// DOWNTOWN BID RENEWAL REQUIRES COUNCIL VOTE

The Downtown Billings Business Improvement District (BID) is up for City Council reauthorization tonight. State law requires a BID to be reauthorized every 10 years, through the same process as initial authorization. That means gathering petition signatures from properties in the district. In order to be reauthorized, signatures representing at least 60% of the property in the district must be collected. Downtown Billings eclipsed that threshold with over 70% of the property in the district favoring reauthorization. Now the decision lies with City Council and the approval of a resolution outlining the boundaries of the district, purpose, property assessments and powers of the board of trustees.

BID Boundaries

The resolution identifies the BID boundaries as: "Beginning at the centerline intersection of 6th Avenue North and North 32nd Street; Thence along said 6th Avenue North centerline in a northeasterly direction to the centerline intersection with the alley centerline between…" OR, we can just show you the map…

(click for larger version)

Dos Zones

The BID encompasses 57 blocks divided into two distinct zones:

• The "Safe Zone" is the larger zone and is the boundary for the BID Cooperative Safety Program.
• Includes three police officers dedicated to the downtown area, opportunity for security surveys using Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), and a Community Resource Director able to help at-risk individuals attain needed services.

• The "Clean & Safe Zone" is the smaller (about 20 blocks in green on the map) zone boundary. It benefits from the work of the BID Cooperative Safety Program plus the BID Street Team who:
• Sweep 354 miles of sidewalk per year
• Empty 120,000 pounds of garbage each year
• Snow plow 252 miles of sidewalk per winter
• And more...

Mathing Properties & Assessments

• 1,037 total properties will be assessed the BID fee
• $557,834 assessment total
• $166 median assessment
• $12,619 highest assessment
• $50 lowest assessment

BID History…and Future

2005: first Downtown Billings BID established

2015: reauthorization of Downtown Billings BID

2025: pending Council reauthorization of BID

2035: next reauthorization of the BID required by state law

Property Owner Testimonials

"I can't say enough about how much I value the BID—from the events to the sidewalk plowing and everything in-between."

— Sherry Daly, Montana Vintage Clothing

"We support the BID because we believe the work they do is valuable for our customers, our hotel and for downtown overall."

— George Maragos, Northern Hotel

The Bottom Line

We are very supportive of the Downtown Billings BID and the benefits it provides to our businesses. We encourage City Council to approve reauthorization of this successful program that our businesses strongly support and that:

• provides major safety benefits by funding police officers, utilizing CPTED, and carrying out the Motivated Addiction Alternative Program to keep our downtown safe
• hosts signature events that bring 90,000+ people to downtown (If each visitor spends just $5 with downtown businesses, that's $450,000 of spending impact)
• does yeoman's work through the Street Team to ensure our downtown is clean, beautiful, and inviting

// WORK SESSION 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.

COUNCIL REPORTS: 

ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS - CHRIS KUKULSKI 

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

1. CONSENT AGENDA -- Separations: 

A. Mayor Cole recommends Council confirm the following appointments:

B. Bid Awards: 

1. W.O. 25-07: Landfill Gas Collection System Lift Two. (Opened 7/15/25) Recommend Olympus Technical Services. 

C. Amendment No. 1, to Public Safety Software Systems agreement with Tyler Technologies. 

D. Billings Police Officers' Unit Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

E. Professional Engineering Services Contract with HDR Engineering, Inc. for W.O. 26-08: WRF Digester Gas Piping. 

F. Purchase (6) Police Patrol Utility Vehicles and (1) Police Responder Patrol Truck; Duval Ford. 

G. Donation to Parks Department from Partners for Parks for two (2) timber-framed shade structures on Skyline Trail. 

H. Bills for the Weeks of: 

1. July 14, 2025 

2. July 21, 2025  

REGULAR AGENDA: 

2. PUBLIC HEARING AND RESOLUTION creating Downtown Business Improvement District (BID 0001). Staff recommends approval.

3. RESOLUTION creating the Board of Trustees for the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) No. 0001. Staff recommends approval.

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

COUNCIL INITIATIVES: 

ADJOURN:

// WATCH THE MEETING ON COMMUNITY 7 TELEVISION

// 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:

• Updated Pool Hours
• West Billings Neighborhood Plan Open House
• Thursday, August 16th, 6:00pm, @ Ben Steele Middle School
• And much more...

// 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.

🔸 Monday, August 11th

Energy and Conservation Committee

3:00 - 4:00 pm, 2251 Belknap Ave.

🔸 Tuesday, August 12th

Yellowstone County Planning Board

6:00 - 7:30 pm, Council Chambers, 5th Floor, New City Hall, 316 N. 26th St.

Midtown Community Collaborative (MCC) Task Force

7:00 - 8:00 pm, Black Dog Coffee, 1528 N. 24th St. W.

🔸 Wednesday, August 13th

Parks, Recreation, and Public Land (PRC) Board Meeting

11:00 - 1:00 pm, South Park, 6th Ave. S. & S. 30th St.

Council Legislative & Local Affairs Committee

4:00 - 5:00 pm, Rimrock Rm, 5th Floor, New City Hall, 316 N. 26th St.

🔸 Thursday, August 14th

Tourism Business Improvement District Board Meeting

8:30 - 10:00 am, Billings Chamber, 815 S. 27th St.

Library Board Meeting

12:00 - 1:00 pm, 2nd floor Board Room, Billings Library, 510 N. Broadway

// 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 September 1, 2025.

BOARD OPENING (SEATS)

Tourism BID (2)

Community Development Board (1)

Housing Authority—Family (1)

REQUIREMENTS

Live in Billings (Hotel Industry)

Live in Billings

Live in Billings (Res Comm)

// IN CASE YOU MISSED IT - AI SUMMARY AND SOURCE LINKS

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

• an AI summary (YouTube transcript analyzed by Claude's Sonnet 4) 
• links to the Community 7 video 
• draft minutes produced by city staff (if available) 

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 - August 4, 2025

Overview

The Billings City Council held a work session covering three main topics: a presentation from the newly merged Allies in Aging organization, an update on the city's disaster and emergency services (DES) including the underutilized Everbridge alert system, and an extensive discussion about litter problems throughout Billings. The session featured presentations from staff and partner organizations, with considerable discussion about enforcement challenges, funding concerns, and public communication systems that have struggled to gain traction with residents.

Actions and Directions to Staff

• Emergency Preparedness: Direct staff to develop and practice emergency response plan for new City Hall building with DES office assistance
• Code Updates: Staff to return with ordinance changes to legalize current practice of accepting out-of-county waste at landfill (currently accepting ~600 tons annually from non-contracted sources)
• Driver Training: Public Works to continue training garbage truck drivers to avoid overfilling trucks that contribute to litter
• Landfill Fee Structure Review: Consider updating unsecured load fee structure and progressive penalties for repeat offenders

Key Quotes from Council Members

Council Member Rupsis on the Everbridge app: "I don't want another app. The only thing that's worse than an app that doesn't tell you anything is an app that tells you something that's just not relevant."

Mayor Cole on garbage enforcement: "we need to be reasonable and maybe do some experiment" regarding overfilled container policies.

Council Member Aspenlieder on trash enforcement: "I would just caution us all as we go down this road—and I think it's the right road to go down—but we all need to have a backbone when it comes to this issue as well and not let the staff be the scapegoat for a policy that we put in place."

Notable Public Input

Ryan Starks (Solid Waste Division employee) provided strong support for litter enforcement, stating: "You can call us a lot of things but don't call us late for dinner." He defended city workers against public criticism and explained that most litter along roads comes from unsecured private loads, not city trucks.

Kevin Nelson raised multiple concerns including the impact of TIF districts on senior services funding, traffic safety affecting seniors, and lack of noise ordinance enforcement. He noted police wrote only one loud stereo ticket in all of 2024 despite clear ordinance violations.

Meeting Statistics

• Duration: Approximately 2 hours
• Primary Speakers: Derek Yeager (DES Coordinator) and Debbie Meling/Jennifer Duray (Public Works) had the most speaking time during presentations
• Public Commenters: 4 different residents spoke during various comment periods
• Council Attendance: Ten members were present with Council Member Tidswell arriving online partway through, and Council Member Shaw excused

Additional Notable Items

Everbridge Alert System Struggles: The emergency alert system has only 15,400 subscribers countywide, which officials called "pretty dismal." The system has been largely unused since 2019 purchase, with recent efforts to increase usage showing people download the app after emergencies but then delete it due to lack of ongoing utility.

Nonprofit Merger Success: Allies in Aging represents a rare successful nonprofit merger in Billings, combining Big Sky Senior Services and Adult Resource Alliance while maintaining all programs and most staff. They now serve approximately 500 people monthly and are the largest senior service provider in the state.

Litter Enforcement Changes: The city will begin charging fees for unsecured loads at the landfill ($40-$80 depending on origin) after years of limited enforcement. Staff acknowledged this will create conflicts with residents over interpretation of "secured" loads.

// ADDITIONAL BILLINGS CHAMBER RESOURCES

// BUSINESS ADVOCACY SPONSORS