Stevi Town Council updates park hours & water/sewer billing and more

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STEVENSVILLE — The town council worked through nine new business items Thursday night, July 23, at Town Hall, covering everything from sandwich board signs downtown to changes in water and sewer billing.

Town attorney billings skyrocket in 2026

Buried in Thursday's approval of minutes was a fight the council still hasn't settled: what to do about the town's attorney costs.

During approval of the bi-weekly claims, former councilmember, Stacie Barker, walked the council through claim 20527: a $9,210.68 bill from Lindley Law, the town's contracted attorney. She wanted to know why it came with no breakdown of hours, something she said the attorney's own contract, $150 an hour for the attorney and $50 an hour for her legal assistant, should require before the town pays the bill.

She laid out a comparison. From July through December of last year, the town's previous attorney, Overstreet Law, billed around $2,957. From February through July of this year, Lindley Law has billed close to $16,000, more than five times as much over roughly the same length of time.

Two line items got specific pushback. One, $4,585 listed simply as "general matters," turned out to cover personnel issues, which she argued should have gone through a closed session so the council actually knew what it was voting to pay for. The other, $2,440 tied to the town's ongoing Bertha Farms dispute, sits on top of other Lindley Law charges on that same case that she put at somewhere around $4,200 to $4,400 total. She contrasted that with a second attorney, Greg Overstreet, whom the town separately contracted in March specifically for the Bertha Farms matter and who's billed about $230 so far. Her suggestion: let Greg take the lead there instead.

Finance Officer Gina Crowe backed up the concern. She said she'd asked the attorney, Christine Lindley, for an hours breakdown and was told it was confidential, but she can't process a nearly $10,000 claim without documentation behind it.

The council considered moving into executive session to sort it out, then backed off that plan. Instead, members voted to table claim 20527 until Lindley Law provides hours and supporting paperwork, with a closed session to follow once that's in hand. The rest of the batch, claims 20506 through 20528 minus the disputed one, was approved separately.

Water and sewer billing rules get an update

Resolution 457F rewrites part of the town's water and sewer billing policy, specifically what happens when a meter can't be read on schedule.

Under the old rule, Public Works staff estimated usage for a missed reading. Under the new one, a missed reading gets billed at the flat monthly base rate, which covers 3,000 gallons. Once the meter finally gets read, the town works backward: total usage since the last real reading, minus whatever base-rate gallons were already billed during the gap.

The resolution spells out an example. Say a meter goes unread in June and the customer gets the 3,000-gallon base bill. In July, the actual reading shows 9,000 gallons used since the last reading. The customer already paid for 3,000 of those gallons in June, so July's bill covers the base 3,000 plus 6,000 more, until the full 9,000 gallons are accounted for.

A meter reading may be missed for the following reasons: Town is short-staffed. The town's regular process has gotten disrupted because they're short-handed. The utility billing clerk, or sometimes another staff member filling in, has had to go out and do the physical meter reads herself, on top of her normal job. One council member noted the clerk "didn't have" the usual bandwidth to catch every meter on the route.

Meters that are hard to physically reach. Some meters sit inside customers' houses, and staff can't always get access to read them.

The driving route itself. Someone explained it's not a quick job. Reading meters means driving around town, stopping at specific spots, getting out, and checking each one. If the person doing it that month isn't as familiar with the route or the "ins and outs," reads get missed. It's not that the meters are broken. Council member Smith actually asked whether the equipment was old and failing, and the answer was no, it's about capturing the reads while driving around, not equipment failure.

The most recent month had 130 unread meters, up from about 28 the time before.

Park hours no longer tied to sunup

Lewis & Clark Park and Stevensville River Park used to close from "sundown to sunup." Resolutions 533A and 582A lock in a fixed reopening time instead: both parks are now closed from sundown until 7:30 a.m.

Pool donation covers lifeguard certifications

First Security Bank of Stevensville donated $1,500 to the town pool, and the council formally accepted it through Resolution 593. The money is earmarked for lifeguard certification costs ahead of this year's pool season.

Sign permits approved for downtown businesses

Two sign permits got the green light. The Hat Edit can put out a sandwich board sign near its storefront, and the North Valley Public Library can post yard signs around town promoting its golf tournament fundraiser at Whitetail Golf Course on August 22. The library signs come down once the tournament wraps.

Parking, mowing, and locked gates

During his executive report, Mayor Crews flagged a parking problem on Church Street. Town ordinance requires 24 feet of clearance between parked cars and the street so two vehicles can pass, but Church Street is only 22 feet wide. Crews said he's asked employees at Skyfish, a business that's grown to about 30 employees, to park parallel instead of nose-in. He said the council may need to revisit parking regulations street by street, and pointed to First and Second Streets near the College Street as another trouble spot.

Long-term RV and boat storage in town easements came up too. Crews said one boat has sat near a councilmember's property for over a year, and asked residents to move stored vehicles occasionally and keep the grass and weeds around them cut. "The town is not an RV storage unit," Crews said.

On mowing generally, Crews reminded residents that corner lots carry two mowing responsibilities: the property itself and the boulevard easement out to the street. He said he prefers calling residents directly over mailing notices, even when the calls don't go well, to keep costs down.

Locking the park gates at sunset has cut down on vandalism, Crews said, especially the ATV damage that had been tearing up River Park. But enforcement has its own headaches. Crews said it took him an hour one recent night to get swimmers out of the river after dark so the gates could close. Going forward, if people won't leave once asked, he said the town will lock the gates and call the sheriff's office rather than wait around.

Finally, Crews noted Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is taking public comment on proposed fee increases at state sites, including a local fishing access site, and encouraged residents to weigh in.

Also on the agenda

The council signed off on the latest round of bi-weekly claims, 23 claims totaling $105,821.84. That batch included a $9,210.68 payment to Lindley Law, LLC, for legal work spanning general town matters and several development disputes, a reminder of the same cost pressures still hanging over the budget. Police Chief John Boe also submitted an informational commendation letter, which required no council action.