City Council - Regular Meeting

going to go ahead and call this December 1st, 2025 meeting of the Whitefish City Council to order. Thanks everyone for attending. We also have some folks attending remotely via Zoom. So, I appreciate your attendance tonight to participate in your government. Uh we'll start with our pledge of allegiance. And I'm gonna ask my friend Matt Ber to please lead us

to the flag of the United States of America to the stands nationy for all.

Thanks very much, Matt. Uh we do have a presentation this evening from Habitat for Humanity and I will ask that representative to please join us. Thank you. Thank you for having us this evening. Uh my name is Mary Beth Moran and I'm the executive director of Habitat for Humanity at Flathead Valley and I'm joined by my construction manager colleague uh G Robertson and um so I just want to give you a little bit of background to start with. I don't um I'll start talking anyhow and I'm sure it'll be fine in a second.

That would be fine. and we have your full presentation in our packet. Okay, that's great. Um, so Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley has been here since 1989.

And in that time, we've built 73 homes in the Flathead. Um, and recently we sold two homes in 2023 and then three in 2024 and four uh 2025 as we're closing in on it. Um and then we have four houses under construction. Um right now they're about 50% done. Um fortunately they're dried in for winter and um we will break ground on six more um in the spring of 2026. So by the end of 2026 um we will have sold 10 homes in that year because they kind of span years. It's a little tricky to do the math on how many per year, but as it stands, um we're probably doing about five to eight houses a year. And I'll talk a little bit more about how we're um increasing our capacity. Um as a reminder, or maybe many of you don't need the reminder, we also operate a restore in South Callispel. and um is in addition to being a great place for volunteers to be and to find great furniture and appliances and building materials, um we're recycling everything there. You know, about 4,000 truckloads come into the Restore and don't go to the dump, which is great. And I think it's wonderful for people who, you know, if their refrigerator breaks and they don't have a,000 or $1,200 to go buy a new refrigerator, they can come to the restore and buy one for 125 bucks. So, that's another thing that we do. And I'm just going to kind of click through and show you where our houses are, where those 73 homes are. Um, so if we start with the south of the valley, we've got five down in Lakeside, kind of concentrated um in a neighborhood there. Then we've got uh five more down in Summers um on school edition road. We

always like to build really close to parks and schools. Um and then we've got I think 28 in Callispel. Um we just closed this June on um town houses on the uh corner of 9inth Avenue West and Seventh Street West. If you want to see for yourself what our town houses look like currently, uh we got 29 in Columbia Falls. Last Friday or the Friday before, we uh closed on a um a three bed single single family residence right across the street from that pickle ball park like Third Avenue, East North. And that's also right behind the Town Pump. There we have the four town houses that are under construction. Um so they're just in that block right behind Town Pump. um that Exxon Town pump and then we'll um the city of Columbia Falls gave us a what used to be a park but it wasn't used that much. So that's where we'll put six single family homes and a park um starting this spring. And then in Whitefish we have six and it's been a while since we've built up here. So, um there are some over on Texas. There's one on Edgewood and then there's one um over on Second Street and then one down in Happy Valley. And um honestly, I if you asked me to find that one in Happy Valley, I'd have a hard time finding it. It's been a while since we built that. So, um so that's that's what we've been building. Um, and then in addition to that, we um we've also bought some land recently. Um, and I'll talk a little bit more about that at the end of the presentation. Um, but a lot of people ask me, how does this work? And some people are under the assumption that it's lowincome housing or that we give houses away. Um, we serve 30 to 80%

of their area median income. And you can see that that's actually um maybe a little bit more than you'd think right now. I think this is really dipping into uh the middle class. Um for example, I looked at the uh 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics uh salaries, average salaries for a flathead county. And uh right now like healthc care support jobs are 38,000, farming, fishing, forestry 43.5,000. Um, office admin 43.6,000 per year. Uh, police and fire 56,500 per year. Uh, education library um 56.9 and construction uh 58,900. So, you know, if it's a one-person household, a lot of those people would qualify to apply for our homes. if it's a twoerson one income household um or if it's a fourperson household with two kids or three kids um you know there's a a lot of people who are eligible for Habitat for Humanity homes. Um and so that's the first parameter. The second one is they have to have a good credit score. um on staff we have a a qualified um mortgage loan originator and it's the same process if you went to a bank you have to show two years of tax returns have to prove consistent employment you have to prove your credit score and then everyone who builds a house with Habitat for Humanity has to do something called sweat equity where they work on their own house and they have to do that for a day a week so they have to be committed to doing that and able to do it Um, and that's for a minimum of 275 hours before the house closes. Um, so as soon as they sign that partnership agreement with us till the day the house goes to closing, they are out there once a week. And if

they're not working on their house, they're working on someone else's house, but that's our sweat equity requirement. Um, and there are a lot of advantages to that. I mean, we have a huge volunteer staff and like for example, those four town houses that we're building in Columbia Falls, those four households are building each other's houses. So, we really create a lot of community and neighbors come out and and get to know the homeowners and and I think it's it's one of the the nicest things about our model. Um, also to be eligible, the applicants have to demonstrate a need for better housing. they have to um usually they show us pictures that it's an unsafe structure um that their rent burden so their rent is is more than 30% of their monthly income um or that there's some sort of contractual insecurity such as not having a lease or kind of living in their mom's boss's rental or their boss's rental and stuff like that which we think is is kind of insecure. Um, so that's what makes people eligible for a Habitat for Humanity home. Um, and then this is how we go about the process. Um, we announce when applications open. There's usually a press release. It's on our website. We contact all of our partners like the Land Trust, Housing Whitefish, Whitefish Housing Authority. We let everyone know that we're accepting applications. We leave them open for about 45 days on average and then people get their paperwork in and that gives us enough time to say, "Okay, you're missing something, etc., etc." But if they meet those thresholds that I just showed you, then we invite them in for um an interview and that's when we start to rank like their vulnerability, their viability for the sweat equity, the viability to

financially com complete. Um, so we sell our houses. People get mortgages, and I'll talk a little bit more about this in the next slide or so, but people get 30-year, 2% mortgages through the Montana Board of Housing for Habitat for Humanity Homes. And we want to make sure that people are going to be okay and make make the mortgage payment that they're viable, too. So we we ask about contingency plan contingency plans. What would they do if they lost their job and and things like that um so that we can make sure that we don't have any default with our homes. Um then we have a it goes everything goes blind to the selection committee. Uh no names, no no identifying information and that goes in a matrix. And then our selection committee, which is a mix of our board and our staff, select. Um, and then our board of directors ratifies that selection. And then the partnership agreement is signed and the homeowners commit to the sweat equity. Um, and Glacier Bank does our loan underwriting. So, we get them prepared for underwriting. And we also have a one-year mentorship program, which is super important because for a lot of Habitat homeowners, it's not just that it's the first time they've owned a home, but it's often the first time anyone in their family's owned a home. So, it takes a lot of coaching on how to take care of that asset and, you know, like how to change your furnace filter, you know, why it matters to to have a nice lawn, how that affects your neighbors. um teaching them how to you know participate in a really positive way in their community. And then um there's a lot of financial planning in our mentorship program too. Um so budgeting and you know the the expenses that come with home ownership that you may not know about if you've been renting your whole life or and your parents rented

too. So so we do a lot of coaching that way because we really want people to succeed. Um then um this is how the financing works. So people always say, well, you know, how do you set your prices? Well, Habitat for Humanity has a policy nationwide that we we set the price at the appraised value unless there's a programmatic reason for doing otherwise. So, for example, uh the last three houses that we've closed on have been in partnership with the Northwest Montana Community Land Trust, and we wanted those houses to be as inexpensive as possible because the land trust has first right of refusal to buy them back when those homeowners want to move out. So, and we we have a we cap the equity exactly the same way the the Northwest Montana Community Land Trust does where they only make 25% of the appreciation. So, for example, if we sold a house to someone for $300,000 this year and in 10 years that house appraises for $400,000 when that family gets too big for the house or they get a job offer in Spokane or whatever, then that family can only keep 25% of the equity. So, they can only take 25,000 out. They can't take the whole 100,000 of appreciation. And that's exactly the same formula that the land trust uses because we want the land trust to buy all of our houses. This year, the Habitat for Humanity of Flathead Valley Board of Directors seated the first right of refuse on all of the houses we build to the Northwest Montana Community Land Trust. We want nothing more than for those houses to go in the land trust. And we want them to

be affordable for the land trust to buy. And the lower that price is when they buy it, then it just keeps staying that much undermarket, under market with each resale, each resale. So, we we take that partnership very seriously and we've done everything we can to to strengthen it. Um, but as I said, um, the first mortgage, like on that $300,000 house, and and by the way, those two town houses and that what I think is a beautiful single family home that we just um closed on across the street from the pickle ball courts in Columbia Falls, each one of those units, because they were built on land trust land, closed for under $320,000. So, I think we're talking about truly affordable housing now. But moreover, those homeowners only have to pay 2% interest on 30-year notes. Um, and again, but there's there's kind of a a ceiling on that through the Montana Board of Housing. They don't want the homeowners to become mortgage burden, just like we don't want people to be rent burden, too. So sometimes there's a second mortgage that kind of fills the gap between what Montana Board of Housing will fund and then the cost for us to have built the house. And so we either carry that or uh Neighborworks Montana, who we are working very closely with, will will um loan up to like 65,000 for that second mortgage. and it's basically 0% and it's no payment until 30 years or a triggering event where the house goes up for sale or something. So, it's it's a pretty good deal for homeowners. Um, moreover, our homeowners don't have to pay a down payment. And I think this is one of the biggest hurdles to down uh to home

ownership nowadays. It's not just that, you know, the price of the houses is so high. There's so little stock under $500,000 or anything that's affordable, but it's really hard for people to save up for that down payment, especially if they want to give a big enough down payment so that they don't have to pay mortgage insurance. you know, because sometimes with these high rates and then if they have to um pay for mortgage insurance on top of that, they just kind of fall off the cliff of affordability. It just is like 200 300 $200 per month too much for them to make it. So, it's it's a big deal that they're not paying down payment on Habitat homes. Um they only have to pay 1% of the value of the house toward the closing costs. Um, as I said before, we want everything to go in the land trust. So, we are we're pretty tightly deed restricted. It's owner occupied only. Uh, you can't run a business out of the house unless it's like 10% of the square footage of the house. So, but you can't like use your whole living room for a bakery or something. Um, yeah, first right of refusal to the land trust and then the appreciation cap that I just described to you. Um, so how many houses can we build? Well, as you see, we've been gaining ground. Um, we're five to eight houses a year. Um, and so that'll actually be 10 by the end of the year in 2026. Um, and that's with three full-time construction staff members. Um, on top of that, we have on average about 10,000 hours a year uh for volunteers only for construction, not the restore or anything else. And that's that's our superpower. I mean, we we've written a grant to uh the Murdoch Foundation. We hope to have one more construction uh full-time equivalency by the middle of

2026. Um, and that that will make a big difference, but it's the volunteers who are kind of the secret weapon. And we're always trying to get more people volunteering with us. Um, and we have some regulars who come out and they make a a big difference. Um, we build Wednesday, Fridays, and Saturdays. So, we're building all these houses on three days a week really. Um, we did do something two years ago that made a big difference. Um, we put six RV hookups behind our Restore and now we have these people who drive all over the nation from one habitat build site to the next. They're called caravanners and at their own expense, they take their RVs and they're mostly retired and they just can come and stay for free behind our restore now and they stay at least two weeks. some stay till the snow flies and um they've they've really g given us a lot more capacity and they're experienced builders. Um they've gone to other habitats so they know a lot about best practices on our build sites. They're um they're pretty great. So that's helped a lot. Um we also uh this past year installed a pre-framing shop in um the back half of our restore or kind of quarter of it. So, we're pre-framing all of our houses now. We've got a big framing table and industrial saws and every house has been templated and we have cut sheets for everything. And so, even, you know, if it's 20 below, we're indoors framing. And now, um I don't know like the house that we just finished in Columbia Falls, I think that was like framed in February.

Yeah. and it just goes on a trailer and so that saves us a lot of time and it's a a great way to engage volunteers too um who don't want to be out on the site. Um so we have a pipeline uh we just had a five-year strategic planning session um with board of directors and we're committed to um a pipeline of 40 houses by the end of the year of 2030 and um it's a realistic pipeline. I think we all agreed um our biggest hurdle in building more is land. Um we we've got the capacity and we can do it, but um we need land and um if you have heard a rumor that we've bought a piece of land, it is true. Um we did buy 21 plus acres along the alternate um in Callispel just south of Four Mile Road. Um, it's a neighborhood that we're going to call Birchwood. Um, we won't be able to get vertical on that though because we've got to put all the infrastructure in and do all the planning on it. So, we won't be able to get vertical on that until probably the end of 27, beginning of 28. Um, that will be a mixed income neighborhood. We are um partnering with two private sector builders and we'd like to do more of this so that we can reach homeowners between 80 and 200% in our neighborhoods too. Plus, I just think it's socioeconomically a lot healthier to have mixed income neighborhoods. Um, so we're we've started we've created a new model to be able to partner with um private sector builders and find a lot of synergies with that. But actually, I'm going to turn over to Garrett now to talk a little bit about um the quality of our houses.

Hi there.

I'm Garrett. I'm the construction manager for Habitat. Um I've been with Habitat for five years now. And uh yeah, so like on this slide here um one of the things that we started doing uh about a year and a half ago is a year how long ago? A year ago about a year ago is uh pre-framing the walls in our shop. Um I think one of the cool things about our organization is that we, you know, we we do what's best for our volunteers. we do everything that we do is typically just what's best for um everyone. So that's like how we build, what we build, where we build, all all that, every detail. Um and this was a big thing for us because we were losing a lot of manpower in the winter. Um honestly, most of our volunteers don't like when we cancel build days because they really enjoy coming out and building with us. They like the camaraderie. So, um, all of our homes now are built with these pre-framed walls. And there's not a a lot different about this than building on the site other than, um, the quality control, uh, is actually a little bit better. Um, we're able to not miss as many nails and all that good stuff because we can see it under a nice bright light. Um, and the instructional piece is actually a lot easier, too. Building with volunteers, um, isn't always the easiest thing. It's not always the hardest, either. It's actually a lot of fun. But, um, being able to do it in the shop actually makes that piece a lot easier because you're able to, you know, everybody's in one big room as opposed to maybe multiple buildings when you're out on the site. Um, and then maybe jump to the next one there. So, you know, a big thing about our homes, um, that I'm actually really passionate about, and that's one of the things I am actually very passionate about, the way we build. Um, we do not build the most affordable homes possible. Um, and that's really important to me because, uh, it is very possible to build homes that aren't

great and they're just sort of slapped together. Um, our homes are extremely energy efficient. Uh, we started building with ICF about two years ago. Um, so our our stem walls, our concrete stem walls are uh have R20 insulation on them. Uh, R10 on both sides, so they're double insulated. We put um insulation under our slabs. We pretty much always build slab on grade. Um, and uh, it all just is well above code, but we really just want our homes to be sustainable for our homeowners and also sustainable for longevity. Um, I think the way we build makes them last a lot longer as well. Um, slab on grade for instance, I mean, it's not very common around here. We do it because, you know, it's relatively maintenance-free for our homeowners and we're not just kind of looking at the cost of getting them in the house. Um, we're looking at everything and so we want to look at long-term costs as well. Uh, let's see. Yeah. And so we we actually um this this brings up a point. Um, you know, our air uh handling systems are really efficient. We always use um duckless heat pumps and and HRVs to uh make sure that we're recapturing all of the hot air that's leaving the house. Um bringing in fresh air. We build our homes really airtight. Uh typically um to the point where we have to use an HRV to bring in the fresh air because otherwise it uh it wouldn't have enough. Um and that really helps with the efficiency. We always do blower door tests. Um I mean that's required but we always do that. Um, and you know, we've been partnering a lot with our our our vendors and our subcontractors um to help make the bring those costs down as well. Um, and so yeah, that's just, you know, a house we just uh closed on in Columbia Falls. um we you know some of

the things that we do um are not as common uh for Habitat and it's because we're all volunteer and we can actually you know do some things that are a little that are a little bit nicer. Um that would maybe be more expensive to do with subcontractors because we have volunteers that come in and do that for us. Um let's see what's on the next one there. Okay. So, that's uh the town homes that we built in Columbia Falls. Um, and you know, a good example of that is we build uh sorry, we design all of our homes inhouse predominantly. Um, we do this for a lot of reasons. Energy efficiency. Um, we do it because we know what our volunteers are going to be able to build efficiently. Um, and you know what a what an architect gives us isn't always that's not always the case. Um, but also I mean things just like putting the garages together here, you know, that's purposefully done to make it easier to build, but also just for for privacy and and that type of thing. So, and uh, yep, that's the inside of that house. Um, we started doing granite countertops last year. That was that was a cool thing. Um, got a a discount on those.

So, We have a good fortune on Garrett's team to have someone who is an Americanore volunteer for us um right as she was getting out of Calpali architecture school um and now she's a full-time member of Garrett's team. So we're allowed we can design a lot more in house and we've you know we're playing with like small smaller houses. We're um in this Birchwood property that I told you about that we're uh plan to get 97 units on. We'll probably build something that looks like this. We're quite inspired by by the Bridger View project in Bosezeman. Um, and so we'll probably try and do a little bit of like the alleyfed homes where we get about five of those across um, if not four so that we can get density but also have a mixed income neighborhood because we're working with two private sector builders who will be um, building different products. And actually, one of the private sector builders we chose to build with us because they build something that looks a lot like that single family home that we showed you with a blue door so that people don't ever go by and go, "Oh, that's a Habitat house, not a Habitat house." Um, we really everything we do, um, I think we think about the dignity of the people who volunteer with us, the people who live in our houses, the people we work with. Um, it's just it's a wonderful model. I mean, and the generosity of the community in terms of people who donate concrete or or granite countertops or deep discounts. Um, I think it's my favorite part of it. It just brings people from all different sectors of our society and our economy together to to work on something together. And, you know, that's one of the best parts of it by far.

Thanks, Mary Beth. Thanks, Garrett. appreciate your time tonight. Thanks for all that you do. In the spirit of time, I'm going to go ahead and bump uh our proclamation to the end of the meeting for those that are here for other agenda items. So, we'll move on to communications from the public. We don't have any public hearing scheduled for tonight. So, if you're here to speak to the council on any other item, now would be your opportunity. And name and uh name and address for the record, please. Any public comment this evening? Z. Okay. For the record, Z418 East Second Street. I am here yet again to urge all members of city council to demonstrate moral courage and schedule a public hearing to discuss designating the pride flag as the official flag of the city of Whitefish. Numerous studies confirm that welcoming and supportive communities significantly reduce the risk of suicide among LGBTQIA plus people. The Whitefish School District Board of Trustees is precluded by law to proceed with adopting a policy that would assist school personnel in providing a safe and

welcoming learning environment for these vulnerable students. until you act. With the exception of Rebecca, the silence of the members of council has been deafening. Frank, while I appreciate your acknowledgement of the repugnant racist name of your road, please note that there are more queer residents of Whitefish than black. Steve, your concern about the leaf collection schedule in your neighborhood is not quite the quality of life issue I would hope you as an educator would deem worthy of addressing. In closing, I want each of you to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask yourself, do I stand with the evangelenitals in Helena or do I stand on the side of liberty and justice for all? Thank you.

Further communications from the public. Cameron

Cameron Blake 825 Lexand Trail White Fish. Um, as we all know, we need affordable community workforce ownership housing in this community. um spent the afternoon at a housing committee meeting and you know I've looked a lot at the housing needs assessment. We need 47 units between 50 and 80% AMI in the next 10 years. I um started volunteering for Habitat this summer. I've been helping out with grant writing and such and just you know became apparent that they're part of potentially part of this solution and I really encourage us to try to find them some land to build on. um the capacity building just what they've been able to do capacity building um high functioning in the office you know everything about the organization is very professional and I can't say enough good things about them um as you saw the buyer selection process the financing is super nuanced and you know looking at the across the board solutions it really takes an organization whether it be Habitat or someone else that understands what's out there and can educate potential buyers ers and provi provide and find the financing solutions for them to be able to afford the housing. So I guess it in conclusion it would take takes builders who understand this segment of the market and whatever direction you go encouraged to look at RFP process you know Habitat could apply but let's get builders in here to build affordable housing who have a track record and have done it can get something done and get these city lots built upon and some housing to help people out. Thank you.

Thanks, Cameron. Further communications.

Hello, I'm Jamie Goen, 117 Washington Avenue. Um, just to lighten the mood a little bit. First of all, I would like to concur with Cameron, and I too am a big Habitat fan. I think I I love anyone who's got a working solution and then is applying it and then actually making homes happen for people. It's so rad. And Mary Beth is awesome. And so I just would like to say welcome you to Whitefish. Um okay, so just to change the subject a little bit, um I'd like to illustrate a little story about Whitefish. I'm inspired by winter communities and I'm just going to read a very short letter. Imagine a town where we don't have to hide from winter and we celebrate it. We do that very well in this town, but I'd like to see more. Speaking of suicide and depression and loneliness, where our public spaces don't shut down for six months, but transform into something magical. Picture Depot Park on a cold winter night. Snow is coming down softly. The sky is crystal and the community gathers bundle in blankets, puffy coats, hand warmers, hot cocoa to watch a winter cinema under the stars. Kids are running around, neighbors are catching up, people sharing soup and stories. It's simple. It's low cost. And it's incredibly high in value. Now, picture city beach. Many of us know and love Gabriel, the man who out of pure love for this town, volunteers hours smoothing the ice and building a rink and then DJing for whomever shows up. It's Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this winter, everyone. So he provides disco skate on the lake, music echoing over the frozen shoreline, smiles on the coldest nights. That's what community powered joy looks like. And if the lake freezes deeply enough

and safely enough, which it often does, imagine extending that magic with an ice ribbon connecting, say, city beach all the way to the lodge. And I don't see why we wouldn't do this right along the shoreline where it's nice and safe. The equipment needed for something like this wouldn't be a multi- thousands of dollars Zamboni. It could be the equipment that we have currently in our in our sheds that take care of the city. And you can apply PVC pipe and drill holes for water along the way. It's very simple and we're very ingenuative in this town. So I think it could happen. Imagine families, teens, seniors, everyone moving, meeting, talking, laughing along a winter path. It's winter placemaking, designing joy into the season, creating warmth in cold months, building connection when we need it the most. a winter whitefish where we gather, we move, we celebrate, and where community isn't just a word, it's something that we actually feel. Thank you.

Thanks, Jamie. Additional public comments this evening.

Nathan,

thank you. Nathan Dugan, 937 Callispell Avenue. Um just want to briefly touch I guess on on all the fun interviews that you guys are doing today and the appointments that you'll be making later. I think um we have a good opportunity here that doesn't really present itself all of that much uh through these appointments, but a lot of qualified and and engaged people have applied um that kind of rep represent a large demographic spectrum. Um, and so you guys have an opportunity really potentially to to match the demographics of the planning commission um to that of the town. I think it's been no secret really that um there's been a little bit of consternation lately with the planning commission and um demographics aren't all of that, but it it may be some of that. Whitefish is about 50/50 male female with about 59% of residents in Whitefish based on the latest data being ages 18 to 64 and only 23% being 65 or older. Um whether or not you think that's important, I think it's important and I think that the planning commission is important. And even though they're going to be done with the the land use plan, that's kind of an iterative it iterative process that um will continue to take place every five years, if not more frequently than that, looking out 20 years in the future. Um, and I think having demographics on that commission that more closely mirror the demographics of the town provides the best opportunity for getting that right when we're looking well into the future. Um, I think that uh myself included at times, but a lot of young people I know I think feel unsupported. They feel unheard at times

feel unwanted. Um, and that starts kind of with the decisions that are made up here. Uh, the words are are one thing, but it's it's the decisions that we see over time. Um, that has led uh quite a few people that I know to to really just give up on this place and go to to somewhere where they can afford a place to live and um aren't gas lit and made to feel crazy when they when they come in with a different opinion. um where they can build a life. Those people aren't coming back in the future ever. And so I think we should think about that as well um when we're just thinking about the longevity of white fish in general and who's going to be sitting in your seats in 30 years or 40 years if we're not creating opportunity for people to establish a life here um in their 20s and 30s. Thanks.

Thanks, Nathan. Further public comment this evening? Any volunteer board reports from the audience? Before I get to Michelle, anyone online wishing to provide comment? We'll move on to what will be item six, which is John. We do have Toby here for the volunteer board.

I'm moving on to that right now. Um Toby Scott with us regarding the White Fish Lake and Lakeshore Protection Committee on a draft letter to the county commissioners regarding shoreline development. Toby, welcome. Toby Scott, Barkley Lane, Whitefish. Um yeah, I'm on the U Lake Shore Protection Committee as the representative from the planning board, planning commission as it is now. And uh in addition to our oversight of the lakeshore protection area which is from high water up 20 ft and then there's an additional 20 foot zone beyond that. We try and keep track of everything that's going on on the lake that isn't within our jurisdiction which happens to be outside of the city limits. Uh you guys might recollect quite some time ago there was an explosion on the west shore of the lake and rocks went down and they got into the lake uh at the lakeshore protection committee meeting that following week. We had probably close to a dozen people from the neighborhood and elsewhere around the city that came in complained about it. I told them go to the city, you know, we don't really have jurisdiction out there. And then I believe that following week I came forward and spoke in the public comment period about maybe trying to establish something with the county to some agreement with them. And uh Mr. Mayor, you uh outspokenly said, "Well, I don't normally say anything, but we just met with the county before." They said they could care less about it.

We sure did. But nevertheless, um, we've continued on and even though on a couple of occasions this year, we haven't had any applications, I still ask the members of the protection committee to meet. And during the course of these meetings, we have come up with two draft letters which I think you have before you regarding two of the well under whitefish rules violations of the lakeshore protection committee or our lake lakeshore protection rules and we'd like to bring it to the attention of the county and are seeking direction from the city council as to whether this should come from the Whitefish city council. or from the Lakeshore Protection Committee. Now, I and probably another member of the committee are more than happy to go down and meet with somebody from the from the uh commissioner's office in Callispel for the for the county of Flathead. But, uh it's up to you and if you look over the letters, if you agree with everything and how they're stated and text and all thing like that, we're looking for direction. How do we make the first step to approach the county and say, "Hey, look, there are some things going on here that aren't good for White Fish Lake and uh they're not good for the view from the lake. Uh we take occasional boat tours around looking at the lake and we'd like to be able to have uh jurisdiction over the entire lake." And actually as a part of that we proposed a bill through uh our senator Dave me Dave Fern uh that would have given us jurisdiction over the entire lake but it didn't make it out of committee. So, we're going to try again and reward it so that perhaps the uh next legislative session will

reconsider it and give us the opportunity to take care of the entire weight white fish lake shore county and city. If you got any questions, I'm happy to answer them. Thanks, Toby. We'll bring this up at the end of our meeting under item 10, communications from the council. Okay. Appreciate your time. Any volunteer board reports with the council? Not seeing any. You do have the consent agenda along with the November one retreat meeting minutes as well as the November 17th meeting minutes. Move to approve the consent agenda as presented.

Is there a second? Seconded by councelor Cornell. Further discussion. All those in favor please raise your hand. Those opposed like sign. That motion does carry unanimously. Move on to item eight. We have no public hearing scheduled for this evening. So we'll move on to item nine. communications from our city manager. You have Dana's report and close with the packet. Any questions for Dana, our city manager? Dana, anything additional to report on?

Um, the only thing that I want to update you on is that um I will be gone um Wednesday of this week through Tuesday of next week. I'm going to Vegas to marry my best friend and I am beyond excited. So, I might come back with a different last name, but um you know, I'll be the same person that you have here today. So, just a little bit happier. So, or a lot actually. But other than that, I have nothing else to do. We'll know how to find you. Yeah.

Congratulations, Dana. Yeah. Have a great weekend. We'll miss you at the Christmas party. Um we'll move on to item 10, communications from the mayor and city councilors. Before I read the Arbor Day proclamation, there's a letter from Lucas Faust regarding the Glacier Twins lease. Any comments on that letter? Steve,

I would just like to um ask Frank and maybe Andy to I know I think maybe you talked about it our last meeting, but this kind of this letter sounds counter to what you guys reported last time and I just I don't know if you have any comments on it or not. I guess the nicest thing I can say it is certainly inconsistent with the facts that we're aware of. I would concur with that assessment.

Okay. Thank you. I I just wanted to I I don't know what the whole I don't know what the situation is. you guys were on the inside and I just wanted to see if you if if any of this made any sense to you and it sounds like you have that it's inconsistent. So, thank you.

Thanks for clarification, Frank. Uh with that said, I'm going to go ahead. It's that time of year to read our annual Arbor Day proclamation. Whereas natural areas, trees, and landscapes provide not only community beautifification, but also economic and environmental benefits. And whereas trees provide many benefits to the community including air purification, windbreaks, noise reduction, shade, and energy savings. And whereas planting trees and maintaining older trees provides an opportunity for community interaction, volunteerism, economic development, and environmental conservation. And whereas our efforts to improve the environment benefit present as well as future generations. And whereas Arbor Day in Montana is officially the last Friday in April, we're doing it a little beforehand. So therefore, I, John Mfeld, mayor of Whitefish, do hereby proclaim Friday, April 24th, 2026 is Arbor Day. And I encourage citizens to participate in appropriate activities and to take advantage of the benefits of the parks and other natural areas in our community. Thanks very much for listening tonight. With that said, we'll move on to councelor comments. Jeppe, would you like to start tonight?

Sure. Thank you. Uh just a comment to reiterate congratulations to for the hard work toward you guys Habitat for Humanity do. I about the volunteers a few years ago with my company then called Nation now pay which almost every year comes and helps. Uh we went in and the managers who who know better started framing this bathroom. I love my gun, nail gun. And I went framed this whole bathroom and whoever the coordinator was came and goes, that's nice, but the tub is outside. We left the tub outside, so we had to unframe it. Move the tub in. So, be careful with volunteers.

Funny. Thanks, Jeppe. Steve.

Uh, yeah. Thanks again, Habitat. I hope that we can u somehow find a way to work together in the future. Um I did actually when I first moved here I I worked I volunteered on those the the habitat houses on Texas. So I am aware of the work you do and and certainly appreciate it. Um uh second I just want to hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It's a nice time to spend with family um and uh and just kind of take some time to to be thankful for all the wonderful things we have here. Uh which reminds me that uh yes, the mountain opens on Thursday, right? Um and that's exciting. Uh it means winter is here, the official open of winter. Thank you Jamie for bringing up how we should um find other ways to celebrate winter other than skiing uh and those kind of things. And then finally, congrats Dana. Uh we'll miss you, but uh I hope you have a lot of fun down there in Vegas.

Thanks, Steve. Frank, nothing of substance to add. Thank you, Councelor Ben.

Um, yes, I do just want to thank you folks from Habitat for coming in this evening. Um, I really appreciate that um the the business model, so to speak, of Habitat seems to be evolving over the years and working with the land trust and everything. I think that is um a very compelling option um for the production of of some much neededed housing. So, um I really appreciate the fact that you're here and um I also echo I hope we can find uh some ways to work together more in the future. Um because I know that there are a lot of people in this community who would be delighted to have one of your homes. So perhaps we can figure that one of these days. Um do you wish for any feedback on Toby's request or do you want to handle that?

Go ahead. I was going to bring that up but you're more than welcome to. Sure. Um, I was just going to say in my limited opinion, um, I mean, we delegate responsibilities to the Lakeshore Committee. Um, I think the the form and content of the letter that was presented seems, um, reasonable to me. Um, and I personally have no issues if that is issued as written.

I I actually agree. I I do agree, but I think the letters, Toby, with all due respect, should be combined because I think the second letter provides a lot of visual evidence as to what our concerns are. And if you don't mind, I'd like to circle back with our planning staff and city manager to to best navigate how we uh submit this and convey this more effectively than we have in the past to the county commissioners. And we'll circle back with the Lakeshore Committee. I'll circle it back to you. I know you will if that's okay with you.

Correct. On the west side, ones on the east side is that's great because our director does a great job. She also works with Dave Taylor.

So I think just fine. Okay.

I'll join you again. Okay. See how far we get. But thanks very much for the effort. Rebecca or Ben? Anything further? No. Thank you. Thank you, Rebecca. Uh just congratulations Dana. Um and it looked like we're not having a second meeting in December. So I just wanted to wish everybody happy holidays and stay safe out there. We do have appointments. Yep. Rebecca December 15th meeting. We will have a work session, a special session to hold interviews and appoint um those uh committees and boards. Um but we will not have a regular meeting. Thanks, Rebecca, Andy,

Dana, and Michael. Congratulations. Have fun. Wish we could all be there, but I know you don't want a large crowd, so that's good. You don't want us there. Somebody has to stay back here and mind the store. Um, yeah. Thanks, Toby, for the the letters and I think the mayor's comments of getting circling back with staff and getting everything correct on that and I think they should come from both the council and the Lakeshore Protection Committee. Yes.

Both of us. Yeah, I think that carries a little bit more weight. It's obviously been a problem dealing with the county and lakes shore violations, which we know are out there all the time. Um, kind of makes me think of another thing is, you know, we have a dark skies ordinance in this community, but what we're starting to see is a lot of really large homes with really large glass and lots of light coming out of that glass. I'll name a specific project in Canara on Wisconsin Avenue. The giant light shining out that my opinion does not it's yeah it's inside but it doesn't really meet the spirit of our dark skies ordinance. So maybe something to put on the uh planning commission's agenda.

Yeah, we'll need to amend our ordinance because our ordinance only addresses out exterior lighting. We did contact them and ask them if they could turn it down and I don't think they ever did but Yeah. Yeah. because it's yeah it's interior lighting but it has a large exterior effect. So other than that yeah if we don't have a regular meeting on the uh second meeting for December happy holidays to all and be safe and drive safely please people that's the most important thing right now. Thank you.

Thanks Andy. I have nothing other than just to remind folks that we are partnering with the North Valley Food Bank for food donations. You can drop off non-p perishable items here at city hall from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or during public meetings. And you can also donate money or volunteer by visiting the North Valley Food Banks website. On that note, happy holidays everyone. Thanks everyone for coming tonight. And we are adjourned. I have no idea