Greetings,

This morning we opened with a number of representatives from

Montana Rail Link at Public Safety giving a presentation about the
safety measures taken at the rail yard. There are many things they do
to improve the safety of the line. Accidents have been reduced by 40%
since they implemented the remote control locomotives and switches.

They run ultrasound tests of the tracks. They have guys walk the
tracks looking for defects. They have almost 100 different safety
training programs for their employees.
I used to think the remote control locomotives were run from an office
somewhere like a video game. They are actually controlled by an
engineer standing on the ground next to the train. It is safer because
the guy can see the status of the track and switches and exact position
of the train better than when he is up in the locomotive.

The bottom line is that they do everything they can but there is no
expectation of zero accidents. In fact, they told us that this morning a
train derailed up near plains and 18 cars of grain were on the ground.

At the end of the meeting a few neighbors spoke to what I thought

were very relevant issues. What can we do to reduce the noise and
emissions coming from the rail yard. How can the unused lots near the
yard be made more attractive. There are a bunch of things MRL can do
to be better neighbors to the North Side. The MRL folks didn’t actually
say they would do anything but they took notes and looked real
interested in the various suggestions. We will have them back soon to
discuss some of those issues.

In Conservation we had an update on the Milltown Dam removal. There

was an article in the Missoulian recently about sediment and arsenic
levels in the Clark Fork since the dam breach. Apparently the article
was a bit misleading. They presented all sorts of data on how the
releases were actually very much in line with the modeling and way
below acceptable levels. Mountain Water had also expressed concern
about the risk to the aquifer but apparently that was based on fears
created by the Missoulian article. The University researchers came up
with 80 ppm of arsenic. The level acceptable to humans is something
like 800. The feds measured less than 5 ppm. We learned that the
difference is that the U was measuring the amount in the fine particles.
We were told that measuring the fines is a standard way of tracking
trends and the presence of toxins since the levels are elevated in the
fines.

The health people don’t separate out the fines for measurement
because they are interested in actual exposure to humans. That is why
they come back with a much lower number.

The Feds say it is safe so there is nothing to worry about. We are going
to try to get them back at the same time we have the University
people there to make sure they all agree.

In PAZ we discussed three subdivisions. The first was just an extension

for the Wratislaw subdivision to file final plat. They want to wait out the
market for another year before committing to the development. This is
out on Short Street.

We spent the bulk of the meeting on the Stonybrook subdivision. There

were a number of issues to address. We hit a number of them but will
try to tackle the rest at the public hearing and when it comes back to
committee. The big concern had to do with the flood plane. I thought
they did a satisfactory job showing that was not an issue. There are
also some ongoing concerns over stormwater drainage. The ground
water is only a few feet below the surface out there so the sump
devices that drain storm water potentially create a vector for pollution
of the aquifer. They are planning to use a design that looks like it will
probably be OK but I’m still concerned about that one.
There were a few more points we covered but we will have at least two
more opportunities to discuss this subdivision.

Our last PAZ item was the Hilton Subdivision splitting off the vacant lot
to the west of the Hilton Garden Inn. We only had about twenty
minutes to do the thing so we moved very quickly. We made a couple
of changes to the sidewalk configurations but otherwise it looked fine.

In A&F we agreed to allow an alternative method of bidding the project

to build a new parking structure downtown. The legislature recently
gave us permission to do these projects as design/build which allows
them to go much faster and in theory for less money. So instead of
designing the whole thing first and then getting a bid to build it, we
pick a contractor through and RFQ and then an RFP process. Once we
have the builder we work with them to design and construct the thing.

It will be on the southeast corner of Front and Pattee. We are going to

try to build about 400 parking spots depending on the financing. The
structure will also have ground floor retail.

In Public Works we expanded the wastewater treatment boundary in

Linda Vista to include the portions of three lots in the Linda Vista
Estates subdivision that had parts of the lots outside the boundary.

After the meeting we also learned that the County Commissioners had
decided to reverse the decision of their attorney in regards to the
recently discovered right of way on Miller Creek. Now they say that it
was not included in the area we previously annexed and is still in their
jurisdiction. They had been given an out and punted on this earlier. I’m
a little worried as to why they changed their minds.

Thanks for your interest,

Bob Jaffe


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