The City Council is being asked to begin the process to annex Phipps Park to enable City Ordinances to be in effect on the park property. Specifically, bringing Phipps Park into the City will enable the City to prohibit the use of fire works in the park during the 4th of July Holiday. State Law under 7-2-43 MCA provides municipalities the authority to annex contiguous land. The subject property is 347.321 gross acres of land owned by the City of Billings and known as Phipps Park. The property is legally described as Tract 1 of Amended Certificate of Survey No. 987, Tracts 1 through 8 of Certificate of Survey No. 1380, Tract A of Certificate of Survey 1387 and Tract B of Certificate of Survey No. 1388. The property is located south of Molt Road and northwest of Copper Ridge Subdivision, a City subdivision. MCA 7-2-4312 allows municipalities the authority to act on a Resolution of Intent creating a notice period and setting a public hearing for the annexation of the property. The attached Resolution of Intent sets the public hearing and consideration by City Council of the Resolution to Annex the property for June 25, 2018.

Section 7-2-43 of the Montana Code Annotated (MCA) provides the process for local governments to annex contiguous properties. To comply with Section 7-2-4312 MCA, the City Council needs to adopt a Resolution of Intent to annex the property.
The Council may:

• Approve the Resolution of Intent to annex the contiguous property, creating a 20 day notice period and setting of the public hearing as provided in 7-2-4313 and 7-2-4313 MCA, or;
• Disapprove the Resolution of Intent to annex the property and have it remain outside of the City Limits.

The financial impact of the annexation should be limited. The property is currently owned and maintained by the City of Billings and is currently used as parkland. Fire protection is already provided through the Billing Urban Fire Service Area. If the Council desires to annex the property, City Ordinances will be in effect on the park property and may be enforced by City departments. The Police Department will be responsible for patrolling the property, and other departments like Parks, Recreation and Public Lands and Fire also will be able to enforce City ordinances in the park.

Staff recommends that the City Council approve the Resolution of Intent to annex Phipps Park and set a public hearing date for June 25, 2018.