Missoula County Government: Missoula County Weekly: Feb. 14-18

Press release from the Missoula County Government:

02/14/2022 4:00 PM

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COVID-19 testing and vaccine appointments with the Health Department are located at 3665 W. Broadway. Vaccines are available for anyone age 5+. Visit missoulainfo.com to schedule an appointment.

As a reminder, Missoula County offices will be closed on Monday, Feb. 21, in observance of Presidents’ Day. Offices will reopen Tuesday, Feb. 22. 

Lee comes to Missoula from Austin Public Library, Texas, and has held leadership roles in large, complex library systems serving rural and urban communities, including the King County Library System, Washington, and Queens Public Library, New York City.

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The Missoula City-County Health Department will begin distributing Missoula County’s allotment of at-home rapid antigen COVID-19 test kits on Monday, Feb. 14. Tests can be picked up from the COVID-19 Testing Center located at 3665 West Broadway, Missoula. Each kit contains two at-home COVID-19 tests, and one kit will be distributed per household.

The Health Department asks that those picking up a test kit use the testing entrance to the parking lot. Those who are picking up kits will not need to get out of their car to receive an at-home test kit.

The test kits will be handed out during the following clinic hours:

• 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays
• 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays
• 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays
• 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays
• 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays

The Health Department will provide kits to the public until stock runs out.

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Missoula County staff invite you to attend the March 1, 2022, Missoula Consolidated Planning Board Meeting for a public hearing on the proposed zoning code and map. The Missoula Planning Board public hearings will provide community leadership the opportunity to thoroughly discuss, review and eventually pass or deny the update to the zoning code.

The hearing will take place virtually at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1. We encourage you to attend to share your feedback or listen in. To attend the meeting, visit http://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/1149/AgendasWebcastsMinutes. To review and comment on the project, please visit www.mczoningupdate.com.

Feedback and comments on the Missoula County Zoning Code are always welcome as staff now move to the official review and approval portion of the code update.

All comments received before the March 1 hearing will be presented to the planning board for consideration.

Please feel welcome to reach out with questions or comments. Those interested in learning more or providing comments can contact Lindsey Romaniello at lromaniello@missoulacounty.us.  For more information about the zoning code update, visit www.mczoningupdate.com or call 406-258-4651.

Passenger Rail Under the Big Sky and Beyond: An Update from Montana’s Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority

REGISTER NOW!

Looking for inspiration on the power of local government in passenger rail advocacy? Then join Rail Passengers Association at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23,  as the Rail Passengers Association talks with Dave Strohmaier, chairman of Montana’s Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority, about how the Authority came into existence and the opportunities for local governments to catalyze regional and national change.

Established during the height of the pandemic in November 2020, the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority became the first regional passenger rail authority in Montana, and was entirely the result of county governments coming together around the shared vision of restoring the North Coast Hiawatha, which Amtrak discontinued in 1979. In the past year and a half, they’ve arguably accomplished more toward this goal than in the previous 42 years combined.

In partnership with Big Sky, the Rail Passengers Association recently completed a research note, “North Coast Hiawatha Restoration: A Solid Return for Taxpayers and Business,” which Rail Passengers President and CEO Jim Mathews will join to summarize.

For more info and a link to register, click here. The Zoom link will be sent to you the day before the event.

Registration will close at 10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20.  Space is limited to 475 participants, so reserve your spot now.

Plan on attending? Submit your questions. Send in your topic specific questions to Madison Butler at mbutler@narprail.org with the subject line "Big Sky Question" to be answered during the event. Questions are due Friday, Feb. 18.

The role of county auditor goes beyond numbers and spreadsheets. Missoula County Auditor Dave Wall shares how his office keeps the County’s spending in check not just by tracking dollars and cents but through incorporating value into every transaction.

Wall shares his journey of working up from the County mail room to elected official and the progression of learning how his personality and strengths can be used in public service. As an elected official, his office serves as the independent internal auditor for the County, so every claim is reviewed with equity and fairness, and taxpayers know their money is distributed with due care. He also discusses why he’s decided to prioritize making sure the County’s policies reflect its values, which includes viewing them through the lens of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

Anyone who wants to learn more or view spending reports is welcome to contact Wall at dwall@missoulacounty.us or by calling 406-258-3526.  

Missoula County employees are working hard for you!  

Kali Becher, open lands project manager, Community and Planning Services

Missoula County covers an incredibly diverse landscape, and I love that every day I get to work with such dedicated people across government and non-governmental organizations as well as community members to conserve this very special place.  

With the passage of two County-wide open space bonds, Missoula County has public funding to support open lands priorities, and one of my roles is to oversee the use and investment of these funds. This can involve supporting voluntary conservation of agricultural lands by working with land trusts and private landowners pursuing conservation easements. 

Projects also include providing public access to rivers or new trails and supporting new additions to public land. In addition to projects that support land conservation, I also get to work on projects that aim to restore lands such as working with the Lolo National Forest and Trout Unlimited to restore the upper Ninemile Creek from historic mining impacts. All these projects can take a long time to come to fruition and involvement from a variety of people, so part of my job is also participating in or coordinating these partnership efforts. 

Learn more at missoula.co/openlandsprogram. 

• American Red Cross Blood Drive 
  10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, at the Missoula County Fairgrounds -  Floriculture Building

• Family Movie Night 
  6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, at the Missoula Public Library 

• Deconstructing Frankenstein Series 
  6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, at the Missoula Public Library 

Find more events this week on the County’s Event Calendar!  

$13 million grant hits the bank; Missoula County to begin Mullan-area infrastructure
Missoula County seeking applicants for Tax Appeal, several community councils
Missoula, Bozeman and Helena continue pursuit of green tariff, but seeking alternatives 
Missoula, Missoula County nearing interlocal agreement on Federal Building 
Missoula County may adopt financial incentive program for renewable energy efficiency 

To join commissioner department, administrative and public meetings via Microsoft Teams and view the agendas, visit the Missoula County Commissioners’ Meeting Minutes and Agenda Portal. Please note that agendas for department and administrative meetings are published two business days before the meeting, and public meeting agendas are published the Friday before the meeting. Administrative and public meeting video recordings are available on the Missoula County YouTube page after the meeting, and MCAT plays the public meetings live on their Spectrum Channel 190. Email bcc@missoulacounty.us or call 406-258-4877 if you have any questions or comments on an upcoming meeting.  

• Tuesday, Feb. 15-Friday, Feb. 18
  No department, administrative or public meetings are scheduled on this day. Commissioners will be attending the 2022 National Association of Counties Legislative Conference. 
• Monday, Feb. 21
  No department, administrative or public meetings are scheduled on this day. Offices closed in observance of Presidents’ Day.

This press release was produced by the Missoula County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.