Staff recommends that City Council approve the joint resolution to allow Yellowstone County to create an RSID for the Timbers bridge.

When the Timbers Subdivision was constructed, a bridge was installed that provides access to the subdivision. The state law (MCA 7-14-2201) dictates that counties are responsible for the maintenance of bridges in the state.  Because the bridge is on a street that accesses a specific subdivision and is not located on a collector or arterial that serves a large area, Yellowstone County would like to create a Rural Special Improvement District (RSID) to assess property owners for maintenance and eventual replacement of the bridge.  Per state law, the City and County need to enter into a joint resolution due to the fact that properties within the city limits would be included in the RSID.  The RSID includes the Timbers Subdivision.  If the City Council approves the resolution, Yellowstone County will be able to proceed with the creation of an RSID to maintain and replace the bridge.

If an RSID is not created, the County will need to fund the maintenance of the bridge.  MCA 7-14-2204 states, "The city or town in which any such bridge is situated shall pay the whole or such part, not less than one-half, to be determined by the board, of the cost of planking, replanking, paving, or repaving the bridge. The city or town shall construct and maintain in good repair the bridge approaches."  Part of the funding of the maintenance will likely need to be paid by the City per this section of state law.

 

City Council may:

• Approve the resolution; or,
• Not Approve the resolution.  If the resolution is not approved, the maintenance and eventual replacement of the bridge will be funded through city and county funds.

If City Council approves the resolution and Yellowstone County creates the RSID, there will be city residents that will be paying into an RSID to fund maintenance for the bridge.  If this resolution is not approved and the county cannot create an RSID, the County will need to fund the maintenance.  The state law (7-14-2204) does say that the county can require the city to fund all or a portion of the cost to maintain the decking and surfacing of the bridge as well as the approaches.