Missoula County Government: Missoula County Weekly: Dec. 6-10

Press release from the Missoula County Government:

12/06/2021 4:32 PM

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Clerk and Treasurer’s Office introduces enhanced queue system 

Missoula County residents who need to title a vehicle, renew their vehicle registration or pay property taxes have more direct control over their schedule thanks to an enhanced virtual queue system the Clerk and Treasurer’s Office recently launched. The public can join the line for these and other services from home, work or any other location.

Members of the public can join the queue by texting “Missoula Clerk” to 406-285-7490 or visiting the “Come See Us!” page at http://missoulaclerk.us. The queue opens each weekday at 7:30 a.m. and closes shortly before 5 p.m.

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At their Thursday, Dec. 9, public meeting, the Missoula County commissioners will declare Dec. 21 as Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day to remember those who have died without a home of their own and to keep urgent the cause of ending homelessness, the need for compassionate response, and the City and County’s collective commitment to prevent such deaths in the future.

View the agenda and join the meeting

The Missoula Consolidated Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the proposed Missoula County Housing Action Plan at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 7, via Zoom. Find information on how to join here.

Missoula County has faced housing affordability challenges for over a decade, but in recent years a housing shortage and growing population have exacerbated the problem. The recommended actions in the housing action plan fall under three broad goals:

• Use the County’s toolkit, including zoning, infrastructure and use of County lands, to increase the housing supply
• Provide more funding for programs to help people access and stay in stable housing
• Partner with the city, housing nonprofits and developers to improve policy

Find more information at http://missoula.co/housing.

To submit comments, contact Housing Specialist Jordan Lyons at 406-258-3444 or jlyons@missoulacounty.us. Mailed comments can be sent to Missoula County Community and Planning Services, 200 W. Broadway, Missoula, Montana, 59802.

 Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, recreational marijuana can be legally cultivated and sold in Montana. This industry is expected to provide additional income for the community, both through product taxation and job creation. However, County officials also expect there will be some specific impacts associated with this new industry. Due to these impacts, Community and Planning Services staff are working to design appropriate regulations to ensure the community's long-term prosperity.

View proposed cannabis regulations and provide comments at http://missoula.co/cannabisregulations.

COVID-19 vaccines are available for anyone age 5+. Visit http://covid19.missoula.co/get-vaccinated to schedule an appointment.

The pandemic has shown us the very real need to be prepared for an unexpected emergency. It has also shown that the bigger and more widespread the emergency, the scarcer resources become. Store shelves empty, staffing issues arise, stores close and response resources become increasingly stretched. This can be stressful and give you a helpless feeling. But there is something important that you can do. Plan and prepare for emergencies in advance!

To get started, be sure to sign up for Smart911 (smart911.com), a free emergency preparedness and alert tool for individuals and families who live in Missoula County. Missoula County 9-1-1 sends emergency notifications through texts, phone calls and email using Smart911. Alerts are targeted to only those in specific areas or groups who need to get them. Things like evacuations due to fire activity, missing persons and armed suspects in a particular neighborhood are some of the top things that emergency notifications are issued for. Emergency alerts are aimed to provide you with what you need to know, just when you need to know it.

Sign up for Smart911 today at smart911.com.

Listen to the full episode online at missoula.co/tipofthespear or Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify.

Missoula County Justice Court Judges Landee Holloway and Alex Beal share their journeys to the bench and how they’ve aligned their offices as a unified resource to guide people on what can be one of the worst days of their lives.

They share what it is like to be judges and describe the programs they’ve implemented to reduce recidivism and seek restorative justice, as well as how they balance the desire to help people in the system succeed with the safety of county residents and the overall well-being of our community.

Both forward-thinking, they outline innovative ideas of how to continually improve court services and the experience of navigating a day in Justice Court, with the end goal of positive outcomes.

http://missoula.co/justicecourt

• Copyright Registration Workshop
  6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 7, at the Missoula Public Library
• World Wide Cinema
  6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10, at the Missoula Public Library – Cooper Room
• Self-Service Gift Wrap Station
  12 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Missoula Public Library

Find more events this week on the County’s Event Calendar!

Behavioral health: City and county aim to address systemic gaps
Missoula federal building on track; Post Office looking for new home Current events: Combatting climate change in Missoula 

To join commissioner department, administrative and public meetings via Microsoft Teams and view the agendas, visit the Missoula County Commissioners’ Meeting Minutes and Agenda Portal. Please note that agendas for department and administrative meetings are published two business days before the meeting, and public meeting agendas are published the Friday before the meeting. Administrative and public meeting video recordings are available on the Missoula County YouTube page after the meeting, and MCAT plays the public meetings live on their Spectrum Channel 190. Email bcc@missoulacounty.us or call 406-258-4877 if you have any questions or comments on an upcoming meeting.

• Tuesday, Dec. 7
  Commissioners’ Administrative Public Meeting
  Fairgrounds Update
• Wednesday, Dec. 8
  Chief Officers Update
  Treasurer’s Office Update
• Thursday, Dec. 9
  Chief Administrative Officer Update
  Commissioners’ Administrative Public Meeting
  Commissioners’ Public Meeting
• Friday, Dec. 10
  No department, administrative or public meetings are scheduled on this day.
• Monday, Dec. 13
  No department, administrative or public meetings are scheduled on this day.

This press release was produced by the Missoula County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.