Missoula County formalizes emergency transit agreement with Mountain Line

Missoula County commissioners approved a formal agreement with Mountain Line to allow resource sharing for emergency response and disaster planning. County staff said the agreement formalizes a relationship that has existed informally and will allow more structured planning for evacuations and other emergency operations.

A county staff member said this is “the first time we've had an actual formal agreement in place” with Mountain Line, though both parties have historically assisted during emergencies. The agreement is intended to support planning and resource-sharing exercises and to clarify how Mountain Line might assist with evacuations or other emergency transport tasks.

The vote to “approve the chair to sign the transit services” agreement passed; the transcript records no roll-call tally. Commissioners asked whether the agreement grew out of the prior year’s windstorm and whether it will change operational plans; staff said it stems in part from that event and from ongoing updates to the county’s emergency operations plan, but the meeting did not include an operational scenario or detailed deployment rules.

Staff noted that Mountain Line and other partners typically “step up” in emergencies and the new agreement is intended to capture those relationships in writing and enable more deliberate planning. The transcript does not record specific mutual-aid provisions, reimbursement terms, or a detailed incident command integration plan.