This week’s Whitefish City Council meeting covered a wide range of topics, some of which we’ve already reported on. Today’s newsletter will have some additional information about what the council accomplished at its latest meeting.

Yesterday I wrote about the decision by the Whitefish City Council to raise monthly garbage fees. Garbage pickup is mandatory for Whitefish residents, and the city manager presented the proposed fee increase as a necessary step to keep up with administrative costs and increasing pickup costs from Republic Services, which the city contracts with for garbage pickup. 

Managing Editor Tristan Scott also wrote earlier this week about the city’s defense of its immigration enforcement policy in the face of criticism after the April 24 arrest by Border Patrol of Venezuelan asylum seeker Beker Rengifo del Castillo. Rengifo del Castillo was transferred to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Tacoma, Wash., where he was detained for nearly a week, before his release. 

The city council also updated its ethics policy for the first time since the late 1990s. The updated policy was first drafted to mirror the state’s Code of Ethics for public officers and employees. The updated Whitefish code was reviewed during a pair of February work sessions and was passed unanimously at the council’s May 5 meeting. 

In a memo to the council, City Attorney Angela Jacobs said that one change staff made after the council’s final work session on the matter was to exempt committee members from the rules that apply to quasi-judicial matters. Quasi-judicial matters, per Jacobs’ explanation, are matters in which a body, like a committee or board, is acting as a judge and performing functions similar to a court that carry legal consequences. Jacobs’ memo explained that committees are advisory “and thus do not make any decisions that have legal consequences,” and therefore “rules regarding quasi-judicial matters do not seem to squarely apply to them.” While committees are exempt, commissions and boards are not, under the new policy. 

The newly adopted policy also includes added language defining economic benefits tantamount to a gift of substantial value in excess of $100 or more (which the policy forbids public officers, employees, board, commission and committee members from accepting) as including “a loan at a rate of interest substantially lower than the commercial rate then currently prevalent for similar loans and compensation received for private services rendered at a rate substantially exceeding the fair market value for services.” 

In other news, the city also updated its code as it pertains to airports, landing strips, heliports and helipads. Inconsistencies, ambiguities, and omissions in the text from the last rewrite in 2014 were used earlier this year as evidence in a successful challenge of an attempt to expand the Whitefish airport. In the aftermath, the council directed city staff to expedite an update to the code. The update includes additional guidance for setbacks from runways, helipads and accessory buildings in accordance with FAA standards.

Kate McMahon, a Whitefish resident who lives near the airport and who helped lead the challenge to the airport expansion, spoke at the meeting in favor of the creation of a master plan. But she also suggested as an alternative that the city’s ongoing growth policy update address concerns about future airport development, including off-site impacts that could fall into categories including safety, land-use compatibility, fire, light, noise, infrastructure and the environment. Councilor Giuseppe Caltabiano, who is also a pilot, spoke against the idea of an airport layout plan, saying that the city is not the airport’s sponsor, and therefore it would be improper for it to make such a requirement. The airport is owned by the Montana Department of Transportation.

Councilor Rebecca Norton said she was in favor of a growth policy section and an airport layout plan. Saying that she knew the code update would pass, Norton said she would not vote for it because of concerns about safety, especially in relation to the nearby railroad tracks. The code changes passed on a 4-2 vote, with Norton and Councilor Ben Davis voting in opposition. 

Lastly, the city also approved a conditional use permit for a liquor license to be used at Clydesdale Creamery, the ice cream, milkshake and espresso business on Baker Avenue.

I’m Mike Kordenbrock, now let’s get to the rest of today’s Daily Roundup.

For those who are celebrating Mother’s Day this weekend, here are some upcoming Mother’s Day-themed events.

Saturday, May 10

10 a.m. & 2 p.m.: A Mother’s Day Tea Party and Tour at the Conrad Mansion

2 p.m.: Mother’s Day Craft and Sip, Paper Flower Frame at MontaVino Winery

2 p.m.: Community Mother’s Day Tea at The Salvation Army Community Center and Church

2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.: Mother’s Day Weekend Performance of “Cinderella” by the Northwest Ballet Company at the Bigfork Center for Performing Arts

Sunday, May 11, Mother’s Day

10 a.m. & 2 p.m.: Mother’s Day Tea Party and Tour at the Conrad Mansion (pictured above)

10 a.m.: Mother’s Day Brunch Buffet at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake

11 a.m.: Flathead Lake Alpine Coaster Mom’s Ride Free at the Flathead Lake Alpine Coaster

11 a.m.: Brunch Like A Motha! at The Firebrand

4 p.m.: Mother’s Day Weekend Performance of “Cinderella” by the Northwest Ballet Company at the Bigfork Center for Performing Arts.

For more upcoming events, check out flatheadevents.net.

Now let’s get to today’s top stories from northwest Montana and beyond …