Monday, October 12, through Sunday, October 18, 2026
If you usually tune in to City Council on Monday nights, you get the evening off. City and county offices are closed Monday for Indigenous Peoples' Day, and there's no council meeting. The county commissioners are away too. Their schedule has them at the Mountain Towns Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, from Tuesday through Thursday, and their regular meetings this week are canceled.
That doesn't make it a dead week. Missoula's boards and committees have plenty on their plates. On Tuesday, the city Parks and Recreation Board votes on a power line easement through the Park on North Scott Street and up to $7,000 for tennis court repairs. On Wednesday, Mountain Line's executive committee takes up its CEO's performance review and contract. And on Thursday, a county advisory board weighs about $297,000 in trail funding requests for Mount Dean Stone, Woody Mountain and the Lolo hillsides.
Monday, October 12
Missoula City Council
No meeting this week.
Bonner-Milltown Community Council
7:00 p.m., Bonner School cafeteria, with a Zoom option listed on the agenda.
This is a night of updates, not votes. Kirstin Miller of CoBuild Montana and Ecocity Builders will share what the group has learned over the past year about Bonner-Milltown's options. That includes workforce housing at Blackfoot Crossing, and ideas for the Bonner Industrial Park like biochar production, a community center and a grocery or regional food outlet. She'll also talk about the CoBuild Summit, October 20 to 22. The first two days are at the University Center, and the last is based at the new CoBuild Center downtown at 125½ W. Main St.
Interim Chief Kirk Paulson will give the Missoula Rural Fire District's monthly report. County planning manager Izzie Varley will explain how residents can help shape the county's comprehensive plan update over the next year, through a countywide survey, listening sessions, mapping workshops and community polls.
Two other notes from the agenda: the council has a vacancy after a September resignation, and the county's survey on the future of the West Riverside Park barn closes October 30.
Tuesday, October 13
Missoula Parks and Recreation Board
11:30 a.m., Headwaters Conference Room, 600 Cregg Lane, or on Microsoft Teams. Agenda.
The board has four votes scheduled. The biggest is an electric easement NorthWestern Energy wants through the Park on North Scott Street. The board's role is to make a recommendation; the mayor and City Council make the final call.
The other three are smaller. Members will vote on spending up to $7,000 from the Tennis Enterprise Fund to repair cracks at the Playfair and Kiwanis courts, on two updated and two new bird signs for the Bolle Birdwatching Trail in Greenough Park, and on forming a subcommittee to recommend people for open seats on the Conservation Lands Advisory Committee. Staff will also give an update on the aquatics program.
Local Emergency Planning and Disaster Planning committees
1:30 p.m., Sophie Moiese Room, ground floor of the Missoula County Courthouse. These two committees hold a joint meeting once a quarter. The agenda isn't posted yet. Watch the committee's page.
Larchmont Golf Course Board
3:30 p.m., Larchmont Golf Course. The agenda lists only the regular monthly reports.
Affordable Housing Resident Oversight Committee
6:00 p.m., City Council Chambers, 140 W. Pine St., or on Microsoft Teams. Agenda.
This committee helps decide how the city spends its Affordable Housing Trust Fund. On Tuesday, members will begin talking through priorities for the 2027 fiscal year, starting with what the 2026 Housing Landscape Assessment found. Nothing gets decided yet. The committee plans to finish its plan on December 8 and send it to the mayor. If you have thoughts on where housing dollars should go, this is the early window.
Missoula Water Quality Advisory Council
6:00 p.m., Room 210 of the Missoula Public Health building, 301 W. Alder St., with a hybrid option. This volunteer council advises the Water Quality District Board. No agenda is posted online yet. Check the council's page.
Tom Green Memorial Park Advisory Group
6:00 p.m., Pineview Park Pavilion, 1010 Pineview Drive. In person only. The group will elect officers and talk about interpretive panels and a bridge replacement at the park. Agenda.
Lolo Community Council
7:00 p.m., Lolo Community Center. Agenda.
A long list of visitors is on the agenda: county Public Works Director Jason Mitchell, Lolo School Superintendent Dale Olinger, Deputy Chief Cory Horsens of the Missoula Rural Fire District, State Rep. Mark Thane and someone from the Montana Department of Transportation. The council will keep talking about the Lolo regional plan update and about e-bikes and scooters on Lolo roads. New this month is access to land and trails next to Riverside Park, with Randy Arnold of the county's Department of Land, Culture and Recreation and the Sheriff's Office.
The council's county mail this month includes notices on the Lolo Hillsides Park trails, Lolo water and wastewater improvements, opioid settlement grants and a data center study presentation. Like all community councils, Lolo's is advisory and doesn't make binding decisions.
Seeley Lake and East Missoula community councils
Seeley Lake meets at 6:00 p.m. at the Historic Barn, 2920 Highway 83. East Missoula meets at 7:00 p.m. at the East Missoula Fire Hall and on Zoom. Neither agenda was posted as of Sunday. Check the county meeting portal.
Wednesday, October 14
Mountain Line Planning Committee
9:30 a.m., Mountain Line offices, 1221 Shakespeare St. Agenda.
The transit district is getting ready to renegotiate its union contracts. Staff will walk the committee through the process and timeline, and then the committee will go into a closed session with its lawyer to discuss them. There's also a federal funding update and a look ahead to a board retreat on November 12. Everything on this agenda is for information or discussion.
Mountain Line Executive Committee
11:30 a.m., same location. Agenda.
The bus system's executive committee will review the performance of its CEO and general manager in closed session, along with a separate personnel matter. Afterward, it will discuss the CEO's contract. The agenda doesn't list any votes.
Missoula Conservation District
5:30 p.m., Clover Conference Room, Exploration Center, 1075 South Ave. W. Heads up if you're going by the city calendar: it still shows this meeting on Monday night. The district moved it to Wednesday because of the holiday, according to its own notice. The board usually handles 310 stream permits, complaints and grants. This month's agenda items aren't posted yet.
Thursday, October 15
Missoula City-County Health, Water Quality District and Air Pollution Control boards
12:15 p.m., Room 210 of the Missoula Public Health building, 301 W. Alder St., with a Teams option. The same members sit on all three boards and meet back to back: health first, then water, then air. Unlike most of the groups in this preview, these boards can make rules and set budgets.
We weren't able to see this month's agenda. The county's link to it requires a staff sign-in. For details, call Missoula Public Health at 406-258-3376 or check the Health Board page.
Missoula County Parks and Trails Advisory Board
1:30 p.m., Office of Lands and Communities, 127 E. Main St., second floor, or on Microsoft Teams. Agenda.
Back in 2014, voters approved a $42 million parks and trails bond, and $3 million of it was set aside for county trails. This board looks at requests for that trail money and makes recommendations to the commissioners. Two requests are up Thursday.
Five Valleys Land Trust is asking for $234,000 to build more than 12 miles of new trail in the Mount Dean Stone Community Forest. That includes single-track linking Miller Creek to Pattee Canyon, short neighborhood loops and an accessible trail at the Skyline Ridge Trailhead. The land trust will present its proposal.
The county itself is asking for $62,619 for two smaller projects. One would add about 0.7 miles of trail on Woody Mountain at West Riverside Park. The other would turn about 1.2 miles of informal paths in the Lolo Hillside park system into official trail. The board is scheduled to score this request and make its recommendation.
Both are requests, not awards. The commissioners have the final say.
Board of County Commissioners
The commissioners don't have any public meetings this week. Their Tuesday administrative meeting and the week's department updates are canceled while they attend the Mountain Towns Conference, October 13 to 15. They wouldn't have held a Thursday public meeting anyway, since they skip third Thursdays. Department updates start again Monday, October 19. The next administrative meeting is Tuesday, October 20, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 206 of the County Administration Building, 199 W. Pine St.
Around the county
The Southgate Triangle Neighborhood Council meets Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at the City Life Community Center, 1515 Fairview Ave. Topics include park updates, neighborhood grants and the Missoula County Fairgrounds.
A handy change for rural residents: the County Treasurer's Office is starting to offer vehicle registration, title transfers, license plates and property tax payments outside of town. Staff will be at the Lolo School and Community Library, 5305 Farm Lane, on the second and third Wednesdays from 4 to 6 p.m., beginning October 14. They'll be at the Frenchtown School and Community Library, 17620 Frontage Road, on the second and third Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m., beginning October 15. Questions go to 406-258-4747.
How to weigh in
City boards: You can attend in person or join on Teams using the details at the top of each agenda. You can also leave a written comment online. Open the agenda on eScribe, click the item you care about and choose "leave comment." The City Clerk's office can help at 406-552-6078.
County boards and community councils: Comment in person or online during the meeting, using the join details on each agenda in the county meeting portal. To reach the commissioners directly, leave a voicemail at 406-258-4877 or use their contact form. Larger county projects have pages on Missoula County Voice, and you can sign up for agenda emails.
Mountain Line: Instructions for attending and commenting are at mountainline.com/meetings. You can email the board at board@mountainline.com.
Health boards and the Water Quality Advisory Council: Call Missoula Public Health at 406-258-3376.
What's next
The commissioners return to their regular meetings with the Tuesday, October 20, administrative meeting. The City Planning Commission meets Wednesday, October 21, at 6:00 p.m. The Missoula Redevelopment Agency board, which moved from its usual third-Thursday slot, meets Friday, October 23, at 10:00 a.m. Neither agenda is out yet. The housing committee's trust fund plan is expected on December 8.
