Belgrade narrows design‑build candidates for justice center; BNSF conditions grain‑elevator sale

Belgrade — City Manager Cardwell told the council the staff received seven responses to a request for qualifications for design‑build contractors for the Belgrade Justice Center and that staff have advanced a top candidate and begun contract discussions that will return to council for possible ratification before year’s end.

“We hope to be able to do that before the end of the year,” the city manager said, noting the short list had a tight scoring spread and that an AIA‑form contract is expected to be used as the basis for negotiations.

On a separate development item, staff reported movement on the city’s planned purchase of a grain elevator in the urban renewal district but said the current owner must demolish old liquid fertilizer tanks on BNSF land and complete environmental cleanup before BNSF will release the site from the lease. City staff said BNSF has not agreed to lease the property back to the city and that conversations are ongoing.

Cardwell also announced two new budgeted hires began work that day — a customer service representative in finance and a systems administrator in IT — and previewed an upcoming community involvement item: Belgrade High School will host a large speech and debate tournament this December that will require more than 300 volunteer judges; the city will allow up to four hours of paid time for staff volunteers with supervisory approval.

In other project updates, the preliminary engineering report (PER) for the water tank project returned with recommendations that require adjustments; staff said they expect a more substantive update in December after consultants modify the PER and further analyze leveraging aquifer storage versus building new tanks.