Granite County commissioners sign utility easement, set reservoir outflow and review solid-waste inspection; new county website launches

The Granite County Commissioners on an administratively focused agenda approved an encroachment permit and easement for a new utility pole to serve a proposed recreation building, set the dam outflow at 30 cubic feet per second, reviewed Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) inspection findings for the county's solid-waste sites, and announced launch of a new CivicPlus county website.

The commission voted to sign an encroachment permit application and a utility-easement request submitted by Matt Farrell for a new pole in the county right-of-way to serve a proposed recreation building. A commissioner moved the motion and it was seconded; the board recorded two aye votes and signed the easement during the meeting.

Why it matters: the easement gives utility access inside the county right-of-way and allows the applicant's utility company to place a pole and bury the remainder of the line, which county staff confirmed will be within the county road right-of-way.

The meeting also included a motion to set the reservoir outflow at 30 cubic feet per second for ongoing dam-tender operations; the motion was seconded and approved with two recorded aye votes. County staff reported the reservoir was at 6,427.74 (units reported by staff) and 21.12 inches below full pool and reminded the commission of a planned scheduled flow “payback” window from Oct. 8–15 during which the county must return 10 cubic feet per second under an earlier scheduling agreement discussed in prior meetings.

Montana DEQ inspected the county's solid-waste transfer sites and asked the county to update its operations and maintenance plan. County staff said they had provided current policies and procedures to DEQ and are preparing an amended solid-waste policy that will add items DEQ requested, including refrigerant-recovery language and other operational updates. Staff said the updated plan will likely come back to the commission in mid-October for formal review.

Solid-waste staff and contractors also briefed the commission on routine site work: scale maintenance at one transfer station, plans for oil-tank servicing, and requests from contractors on roadside clearing and culvert placement near Granite Road and Ghost Town access. One contractor’s annual road maintenance report referenced requests for the county’s annual ditch clearing, light grading and a culvert; commissioners agreed to follow up with the contractor and public works staff.

Commissioners spent part of the meeting on routine correspondence. Staff reported notice from Noridian Healthcare that billing privileges had been deactivated effective Sept. 29, 2025 due to enrollment revalidation not completed; staff said a county employee (Jackie) was working on revalidation. Republic Services sent notice its contract rates will increase by 3.25% effective Oct. 1.

The board announced Granite County’s new CivicPlus website is launching and that the old site will remain available with a link for a transition period. County staff said the new site uses a .gov domain and will be the county’s official site after the transition period.

Public comment and procedural items: Elena Gagliano thanked staff for adding a telephone dial-in option for remote meeting participants, saying, “I just wanna say I think this is great that Blanche and Miranda apparently worked on hooking up the star 9 star 6 for telephone calls because there are a lot of situations where we're on the road, and we don't have access to a computer or a smartphone. So this works really good. I wanna thank you for it.” Justine Richmond asked whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) letter referenced in correspondence would be discussed; staff confirmed the letter will be reviewed on the next meeting agenda and that the letter is posted to the county website.

The commission briefly closed the meeting for a personal matter and then resumed public business. Several routine staffing and administrative signatures and forms were completed by staff during the meeting.

Votes at a glance - Accept board minutes (motion to accept minutes from 09/23/2025): Passed; recorded vote — 2 aye, 0 no. (Motion moved and seconded in meeting.) - Encroachment permit / utility easement (applicant Matt Farrell): Passed; recorded vote — 2 aye, 0 no. (Commissioners authorized signature of the easement subject to standard conditions.) - Reservoir outflow (set outflow at 30 cubic feet per second): Passed; recorded vote — 2 aye, 0 no.

What’s next: staff said the DEQ-requested amendment to the county solid-waste plan will be finalized for commission consideration in coming weeks; the FERC letter referenced in correspondence will appear on next week's agenda for review; and the county will run both old and new websites concurrently during the announced transition period.

(Reporting note: the commission’s meeting transcript recorded motions, votes and public comments as indicated. Where roll-call vote detail was not provided in the transcript, counts reflect the aye/voice votes audible in the public record.)