the Yellowstone Historic Preservation Board to make amendments to the Historic Preservation Ordinance.

Facilitated drafting and adoption of a Form-Based Code for the EBURD.

Facilitated drafting and adoption of the South Billings Master Plan for the South Billings Blvd. Urban Renewal District (SBBURD).

Updated the City and County Zoning Regulations to bring them into compli-ance with Legislative changes and ad-dress amendments proposed by the City Council & the County Commissioners.

Completed a FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitiga-tion Grant and Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Renewable Resource Grant for an update of the Yellowstone County Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan and West Billings Flood Control and Groundwater Recharge Miti-gation Study.

The Planning Division closes out 2012 with increased development activity and some major project accomplishments under our belts. Subdivision activity increased, especially in the second half of the year and development reviews for residential and commercial con-struction are up significantly. In addi-tion to facilitating the adoption of the East Billings Urban Renewal District (EBURD) Form-Based Code, staff man-aged major amendments to the Unified Zoning Regulations and the City and County Subdivision Regulations in 2012.

The Division closed Fiscal Year 2012 in its strongest financial reserve position since 2008. Revenue collections overall for Fiscal Year 2013 (started in July 1, 2012) are progressing at or better than projected for the first 5 months of the Fiscal Year, although the first half property tax revenue from the County-wide Planning Levy had not been re-ceived when this report was published. FY2013 subdivision revenues in the first five months of the year are already 65% of the total revenue collected in FY2012. Zoning fees are tracking as projected for FY2013 near the half way point at 48% of total expected revenue. Other permit fees are tracking at or above last year at the same time, partly driven by the stronger building permit activity. Staff has processed a total of

Managed the Community Transportation Enhancement Program (CTEP) which re-sulted in the completion of additional trails, sidewalk, and a bicycle and pedes-trian education program.

Facilitated passage of a new ordinance to address boarded up houses in Billings in coordination with neighborhood task forces.

Hosted 30 educational and training webinars open to staff & the community.

As activity is increasing and major pro-jects continue to move forward, the Plan-ning Division is becoming better posi-tioned to increase its staffing and re-sources to meet service demands in the year ahead. We look forward to maintain-ing our high level of planning services for the community in 2013.

W y e t h F r i d a y , A I C P , P l a n n i n g D i v i s i o n M a n a g e r

View from the Rims in spring...