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4/25/2025
“Missoula This Week” is reported and written By Katie Fairbanks. Send your Missoula news and tips to kfairbanks@montanafreepress.org.
Council questioned the source of funding to maintain the shelter past August
After an occasionally heated discussion, the Missoula City Council Wednesday rejected a proposal to keep the Johnson Street homeless shelter open past its scheduled closure at the end of August.
The city’s five-month phased plan to close the Johnson Street shelter began April 1, along with a housing “sprint” to permanently house as many residents as possible. During the closure, the shelter will gradually decrease from its 165-bed capacity.
Mayor Andrea Davis said the city is closing the shelter because it’s out of money to fund its operations. The city contracts with the Poverello Center to run the shelter and used federal pandemic relief money to pay for its half of the $1.8 million bill, which it split with Missoula County.
Council Members Daniel Carlino and Kristen Jordan proposed allowing the shelter to operate at full capacity, directing the administration to include shelter operations in the 2026 budget and funding any remainder of the city’s housing sprint funding goal of $400,000.
Carlino said much of the rationale for the city’s new urban camping laws was to encourage people to access available shelter, but the city is taking away that option.
“The consequences of this decision are going to ripple far beyond those who are going to lose access to shelter,” Carlino said. “We’re all going to feel the effects in our community as unsheltered homelessness becomes more visible. We’ll see more people sleeping along the river or downtown, in their cars and in our neighborhoods without access to a place where they can sleep indoors at night.”
Jill Bonny, executive director of the Poverello Center, said last month that the organization’s West Broadway shelter could accommodate more people.
Since the city already budgeted for running the shelter at full capacity through August, it should only reduce the number of beds by the number of people who secure housing or leave the decision up to the Poverello Center, Carlino said.
If the council does not want to continue funding the shelter, Carlino said he would be open to passing parts of the resolution, such as maintaining shelter capacity and funding the housing sprint. The city should at least keep the shelter open through the winter, he said.
Jordan said she worked with other council members in 2023 on the resolution to close the Johnson Street shelter within three years, assuming the city would provide an alternative space.
“I don’t want the Johnson Street shelter to stay where it is,” she said. “I would like to see the city work to find a suitable location that ensures safety and convenience for the unhoused and housed without any gaps in services.”
Jordan said she identified about $3 million in the city’s budget used to implement the urban camping laws. That includes the $900,000 budgeted for urban camping work, as well as security, cleanups and other related staff time, she said. Not funding the shelter will cost the community more in the long run, she said.
Other council members questioned the $3 million figure and asked what the city would have to pay to keep the shelter open and where that money would come from.
Council Member Bob Campbell became visibly upset when asking how much the proposal would cost taxpayers.
“As a taxpayer, just how big of a check do I need to write to you all to get this Johnson Street shelter back up and running?” he said.
Jordan said they are not proposing a tax increase and suggested that money currently spent on enforcing urban camping laws could be used for the shelter.
Council Member Gwen Jones later briefly paused the meeting after Jordan interrupted another council member and she and Jones talked over each other.
In responding to questions about where money for the shelter would come from, Carlino said the proposed resolution directs the administration to include the shelter in the budget and make any necessary cuts to do so.
Eran Pehan, the city’s Community Planning, Development and Innovation Department director, said about one-third of Missoula’s urban camping budget pays for the vehicle parking permit program. The budget includes funding for two positions the city is recruiting for to help with compliance, she said. Other money is set aside for cleanups in parks, by the river and in other city right-of-ways. The city incurs other “opportunity costs” from staff working on cleanups that would regularly be doing other things, Pehan said.
That $900,000 does not include costs for private security around the Johnson Street shelter and Poverello Center. Jordan said she would want to keep that security if the shelter stays open.
For most of April, the shelter housed 109 to 125 people per night, a decrease from the 165 in early spring and up to 200 in the winter, Pehan said. The Poverello Center requested the city come up with a framework for decreasing capacity, she said.
The city is about halfway to its $400,000 goal and is confident it will hit that mark, Pehan said.
In response to a question about whether any local organizations have the capacity to raise funds for and run a new shelter, Pehan said they told her they do not.
“Folks are carrying very heavy loads operating the facilities that they have and fundraising for the ongoing day-to-day operations of those facilities,” Pehan said. “The idea of taking on a development project on top of fundraising for a capital campaign is something our local organizations have stated they don’t have the capacity to do right now.”
A couple of members of the public commented in support of keeping the shelter available, and another asked for more transparency and updates about the housing sprint.
The council rejected the proposal 10-2, with Carlino and Jordan in favor. The council will discuss it again during its Monday, May 5, meeting.
Public Notice
Lolo’s public water and sewer systems have reached capacity, and Missoula County is seeking resident feedback on how to fund necessary improvements.
The county cannot accept new connections to the system, and service could be disrupted if equipment fails, according to the public works department.
If the system’s largest well failed during peak demand, it would struggle to provide enough water, according to the department. The wastewater treatment plant lacks redundancy, meaning the failure of a critical part would make managing sewage a challenge.
The department’s proposed upgrades are necessary regardless of new development, but planning for growth can reduce long-term costs for users as the cost would be spread among more households, said Shane Stack, the public works director, during a county commissioner meeting last month.
The county expects an additional 200 new connections within two years from planned developments in the area, Stack said. The more users connect, the lower the costs for everyone, he said. The county is considering a proposal to increase connection fees, which would generate more revenue for the system without raising customers’ bills, Stack said.
The estimated cost for improvement with no added capacity would be $7.5 million, and spread among 1,350 users, the average monthly cost would be about $70.50 per household. Improvements with capacity for growth would cost about $9.1 million, but spread across more users, bringing the average monthly cost down to $57 per household. This cost could drop further as more connections are added. The current average monthly cost is $41 per household, Stack said.
The county submitted requests for federal funding through congressional earmarks, and state grants and loan forgiveness might be available, according to the department. The county’s public works department is seeking public feedback to help determine whether it should create a rural special improvement district to pay for the improvements.
Residents can get more information, ask questions and share comments with staff at an open house from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Lolo School. More information about the proposal is
Following Up
Missoula County plans to appeal the termination of a $1 million federal grant to fund a new program helping residents make their homes more energy efficient.
The county Department of Ecology and Extension launched the Home Upgrade Hub in mid-February. In late March, the county received notification that the program no longer met the agency’s goals and that the grant had been terminated, said Bryce Christiaens, the department director, during a county commission meeting on April 10.
“The focus was really on helping homeowners experience lower utility costs, increased comfort, improved air quality in their homes,” Christiaens said.
Brian West, chief civil deputy county attorney, told the commissioners that staff looked at options that ranged from doing nothing to “full-blown litigation” and settled on the appeal outlined in the grant and federal law. The county must send a notice of appeal within 30 days of grant termination that provides documentation and rationale for restoring the funding, he said. The agency has 180 days to consider the appeal, West said. If the grant is not restored, the agency would reimburse the county for work completed before termination, he said.
Christiaens said the grant-funded program aligns with two of the under the new administration. The program’s aim to improve air quality in homes falls under the agency’s first pillar of “clean air, land and water for every American,” he said. The work to help residents improve Missoula’s aging housing stock with weatherization, electrical and other upgrades seems to align with the EPA’s goal to “restore American energy dominance,” which includes cutting energy costs for residents, Christiaens said.
Since the grant was terminated, the county has reduced the hours of staff associated with the program, Christiaens said. The community can access or make an appointment with staff.
By the Numbers
The amount the Missoula County Commissioners on Tuesday committed to the United Way’s “housing sprint fund” dedicated to the city’s effort to house residents of the Johnson Street homeless shelter before it closes in August.
The money comes from the Missoula Redevelopment Agency tax remittance approved last year to help the city’s budget. The agency, which receives tax increment financing from Missoula’s urban renewal districts, must send proportional amounts back to all taxing districts. The county will receive more than $1 million, with about $853,000 going to Johnson Street shelter operations. The county originally set aside the $125,000 to construct a new bathroom at the Temporary Safe Outdoor Space, but the city is donating the bathrooms currently at the Johnson Street shelter to the TSOS, freeing up the money, said Chris Lounsbury, the county’s chief administrative officer.
Commissioner Josh Slotnick emphasized that the money does not come from taxpayers outside the city’s urban renewal districts.
“It could just as easily be the case that folks who are displaced are going to be camping outside the city limits somewhere,” Commissioner Dave Strohmaier said. “The city is part of Missoula County, so it’s to all of our benefit across the county to see if we can get these folks housed.”
As of Wednesday, the housing sprint fund had $200,000, including the money from the county and private donors, said Eran Pehan, the city’s Community Planning, Development and Innovation Department director. An additional $44,420 contribution from the Missoula Redevelopment Agency is under discussion, she said.
5 Things to Know in Missoula
The East Missoula Rural Fire Department is asking for community support for its proposed levy after a mix-up leading to a higher-than-expected request on the May 6 ballot. The department intended the proposed levy to be up to $300,000, but the language on the ballot reads an additional $300,000 because of “an oversight during the language drafting and approval process,” according to . If approved, in the first year, the levy would increase taxes by $91.23 on a home valued at $100,000 and by $273.69 on a home valued at $300,000. The volunteer department has an annual budget of $78,000 and said more funding is needed to help maintain services, improve response times and pay for equipment upgrades.
On Tuesday, the Missoula County Public Schools board awarded a bid to replace lead pipes and some faucets at Meadow Hill Middle School to Northwest Mechanical Contractors. While the district is still negotiating with the contractor, the estimated cost is $323,000, said Burley McWilliams, the district’s director of facilities and operations. The project is based on the results of the lead testing the district conducted in 2022. Work will begin in mid-June and wrap up before the next school year begins. The state Department of Environmental Quality fully reimbursed the district for a similar project at C.S. Porter Middle School, and the district hopes for the same funding for this project, McWilliams said.
Missoula’s bear buffer zone will expand on April 30, requiring more residents to use bear-resistant trash cans. Starting next Wednesday, the zone will include areas south of the Rattlesnake, extending to Pattee Canyon and part of Fairview. Grizzly Disposal or Republic Services will provide bear-resistant containers to their customers. Residents who use their own trash cans can lease a secure container or purchase one that matches the hauler’s equipment. Residents who haul their own trash must switch to a certified bear-resistant container. A map of the bear buffer zones and trash requirement details is available . The city and county jointly adopted the Bear Smart policy outlining the expansion in 2023. The rest of the expanded bear buffer zone — which includes parts of the Wye, Miller Creek and Big Flat — will take effect on April 30, 2026.
More than 210 nonprofits will participate in Missoula Gives and Bitterroot Gives, an annual 26-hour online fundraiser from May 1 through May 2. The initiative, organized by the Missoula Community Foundation, aims to raise $1.45 million for participating organizations. Several on Thursday and Friday will celebrate the community and track the fundraiser’s progress, according to the foundation. Last year, 4,100 donors contributed $1.2 million to more than 200 organizations. Those interested can see a list of participating nonprofits and donate at .
Missoula Neighbors United, a new community organizing group, is holding a launch party from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Westside Lanes. Organizer Alessandro Mitchell, who previously worked with the Missoula Tenants Union, said he started the group to help people get a sense of their collective power and spotlight issues. Missoula Neighbors United aims to educate people about the economy, causes of social ills and ways to make change. The group also plans to identify and help leaders in the community run for office, Mitchell said. The group is geared toward workers and small business owners but is open to everyone. Those interested in updates can follow the group on .
Might Be Fun
Hundreds of runners and spectators will gather downtown Saturday for Missoula Family YMCA’s 53rd annual Riverbank Run. The run is a fundraiser for the YMCA’s financial assistance program, which offers income-based scholarships to ensure everyone can access the Y’s services. The race includes 10K, 5K and 1-mile fun run routes, as well as a “trifecta” option to participate in all three. Runners can also participate virtually. Students under age 12 can enter the race and represent their school in the Grade School Challenge. The elementary school with the most racers will be awarded a trophy.
All races begin at the intersection of Higgins Avenue and Broadway and finish along the Riverfront Trail near the Boone and Crockett Club. Those interested can , and race-day registration is available at the starting line.
The public is invited to the Rocky Mountain Garden’s inaugural Phlox Fest from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The event, held at the county Department of Ecology and Extension, celebrates the opening of the 2.5-acre garden for the warmer seasons. The festival is named after the Missoula phlox flower, a species of concern that has only been found in Missoula County.
The free, family-friendly event will include live music by Good Old Fashioned, food trucks and native plant vendors. This year’s theme, “ReWild Missoula,” is to promote awareness around habitat conservation and creation. Attendees can learn how to support wildlife and pollinators with their patio, yard, garden and property.
Children from across the state are expected to participate in the Native Youth Powwow Saturday at Sentinel High School. The event, hosted by Missoula County Public Schools’ Native American Student Services Department, has grand entries at noon and 6 p.m. The celebration highlights local youth.
