// THANK YOU MAYOR COLE & OUTGOING CITY COUNCIL

Tonight's City Council meeting will be bittersweet. It marks the final meeting for 2025 (yayyy!), but it's also the final meeting for Mayor Cole and several members of Billings City Council before they transition out of office (awww...). Public service at the municipal level is demanding work—long meetings, difficult budget decisions, constituent concerns, and the challenge of balancing competing interests in a growing city. It's a role that requires dedication, thick skin, and a genuine commitment to making Billings better. As we prepare for this transition, we want to take a moment to say THANK YOU to our elected officials.

• Mayor Bill Cole
• Councilman Ed Gulick
• Councilwoman Jennifer Owen
• Councilwoman TJ Rogers
• Councilman Daniel Tidswell
• Councilman Tom Rupsis

While it's too soon to fully assess the lasting impact of their tenure, we'd like to highlight their successes in three priority issue areas where we are thankful for their leadership:

Public Safety and Crime Prevention

• supported critical public safety mill levies to add police, fire, and legal staffing with proven results to address our safety needs
• funded Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) training for staff, who can build CPTED into city plans and strategies
• required residential lighting in new subdivisions, literally building safety into every new Billings neighborhood
• partnered with the county on a short-term hold facility to ensure offenders face consequences for breaking the law

Housing and Development

• numerous tax increment finance (TIF) projects providing housing have been approved, signaling strong support for a major community need
• passed a council initiative to inventory city properties for potential disposal to expand housing opportunities
• supported most zone changes, largely focused on adding essential housing supply to the city
• two-way street conversions in downtown provide safety and benefit for businesses and redevelopment

Quality of Life

• competed for and awarded the BUILD grant to complete the Inner Belt Loop and Skyline Trail, essential infrastructure and a major amenity
• supported SBURA proposals for:
• Signal Peak Ice Arena
• expanding SBURA to address blight and Southpark Pool
• building of ARC courts facility
• Westend reservoir provides significant water amenity

(Admittedly, it's an abridged list for an 8-year retrospective, but it's an impactful one. For those interested in a more thorough search of Billings City Council activity over the past few years, you can check out our Council Bulletin Archive and the Billings Chamber Blog.)

We hope that over time, the contributions listed above—and the countless other decisions, big and small—are remembered by outgoing council members with satisfaction. George Washington, in his Farewell Address, spoke of looking forward to retirement with "pleasing expectation," anticipating "that retreat in which I promise myself to realize without alloy the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government—the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers."

It's not likely that our outgoing mayor and council members will ride off into the sunset, and out of Billings's story. They're sure to continue working with, for, and beside the community. We wish them that same sweet enjoyment as Washington in the years ahead, living in, working toward, and knowing they've helped build a better Billings.

// BUSINESS MEETING AGENDA - 5:30 p.m. - BILLINGS CITY HALL

In this section, we will include the meeting agenda for you to view. Clicking on the items will take you to more information. No need to read it all, but if something catches your eye, be sure to check it out.

CLOSED EXECUTIVE SESSION (4:00 PM - 5:30 PM) - * City Administrator, Chris Kukulski's Annual Review

*Note: The Executive Session will be closed, as allowed in Section 2-3-203(3), MCA, as discussions relate to matters of individual privacy and wherein the demands of individual privacy exceed the merits of public disclosure.  

COUNCIL REPORTS: 

ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS - CHRIS KUKULSKI 

PUBLIC COMMENT on “NON-PUBLIC HEARING” Agenda Items: 1, 3b, 3c, 3d and 4 ONLY. Comments are limited to three (3) minutes or as set by the Mayor.

1. CONSENT AGENDA -- Separations: 

A. Bid Awards: None 

B. Professional Services Contract with HDR Engineering, Inc. for W.O. 26-11: Monad Road Reconstruction - Daniel Street to Moore Lane. 

C. Purchase of Commercial Solid Waste Containers; WasteQuip. 

D. Amendment No. 6, W.O. 19-12: West End Project Final Reservoir Design and BBWA Raw Water Delivery Services; HDR Engineering. 

E. Short-Term Agreement with Yellowstone County for use of the Animal Control facility. 

F. Annexation Agreement with LMO Investment, LLC. 

G. Fish, Wildlife and Parks Trail Grant for wayfinding signage and Donation from Billings Trailnet to Parks, Recreation and Public Lands.   

H. Donation from Partners for Parks for wayfinding signage on various trails to Parks, Recreation and Public Lands. 

I. Preliminary Minor Plat for Srite Acres Subdivision, Amended Lot 2A. *Quasi-Judicial 

J. Bills for the Weeks of: 

1. November 17, 2025  

REGULAR AGENDA: 

2. PUBLIC HEARING AND RESOLUTION APPROVING ZONE CHANGE 1075 WITH VARIANCE: A .38 acre parcel of land, more or less, legally described as Lot 67A1 of the Amended Plat of Lots 66A and 67A Sunny Cove Fruit Farms (to be known as Homestead Acres). Zoning Commission recommends approval of Zone Change 1075 with Variance and adoption of the 10 review criteria. *Quasi-Judicial

3. PUBLIC HEARING to grant a waiver to BMCC Sections 26-203 and 26-204 for annexation requirements and to provide water service to Meadowlark Mobile Home Park contingent on a water service agreement with Meadowlark of Billings, LLC. Staff recommends approval. 

4. CITY ADMINISTRATOR'S Annual Performance Evaluation and APPROVAL of Compensation Increase.

RECOGNITION OF OUTGOING MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS 

PUBLIC COMMENT on “NON-AGENDA ITEMS”. Comments are limited to 3 minutes or as set by the Mayor. 

COUNCIL INITIATIVES: 

ADJOURN:

// BILLINGS CHAMBER BUSINESS ADVOCACY SPONSORS

// CITY ADMINISTRATOR WEEKLY REPORT

City Administrator Chris Kukulski began the routine of sending a weekly report every Friday to City Council and department heads with the intent to, "communicate the highlights of the past week and any critical issues coming up." The most recent CA Report includes updates on:

• Updates on City Hall Open House & Leadership Billings presentations
• Highlighting skate park lighting additions
• And more...

// WATCH THE MEETING ON COMMUNITY 7 TELEVISION

// GET MORE INVOLVED IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Below are some additional public meetings being held this week, along with information about when and where to attend.

🔸 Tuesday, December 16th

Yellowstone Historic Preservation Board

8:30 - 9:30 am, Beartooth Room, 5th Floor, New City Hall, 316 N. 26th St.

PCC-Policy Coordinating Committee

12:00 - 1:00 pm, Council Chambers, 5th Floor, New City Hall, 316 N. 26th St.

Pioneer Park Task Force

6:00 - 7:00 pm, Black Dog Coffee, 3115 19th Ave. N.

West End Neighborhood Task Force

7:00 - 8:30 pm, Connections Church, 56th & Grand.

🔸 Wednesday, December 17th

No meetings on City Calendar.

🔸 Thursday, December 18th

Billings Central Terry Task Force

7:00 - 8:30 pm, Topline Hair, 1331 Central Ave.

// THE SQUEAKY WHEEL

// BOARD & COMMISSION OPENINGS

The Mayor's Office is accepting letters of interest to fill the vacancies listed on the city website. For more information on each specific board, visit the city website. City Boards and Commissions are appointed by the Mayor, confirmed by City Council, are advisory only, and members serve without compensation.

Submit applications to: Mayor's Office, PO Box 1178, Billings, MT 59103-1178.

The DEADLINE for applications is December 1, 2025.

(the following openings are still listed after the deadline)

BOARD OPENING (SEATS)

Public Art Committee

Public Art Committee*

Public Art Committee**

Public Art Committee***

Public Art Committee****

Public Art Committee*****

REQUIREMENTS

Must live in Billings—Artist

Must live in Billings

Must live in Billings

Must live in Billings

Must live in Billings

Must live in Billings

* - Rep from economic or community development field

** - Rep referred from Billings Arts Association

*** - Rep referred by Native American Development Corporation

**** - Rep from engineering, architect, landscape architect, or 3-D art field

***** - Anyone with an interest in public art

// IN CASE YOU MISSED IT - AI SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK'S MEETING

In this section we re-visit last week's meeting, providing:

• an AI summary (YouTube transcript analyzed by Claude's Sonnet 4.5) 
• links to the Community 7 video 

We'll revise and edit when necessary for clarity, brevity, and to avoid inaccuracies, which are sure to happen on occasion. And, considering the difficulty Council has had with audio feeds, it's likely that some comments or segments of the meeting will be missed in the video transcript.

BILLINGS CITY COUNCIL BUSINESS MEETING - DECEMBER 8, 2025

Overview

The Billings City Council met on December 8, 2025, beginning at approximately 5:37 PM after experiencing technical difficulties with their Zoom connection. Mayor Bill Cole delivered his final invocation as mayor, reflecting on the eight-year tradition and explaining the constitutional considerations around invocations in government meetings. The council addressed two main agenda items: TIF assistance for a downtown law firm, and most substantially, the FY2027-FY2031 Capital Improvement Plan. The meeting centered heavily on budget discussions, particularly concerning a proposed $1.3 million evidence facility parking lot expansion, which was ultimately amended. Council also made technical corrections to CIP language regarding project priorities.

Actions and Votes

Item 2: TIF Assistance for Frontier Law Firm (discussion begins at: 54:50, vote at: 1:06:31)

• Vote: PASSED 11-0
• Votes in favor: Unanimous
• Votes against: None
• Action: Conditionally approved tax increment financing assistance up to $14,194.64 for building facade improvements at 2923 Montana Avenue.

Item 3A: Amendment to CIP - Evidence Facility Lot Expansion (discussion begins at: 2:12:05, vote at: 2:25:35)

• Vote: PASSED 11-0
• Votes in favor: Unanimous
• Votes against: None
• Action: Shifted evidence facility lot expansion funding from FY27 to FY28 and reduced total amount from $1.3 million to $500,000.

Item 3B: Amendment to CIP - Language Regarding Future Projects (discussion begins at: 2:25:55, vote at: 2:29:03)

• Vote: PASSED 11-0
• Votes in favor: Unanimous
• Votes against: None
• Action: Amended language on page 176 to state future CIP projects "are not the highest priorities" rather than "are not priorities," and removed language about staff not focusing on these projects.

Item 3: FY2027-FY2031 Capital Improvement Plan (as amended) (discussion throughout meeting, final vote at: 2:30:25)

• Vote: PASSED 10-1
• Votes in favor: Mayor Cole, and Councilpersons Shaw, Gulick, Owen, Rogers, Kennedy, Aspenlieder, Tidswell, Boyett, Rupsis
• Votes against: Neese
• Action: Approved the five-year Capital Improvement Plan with amendments.

Council Notable Quotables

Councilman Scott Aspenlieder on cost estimates (2:14:20): "I'll give you my staff's time for free to get you a number that has a basis in something to build this into a tighter box. And I mean we'll do that pro bono for nothing so that we can tighten this up...I can't imagine in a million years that it's going to be $1.3 million for a parking lot."

Councilwoman Jennifer Owen on evidence lot funding (2:24:32): "$1.3 million out of the police budget is not something I could support now or at any time in the future."

Councilman Roy Neese on geographic equity (2:29:40): "I don't believe there's a lot of projects coming into the Heights as I look on the maps."

Meeting Statistics

Duration: Approximately 2 hours, 32 minutes

// ADDITIONAL BILLINGS CHAMBER RESOURCES