On the agenda: Three Forks 8.11.2026 — Data Center (Aug 11)

** Page 1** A SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL
MEETING CITY OF THREE FORKS, MONTANA, AUGUST 11TH, 2026
AUGUST 11TH, 2026, The Three Forks City Council met at Three Forks City
Hall at 206 S. Main Street and via Zoom. (Zoom is a virtual meeting tool
which the City began using due to COVID-19 and social distancing
guidelines and continues to use to encourage participation from the safety
of one’s home.) The meeting was chaired by Mayor Randy Johnston, who
called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M.
ROLL CALL: City Council members Gene Townsend, Ed Tharp, (Warren) Garret
Buchanan, Robert Buchholz, and Alex Blackburn were present. Reagan Hooton
was excused. City Clerk Crystal Turner and City Treasurer Kelly Smith were
present at City Hall. City Engineer Jessica Salo attended via Zoom. City
Attorney Susan Swimley was excused.
The record reflected a quorum with the attendance of five (5) Council
members and the meeting was held.
The Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag was led by Mayor Johnston.
Mayor Johnston reminded the audience that this meeting was audio- and
video-recorded and may be streamed to the City’s Facebook page.
GUESTS: Allie Lawrence, Gloria Howland
PUBLIC COMMENTS/CONCERNS (For items not on the agenda)
Allie Lawrence spoke regarding an event she will be hosting on Main Street
on 8/22/2026, which will require closing Main Street from Cedar to Date
Streets. She has spoken with the Gallatin County Sheriff Office, obtained
the street closure permit from the Department of Transportation, and just
wanted to verify the City was OK with that. “This is a pool tournament in
memory of LaDonna Johnson. I had the permit approved already, but after
speaking with the man who will set the pool tables up, they needed more
time. So, I spoke with DOT and the Sheriff and it was suggested I request
to amend my permit for closure starting Friday night at midnight to
Saturday night at midnight. I just wanted to make sure the City Council
was OK with that as well.” Crystal Turner said she has already verified
that Public Works that they do not have anything planned that weekend.
Garret Buchanan asked what time the event starts? Allie replied that
check-in starts at 8am, and games start at 9am. Tables will take about 4
hours to setup with lights and tents. Plans to start setting up at 2AM on
Saturday morning. Garret Buchanan verified that not all of Main Street
will be closed, just between Cedar and Date? Allie said yes, and there
will be detour routes and signage in place. “It’s an open scotch doubles
tournament, 50% of the proceeds go to breast cancer research and 40%
payout to the winning teams. There will be five raffle baskets put
together too. All of the raffle basket proceeds will go towards that

** Page 2** A SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL
MEETING CITY OF THREE FORKS, MONTANA, AUGUST 11TH, 2026
donation fund, and the 50/50 raffle ticket sales will go to the donation
fundas well. The remaining percentage will go to the Johnson family,”
Allied informed the Council.
Gene Townsend asked if Allie had spoken to the businesses on Main Street
that will be impacted. Allie replied that she had not yet because wanted
to make sure it was all set. “This will only be Main Street between Cedar
and Date Streets, so the Saddlery, Motor Supply, the gym, and Roots will
may be open but will be spoken to. The Plaza and Frontier are already in
the loop,” she said. Allie asked if there is anything she may need to do.
The Council and staff replied they did not think so.
CONSENT AGENDA
a. Three Forks Rodeo Arena Claims for FY2025-2026 Totaling $350.00
b. Three Forks Rodeo Claim Paid due to Timeliness on 7/18/2026 Totaling
$20,500 for Added Cash Payouts
c. Three Forks Rodeo Arena Claims Paid due to Timeliness on 7/31/2026
Totaling $45,452.14
d. Three Forks Rodeo Arena Claims to be Paid
e. City Claims for FY2025-2026 due to Timeliness on 7/31/2026 Totaling
$20,080.74
f. City Claims Paid due to Timeliness on 7/31/2026 Totaling $131,627.17
g. City Claim for FY2025-2026
h. City Claims to be Paid
i. City Council Minutes of 7/14/2026
j. Engagement Letter with Craig Shepherd to Perform Annual Financial
Report for FY2025-2026 ($4,500)
k. Pledged Securities with Manhattan Bank through 6/30/2026
l. Amendment #9 to Task Order #9 for the Water Project due to Extended
the Construction Timeline, Grant Funding Requirements for Bidding
and Construction for Wellhouses at Wells 11, 12, & 13 ($25,000)
m. Amendment #10 to Task Order #9 for the Water Project for Solar Array
RFP Assistance ($5,000)
n. Record Destruction Request Form RM88 #32 to Shred Various Record
Types no Longer Required to Keep from Personnel Files of Former
Employees
o. Record Destruction Request Form RM88 #33 to Delete Electronic and
Shred Various Recorders of Dog Licenses, Business Licenses,
Informational Worker’s Compensation Reports to Complete Submittals
Councilman Buchholz moved to approve the Consent Agenda. Councilman
Blackburn seconded the motion. There was no public comment.
Motion Passed Unanimously.
PUBLIC HEARINGS

** Page 3** A SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL
MEETING CITY OF THREE FORKS, MONTANA, AUGUST 11TH, 2026
Continued Discussion on Resolution #471-2026, Public Hearing on the
FY2026-2027 Preliminary Budget
Gene Townsend, Chairman of the Budget Committee, reported they met on July
31st and started by looking over the project revenues. “At the time we held
our meeting, we had not received our mill levy amounts from the Department
of Revenue. Since then, we have received it and the value of our mill has
increased slightly. We talked about income and according to our City
Treasurer things looked good. Now that the DOR has provided the taxable
value, it still looks good,” Gene reported.
Kelly Smith reported we will get about $24,000 more than last year, “The
mill value increased to $5,141, but we will tax less because of the
value’s increase.” Gene said, “We talked about a 5% raise for all
employees (see Budget Committee minutes as they recommended nonprobationary and not Library employees since the Library Board recommends
raises for its own employees).” Kelly continued, “We talked about taxing
fewer years on the Jefferson River Flood Mitigation SID because the State
Resiliency Grant is helping with another $1.2 million, so this is a really
good thing to help our citizens be taxed for fewer years. We also
discussed putting the solar project in the Water fund for the grant we
received. We are out to bid right now for that project. The Committee
recommended another $5,000 to HRDC again this year, only $400 to the Big
Sky Passenger Rail (they sent an invoice for $2,000 but we are not
agreeing to that amount), and a $5,000 donation to the Three Forks Senior
Center because they had a major leak this year and are requesting
donations after exhausting all their reserve funds,” Kelly stated. Alex
Blackburn asked if there is anything else the Senior Center needs? Kelly
said she will reach out to Trish Warren and find out. Gene Townsend added
the Committee also discussed an increase to the on-call pay for the Public
Works folks because it has not been amended for ten years, and they are
on-call from Wednesday to Wednesday, not just on the weekends, and they
cannot leave Three Forks when they are on call. “It only affects two
employees right now, because it is required you must also be a certified
water/wastewater operator,” Gene added. Robert Buchholz said the
Committee also recommended the City add another flagpole to Veteran’s Park
and a Space Force flag so all the services are represented.
Gene also commented, “It’s nice to see the work Kelly and Crystal do, and
it’s nice to work with a budget where you can donate to things like the
Senior Center and help them. They had over 4 inches of rainwater that
flooded their basement,” he said.
Garret Buchanan asked about updates to the Library budget. Kelly Smith
replied that the Library gets its budget done earlier, and she and Jonna
worked on it because it was due to the County first. Kelly said she has
not input the Library budget into Budget Prep yet. Garret added that a
men’s bathroom upgrade would be nice to be included at some point.

** Page 4** A SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL
MEETING CITY OF THREE FORKS, MONTANA, AUGUST 11TH, 2026
Kelly reported that there is a new fund the City can create if it wants
to, called the Large Taxpayer Reserve account. “I don’t think it will
benefit Three Forks to do it, but the Legislature added it into the per
mill calculation that if you have a taxpayer (an individual or an entity,
or several of them) within the city that is in the 20% of the largest
taxable values in the city, you can tax an additional 10% on newly taxes
properties and set that aside for reserves. But if you do collect it, this
reserve can only be used if that property, for some reason, no longer pays
its taxes or the taxable value decrease considerably; this reserve can
make up for that loss in the general fund. I did the calculation and this
year it would be $94 to set aside. Not sure if you guys have an opinion
on this. It can only be used if that large taxpayer taxable value drops by
25% or more,” she said. Robert Buchholz said he thinks the $94 that could
be generated would not be worth the time spent to separate, or track it.
“Can we do it next year or do you have to decide this now?” he asked.
Gene Townsend said he does not know why the Legislature would create
something like this, “The only thing I can think of is like when Anaconda
mining closed, where the town gets really hit by lost revenue and not be
able to withstand the same services it provided.” Kelly will find out if
it can be decided on again next year.
The hearing on the FY2026-2027 budget will continue until the next meeting
on August 25, 2026, when the resolution will be heard for adoption.
Public Hearing and Decision on a Resolution Amending the FY2025-2026
Budget to Acknowledge Unanticipated Revenues and Amend Expenditures
Exceeding the Original Appropriations
Mayor Johnston read the resolution, which would be #479-2026 if adopted,
into the record in its entirety.
Councilman Blackburn moved to accept Resolution #479-2026, a resolution of
the Three Forks City Council amending the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget to
acknowledge unanticipated revenues and amend expenditures exceeding the
original appropriations. Councilmen Townsend and Buchanan seconded the
motion in unison. There was no public comment.
Motion Passed Unanimously.
Continuation of Public Hearing and Decision on a Resolution to Adopt the
Wastewater Preliminary Engineering Report (PER)
Mayor Johnston read the resolution, which would be #475-2026 if approved,
into the record in its entirety.
Garret Buchanan liked the changes to the recommendations shown in the
original PER, and also liked the edit of language allowing the town to
implement a few solutions first before implementing some of the
recommendations, which seemed dire in the previous version.

** Page 5** A SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL
MEETING CITY OF THREE FORKS, MONTANA, AUGUST 11TH, 2026
Jessica Salo said we talked about the treatment plant, softening the
language in several pages of the document about the treatment plant
expansion being dire. She said that previous they had some population
numbers that were too conservative. “As the City grows to the planning
number in the next 20 years, there will need to be a treatment plant
expansion, but it’s not as dire as previously presented. We do think
there was some ambiguity; the ammonia spikes throughout the year, I&I
[inflow and infiltration] is still the critical issue which the City staff
will do some extra work on and correct those sump pumps and investigate
with CCTV,” she said.
The Mayor asked if Jessica knew if the City had any violations [for the
discharge permit]. She said she was not aware of any violations of the
discharge permit.
Councilman Buchholz moved to adopt Resolution #475-2026, a resolution to
adopt the Wastewater Preliminary Engineering Report. Councilman Buchanan
seconded the motion. There was no public comment.
Motion Passed Unanimously.
OFFICER REPORTS
City Clerk Crystal Turner reported the Montana League of Cities and Towns
conference will be held in Helena on 10/7-10/9/2026 if any Council or
Mayor wishes to attend. Registration is $210 (or $150 for first-timers),
and hotels range from $109-143/night. Things on the draft agenda for
possible discussion/learning are: property taxes explained ‘Beyond the
Budget’ strategies that support municipal operations throughout the year,
Planning for Data Centers, and Building Trust ‘Communicating Effectively
with Residents’. Please let Crystal know if you would like to attend so
we can register at the early-bird rate.
Crystal also reported that the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT)
reached out today asking if the Council still wishes to maintain its
roughly 2 miles of “Adopt a Highway”? The Council said they will still
maintain this section. Crystal will reply to MDT.
City Treasurer Kelly Smith reporting she has been busy working on budget,
preparing for FY2025-2026 AFR, and then working on Zoning chapters. “The
Zoning & Planning Board meeting will be next week, and it may be their
last meeting before we start sending chapters for first reading of
ordinances to the City Council,” she alerted the Council.
REPORTS FROM COUNCIL COMMITTEES (if any)
Gene Townsend reported previously on the Budget Committee updates in the
Public Hearing continuation regarding FY2026-2027’s budget.

** Page 6** A SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL
MEETING CITY OF THREE FORKS, MONTANA, AUGUST 11TH, 2026
Alex Blackburn directed his comment to the Streets and Alleys Committee,
that there are some major potholes around town, particularly on Date
Street. Mayor Johnston said that would going to be part of his report
tonight.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
There was no Unfinished Business.
NEW BUSINESS
Recommendation to Award Bid for 2026 Headwaters Trail Maintenance
Crystal Turner reported the three bids were received: Big Sky Asphalt for
$224,016, Acme for $227,640, and Mountain State Civil (for only the
demolition) for $38,780. Ahren Hastings has recommended Big Sky Asphalt;
they have a walk-through scheduled with him and Gene Townsend later this
week. We are awaiting for copies of their insurance.
Gene Townsend said the plan is to start along Talc Road by third pond,
then head out to the Madison River walking bridge, and across the river
and both receive overlays. We will fix the section where we recently
worked on the culvert; this part of the trail will have to be done by hand
because you cannot get a paving machine in there. If there is any money
left after that work, Gene would like to do a seal coat on the section of
trail by the golf course.
Councilman Buchanan moved to award the bid for maintenance on the
Headwaters Trail System to Big Sky Asphalt, Inc.
Councilman Tharp seconded the motion. There was no public comment.
Motion passed 4:0 – Gene Townsend abstained. Crystal Turner asked why
Gene always abstains. He said he does not want it to seem like a conflict
of interest. Crystal said she does not ever see it that way, and it is
not like he owns, or has a portion of ownership, in any of the companies
that bid. He said, “OK then I’ll vote yes.” And everyone laughed.
MAYOR AND COUNCIL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mayor Johnston reported there will be a hamburger dinner at the Farmer’s
Market this week on Thursday night. Gene cooks, Randy serves, and it will
be $8 for a bacon cheeseburger meal.
PUBLIC COMMENTS/CONCERNS (For items not on the agenda)
There were no comments for items not on the agenda.
The next meeting will be on August 25, 2026, at 6PM and will have the
following items:

** Page 7** A SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL
MEETING CITY OF THREE FORKS, MONTANA, AUGUST 11TH, 2026
•
•

•

Public Hearing and Decision on a Resolution Establishing Wages and
Compensation for the Appointed Officers and Employees for Fiscal Year
2026-2027
Public Hearing and Decision on a Resolution Adopting and Establishing
the Mills to be Levied; Designating the Percentage Breakdown for the
State of Montana Entitlement Share; and Designating the Breakdown for
the Local Option Tax for Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2026 and
Ending June 30, 2027
Public Hearing and Decision on a Resolution Adopting the Fiscal Year
2026-2027 Budget

ADJOURNMENT
Councilman Tharp motioned to adjourn the meeting. Alex Blackburn second
the motion. The Mayor adjourned the meeting without a vote, with a stroke
of the gavel at 6:56 P.M.

Randy Johnston, Mayor

Crystal Turner, City Clerk