HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-26-18 Correspondence - Gallatin County Commission to City of Bozeman - Law and Justice Center Plans ����M
�F GALLgT�`4��' County Cominlsslon
GALLATIN COUNTY R. Stephen White
Joe P. Skinner
s 311 West Main, Rm. 306 • Bozeman,MT 59715 Donald F. Seifert
commission C?gallatin.mt.gov
-OF MO r� Phone (406) 582-3000
January 26, 2018
City of Bozeman
121 N. Rouse
PO Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59715
Dear Mayor Andrus, Deputy Mayor Mehl, Commissioners Pomeroy, Krauss, and Cunningham, and City
Manager Surratt:
We are writing this letter to confirm the intent of the Gallatin County Commissioners regarding our
future plans for a Law&Justice solution. Recent news articles may lead citizens to infer that it is the
County's intent to abandon a partnership with the City of Bozeman.
Both governments need to solve pressing needs for law enforcement, courts, attorney, etc. Late last
year we had initial discussions with City staff and architects regarding possible solutions. We have
expressed strong interest in all our meetings for pursuing a joint solution. At the same time, it was our
understanding that City staff were formally directed to re-examine a city-only project on city owned land
on Rouse.
The County Commissioners fully respect any decision of the City of Bozeman, and we therefore delayed
our decisions until after the City Commission meeting on January 22"d, in order to hear whether the City
planned to proceed jointly or separately(Rouse location). While the County fully respects the City's
postponement decision, we needed to examine our options and timetable.We had a previously
scheduled meeting on the 24th, for the purpose of reviewing the City's possible decision on their 22"d
meeting. On the 241h, the County Commissioners met with staff to review possible options. In that
meeting, we also stated a number of times that we appreciated the joint efforts of design with the City
partners last year. Our priority has been to maintain a partnership with the City in a future project. If the
City remains in a joint endeavor, we would proceed with a two-phased project.The first phase would be
the joint law enforcement building (less the storage component that is presently under construction).
In our meeting, the Commissioners also discussed options in the event that the City decided to proceed
with their Rouse project alone. Recognizing that a City decision on that project could take 4-5 weeks, the
County Commissioners directed staff to begin planning for a 'parallel track' that would include only
County infrastructure.This would involve modifying the designed court building to utilize space that was
originally slated for the City, converted for use by the Sheriff. Our decision would allow the County to
design an option that would only be utilized in the event that the City chooses not to proceed with a
future joint project.
We continue to focus our attention on solving the problems with the current law and justice facility. We
continue to respect the decisions of the City. Recent articles infer that we have abandoned plans to
work with the City. Hopefully this letter reiterates that that is not the case. Our decision was to work on
an alternate option in the event that the City chooses a separate project. It is our goal to utilize the
November election for a voter decision.
It is our sincere hope that this letter provides clarity to our recent public meeting and direction to staff.
Respectfully,
GALLATIN COUNTY COMMISSION
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R. Stephen White, Chair
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Joe Skinner, Member
Donald F. Seifert, Me