County Commission Update

Hi Folks,

At our regular meeting last week, we heard a presentation from Joe Willauer, Executive Director of Headwaters RC&D, about a Community Economic Development Strategy. We brainstormed a number of different projects or events that could help with economic development in Whitehall, Boulder, and Jefferson County.

We heard a presentation from Lori Ladas, Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Development Center in Helena. We discussed their two year work plan and talked about Head Start in Whitehall. At the current time Whitehall Head Start is included in this year’s budget. They need to get the numbers up for eligible students and are currently advertising for a new teacher.

We appointed Trudy Dawson to the County Tax Appeal Board. We adopted Resolution 01-2017 which sets every Tuesday, starting at 9:30am as our regular meeting day. We will do claims and meet with Department Heads Tuesday mornings and have our regular meeting starting at 1:30 pm. We approved Resolution 05-2017 to cancel a number of warrants that haven’t been cashed.

We awarded the bid for the Jefferson Canal Blowout Project to George Rabel for $31,175.

Keep in mind that Kountz Road will be closed for several weeks, beginning about the middle of March to replace the culverts across Pipestone Creek with a bridge that is part of helping to relieve flooding issues in Whitehall.

FYI: Tom Coburn and Adam Andrzejewski, OpenTheBooks.com, via the Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2016; “During a nine year period through 2014, we found 67 agencies unaffiliated with the Department of Defense spent $1.48 billion on guns and ammo. In that total, $335.1 million was spent by agencies traditionally viewed as regulatory or administrative, such as the Smithsonian Institution and the US. Mint… Who are they preparing to battle?”