The Dillon City Council started the April 6th meeting off with a presentation from I-Worcs software. The software in question is used to track code enforcement violations. The software would allow the person to take pictures, record what the offense is and track if the violation has been brought up to standard.
Council person Russ Schwandt pointed out that the software is an amazing tool, but Dillon lacks an appointed code enforcement officer as well as the manpower to enforce the codes now. So, the software would be a good investment, but the city does not have the manpower to keep up on the enforcement of codes. The initial cost of the software would be $13,000 then $11,000 for each year after that.
The appointment of a stand-in judge for Judge Minor came to a heated discussion as Council members Graham and O’Rourke wanted to know why there was, what they perceived as, a lack of transparency in the appointment of Jim Valach.
Judge Minor pointed out that the decision to appoint was solely hers and she did not need the Council's approval for this. Valach is just stepping in temporarily and will not be the permanent judge. This is different from in the past where we had a judge pass away while in office.
Mr. Valach withdrew his name, and a heated discussion was had between Judge Minor and the Council, as she asked if any had read the papers she handed out that explained how she could assign a temporary replacement. None of the members had read the papers. After all was said and done, Mr. Valach said he would accept the position and Judge Minor swore him in during the meeting.
Judge Minor will be reporting for active duty, and we wish her the best of luck and thank her for her service for our Country.
Next on the agenda was the discussion of the Beaver Pride subdivision and the approval of the third plat. Part of this discussion was the extension of Franklin Ave., as well as the bonding and completion of the sidewalks. The developers and former developer explained they had every intention of finishing the sidewalks but would like to bond them out as the houses are built.
Mr Stoker also addressed the fact that they have lived up to the agreed upon stipulations when the subdivision was approved, and the city is now trying to add more stipulations to the final phases which would be a violation of what they agreed upon.
Next, the Chief of Police announced his plans to retire at the end of April.
The final topic of the night was the purchase of three laptop computers for the City’s Court System; they would allow papers to be signed on the computer instead of a person who may be disabled having to go up the stairs. The computer would also help with the processing of paperwork and speed up a lot of the everyday filings. The idea is to use ARPA funds for this. Council person O’Rourke inquired if funds could be used for this, as this would be considered a cost of doing business expenses and those types of expenses cannot be used with ARPA funding. This was something that would be referred to the ARPA committee to investigate before a decision would be made. If you would like to watch the whole meeting, you can see it on Southwestern MT News Facebook page.