Happy Friday, Beacon readers! Lauren Frick here, back to my usual end-of-the-week newsletter after a brief visit to the land of corn and mildly rolling hills. As I hope you’ve come to expect, my Friday Roundup is once again jam-packed with super fun ways to get out there and involved with the community. Instead of spending your Friday night in Depot Park or a Saturday afternoon at the O’Shaughnessy, however, how about a Wednesday evening at Whitefish City Hall?

The city of Whitefish is currently seeking dedicated community members to serve on various vacant boards and committees. With nearly 20 openings across nine boards and committees, there’s a range of opportunities for residents to get involved, contribute to local decision-making, and help shape the future of the city. 

Residents interested in volunteering should submit a letter of interest by end of day on Oct. 22. Letters of interest can be sent to the Whitefish City Clerk’s Office at 418 E. Second St.; mail to P.O. Box 158, Whitefish, MT 59937, or email [email protected].

The Lake and Lakeshore Protection Committee has the most openings with four total — three, two-year terms and one complete term ending on Dec. 31, 2027. The Whitefish Lake and Lakeshore Protection Committee was established as a special planning board to review and comment on proposed activities within the jurisdiction of the Whitefish Lake and Lakeshore Protection Regulations. The committee consists of seven members who review and provide recommendations for proposed projects to the city council.

The city is seeking applications for two positions for lakefront property owners within city limits, and two positions for lakefront property owners outside city limits. Meetings are held in the evening on the second Wednesday of each month.

The Planning Commission and Sustainable Tourism Management Plan Committee each saw the next-highest number of openings, with three for each entity. 

The Planning Commission is charged with reviewing variances, zoning appeals, land use permits, zoning/subdivision text amendments and long-range planning matters, including the growth policy update mandated under the Montana Land Use Planning Act (MLUPA). The three openings for the commission are two years in length and are best suited for city residents with development expertise. Meetings are held in the evenings on the third Thursday of each month or as needed (and with the city primed for a major rewrite of its zoning code in 2027, plan on the latter).  

The Sustainable Tourism Management Plan Committee is seeking city residents with experience in, knowledge of, or perspective on tourism and its relationship to the Whitefish community. One position may reside outside the city of Whitefish, as long as the member resides in Flathead County and has an ownership interest in or a managerial position at a business located and operating within the corporate limits of Whitefish. Meetings are held in the afternoon on the third Tuesday of each month.

To view a full list of committee and board openings, click here.

Speaking of Whitefish city boards and committees, the city council earlier this week unanimously voted to establish the Community Housing Grant Committee.

Discussions about developing the new committee began back in June when city staff presented the idea to the city council in response to the more than $20 million in resort tax collections for community housing initiatives anticipated by 2045.

The Community Housing Grant Committee will be responsible for reviewing grant applications and making recommendations to the city council for specific community housing grant awards. The committee will consist of three members — two residents and a city council representative — and won’t have any authority to spend or dispurse funds on behalf of the city.

The fiscal year 2027 budget is projecting about $812,000 in resort tax revenue, paired with about $426,000 from the city’s property tax revenue, bringing the city’s total to about $1.2 million available for applicable projects and programs to be overseen by the committee, City Manager Dana Meeker said. 

“The idea here is to create a grant panel to help in that review process,” Meeker said. “The housing committee is tasked with creating a grant program which would have the guidelines and the criteria. That’s still in process right now, but we wanted to get this grant panel on the books so we can start advertising for it so we’re ready.”

The two resident members of the committee should have relevant professional or personal experience in housing development, housing programs, housing advocacy or grant administration. 

While city staff proposed requiring members of the committee to disclose any potential conflict of interest when applying for the committee, such as employment with or volunteering for a potential applicant, Councilor Ben Davis went a step further by amending the resolution to prevent residents with potential conflicts of interest from being able to serve on the committee. Davis said he didn’t think it would be “appropriate” for members of the committee to have ties to organizations who would be applying for the funds. 

Davis’ fellow city councilors unanimously approved the amendment, sending the committee resolution along to the council’s next meeting in November for final approval.  

Well, that’s all I’ve got for ya today. Don’t commit(tee) too early to the weekend and make sure to get on board with the rest of today’s Daily Roundup first.