Bozeman commission approves contract to start Gooch Hill area plan and lift-station engagement

The Bozeman City Commission on Feb. 3 authorized the city manager to sign a professional services agreement with a consultant to prepare a Gooch Hill area plan and adopted a companion community engagement resolution to guide outreach on a proposed Gooch Hill sanitary sewer lift station.

The move, approved 4–0, funds a planning process that staff and the consultant said would study a roughly 3,166-acre planning boundary, phase an initial lift station to serve about 2,000 acres and anticipate a long-term buildout capacity of about 5,000 acres. Utilities Director Sean Coats described the lift station location as near Harper Puckett Road and East Valley Center and said the project would pump sewage via a pressure sewer to a connection at Davis Lane and East Valley Center.

Consultant Chris Naumann told the commission the scope and fee emphasize compliance with the Montana Land Use and Planning Act and alignment with Bozeman’s community plan, and place a strong emphasis on public engagement through EngageBozeman, direct mailings, online surveys and in-person events. Naumann said staff hopes to return with an adoption-ready plan in October.

Commissioners asked how the city will reach property owners—especially those outside current city limits—and staff and the consultant said they will use cadastral mailing lists, postcard mailings ($1,000 budgeted for direct mail), online engagement tools and partner organizations, and can create yard signs and pivot outreach tactics if needed. Coats noted easement negotiations for the lift-station site are ongoing and that a separate design contract for the lift station will come later.

Several commissioners emphasized integrating the city’s Sensitive Lands and transportation plans into the area plan and urged adding stakeholder groups such as the Sustainability Board and transportation partners. Commissioners also raised natural-resource concerns, including groundwater depth and wildlife migration corridors; staff said geotechnical and groundwater analyses will be performed when the design contract is issued.

Both motions—the professional services agreement and the engagement-plan resolution—were moved by Commissioner Magic, seconded and approved by a unanimous vote (Commissioner Magic, Commissioner Sweeney, Commissioner Bode and Mayor Mary Morrison voting Aye). The consultant will begin outreach if the contract is finalized and mailings are scheduled to go out early in the process.