City Council Rundown For 12/16/2020

The Dillon City Council meeting started off with the approval of the minutes from previous councils meeting.

Next up on the agenda was the waiver to make it legal to sell fireworks on New years eve. This was passed with all Yes and one No from Council Person Schwandt. This starts at the 12 min 30 sec mark.

Next discussion of note was the new marijuana laws that are coming into effect the first of 2021. City Attorney Dolan mentioned that he took a moment to look at the citizens initiative, that includes a code to regulate the citizens health and welfare and suggested the zoning board may need to investigate it.

On a positive note, Mr. Dolan reported that the Beaverhead Development Corporation received a check for $4750.00 to replace the sign on Swenson way that was damaged by a drunk driver. This and the Marijuana discussion can be seen at the 20 min mark of the video.

26 min 30 sec mark Chief Guiberson explains the police chase that went through town on Tuesday the 15th. This case will be handled by the Montana Highway Patrol.

32-minute mark Judge Minor gives the city court report. During the discussion one part that stood out among the City Council was the number of DUI’s that have been issued in Oct and Nov. at 21 total. She stressed if you are going to go out to use the community resources to get a ride home and do not drink and drive.

43 Minute mark the treasures report during this report Mayor Klakken discusses why the 2190 is at a negative balance and when taxes come in it will go back to the positive. Council Person Kenworthy brought up a question with the way things have been going are they banking on tax money collected that may or may not come in do to the current economic situations. The mayor explained that he was hoping to get more money through the Cares Act.

During this discussion Council Person O’Rourke stated that most businesses in Beaverhead County are essential businesses and have not been affected. Mayor Klakken brought up that most major employers in Beaverhead County are government agencies that get money from taxes and use this as a budget. Council person Hand brought up the fact that one major industry is tourism and that has been greatly affected by the pandemic.

57-minute mark the discussion of providing the police department and officers city provided cell phones. As of now our police officers use their personal cell phones for work purposes. The problem with this is if they use a phone during a case or investigation those records can be requested for the investigation. This means any calls texts history and use of their personal phone will be turned over to the attorneys in the case. Council person O’Rourke asked if this was in the budget. "This was not in the budget and they are looking at using CARES ACT funding to purchase these phones." Stated Mayor Klakken. The long-term problem with this would be after CARES ACT money runs out, they would have to budget for this cost in the future. The chief stated that Verizon has offered to provide the first batch of phones for free then unlimited calling, text, and data at $39.99 per month. One of the main concerns would be the coverage of damaged phones in the future. Chief Guiberson brought up how he hates to spend money but the police department is working with very outdated equipment and they need to catch up technology that could aid them in the way they do their jobs.

The meeting flowed smoothly after this with two council people asking if it is ok for them to leave the state for more than 10 days, both where approved unanimously. The vote on allowing the Mayor to leave the health board was brought up and they had a brief discussion on this. All this can be viewed on the video below.