David Dennis announced as Great Falls deputy city attorney, long-term RV parking fines pass
City Manager Greg Doyon announced that David Dennis would assume the role of deputy city attorney during his report to the commission Tuesday night.
Doyon recapped Dennis’ background as a graduate of Ohio State University and University of Montana School of Law, and said he's been practicing law in Montana for about 30 years.
He gained experience at Dorsey and Whitney, which Doyon cited as a well-known law firm, worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Providence, and worked for the Assistant U.S. Attorney and the Department of Justice.
Dennis was in attendance at the meeting and waved when Doyon acknowledged him.
During the meeting, commissioners decided unanimously to pass the parking fines structure for Ordinance 3230, passed last fall, which requires that RVs not be parked on city residential streets for longer than 72 hours within a seven-day period.
“In the case of a violation, a written notice will be provided that 1) requires the removal of the vehicle, trailer or vessel within 24 hours and 2) advises that a parking citation will be issued if the vehicle, trailer or vessel is not removed.”
The fine structure in Resolution 10450 included in the agenda is as follows:
First citation: $50
Second citation: $100
Third or subsequent citation: $200
Commissioner Rick Tryon asked what the consequences would be if someone were to refuse to move their vehicle after multiple citations, to which both City Attorney Jeff Hindoien said that because the Ordinance is blended into the parking code framework where after multiple citations the city could send the complaint to a collection agency, which if ignored would eventually be forwarded to municipal court.
Tryon also asked about whether complaints would be able to be anonymous, to which Police Chief Jeff Newton said that claims would have to be verified by volunteers being dispatched and handled just like the abandoned vehicle ordinance. He said it would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
“We want to make sure we're not falling down into the trap, running out on a bunch of anonymous complaints when the person with that property did nothing wrong, so we view those very cautiously,” Newton said.
Hindoien said that this was mostly to handle abandoned vehicles and said that with staff limitations, response times for complaints will likely be delayed.
“There's no way we are staffed to get back on every one of these in 24 hours and have that kind of rigid, regimented enforcement scheme,” he said. “We say 24 hours but odds are going to be pretty good it's gonna take a little bit longer for that.”
Mayor Bob Kelly commented before the vote that he’s already noticed that there's been a “great exodus” of some of the trailers that have been on the streets and that a lot of the storage places are filling up. He said he agreed with Hindoien that the ordinance passed last fall was to get rid of vehicles that had been left of the street and not moved for years.
Kelly said that he agreed with what some folks have told him that these fines aren’t enough motivation to get some people to comply and said these are numbers they could change given the level of compliance.
“I think we'll probably see higher rates here down the line if we don't get the compliance we want. But I really would like to start with these numbers, which I think are more than fair, to the folks who may be hesitant to move their vehicles,” Kelly said.
The commission also approved a minor amendment to the 2018 Great Falls Area Long Range Transportation Plan for a “City Sidewalk Infill Project” to install missing sidewalks around schools and parks and in key locations, as was approved in 2011 but not initiated, per the agenda.
There will be public hearings at the commission’s April 5 meeting:
The expansion of the “Social Host” criminal liability for in city code to include minors using marijuana and other substances;
A request from Touro College Montana for a re-zone to a mixed-use district;
The CDBG & HOME 2022-2023 Annual Action Plan Needs Hearing
Resolution 10451, Approving the donation of used radio equipment to Cascade County for use by the Rural Volunteer Fire Departments
This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: New Great Falls deputy city attorney announced, RV parking fines pass
