From: Jennifer Nicholson To: Joy, Denise Cc: Council Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] FW: Hallowell Lane Construction Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 9:51:42 PM
Good evening, Thank you for your time! We have attached some pictures of just a portion of Hallowell. Please note there are inconsistencies within new construction in this project and with portions of this project that were left uncompleted. Some of the new sidewalk in front of our house specifically is not level and the gutter isn’t even the same height the entire length of it. We also question if it is even the correct height. Also, there is lots of areas where old broken sidewalks and gutters have been left that need replaced. Lots of areas of sidewalks are sunk below the gutters creating areas where water pools up. Multiple neighbors share these same concerns along with additional concerns. We have advised them to reach out with their concerns.
Thank you,
Jennifer and Patrick Nicholson
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 23, 2021, at 6:36 PM, Jennifer Nicholson
!Thank you I appreciate it
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 23, 2021, at 1:02 PM, Joy, Denise
,Dear Ms. Nicholson
Thank you for calling and writing. I will continue to be in contact to address your concerns. Thanks
Denise Joy Council Member Ward 3 P.O. Box 31192 Billings, MT 59107 406-647-0337
On Jul 23, 2021, at 12:05 PM, Jennifer Nicholson
Good afternoon, I am just reaching out over a road and sidewalk construction project that is taking place on Hallowell lane. Eric Basye advised that this would be a good group to email my concerns to. I highly suggest that you all take a walk down this road and take a look for yourself. I am highly supportive of improvements of the area and if improvements are taking place it should be done right and not pieced together so we will continue to have issues and need improvements. With the amount of funding dedicated to this street construction project it is unlikely that it will make the budget again anytime soon for future improvements as the funding will move to different streets, etc. in this area. This is super frustrating. Some portions of sidewalks are being replaced but not all of them. It was selective to the engineer on which sidewalks are being replaced. They left a ton of broken and sunken sidewalks. These broken and sunken sidewalks will still continue to collect water. Also, the new sidewalk they did lay doesn’t match up with the old side walk in some areas so the water will likely not be able to flow into the “new drains” in these areas as well. On my side of the street specifically part of our sidewalk is sunken and will collect water still and the curb is broken and has parts breaking off actively and the concrete chunks laying on the sidewalk until the engineer just came and swept those up. I have spoken with the engineer of this project. He has been completely disrespectful. His initial conversation with me was he is the engineer and nothing I say will make him change his mind on the work done and my concerns are considered harassment to him. This is not all of the rude and disrespectful things he said but really overall not the point of this email. I spoke with his supervisor who stopped by my house today to discuss my concerns and he said that the work they do has to be equitable with the area. Wow, that was even more frustrating. I said because my house is worth 200,000 instead of 400,000 my kids should have to walk in the street around puddles, etc. Then he said that well we are looking at the entire area and some houses are worth less, etc. and they have to look at the equity of the entire area. After my frustration grew there he said I don’t think you are looking at the word equitable appropriately and said he wanted to change the wording he choose and not use that anymore. He then said well if we fix your sidewalk we will have to fix the other sunken/broken sidewalk on this street. I said YES you should. I am supportive of our tax dollars going towards improvements of this street and if you are going to use them then they should be used appropriately and the project should be done correct. It doesn’t do any good to leave some sidewalks that are still going to collect water when you just spent money to replace the drains when the water will not flow past that area to those drains. The engineer then said he hasn’t “fully decided” what he was going to do yet at the end of my conversation with him.
I appreciate your time. I will follow-up with pictures if needed.
Thanks, Jennifer and Patrick Nicholson
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Jennifer Nicholson To: Joy, Denise Cc: Council Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] FW: Hallowell Lane Construction Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 6:37:11 PM
Thank you I appreciate it!
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 23, 2021, at 1:02 PM, Joy, Denise
,Dear Ms. Nicholson
Thank you for calling and writing. I will continue to be in contact to address your concerns. Thanks
Denise Joy Council Member Ward 3 P.O. Box 31192 Billings, MT 59107 406-647-0337
On Jul 23, 2021, at 12:05 PM, Jennifer Nicholson
Good afternoon, I am just reaching out over a road and sidewalk construction project that is taking place on Hallowell lane. Eric Basye advised that this would be a good group to email my concerns to. I highly suggest that you all take a walk down this road and take a look for yourself. I am highly supportive of improvements of the area and if improvements are taking place it should be done right and not pieced together so we will continue to have issues and need improvements. With the amount of funding dedicated to this street construction project it is unlikely that it will make the budget again anytime soon for future improvements as the funding will move to different streets, etc. in this area. This is super frustrating. Some portions of sidewalks are being replaced but not all of them. It was selective to the engineer on which sidewalks are being replaced. They left a ton of broken and sunken sidewalks. These broken and sunken sidewalks will still continue to collect water. Also, the new sidewalk they did lay doesn’t match up with the old side walk in some areas so the water will likely not be able to flow into the “new drains” in these areas as well. On my side of the street specifically part of our sidewalk is sunken and will collect water still and the curb is broken and has parts breaking off actively and the concrete chunks laying on the sidewalk until the engineer just came and swept those up. I have spoken with the engineer of this project. He has been completely disrespectful. His initial conversation with me was he is the engineer and nothing I say will make him change his mind on the work done and my concerns are considered harassment to him. This is not all of the rude and disrespectful things he said but really overall not the point of this email. I spoke with his supervisor who stopped by my house today to discuss my concerns and he said that the work they do has to be equitable with the area. Wow, that was even more frustrating. I said because my house is worth 200,000 instead of 400,000 my kids should have to walk in the street around puddles, etc. Then he said that well we are looking at the entire area and some houses are worth less, etc. and they have to look at the equity of the entire area. After my frustration grew there he said I don’t think you are looking at the word equitable appropriately and said he wanted to change the wording he choose and not use that anymore. He then said well if we fix your sidewalk we will have to fix the other sunken/broken sidewalk on this street. I said YES you should. I am supportive of our tax dollars going towards improvements of this street and if you are going to use them then they should be used appropriately and the project should be done correct. It doesn’t do any good to leave some sidewalks that are still going to collect water when you just spent money to replace the drains when the water will not flow past that area to those drains. The engineer then said he hasn’t “fully decided” what he was going to do yet at the end of my conversation with him.
I appreciate your time. I will follow-up with pictures if needed.
Thanks, Jennifer and Patrick Nicholson
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Patti Webster To: SPaddock; Leah Russell; Jen Gross; Iffland, Kevin; [email protected]; Emily Caudill; Mary McNally; Katie Zolnikov; Cary Smith; FPederson; Phil Tannis; Maddie Alpert - Tester local office ([email protected]); Tom McGillvray; Crystal Friedrich; Mallerie Stromswold; Colin Pederson; Boyett, Mike; Kathy Kelker; Jimmy Patelis; St. John, Rich; Doug Kary; Georgia Cady; Brad Mansur; E Basye; Dean Wells; Chris Friedel; Katy Easton ([email protected]); Joy, Denise; [email protected]; Barry Usher; Kathy Sabol; Emma KC; Rod Ostermiller; Jessica Karjala; djordan@hrdc7. org ([email protected]); Jeromy Emerling; Larry Brewster; Randy Hafer; E Lambert; Matt Lundgren; Frank Fleming; Kerri; S Hinz; Farrar- Neary, Marcee A.; Choriki, Danny; John Ostlund; [email protected]; Josiah Hugs; [email protected]; Kody @ DBA; "[email protected]"; Lisa K. Harmon; Tess Besaw ([email protected]); [email protected]; [email protected]; Dennis Lenz; Bill Mercer; Shaw, Kendra; Sue Vinton; Brad Molnar; D Pitman; Kukulski, Chris; Robyn Driscoll; L Donnot; Purinton, Pam; Ronning, Penny; Karla Maslowski; Sharon Stewart Peregoy; "[email protected]"; Mary Gilluly; [email protected]; Commissioner Don Jones; Cole, Bill; Council; "[email protected]"; [email protected]; Helen Verhasselt; Teddi Shorten; Annie Zimmerman; Carol Burton - United Way of Yellowstone County ([email protected]); Sandra ([email protected]); "Tom Rupsis"; [email protected]; "[email protected]"; "Madie Youlden"; Johnnie ([email protected]); "Anne DeBoo"; "[email protected]"; "[email protected]" Cc: "Melanie Schwarz"; "Erin Lambert"; "[email protected]"; "[email protected]"; "Hope Blake"; "Jessica Kannegiesser"; "Annette Redding"; Ed Gulick Subject: [EXTERNAL] CoC Low Barrier Shelter Task Force Community Meeting Start: Friday, July 30, 2021 9:00:00 AM End: Friday, July 30, 2021 12:00:00 PM Location: 2173 Overland Ave, Billings, MT 59102 United Way of Yellowstone County Importance: High
Hi, The CoC is so excited to continue our work with you The first meeting had a great turnout and we look forward to the continued commitment to tackle the issue of a permanent low barrier shelter. This meeting will be facilitated by Jennifer Owen and will dig in to next steps.
Formerly Housing Authority of Billings Patti Webster Chief Executive Officer/Executive Director
Phone: 406.237-1916 Fax: 406-237-1956 Email: [email protected]
2415 First Avenue North Billings, MT 59101 https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/WORaCzpE9vsQwB6i4yVCN
The information contained in this e-mail, including any attachments transmitted with it, is confidential and is intended only for the use of the individual named above. If the reader of this transmission is not the intended recipient, you are hereby advised that any viewing, dissemination, distribution or copying of this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately notify the sender and destroy this transmission. From: Bohlman, Denise To: Cole, Bill; Council Cc: Kukulski, Chris; Eric Basye; Iffland, Kevin; Friday, Wyeth Subject: RE: CLDI Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 4:50:59 PM
All,
I have placed this in the Council Presentations folder so it is ready to go for Mr. Basye on our laptop.
Thank you,
Denise R. Bohlman City Clerk [email protected]
P.O. Box 1178 • Billings, MT 59103 billingsmt.gov P 406.657.8210 F 406.657.8390
City of Billings email messages and attachments are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sec. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chapter 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law. This message is intended for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, please notify the sender immediately, do not forward the message to anyone, and delete all copies. Thank you.
From: Cole, Bill
Council:
Item #2 on Monday night's agenda is a letter of support for low-income tax credits for CLDI's Tapestry Apartments project.
Attached is a PowerPoint slide deck showing what the project will look like, floor plans, etc.
Bill Cole, Mayor City of Billings, Montana [email protected] 406-294-5700
From: Jeff Kanning
Hey Bill, Eric asked us for some ‘slides’ for his new Tapestry Tower project for the City Council meeting next Monday. I just sent this to him but I guess he is out all week. Could you please see that this gets to the right place? Thanks … Jeff
Best, JEFF KANNING, AIA CDP ARCHITECT | PRINCIPAL [email protected] 2280 GRANT ROAD, SUITE C • BILLINGS, MT 59101 • 406-248-3443 CD-MT.COM
This email and any files transmitted with it are privileged, confidential, subject to copyright and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized review, use, dissemination, distribution, downloading, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify us by reply email, delete the communication and destroy all copies. Thank you for your assistance and co-operation.
From: Bohlman, Denise To: Council Subject: Draft Minutes from June 28th Regular Business Meeting Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 4:10:35 PM Attachments: 06.28.21 MINUTES .pdf
Greetings,
Attached for your review and approval during the July 26, 2021 Regular Business meeting, are the draft Minutes from the June 28, 2021 Regular Business meeting.
Please be advised that the draft minutes for the July 12th meeting will be pending and not ready for approval Monday night.
Thank you and have a great weekend!
Denise R. Bohlman City Clerk [email protected]
P.O. Box 1178 • Billings, MT 59103 billingsmt.gov P 406.657.8210 F 406.657.8390
City of Billings email messages and attachments are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sec. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chapter 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law. This message is intended for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, please notify the sender immediately, do not forward the message to anyone, and delete all copies. Thank you.
From: Meling, Debi To: Purinton, Pam; [email protected] Cc: Council; Iffland, Kevin; Duray, Jennifer; Kukulski, Chris Subject: RE: Hallowell Lane Construction Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 3:55:13 PM Attachments: image001.png
Ms. Nicholson, Mayor and Council,
Please see the response that we sent yesterday from City Engineer Mac Fogelsong: We have been actively looking into this section of Hallowell. I spoke to Ms. Nicholson this morning to better understand her concerns. We have removed the majority of the curb in front of her residence and the new curb is being poured as we speak. The new curb is being placed at elevations to improve the existing sidewalk drainage. Once this section of new curb is poured, we will perform additional review to see if additional measures need to be taken. This is an area where we are trying to match existing curbs and sidewalks while improving safety, without removing the entire street system from fence to fence.
When Mac talked about equity, he was talking about consistency along the project. If we start replacing a piece of functional sidewalk in front of one property, we would have to do it for the entire length and that was not the approach that was used for this project. This is an existing, local street that has a mix of improvements along the length of it. The approach was to fill in gaps, fix tripping hazards, fix areas of curb and sidewalk that don’t drain, and improve the street surface and drainage for the entire length. In any project, regardless of home value along the street, if improvements are existing and functional, the design incorporates them where possible.
As Mac said, the project team is continuing to assess the section of sidewalk in front of the property under discussion. It is obvious that the meeting you had with our Project Engineer and City Engineer did not satisfy your concerns but both Mac and Tyler are willing to continue to work through this with you. They are both extremely professional and community oriented and I’m certain that as you continue to communicate with them, you will find that to be true. However, if you would like to speak with someone else, our Deputy Director Jennifer Duray is available to work through your concerns. I can certainly meet with you but I will be out of town for the majority of next week. I have copied her on this email so you have her email address.
Mayor, as for your question about assessments, Hallowell is being funded by the SBURD TIFD so there are not property owner assessments.
Debi
Debi Meling, P.E. Public Works Director [email protected]
EXCELLENCE INNOVATION INTEGRITY
ADMINISTRATION billingsmtpublicworks.gov 2224 Montana Ave facebook@billingsmtpublicworks Billings, MT 59101 P 406.657.3097
City of Billings email messages and attachments are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sec. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chapter 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law. This message is intended for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, please notify the sender immediately, do not forward the message to anyone, and delete all copies. Thank you.
From: Purinton, Pam
Debi, could you respond to this concern? I have not driven through since construction started. Thanks,
Pam Purinton Council Member, Ward 4
From: Jennifer Nicholson
Good afternoon, I am just reaching out over a road and sidewalk construction project that is taking place on Hallowell lane. Eric Basye advised that this would be a good group to email my concerns to. I highly suggest that you all take a walk down this road and take a look for yourself. I am highly supportive of improvements of the area and if improvements are taking place it should be done right and not pieced together so we will continue to have issues and need improvements. With the amount of funding dedicated to this street construction project it is unlikely that it will make the budget again anytime soon for future improvements as the funding will move to different streets, etc. in this area. This is super frustrating. Some portions of sidewalks are being replaced but not all of them. It was selective to the engineer on which sidewalks are being replaced. They left a ton of broken and sunken sidewalks. These broken and sunken sidewalks will still continue to collect water. Also, the new sidewalk they did lay doesn’t match up with the old side walk in some areas so the water will likely not be able to flow into the “new drains” in these areas as well. On my side of the street specifically part of our sidewalk is sunken and will collect water still and the curb is broken and has parts breaking off actively and the concrete chunks laying on the sidewalk until the engineer just came and swept those up. I have spoken with the engineer of this project. He has been completely disrespectful. His initial conversation with me was he is the engineer and nothing I say will make him change his mind on the work done and my concerns are considered harassment to him. This is not all of the rude and disrespectful things he said but really overall not the point of this email. I spoke with his supervisor who stopped by my house today to discuss my concerns and he said that the work they do has to be equitable with the area. Wow, that was even more frustrating. I said because my house is worth 200,000 instead of 400,000 my kids should have to walk in the street around puddles, etc. Then he said that well we are looking at the entire area and some houses are worth less, etc. and they have to look at the equity of the entire area. After my frustration grew there he said I don’t think you are looking at the word equitable appropriately and said he wanted to change the wording he choose and not use that anymore. He then said well if we fix your sidewalk we will have to fix the other sunken/broken sidewalk on this street. I said YES you should. I am supportive of our tax dollars going towards improvements of this street and if you are going to use them then they should be used appropriately and the project should be done correct. It doesn’t do any good to leave some sidewalks that are still going to collect water when you just spent money to replace the drains when the water will not flow past that area to those drains. The engineer then said he hasn’t “fully decided” what he was going to do yet at the end of my conversation with him.
I appreciate your time. I will follow-up with pictures if needed.
Thanks, Jennifer and Patrick Nicholson
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Wooley, Brandon To: ABC6 FOX4; Associated Press; Billings Gazette; Denise Smith; KTVQ; KULR8; Northern Broadcasting; Scott Fredericks ([email protected]); Town Square Media; Wake Up Montana; Yellowstone County News; Yellowstone Public Radio Cc: .MayorAndCouncil; Harper, R D; House, Jeremy; Iffland, Kevin; Korell, Brian; Kukulski, Chris; Lawrence, Neil; St. John, Rich Subject: Seeking Information from Public Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 3:15:41 PM Attachments: 21-38593_Eldorado_Shooting_07.23.21.pdf Sus.Veh.2.png
Please find attached press release and photo for distribution.
Thanks and have a good weekend.
Brandon Wooley Administrative Lieutenant Billings Police Department [email protected] Tuesday – Friday 0700-1700
P.O. Box 1554 • Billings, MT 59103 billingsmt.gov P 406.657.8375 F 406.657.8417
City of Billings email messages and attachments are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sec. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chapter 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law. This message is intended for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, please notify the sender immediately, do not forward the message to anyone, and delete all copies. Thank you.
From: Cole, Bill To: Steve Arveschoug; John Brewer Cc: Daniel Brooks; Council; Kukulski, Chris; Zoeller, Andy Subject: Fw: [EXTERNAL] To The Mayor: July 23, 2021 Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 2:47:47 PM
Steve and John:
Please note below and let me know if you or someone from your shop would like to attend with me.
Bill
From: Tom Cochran
July 23 2021 Washington, D.C.
Commerce Secretary Raimondo Announces $3 Billion EDA Grants, Joins All-Mayors Zoom Meeting on Tuesday at 2pm ET – Tune in to Learn More – Important Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced yesterday a $3 billion Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant program. This initiative is part of the American Rescue Plan, which was passed in March with all mayors advocating for the landmark legislation providing $65.1 billion in direct funds to cities of all sizes.
Secretary Raimondo announced the components of the $3 billion initiative yesterday. The first part is a $1 billion challenge for up to 30 regions of the nation. She said this part is "to focus on innovation and spur projects that grow new industries and scale existing ones."
The second part is called the "Good Jobs Challenge" which provides half a billion dollars toward workforce training with an emphasis on women, people of color, and underserved communities.
She announced $750 million for recovery in the travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation sector.
$300 million is going into coal-affected communities, $100 million is provided for our indigenous communities, focusing on broadband, health, and more.
This is just a highlight of Secretary Raimondo's new initiatives. She has resources and she wants to spread the word to our nation's mayors on how her department can help our cities and our people.
Conference President Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley invites you to join our friend, Secretary Raimondo this Tuesday during our weekly All-Mayors Zoom Meeting. No doubt, there will be new information on these new resources, above and beyond the $65.1 billion allocations to cities, that will help foster economic activity and jobs for our citizens. If you have registered for previous weeks, your registration will work for Tuesday as well. If you have not yet registered, you can do so below.
Register
Here's a Fact. On this day, July 23, in 1962 at 3:00 pm ET, Telstar 1 relayed the first publicly available transatlantic television signal. European and all major United States television networks featured CBS's Walter Cronkite, NBC's Chet Huntly in New York, and BBC's Richard Dimbleby in Brussels.
The first broadcast was to be remarks from United States President John F. Kennedy, but the signal was acquired before he was ready to go so they plugged in a segment of the Philadelphia Phillies versus the Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Launched by NASA aboard a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral on July 10, 1962, Telstar 1 was the first privately-sponsored space launch. Transatlantic signals were limited to 30 minutes in each 2.5-hour orbit.
Since 1962, many Telstar satellites have been launched. The most recent, Telstar 19V was launched on July 22, 2018.
Today, we watch the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games live from Japan. CNN brought the news of the globe to our televisions and now to our handheld devices. Telstar 1, on this day in 1962, literally opened our view of the world for all to see as never before.
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Want to change how you receive these emails? Update your contact information, update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list From: Cole, Bill To: Jennifer Nicholson Cc: Council; Meling, Debi; Duray, Jennifer Subject: Re: Hallowell Lane Construction Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 2:37:25 PM
Ms. Nicholson:
Thank you for your email. Photos are always helpful, so please feel free to send them along.
How much is your assessment on this project? Generally speaking, the cost of sidewalk repairs falls to the adjacent property owner by city ordinance, but in the case of busier streets (like Hallowell) the city bears a lot of the cost.
Bill Cole, Mayor City of Billings, Montana [email protected] 406-294-5700
From: Jennifer Nicholson
Good afternoon, I am just reaching out over a road and sidewalk construction project that is taking place on Hallowell lane. Eric Basye advised that this would be a good group to email my concerns to. I highly suggest that you all take a walk down this road and take a look for yourself. I am highly supportive of improvements of the area and if improvements are taking place it should be done right and not pieced together so we will continue to have issues and need improvements. With the amount of funding dedicated to this street construction project it is unlikely that it will make the budget again anytime soon for future improvements as the funding will move to different streets, etc. in this area. This is super frustrating. Some portions of sidewalks are being replaced but not all of them. It was selective to the engineer on which sidewalks are being replaced. They left a ton of broken and sunken sidewalks. These broken and sunken sidewalks will still continue to collect water. Also, the new sidewalk they did lay doesn’t match up with the old side walk in some areas so the water will likely not be able to flow into the “new drains” in these areas as well. On my side of the street specifically part of our sidewalk is sunken and will collect water still and the curb is broken and has parts breaking off actively and the concrete chunks laying on the sidewalk until the engineer just came and swept those up. I have spoken with the engineer of this project. He has been completely disrespectful. His initial conversation with me was he is the engineer and nothing I say will make him change his mind on the work done and my concerns are considered harassment to him. This is not all of the rude and disrespectful things he said but really overall not the point of this email. I spoke with his supervisor who stopped by my house today to discuss my concerns and he said that the work they do has to be equitable with the area. Wow, that was even more frustrating. I said because my house is worth 200,000 instead of 400,000 my kids should have to walk in the street around puddles, etc. Then he said that well we are looking at the entire area and some houses are worth less, etc. and they have to look at the equity of the entire area. After my frustration grew there he said I don’t think you are looking at the word equitable appropriately and said he wanted to change the wording he choose and not use that anymore. He then said well if we fix your sidewalk we will have to fix the other sunken/broken sidewalk on this street. I said YES you should. I am supportive of our tax dollars going towards improvements of this street and if you are going to use them then they should be used appropriately and the project should be done correct. It doesn’t do any good to leave some sidewalks that are still going to collect water when you just spent money to replace the drains when the water will not flow past that area to those drains. The engineer then said he hasn’t “fully decided” what he was going to do yet at the end of my conversation with him.
I appreciate your time. I will follow-up with pictures if needed.
Thanks, Jennifer and Patrick Nicholson
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Ronning, Penny To: Jennifer Nicholson; Council Subject: Re: Hallowell Lane Construction Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 1:10:45 PM Attachments: Outlook-A picture .png
Ms. Nicholson,
Thank you for reaching out to city council on this matter. I appreciate your suggestion to take a walk down the road. I have cleared time in my schedule this afternoon and plan to take that walk. First hand knowledge always helps put things into perspective. I also look forward to hearing from Public Works Director Debi Meling on the concerns you have addressed in your email.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Penny Ronning
______
Penny Ronning Billings City Council, Ward 4 Cell: (406) 579-9778 [email protected]
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City of Billings email messages and attachments are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana's Constitution (Art.II, Sec.9) and may be considered a "public record" pursuant to Title 2, Chapter 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City's record retention policies. Email that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law. This message is intended for the use of the individual or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient of this transmission, please notify the sender immediately, do not forward this message to anyone, and delete all copies. Thank you. From: Jennifer Nicholson
Good afternoon, I am just reaching out over a road and sidewalk construction project that is taking place on Hallowell lane. Eric Basye advised that this would be a good group to email my concerns to. I highly suggest that you all take a walk down this road and take a look for yourself. I am highly supportive of improvements of the area and if improvements are taking place it should be done right and not pieced together so we will continue to have issues and need improvements. With the amount of funding dedicated to this street construction project it is unlikely that it will make the budget again anytime soon for future improvements as the funding will move to different streets, etc. in this area. This is super frustrating. Some portions of sidewalks are being replaced but not all of them. It was selective to the engineer on which sidewalks are being replaced. They left a ton of broken and sunken sidewalks. These broken and sunken sidewalks will still continue to collect water. Also, the new sidewalk they did lay doesn’t match up with the old side walk in some areas so the water will likely not be able to flow into the “new drains” in these areas as well. On my side of the street specifically part of our sidewalk is sunken and will collect water still and the curb is broken and has parts breaking off actively and the concrete chunks laying on the sidewalk until the engineer just came and swept those up. I have spoken with the engineer of this project. He has been completely disrespectful. His initial conversation with me was he is the engineer and nothing I say will make him change his mind on the work done and my concerns are considered harassment to him. This is not all of the rude and disrespectful things he said but really overall not the point of this email. I spoke with his supervisor who stopped by my house today to discuss my concerns and he said that the work they do has to be equitable with the area. Wow, that was even more frustrating. I said because my house is worth 200,000 instead of 400,000 my kids should have to walk in the street around puddles, etc. Then he said that well we are looking at the entire area and some houses are worth less, etc. and they have to look at the equity of the entire area. After my frustration grew there he said I don’t think you are looking at the word equitable appropriately and said he wanted to change the wording he choose and not use that anymore. He then said well if we fix your sidewalk we will have to fix the other sunken/broken sidewalk on this street. I said YES you should. I am supportive of our tax dollars going towards improvements of this street and if you are going to use them then they should be used appropriately and the project should be done correct. It doesn’t do any good to leave some sidewalks that are still going to collect water when you just spent money to replace the drains when the water will not flow past that area to those drains. The engineer then said he hasn’t “fully decided” what he was going to do yet at the end of my conversation with him.
I appreciate your time. I will follow-up with pictures if needed.
Thanks, Jennifer and Patrick Nicholson
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Joy, Denise To: Jennifer Nicholson Cc: Council Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] FW: Hallowell Lane Construction Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 1:02:48 PM
Dear Ms. Nicholson,
Thank you for calling and writing. I will continue to be in contact to address your concerns. Thanks
Denise Joy Council Member Ward 3 P.O. Box 31192 Billings, MT 59107 406-647-0337
On Jul 23, 2021, at 12:05 PM, Jennifer Nicholson
Good afternoon, I am just reaching out over a road and sidewalk construction project that is taking place on Hallowell lane. Eric Basye advised that this would be a good group to email my concerns to. I highly suggest that you all take a walk down this road and take a look for yourself. I am highly supportive of improvements of the area and if improvements are taking place it should be done right and not pieced together so we will continue to have issues and need improvements. With the amount of funding dedicated to this street construction project it is unlikely that it will make the budget again anytime soon for future improvements as the funding will move to different streets, etc. in this area. This is super frustrating. Some portions of sidewalks are being replaced but not all of them. It was selective to the engineer on which sidewalks are being replaced. They left a ton of broken and sunken sidewalks. These broken and sunken sidewalks will still continue to collect water. Also, the new sidewalk they did lay doesn’t match up with the old side walk in some areas so the water will likely not be able to flow into the “new drains” in these areas as well. On my side of the street specifically part of our sidewalk is sunken and will collect water still and the curb is broken and has parts breaking off actively and the concrete chunks laying on the sidewalk until the engineer just came and swept those up. I have spoken with the engineer of this project. He has been completely disrespectful. His initial conversation with me was he is the engineer and nothing I say will make him change his mind on the work done and my concerns are considered harassment to him. This is not all of the rude and disrespectful things he said but really overall not the point of this email. I spoke with his supervisor who stopped by my house today to discuss my concerns and he said that the work they do has to be equitable with the area. Wow, that was even more frustrating. I said because my house is worth 200,000 instead of 400,000 my kids should have to walk in the street around puddles, etc. Then he said that well we are looking at the entire area and some houses are worth less, etc. and they have to look at the equity of the entire area. After my frustration grew there he said I don’t think you are looking at the word equitable appropriately and said he wanted to change the wording he choose and not use that anymore. He then said well if we fix your sidewalk we will have to fix the other sunken/broken sidewalk on this street. I said YES you should. I am supportive of our tax dollars going towards improvements of this street and if you are going to use them then they should be used appropriately and the project should be done correct. It doesn’t do any good to leave some sidewalks that are still going to collect water when you just spent money to replace the drains when the water will not flow past that area to those drains. The engineer then said he hasn’t “fully decided” what he was going to do yet at the end of my conversation with him.
I appreciate your time. I will follow-up with pictures if needed.
Thanks, Jennifer and Patrick Nicholson
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Purinton, Pam To: Meling, Debi; [email protected] Cc: Council; Iffland, Kevin Subject: Fw: Hallowell Lane Construction Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 12:14:25 PM
Debi, could you respond to this concern? I have not driven through since construction started. Thanks,
Pam Purinton Council Member, Ward 4
From: Jennifer Nicholson
Good afternoon, I am just reaching out over a road and sidewalk construction project that is taking place on Hallowell lane. Eric Basye advised that this would be a good group to email my concerns to. I highly suggest that you all take a walk down this road and take a look for yourself. I am highly supportive of improvements of the area and if improvements are taking place it should be done right and not pieced together so we will continue to have issues and need improvements. With the amount of funding dedicated to this street construction project it is unlikely that it will make the budget again anytime soon for future improvements as the funding will move to different streets, etc. in this area. This is super frustrating. Some portions of sidewalks are being replaced but not all of them. It was selective to the engineer on which sidewalks are being replaced. They left a ton of broken and sunken sidewalks. These broken and sunken sidewalks will still continue to collect water. Also, the new sidewalk they did lay doesn’t match up with the old side walk in some areas so the water will likely not be able to flow into the “new drains” in these areas as well. On my side of the street specifically part of our sidewalk is sunken and will collect water still and the curb is broken and has parts breaking off actively and the concrete chunks laying on the sidewalk until the engineer just came and swept those up. I have spoken with the engineer of this project. He has been completely disrespectful. His initial conversation with me was he is the engineer and nothing I say will make him change his mind on the work done and my concerns are considered harassment to him. This is not all of the rude and disrespectful things he said but really overall not the point of this email. I spoke with his supervisor who stopped by my house today to discuss my concerns and he said that the work they do has to be equitable with the area. Wow, that was even more frustrating. I said because my house is worth 200,000 instead of 400,000 my kids should have to walk in the street around puddles, etc. Then he said that well we are looking at the entire area and some houses are worth less, etc. and they have to look at the equity of the entire area. After my frustration grew there he said I don’t think you are looking at the word equitable appropriately and said he wanted to change the wording he choose and not use that anymore. He then said well if we fix your sidewalk we will have to fix the other sunken/broken sidewalk on this street. I said YES you should. I am supportive of our tax dollars going towards improvements of this street and if you are going to use them then they should be used appropriately and the project should be done correct. It doesn’t do any good to leave some sidewalks that are still going to collect water when you just spent money to replace the drains when the water will not flow past that area to those drains. The engineer then said he hasn’t “fully decided” what he was going to do yet at the end of my conversation with him.
I appreciate your time. I will follow-up with pictures if needed.
Thanks, Jennifer and Patrick Nicholson
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Jennifer Nicholson To: Council Subject: [EXTERNAL] FW: Hallowell Lane Construction Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 12:05:09 PM
Good afternoon, I am just reaching out over a road and sidewalk construction project that is taking place on Hallowell lane. Eric Basye advised that this would be a good group to email my concerns to. I highly suggest that you all take a walk down this road and take a look for yourself. I am highly supportive of improvements of the area and if improvements are taking place it should be done right and not pieced together so we will continue to have issues and need improvements. With the amount of funding dedicated to this street construction project it is unlikely that it will make the budget again anytime soon for future improvements as the funding will move to different streets, etc. in this area. This is super frustrating. Some portions of sidewalks are being replaced but not all of them. It was selective to the engineer on which sidewalks are being replaced. They left a ton of broken and sunken sidewalks. These broken and sunken sidewalks will still continue to collect water. Also, the new sidewalk they did lay doesn’t match up with the old side walk in some areas so the water will likely not be able to flow into the “new drains” in these areas as well. On my side of the street specifically part of our sidewalk is sunken and will collect water still and the curb is broken and has parts breaking off actively and the concrete chunks laying on the sidewalk until the engineer just came and swept those up. I have spoken with the engineer of this project. He has been completely disrespectful. His initial conversation with me was he is the engineer and nothing I say will make him change his mind on the work done and my concerns are considered harassment to him. This is not all of the rude and disrespectful things he said but really overall not the point of this email. I spoke with his supervisor who stopped by my house today to discuss my concerns and he said that the work they do has to be equitable with the area. Wow, that was even more frustrating. I said because my house is worth 200,000 instead of 400,000 my kids should have to walk in the street around puddles, etc. Then he said that well we are looking at the entire area and some houses are worth less, etc. and they have to look at the equity of the entire area. After my frustration grew there he said I don’t think you are looking at the word equitable appropriately and said he wanted to change the wording he choose and not use that anymore. He then said well if we fix your sidewalk we will have to fix the other sunken/broken sidewalk on this street. I said YES you should. I am supportive of our tax dollars going towards improvements of this street and if you are going to use them then they should be used appropriately and the project should be done correct. It doesn’t do any good to leave some sidewalks that are still going to collect water when you just spent money to replace the drains when the water will not flow past that area to those drains. The engineer then said he hasn’t “fully decided” what he was going to do yet at the end of my conversation with him.
I appreciate your time. I will follow-up with pictures if needed.
Thanks, Jennifer and Patrick Nicholson
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Purinton, Pam To: Duray, Jennifer; Kukulski, Chris; Cromwell, Nicole; Meling, Debi Cc: Council Subject: Agenda Item 4 Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 11:25:15 AM
Jennifer, a couple of questions for clarification: Sec.22-1003(a) states some exemptions. Why the exemptions? Also why include the R- classifications when those have been changed? Are those noted on public records e.g. city tax bill, DOR. Did Council set the arterial construction assessment rate? Is it the same as before Re-Code? Finally in (c), Finance service manager had not been changed to "finance director" Thanks,
Pam Purinton Council Member, Ward 4 From: Cole, Bill To: John Felton; zHAN Emergency Preparedness - KC Williams; Donald Jones; John Ostlund; Denis Pitman Cc: Teri Reitz; Jeana Lervick; zHAN Emergency Preparedness -Linda Oberg; Kukulski, Chris; Council Subject: Re: Rescinding COVID-19 Declaration of Emergency Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 10:59:19 AM Attachments: image001.png image002.png image003.png image004.png image005.png image006.png
Thanks John. Understood. Hopefully our vaccination rate will go up now that we are seeing more local impact from the variants for the unvaccinated.
In case you did not know already, the city council will likely approve a resolution at our Monday night meeting lifting the city's declaration of emergency. If that particular move causes you any concern, please let us know. Of course, we don't want to send an "all clear" signal with storm clouds still on the horizon, so I will use it as an opportunity to warn the community of the things you said in your email.
Nationally the cost of each COVID-19 hospitalization is $50-$70,000, which is born primarily by employer health plans, federal and state taxpayers, and hospitals themselves.
Bill Cole, Mayor City of Billings, Montana [email protected] 406-294-5700
From: John Felton
Good morning –
In an effort to provide the most current data as the Board considers the state of emergency declaration, I have attached a PowerPoint presentation of data slides.
In addition, I would share some discussion at today’s Unified Health Command (UHC) meeting. The UHC now meets every other week during the relatively stable period in which we find ourselves. The likelihood of a future surge of cases was discussed, with Drs. Ku and Graham (infectious disease specialists at Billings Clinic and St. Vincent Healthcare, respectively) and I from the public health perspective all reaching the same conclusion: while it is not possible to predict future infectious disease activity with absolute certainty, there are several factors that make it more likely than not that we will see a surge of cases and hospitalizations of some degree, especially in the fall when schools are back in session and cooler weather drives more people indoors. Key factors include:
· The relative absence of mitigation actions (e.g., mask usage, physical distancing, limitation of group size, etc.) in the community, state, and region; · The relatively low vaccination rate achieved to date; · The substantial slowing of incremental increases in weekly vaccine doses and number of fully vaccinated Yellowstone County residents (our weekly dose administration is about 1/10 of the peak levels seem in April); · The increasing test positivity rate among symptomatic persons; · The increasing prevalence of variants, particularly the Delta variant, in our state and county; · The likelihood a return to more typical levels of influenza infection, noting that MT had no confirmed cases of influenza in the most recent “season” that was likely largely due to the mitigation measures used for COVID-19 that also slows the spread of influenza (spread by the same droplet transmission route); and, · The continued likelihood of “imported” infections arising from the increase in tourism to our state and intrastate travel between areas of higher prevalence (e.g., right now Flathead County has about twice as many active cases and three times the number of new cases per 100,000 population per day as Yellowstone County.)
I hope this information is of value as you consider this question before you.
Respectfully,
J.
John Felton, MPH, MBA, FACHE President & CEO / Health Officer [email protected] Office: 406.651.6474 Mobile: 406.670.2664 www.riverstonehealth.org
From: KC Williams
Commissioners,
I believe it is time to rescind our declaration of emergency (Resolution No. 20- 31) for COVID-19.
The Governor rescinded the State declaration and I see no current reason to continue our emergency declaration. Once the State of Montana rescinded its declaration, it technically cut off our ability to tap into FEMA funding for COVID related issues.
I do not know of any link to ARPA funding that requires a current declaration of emergency. We should probably make sure Jeana agrees with this observation.
We can issue another emergency declaration at any time the BOCC believes we should, if the COVID situation escalates in Yellowstone County. We are seeing a slow, but steady, increase in COVID cases related to some of the variants. However, our healthcare system is not in a state of emergency or overwhelmed at this time.
The latest COVID data from Riverstone Health web site and COVID ActNow (updated July 22, 2021):
RISK LEVEL - MEDIUM
Our COVID risk level looks at three things: daily new cases (per 100K), infection rate, and positive test rate. Each is graded on a five-color scale and the highest risk color becomes the location’s overall risk level. The one exception is that if a location's daily new cases is green, then its overall risk level is green.
· VACCINATION PROGRESS o % Vaccinated § 43.2% 1+ Dose § 39.6% Fully Vaccinated
· Daily new cases o 6.4 PER 100K · Infection rate o 0.84 · Positive test rate o 4.3%
· Hospitalizations o ICU USED § 63% o ICU PATIENTS § 4.0 o HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS § 25.0
Yellowstone County, Montana has reported having 65 staffed adult ICU beds. 37 are filled by non-COVID patients and 4 are filled by COVID patients. Overall, 41 out of 65 (63%) are filled. This suggests there is likely enough capacity to absorb a wave of new COVID infections.
K.C. Williams Disaster and Emergency Services Director Fire Warden Yellowstone County Montana 316 North 26th Street Room 3201 Billings, MT 59101 (406) 256-2776 (o) (406) 208-0506 (c) [email protected]
From: Purinton, Pam To: Kukulski, Chris; Iffland, Kevin Cc: Council Subject: Cost of Training Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 10:50:26 AM
Chris, how much did the city spend bringing in the outside experts to do staff training for the Spa Facilities Ordinance? Thank you
Pam Purinton Council Member, Ward 4 From: Purinton, Pam To: Mattox, Lora; Iffland, Kevin Cc: Council Subject: 5th Ave Corridor Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 10:41:02 AM
Lora, thank you for providing the feasibility study last week. I find it interesting that the Division-27th Street was included as I remember, initially, the corridor study would be between 27th and Main (MetraPark). My concern with the study is the area between Division-27th already is a walkable area. I don't believe the potential ROWs in that area are feasible or necessary. Just my thoughts as well as some in the EBIRD
Pam Purinton Council Member, Ward 4 From: Purinton, Pam To: Cole, Bill; Council Cc: Waite, Chris; Whitaker, Michael; Kukulski, Chris; Iffland, Kevin; Stanton, Karla; Maddox, Wynnette Subject: Re: Nice letter Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 10:36:20 AM
Thank you for sharing...and kudos to Chris. We have been in a similar situation and it is very much appreciated when there are willing staff members to help.
Pam Purinton Council Member, Ward 4
From: Cole, Bill
Council:
This letter will brighten your day.
Chris Waite, thanks for your service to our community.
Bill Cole, Mayor City of Billings, Montana [email protected] 406-294-5700 From: Cole, Bill To: Council Cc: Waite, Chris; Whitaker, Michael; Kukulski, Chris; Iffland, Kevin; Stanton, Karla; Maddox, Wynnette Subject: Nice letter Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 10:27:54 AM Attachments: doc08469420210723100713.pdf
Council:
This letter will brighten your day.
Chris Waite, thanks for your service to our community.
Bill Cole, Mayor City of Billings, Montana [email protected] 406-294-5700 From: Sara Schooley To: Monat, Elyse Cc: Walker, Scott; Mattox, Lora; Friday, Wyeth; Plecker, Monica; Council; Kukulski, Chris; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; Sara Schooley Subject: [EXTERNAL] Billings SRTS Weekly Update - 7/23/21 Date: Friday, July 23, 2021 10:22:59 AM
Hi Elyse,
Here’s our weekly check-in regarding the Billings Safe Routes to School Plan Update:
Task 1. Public Engagement The team updated the Public Engagement Plan per your comments. We are starting to develop the webmap for launch in August Drafting the project one pager/overview
Task 2. Existing Conditions Finalized the list of plans and policies to review. Beginning to draft the plans/policy review memo. We have created and uploaded a draft online survey for principals so they can tell us about their transportation concerns, knowledge, etc. around their school.
For you: Recruit and set date for the first Project Oversight Committee meeting (week of August 30th) Review principal survey Review and consolidate comments on the Public Engagement Plan/webmap survey from the Project Oversight Committee – send to Toole by 7/30.
Thanks!
Sara Schooley | Project Planner II (she/her)
TOOLE DESIGN [email protected] | 608.663.8082 x306
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