Missoula County Government: Missoula County Weekly June 7-11

Press release from the Missoula County Government:

06/07/2021 7:00 AM

Missoula County offices reopened to public June 1 with guidelines in place. Read the full list of updates from each public-facing department on the Missoula County Blog. 

Vaccines are available to everyone 12 and older! 

Stay up to date with Missoula County's COVID-19 vaccine distribution success! Visit covid19.missoula.co/vaccine-information and click on the Vaccination Distribution Map and Dashboard blue button. The data is updated every Monday. If you would like to track data across Montana, visit the Montana Response page. 

Missoula mayor and Missoula County commissioners make joint statement addressing the issue of unhoused residents in the Missoula area 

The City of Missoula and Missoula County, working collaboratively, have deemed the current number of residents who are unhoused, and the effects of that homelessness on those individuals without permanent, safe housing, and the consequences of homelessness to the larger community, constitute as a critical issue demanding extraordinary attention.  

In order to mobilize collective resources to mitigate human suffering and environmental degradation, enhance public safety and ensure that facilities owned by the public are available for intended uses, the city and county will deploy an incident-management team skilled in solving complex problems. 

 The mission is three-fold: 

• Create safe spaces in the short-term for unhoused residents to be safely housed, to safely camp outdoors or in vehicles 

• End illegal camping in the urban wild 

The Missoula mayor and Missoula County commissioners addressed the issue at a press conference Tuesday, June 1.  

Read the full statement. 
Watch the press conference. 

Commissioners seek applicants for expanded Seeley Cemetery Board 

Missoula County commissioners recently approved new bylaws for the Seeley Lake Cemetery District Board, updating basic guidelines and expanding the board membership from three to five members. The commissioners are accepting applications for the new three-year terms, which will run through April 30, 2024. Applicants must reside and/or own real property in the boundaries of the district, which has the same geographic boundaries as the Seeley Lake Elementary School District No. 34. Applications are available online. The deadline for applications is 3 p.m. Monday, June 28. 

Read more. 

Frenchtown Farmers Market moved to Old Bull Brewery parking lot 

For 2021, the Frenchtown Farmers Market will be located at the Old Bull Brewery parking lot located at 16862 Beckwith St., Frenchtown, MT 59834. Hours will be from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. every Wednesday from June to October. Commissioners approved the updated resolution with the location change at their June 3 public meeting.  

Watch the public meeting. 
View the resolution. 

Commissioners to proclaim Saturday, June 19 as Juneteenth Independence Day 

To commemorate African-American emancipation from slavery, to celebrate the freedom won by many people in many countries and to rededicate themselves to the cause of liberty, the Missoula County Board of County Commissioners will proclaim, as they have in years past, Juneteenth Independence Day at their public meeting 2 p.m. Thursday, June 10 .  

Read the proclamation and find a link to join the meeting. 

Missoula County employees are working hard for you! 

Caroline Lauer, Climate Resilience Coordinator, Community and Planning Services 

"My mission is to build resiliency in Missoula County. Climate resiliency is about being prepared for the disruptions climate change will bring and making sure that we “bounce forward” after disruptions, leaving no one behind. Climate Ready Missoula, our county-wide resiliency plan, identifies 77 strategies to build resiliency, tackling topics from our buildings and roads to our rivers and forests. 

Since this is a newly created position, a lot of details of my job are still being determined. This summer, I plan to work with the health department, Climate Smart Missoula, local hospitals and others to make sure all Missoulians can stay healthy when it’s hot and smoky outside. In the fall, I might coordinate with nonprofit partners, local farmers and Missoula County extension to expand access to local food, which keeps our citizens, land and economy healthy. This winter I hope to work with local businesses and entrepreneurs to prepare our recreation and tourism industries for changing seasonal conditions.  

Luckily, I don’t do any of this alone. I work closely with an interdisciplinary implementation team made up of local government staff and elected officials, concerned citizens, nonprofits and local businesses, as well as topic-specific working groups. When I’m not thinking about Climate Ready, I work with Sustainability Program Manager Diana Maneta on a range of the county’s sustainability efforts, like the 100% clean electricity plan to reduce Missoula County’s contribution to climate change. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to serve Missoula County!"

What is Missoula County doing about … historic preservation? 

Missoula County is working on a handful of historic preservation projects. Among them include the LaLonde Ranch, one of the last remaining historic ranches in the Missoula Valley, which the commissioners adopted a resolution in support of preservation. The county is also working on Missoula County Fairgrounds redevelopment that will preserve historic ties to community agriculture, develop 19 acres of open space, create 6,000 feet of trail connections and build facilities for agricultural, educational and recreational programming. The Missoula County Clerk and Recorder’s Office has an initiative called “Map Missoula” that aims to increase accessibility to property information and historical archives by combining digitized archives and Geographic Information Systems data to connect historic Missoula with the one that exists today. The city and county are also currently considering acquisition of the historical federal building on East Broadway Street, which has sat nearly vacant for several years.  

Read more. 

Missoula County in the News: May 29 to June 4 

Missoula announces plan to offer alternatives to illegal homeless camping 
Museum gets money to preserve WWII internment camp at Fort Missoula 
Missoula leaders will pursue release of rental assistance money from state 

Upcoming Commissioners’ Meetings from Monday, June 7 to Friday, June 11 

To join commissioner department, administrative and public meetings via Microsoft Teams and view the agendas, please visit the Missoula County Commissioners’ Meeting Minutes and Agenda Portal. Please note that agendas for department and administrative meetings are published two business days before the meeting, and public meeting agendas are published the Friday before the meeting. Administrative and public meeting video recordings are available on the Missoula County YouTube page after the meeting, and MCAT plays the public meetings live on their Spectrum Channel 190. Email bcc@missoulacounty.us or leave a voicemail at 406-258-4877 if you have any questions or comments on an upcoming meeting. 

• Monday, June 7 
  Public Works Update 
  Community and Planning Services Update 
  Zoning Code Update 
  Montana Department of Transportation Update 

• Tuesday, June 8 
  Chief Administrative Officer Update 
  Commissioners’ Administrative Public Meeting 

• Wednesday, June 9 
  Treasurer’s Office Update 
  Chief Officers Update 

• Friday, June 11 
  No department, administrative or public meetings are scheduled on this day. 

This press release was produced by the Missoula County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.