GF Planning/Zoning Board Unanimously Recommends Denial Of FUMC Conditional Use Permit

Rick Tryon on June 15, 2022

At Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Great Falls Planning Advisory Board/Zoning Commission the members voted unanimously to recommend the denial of a conditional use permit submitted by the First United Methodist Church to operate an outdoor emergency homeless shelter on their property in downtown Great Falls.

The Planning Advisory Board/Zoning Commission is comprised of Great Falls citizens who volunteer their time and effort to help navigate and advise on land use issues within city limits.

Yesterday’s meeting was well attended by the public with lot’s of comment coming from folks on both sides of the issue.

Several local business owners and residents in the FUMC neighborhood spoke up. You can view the video of the 3 hour plus meeting here.

The conditional use permit request will now go to the Great Falls City Commission for a final decision sometime in July, either at the regularly scheduled 7/19 meeting or at a special meeting scheduled for a different July date.

Regardless of ones position on this specific issue, it’s encouraging to see so many Great Falls citizens fully engaged in their local government. This is how it’s supposed to work.

FUMC Tent Emergency Shelter CUP On Planning Board Agenda Tuesday – Public Invited To Comment

Rick Tryon on June 10, 2022

The City of Great Falls Planning Advisory Board/Zoning Commission will take up a conditional use permit request by the First United Methodist Church in downtown Great Falls to operate an Emergency Shelter on its property.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14 at 3:00 PM in the commission chambers at the Civic Center. The public is encouraged to attend and comment.

City Staff Recommends Denial of CUP

The conditional use permit application submitted by the FUMC includes plans for outdoor shelter with up 20 tents in the parking lot, which currently contains a number of tents as well as several camper vehicles.

Here is the drawing of the proposed Emergency Shelter tent encampment land use. The drawing was a part of the FUMC conditional use permit application.

The Planning Advisory Board/Zoning Commission will vote to either approve or deny the permit. The request and board recommendation could then be considered by the Great Falls City Commission at a later date.

The agenda packet contains a information as to why City staff has recommended denial of the CUP. You can find the agenda packet here.

Slaughter Crushes Groskreutz: Three Reasons

Rick Tryon on June 8, 2022

I’ve been asked to put on my amateur political analyst hat here for a little minute to talk about Tuesday’s primary election results in the Cascade County Sheriff’s race between incumbent Republican Jesse Slaughter and challenger Jay Groskreutz.

This race wasn’t even close. Groskreutz got ‘slaughtered’ in a 70% to 30% landslide. That’s 9,248 votes for Jesse and 3,925 for Jay.

So why was it such a drubbing? Well, I can think of three reasons:

Reason One

Groskreutz didn’t have a coherent, convincing platform. His radio ads featured his plan to fight the drug crisis in our community by educating kids. ‘Just Say No’ sounds nice but folks here understand it’s just not enough, not by a long shot.

Education is a part of the solution but I think citizens prefer a sheriff who focusses on declaring war on local drug dealers and aggressively going after and arresting them.

Reason Two

Groskreutz said and did nothing about the slimy, personal, unfair and untrue smears against Slaughter by the far left and their lapdogs in local ‘news’ media and blogs, painting Slaughter as a white supremacist, militia kook, and worse.

The problem with those kinds of outright lies is that folks in this community have known Jesse and Undersheriff Reeves personally for a long time and they understand the absurdity contained in the kind of tripe being pushed by the Great Falls Tribune and others.

Groskreutz should have and could have repudiated that sewage, which he knew to be lies, and still run an honorable and vigorous campaign. I think someone gave him bad advice.

Reason Three

Goskreutz readily accepted the endorsement of the local Democrat machine. When a Republican is the Democrat’s favorite and handpicked candidate on the GOP primary ballot no one should be surprised when the vast majority of Republican voters filling out that ballot take note and vote against the Democrat’s pick.

Sheriff Slaughter deserved the win because he’s done an outstanding job for four years as Cascade County Sheriff and because he campaigned hard and with honor in this primary. Congratulations to him and Cory Reeves.

City Press Release And Court Filing Against FUMC Great Falls ‘Homeless Camp’

Rick Tryon on May 31, 2022

In the interest of full transparency and in response to the dozens of complaints, comments and expressions of concern I’ve received over the past couple of months I am taking this opportunity to share the information made publicly available concerning the action recently taken by the City of Great Falls related to the ‘homeless encampment’ at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Great Falls.

Here is the full text of the press release issued by the City:

“Draft Press Release – First United Methodist Church Homeless Encampment

Over the past six months, First United Methodist Church has been expanding its homeless outreach ministry located at 610 2nd Ave N.  Initially, the church provided food and space for homeless persons.  Recently, the church expanded its activities into a tent and camper encampment in violation of the City of Great Falls Municipal Code.     

The City has notified Pastor Jeff Wakeley that the Church is required under the City’s zoning ordinance to obtain a Conditional Use Permit to even operate any type of homeless shelter in the first instance.  The Church has since submitted a CUP application that is currently being processed by City staff, and will ultimately be presented to the Great Falls Zoning Commission within the next few weeks.

In the meantime, the Church was also placed on notice in early May that the tent and camper encampment is a separate violation of the City’s zoning code, which does not permit campgrounds in the zoning district where the Church is located.  The Church did not respond to that notice by removing the tents and camping arrangements as directed, so the City has now filed a lawsuit in District Court to enforce its zoning requirements.

Finally, the City has also begun the process of reviewing and responding to several citizen complaints regarding a “public nuisance” condition on the property under City Code.  That process can ultimately lead to a City Commission hearing on the matter and a possible order from the City Commission that the nuisance conditions on the property be abated.

The City had hoped that First United Methodist Church would work with the MT Continuum of Care Coalition and other existing service providers to assist the homeless.  Instead, First United has sought to expand its efforts stating that the City has not done enough to support a “low barrier” shelter.”

Here is a copy of the complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief filed by the City in District Court to “enforce its zoning requirements”. 

What Is The City Of Great Falls Doing About The FUMC “Homeless Camp”?

Rick Tryon on May 18, 2022

In recent weeks I’ve received numerous complaints and questions about the situation at the so-called “homeless camp” in the parking lot and property of the First United Methodist Church in downtown Great Falls.

The situation has caused a lot of controversy due to it’s location and the fact that the “camp” is growing, in the midst of our central business district and bordering on a residential neighborhood.

In previous city commission meetings Great Falls Police Chief Newton has outlined the very troubling increase in crime in the area associated with the activities at FUMC and at last night’s meeting City Manager Greg Doyon addressed the issue directly, making the following statement:

“I want to update efforts with regard to first United Methodist Church. As I conveyed to the commission previously the church has filed an application for a conditional use permit to operate an emergency shelter on their property and the city is currently engaged in reviewing that application and as the commission knows that process will work its way through a public process. Once that application’s completed the planning board level and then to the commission so the public has an opportunity to weigh in and comment in support and opposition to that proposal.

Formal notice of violation was also issued recently because of the tents on the property, the tents on the property constitute a zoning violation because under the code they’re not allowed to do that.

The City is also going to commence a nuisance complaint process and that is essentially based on the level of complaints that the city is starting to get as a result of the church’s efforts down there.

I’m not gonna say anything more on it because of the processes that I just outlined in some of those cases that will come before this body, especially the nuisance one, but if you had a legal question I would probably defer that to Jeff who I suspect is not gonna say a whole lot at this point either.

I will editorialize and say I know that people are frustrated on both sides. People want to help the homeless and they’re trying to find the right way to do that but we also have ordinances and laws in place for order in the downtown so to speak and so there is a process to address those grievances and I wanna let people know that the City is not ignoring it, we’re following the processes that we have available to us or under the law after working with the church and some other efforts.”

Redefining ‘Handout’: Calumet Gets Tax Abatement

Rick Tryon on May 10, 2022

At last weeks Great Falls city commission meeting we voted unanimously to approve a tax abatement, worth about $2.8 million over 10 years, for the Calumet refinery here.

The abatement is an incentive for Calumet’s bio-fuel expansion project which is creating more high-paying jobs in Great Falls, is environmentally friendly, and will help to boost our value added ag economy locally.

The general opinion of the commission and many of those who spoke in favor was that the decision will, in the longer term, pay back the value of the 10 year abatement, and then some, through jobs, rising property value assessments, and production output.

Calumet has been a good community partner and a major catalyst for economic stability and growth in Great Falls for a long-time.

Approving the abatement was a no-brainer in my opinion and I make no apologies or second guesses for my ‘Aye’ vote.

Here’s the head-scratcher though – during the public hearing a local “progressive” leader objected to the tax abatement for Calumet on the grounds that his tax dollars shouldn’t be used for “handouts to for-profit organizations”.

I didn’t get the memo that the word ‘handout’ had been redefined, but apparently it now means something like the following:

Every day the bully takes your $2 lunch money.

Today he only took $1.

You just got a $1 ‘handout’.

Great Falls is poised for some really great changes and some positive growth and opportunities. We need to make sure we continue to send the message that we are open for business and ready to be aggressive in attracting and KEEPING private sector businesses here.

Because in the 21st Century our competition is every other mid-sized city in the state and region. And they are chomping at the bit.

Tribune Misreports That ‘Anti-Trans’ Flyer Was Distributed In Great Falls

Rick Tryon on April 6, 2022

Because I’ve been asked about it several times, I felt it necessary at last night’s Great Falls city commission meeting to publicly correct a piece of incorrect reporting by the Great Falls Tribune last week.

The front page of the Tribune’s Thursday, March 31 print addition carried the following headline, “‘Not in my neighborhood’ Anti-Semitic, anti-trans flyers distributed in Great Falls”.

Their digital content also repeated the misinformation, see screenshot below:

The Tribune reporter either hasn’t actually seen the flyer in question, is being intentionally dishonest in order to create a false narrative, or is referring to material other than what I have seen.

I know this because I have seen and reviewed the anti-Semitic flyer that was distributed in Great Falls last week and there is absolutely nothing in the content of that flyer that is “anti-trans”.

The Tribune should either correct the record concerning the contents of the flyer or specify how the ugly and bigoted anti-Semitic message contained therein is ”anti-trans”.

The attempt by the Tribune to invent a false flag, manufacture a bigoted anti-trans smear where none exists, and then try to falsely piggyback it on an actual, dangerous distribution of hate literature serves no one.

In fact, it is a disservice to the Great Falls public.

Great Falls/Cascade County Still Stagnant

Rick Tryon on March 7, 2022

At last week’s Great Falls city commission meeting we voted to approve a $150,000 funding request, using federal ARPA funds, for the Great Falls International Airport.

The money will be used as part of a matching fund package for a Small Community Air Service Development Grant (SCASD) to help lower air fares at Great Falls’ airport.

I was happy to vote in favor of the request. But in reading the agenda report I was troubled, but not surprised, by the facts presented by John Faulkner, our airport Director:

“Twenty years ago, Cascade County was the third largest county in Montana. Since that time, we have grown only 1% in population.

Meanwhile, the next slowest growing large county grew at 26 times that rate! Gallatin County grew an amazing 72 times our growth rate.

Based on these growth rates, Helena is likely to outgrow Great Falls over the next ten years.

The picture is not much better economically.

Once Great Falls was in the middle of the pack of household income, Cascade County now has the lowest and slowest growing median household income of the larger counties.

The airlines cannot rely on growth in Great Falls. In fact, they can see the market is stagnant which makes them reluctant to invest in more flights, larger airplanes or new routes.”

Unfortunately, we’ve been hearing this same sad song for far too long.

Approving the funds for the matching SCASD grant is another small step in the right direction, but we need a lot more action.

What’s it going to take to finally change the tune? I’m all ears.

Some Only See One Side Of The “Homeless Encampment” Problem

Rick Tryon on February 16, 2022

During the public comment portion of last night’s Great Falls City Commission meeting quite a few local residents got up and expressed their opinions on the “homeless encampment” at the First United Methodist Church.

You can view the video of the meeting here. Public comment begins at about 7 minutes 30 seconds into the meeting.

There are differing points of view on the nature and scope of the problem and both sides were represented in public comments.

On one side we have those who live and work in the area of the FUMC and who strongly believe that the church is enabling and encouraging a health and safety problem, creating an unnecessary hotspot for drug use, alcoholism, and crime.

On the other hand are those who feel that the church is only trying to fulfill it’s mission to the less fortunate because no one else will do so.

As I sat and listened to those in the second category I couldn’t help but think that I was being preached at and reproved for being an uncaring, mean person if I didn’t wholeheartedly agree with their brand of “compassion”.

I’m sorry to say that most, though not all, of the rhetoric coming from the “preachers” came across as smug, self-righteous, morally superior grandstanding offering no actual solutions, only finger pointing.

Accusing the City of Great Falls and the city commission of hard heartedness and failure when it comes to addressing local issues of poverty, addiction, and homelessness is absurd and, quite frankly, ignorant.

There are two problems in this situation – first, the larger, long-term issue of homelessness and it’s causes; and second, the immediate concern of a serious crime and safety issue in the neighborhood and community.

Why is it that some folks only want to acknowledge and demand that others deal with the first problem, while they themselves ignore the second?

There are two things that the City has the capacity and authority to do in relation to these two problems:

Number one is to enforce our public nuisance ordinances to protect the law abiding citizens, residents, and businesses adversely affected by the situation occurring on the FUMC property. The mission of the church doesn’t supersede or negate the rights of taxpayers to enjoy a safe, clean environment in which to live and work.

Number two, the City can, does, and will continue to administer federally distributed funding (CDBG, HOMES, ARPA etc.) to local organizations that routinely address a variety of social/community problems.

I support both of the above solutions and will continue to do so.

Instead of virtue signaling, crowing about their own “compassion”, and issuing vague platitudes about how “someone should do something about homelessness”, if the folks who spoke last night would come to the City with a solid plan and specific applications for funds they would find a willingness and readiness to help.

Comparing Great Falls’ Economic Data To Rest Of State

Rick Tryon on January 7, 2022

This week I received and reviewed some of the latest economic data put out by Patrick Barkey and the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana.

Once again I found it interesting, and a little discouraging to be honest, to see how Great Falls/Cascade County is faring compared to other Montana cities and counties.

Here is some of the info and data:

“Tracking economic growth in terms of total wages paid to payroll workers, inflation-corrected, shows the differences in growth in the current economic recovery between the state’s most populous counties, as well as the balance of the state. Since the latest data extend only to the second quarter of 2021, the growth shown in Figure 1 refers to the changes of fiscal year 2021 (July 2020-June 2021) compared to the previous fiscal year.“

Figure 1. Growth in inflation-corrected wages, FY2020-21. Sources: U.S. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Here is Barkey’s brief analysis of what is driving this economic data in Great Falls/Cascade County:

“In past years, lower rates of population in-migration and a lower presence in faster growing professional services industries has produced slower growth in Cascade (Great Falls), Lewis and Clark (Helena) and Silver Bow (Butte) counties.

That story changed this year in Lewis and Clark County with the surge of federal spending helping raise total wages in the state’s capital region by $87 million in 2021. Past growth from new facilities, such as Boeing, fell back, while health care, as in so many other parts of the state, saw good growth.

Cascade County’s total wage growth of just under $30 million in 2021 had a bit more headwind, with declines in information (media), accommodations and food and professional business services more than offset by gains in construction, health care and government.

The announcement of the new medical school in Great Falls holds some promise for gains going forward, while the challenges for Montana agriculture weigh more heavily on this urban area.”

You can find more from Barkey’s report here.

Here’s to better times and a great 2022 for Great Falls, with expanding opportunities and prosperity for all of our citizens.