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Council postpones vote on records-destruction resolution for more review
Summary
After questions about retention periods in the Montana Schedule 8 and whether authority would be delegated indefinitely, the council withdrew the immediate approval and voted to postpone the records-destruction resolution to Aug. 3 to allow more review and possible edits.
The council considered a housekeeping resolution July 20 that would authorize city officers to destroy municipal records in accordance with the Montana Local Government Records Committee Schedule 8 without bringing each deletion to the council.
Angie, the city attorney, said the resolution would align the city's practice with the schedule and avoid requiring council approval for routine destruction of records that have met retention periods. Councilors raised questions about what the schedule requires, which records are retained in perpetuity (litigation files and council minutes were cited), whether Schedule 8 retention periods felt short for some items (building plans, emails), and whether the delegation would be indefinite or periodically reviewed.
After discussion, Councilor Rebecca moved to withdraw the motion to adopt the resolution and postpone action to the Aug. 3 meeting to permit more review and potential amendments; the council agreed and the postponement passed (vote recorded as 4-1 with one councilor opposed to postponement). Staff said they could add language for a periodic review if the council wanted.
City staff emphasized that digital records are easier to retain and that the resolution would apply to a limited set of physical paper records where storage capacity and schedule guidance make destruction appropriate.
