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Helena City Council approves board appointments, Henley-Sector 2 preliminary plat; tables employee handbook
Summary
At its May 11 meeting the Helena City Council approved multiple board appointments and a preliminary plat for Henley-Sector 2, approved an ABC license, rescinded a prior rezoning vote but denied immediate reconsideration, and tabled the employee handbook pending union talks.
Helena — The Helena City Council on May 11 approved a slate of board appointments, granted a liquor license for a downtown bar, and unanimously approved a preliminary plat for Henley-Sector 2, while deferring final action on an employee handbook and leaving a rezoning request in limbo.
Council President Brooke Dodson called the regular meeting to order at 5:59 p.m. after a 5:00 p.m. work session in which members reviewed the evening’s agenda and discussed staffing and handbook issues. Mayor Billy Rosener told the council that the City Clerk intends to move into a court role as a magistrate/court clerk and asked that the clerk position be posted internally for seven days before opening it to the public.
The council approved appointments to several advisory boards. Jeff McDaniels moved to appoint Lindsey Rigdon, Sheila Walton, Brittany Lindsey and Laura Joseph to the library board; the motion passed unanimously. The council also approved appointments to the Beautification Board, the Helena Historic Preservation Committee and the One Helena advisory body.
The council approved an ABC license for SPE2AR LLC to operate Old Town Bar at 4161 Helena Road. The motion to approve the license passed unanimously.
On land-use matters, the council voted 4–1 to rescind an April 27 denial of a rezoning request for 5248 Highway 17 (Maggie Valley, LLC and Dan Rasmussen). Dennis Wilson made the motion to rescind; Jeff McDaniels cast the sole dissent. A subsequent motion for immediate consideration of the rezoning failed on the same 4–1 split, leaving the status of the rezoning unchanged for now.
Councilmembers also took up Henley-Sector 2, a master plan modification and preliminary plat submitted by Newcastle Development, LLC with a favorable recommendation from Planning & Zoning. Jeff McDaniels moved to take the item from the table; Dennis Wilson then moved to approve the Henley-Sector 2 modification and preliminary plat, and the motion carried unanimously.
The council tabled consideration of the employee handbook to a tentative special-called meeting on May 20 after Mayor Rosener said he would meet with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) to address concerns raised by union members. Andy Healy moved to table the handbook and Dennis Wilson seconded; the motion passed unanimously.
During the work session the council briefly adjourned into executive session at 5:11 p.m. to discuss real property and returned at 5:35 p.m.; motions to enter and exit executive session were made by Andy Healy and seconded by Dennis Wilson.
Council members used the closing period for brief remarks about community events. Jeff McDaniels urged the mayor not to make staffing decisions based on a small subset of employees, saying, "please keep in mind that we have around 130-135 employees," and asked that changes consider all departments. Mayor Rosener said auditors may be invited to the May 20 special-called meeting to discuss budget questions.
The council announced a tentative special-called meeting for May 20 at 6:00 p.m. and set the next regularly scheduled meeting for June 8, with a 5:00 p.m. work session. The meeting was adjourned at 6:53 p.m.
