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7/28/2025
Great Falls city commissioners are moving toward a fall ballot question that will let voters determine whether a fireworks ban should be enacted in the city.
The commission has called a special meeting for Tuesday to hold an initial hearing on the fireworks resolution, which could be decided by voters this November. The commission had to act quickly because the law requires ballot questions to be completed at least 85 days before an election.
In choosing the extent of a potential ban, commissioners favored an option that would prohibit fireworks that leave the ground (shells, missiles, bottle rockets, etc.) and those that explode (firecrackers). The option allows for smaller fireworks like sparklers, fountains, smoke devices and novelty items, according to city documents.
The decision to proceed to a citywide vote wasn’t unanimous among commissioners.
Commissioners met for a special work session discussion July 22 and first debated whether the city commission or the electorate should decide the fireworks question. Commissioners Susan Wolff and Joe McKenney preferred action by the commission.
“I was elected by the voters of Great Falls to make decisions and not hide from that,” McKenney said.
Commissioners Shannon Wilson and Rick Tryon, as well as Mayor Cory Reeves, preferred to put the decision before voters.
“I don’t think it’s kicking the can to the community,” Reeves said. “A ballot measure gives the voters a final say.”
Commissioners also wrestled with how a potential fireworks ban would be enforced. While preparing options for the city commission, city staff sought comments from officials across Montana where fireworks bans are in place. Those cities include Billings, Bozeman, Missoula and Havre. Police officials in those cities said that while they’ve tried to educate the public on local bans, they’ve generally done little to mitigate the use of fireworks with limited resources.
Bozeman Police Chief Jim Veltkamp told Great Falls officials in an email that fireworks calls have gone down a bit and that the city is still working to educate residents about a relatively new rule. Bozeman banned fireworks in 2023.
Speaking with Montana Free Press last week, Bozeman Fire Chief Josh Waldo said that they anticipated a transition period while people get used to the change. He said that the department is more focused on letting people know about the fireworks ban rather than pursuing tickets.
“When we started down this path, please do not think you’re going to pass this ordinance and flip a switch,” Waldo said. “It’s going to take time.”
He said the use of fireworks has decreased in the city anecdotally, but it hasn’t ceased.
In Great Falls, city commissioners haven’t yet voted on any fireworks-related measure. A resolution to put the fireworks question on the fall ballot is expected to get its first vote on Tuesday and a second vote the following Tuesday, Aug. 5.
If commissioners vote against putting a measure on the fall ballot, they could still consider a fireworks ordinance on their own.
As of Friday, the special meeting is listed for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Civic Center. Updates and agendas can be found here.
Following up
The Weissman Hood Institute at Touro (formerly the McLaughlin Institute) has received its grant allocations from the National Institutes of Health. The research grants make up a substantial portion of the institute’s budget and were delayed this year amid Trump administration scrutiny of federal funding programs. The administration sought to limit indirect costs, which cover facility and equipment costs that aren’t directly related to research but allow research facilities to operate.
Institute Interim Director Tiffany Hensley-McBain told MTFP that they expected the grants to be awarded in January. Researchers relied on reserve funds to continue work without knowing if the grants would be awarded. Grants need to be recertified each year, even for multi-year project awards. In June, the money came through.
“We kept going, so we didn’t really change operations for those six months,” Hensley-McBain said.
The grant awards included the normal indirect cost portion that came with the grants in past years. The funded projects include the Center for Integrated Biomedical and Rural Health Research, a multi-year, $13.8 million program that was first awarded in 2024 and is a cornerstone project for the institute. Under this grant, researchers study diseases that impact rural and aging populations, including Alzheimer’s disease, age-related macular degeneration, Parkinson’s disease and chronic wasting disease in animals. The work is done with support from the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine.
“Under the center, of course, it’s meant to build research infrastructure. But it’s also meant to bridge the urban-rural divide through our collaboration with Touro,” Hensley-McBain said. “Really, the idea is we go out to do outreach in the community. We bring Touro students into the institute and train them. Many of them aren’t from Montana but are getting a better understanding of rural health through their interactions with us.”
Photo op
Workers demolished the old tower at the Great Falls Fire Rescue training center last week. A new high-rise training tower will take its place as part of a project approved earlier this year. The former tower had deteriorated to the point of being unusable.
In addition to the new tower, the grounds will get asphalt improvements. The project is funded by money that was reallocated from the Great Falls Public Library.
Calling all photographers: Submit a photo for Great Falls This Week to [email protected].
The library looks ahead
As the only department with a mill levy enshrined in the city charter, the Great Falls Public Library will see its levy recalculated due to new state tax laws. This is because the new property tax structure could cause reductions in taxable values, which would reduce fixed mill levy revenue. A provision of House Bill 231 requires those fixed mill levies to be recalculated based on this year’s mill value to achieve the amount of revenue generated in the previous tax year. This involves the 17 mills that voters approved in the 2023 library mill levy election.
In theory, the library may end up levying more mills to get the same revenue as last year. That recalculation will be the new maximum fixed mill levy, and revenues would increase if the mill values increase. The rest of the city’s mill levies are so-called “floating mills” that are levied in different amounts based on a revenue target that’s passed by the city commission. The commission will set the new library levy while passing its 2026 budget, according to Great Falls City Attorney David Dennis.
The library’s board of trustees heard from Dennis about this mill levy plan during its July 22 meeting. Trustees also approved a raise for the director, bringing the annual salary to $127,020 as of July 1.
Trustees also approved a transition plan for Director Susie McIntyre, who announced her resignation earlier this month. McIntyre will stay on through the end of 2025 while trustees and staff search for a replacement.
McIntyre, who is nearing 20 years at the library, took the director role in 2019.
“It’s just time for me to do something else,” she told MTFP. “The library’s in a good space. And we’ve got a great staff, and it’s time for somebody else to take over.”
McIntyre’s tenure included managing the library during the height of COVID-19 and the culture war debates around the kinds of books available in public libraries and the embrace of LGBTQ+ patrons. Last year, she negotiated as the city administration sought to reallocate library funds to help with public safety services.
McIntyre said that she was most proud of the successful library levy campaign of 2023, when voters approved additional funding that added services, staff and hours of operation. She said the library serves as a mirror and window into local culture.
“In my mind, libraries have always been radical,” McIntyre said about the goal of the library being open to all.
“Everybody is welcome at the library, and everybody should get access to the information they need. That’s radical.”
Montana Renewables announces water treatment
Environmental watchdogs have praised Montana Renewables’ announcement that it will construct a wastewater treatment plant in Great Falls.
Currently, the plant sends as many as 24 truckloads of wastewater to Idaho each day for permitted disposal. That’s how the facility handles the 80,000 daily gallons of wastewater per day from one part of its production process. Montana Renewables CEO Bruce Fleming told MTFP in June that the company spends $12 million annually to transport the wastewater.
Last week, the company announced that a wastewater treatment plant will be constructed on-site in Great Falls as part of the expansion of the biofuels plant.
“The planned addition to existing on-site water treatment will deliver sustainable, science-based water solutions that comply with regulatory standards while keeping the natural resources and economics within Montana,” Fleming said in a statement.
Golden Triangle Resource Council, a conservation group, praised the announcement in a statement last week and urged the company to abandon a pending permit to inject wastewater underground in northcentral Montana.
“We commend Montana Renewables for their public commitment to treating their water,” Steve Grout, a member of the council, said in a statement. “Now, we encourage EPA to deny these well permits outright, as they are no longer needed. We also ask Montana Renewables to publicly commit to not using these wells, even if permitted, even temporarily. Clean water is of paramount importance to our members in Pondera County and beyond.”
The EPA permits refer to an application from a company called Montalban Oil and Gas Operations to inject wastewater from Montana Renewables into old underground oil and gas wells in Pondera County that are part of the Madison Aquifer formation. The plan drew scrutiny from local leaders.
Last week, Pondera County commissioners and the county sanitarian issued a statement praising the wastewater treatment proposal. They called plans to inject wastewater underneath their county needlessly risky to local water quality.
“Treating the wastewater, which other biofuel manufacturers commonly do, is a far more responsible and sustainable solution than trucking and injecting it underground via old oil and gas wells where it could potentially contaminate the Madison Aquifer or other sources of clean water that people in our community depend on,” Pondera County commissioners said in their statement. “We strongly encourage the Department of Energy and Sen. [Steve] Daines to work with Montana Renewables to get the water treatment plant designed, permitted and built right away.”
On-site water treatment was always part of Montana Renewables’ expansion plan, as the company sought a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy. Wastewater management from the pre-treatment unit appears numerous times in the company’s environmental assessment, which was approved last year.
It remains to be seen how quickly the wastewater treatment plant will be up and running. By Friday morning, a company representative had not returned an inquiry about the timing.
5 things to know in Great Falls
Great Falls Public Schools announced that Luke Diekhans will be the next director of business operations for the district. He is currently the director of human resources for GFPS and will replace Brian Patrick, the outgoing director of business operations who has been in the role since 2011. Diekhans has worked for the school district for 27 years as a teacher, education coordinator and principal in addition to his HR role.
Cascade County Commissioners terminated a contract with Neste Live, which had been booking the entertainment for the Montana State Fair. Commissioner Joe Briggs said at a July 24 meeting that the company is getting out of the fair and festival business. At the same meeting, commissioners approved a contract with a new booking agent, Lakefront Entertainment, for $464,400. The agent will coordinate this year’s concerts, which include The Oak Ridge Boys, Smash Mouth, Jo Dee Messina and Tucker Wetmore.
Speaking of the fair, the annual event began Friday and runs through Aug. 2. You can find event information, schedules and admission prices on the county’s website or through this 2025 Montana State Fair guide.
Only southbound traffic is open this week on Sixth Street Southwest between 10th Avenue South and 10th Avenue Southwest. That stretch of road runs over the bridge from Fox Farm and over the Sun River, with 10th Avenue Southwest being the first intersection on the north side of the river. This is due to an ongoing road resurfacing project. In two weeks, the closure will switch to allow northbound traffic only.
Cascade County will hold a surplus vehicle auction on Tuesday. Auction items can be seen and bids can be made here. A list of vehicles up for auction can be found here.
