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Belgrade council unanimously approves two school annexations and sewer, water bond package
Summary
The council unanimously adopted three annexation and bond resolutions: annexation agreements for Ridgeview Elementary and the Belgrade School District bus barn, a $1,460,440 sewer-system SRF loan for lagoon rehabilitation (67% grant-funded), and a $20,000,000 water system revenue bond (total proceeds ~$20.98M). Council also restated prior water bond covenants to notify DNRC.
The Belgrade City Council on Monday evening unanimously approved a package of annexations and revenue-bond resolutions that city officials say will support school services and water and wastewater projects.
Pratt Stein, senior planner, described two school-district annexations: Ridgeview Elementary in the River Rock subdivision (property at 17 Greenbelt Drive) and the Belgrade School District bus barn (listed near 1706 Frontage Road). Stein said the elementary school is already connected to River Rock Water and Sewer and that the annexations formalize the city’s jurisdiction and make the city’s public-safety responders the primary responders at those properties. Both annexation resolutions passed with no public comment.
On the financing side, city staff briefed the council on a State Revolving Fund loan for the Lagoon Rehabilitation Project. The project budget for that work is $5,400,000; staff said roughly 67% of that project is grant-funded, about 27% will be funded by the SRF loan and roughly 6% is cash-funded. The council adopted Resolution 2025‑539 authorizing sewer-system revenue bonds associated with the SRF funding; the motion passed unanimously.
Council also considered a pair of related water-bond items. Staff explained a resolution restating prior water revenue bond covenants to notify the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) that the city has issued bonds not backed by DNRC and will not follow DNRC’s standard reserve policy on the new issue; the restatement resolution passed after a roll-call vote. Separately, staff reported that the city’s $20,000,000 water system revenue bond series 2025 achieved pricing that produced $977,000 in premium for total proceeds of about $20,977,000; after estimated delivery costs of roughly $540,000, staff said available project funds are about $20,436,000, with approximately $5.2 million already spent and roughly $15.17 million remaining for future work. The council adopted the authorizing resolution for the $20 million water bond by roll call vote; the motion passed unanimously.
City Manager Cardwell told the council HDR is expected to deliver a preliminary engineering report on the water-storage project later this month and asked for volunteers to serve on a small working group to help staff develop a five-year capital improvement program (CIP). Three council members volunteered to help staff prepare the CIP draft for later council consideration.
All formal motions recorded during the meeting passed unanimously; two members (Jim Simon and Renee Manuel) were noted as absent during the initial roll call.
Actions recorded in the meeting included adoption of annexation resolutions for Ridgeview Elementary and the Belgrade School District bus barn, adoption of sewer-system revenue bond resolution (SRF loan) for the Lagoon Rehabilitation Project, adoption of a resolution restating prior water revenue bond covenants to DNRC, and authorization of a $20,000,000 water system revenue bond series 2025. The council took no votes on policy items beyond those resolutions and referred CIP work to the staff working group.
