Great Falls Fire Rescue is proposing a fee increase for certain services and the City Commission will consider the change during their Aug. 6 meeting. The fees were last changed in April 2014 and includes fees for investigation reports, facility and equipment rental, ladder testing, hose repair, breathing air bottle filling and more. The proposal would increase the fees by
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Complaints about abandoned vehicles are fairly common and the Great Falls Police Department is regularly handling those complaints. GFPD’s response to abandoned vehicles is complaint driven and the process is dictated by state and local regulations. “We don’t actively seek out abandoned vehicles,” said Lt. Doug Mahlum of GFPD’s Support Services Bureau. “There are laws that we have to follow before
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Beginning July 1, parking meter rates in downtown Great Falls will increase to $1 per hour. The City Commission voted 4-1 on Tuesday, with Commissioner Tracy Houck dissenting, to increase the meter rate; replace the annual courtesy ticket with one per lifetime of a license plate; and slightly revise the fines for time violations. The new fine structure will be:
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Faced with year’s of deferred maintenance that the parking program hasn’t been able to afford, the Parking Advisory Commission has recommended several changes that the City Commission will consider Tuesday night. Last fall’s proposal to quadruple meter rates on Central Avenue was essentially dead in the water and the PAC has since revised the proposal. $2 meter rate hike proposal
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled this week that chalking vehicles for parking enforcement is a violation of the Fourth Amendment. So far, the decision does not affect Great Falls or other Montana cities since the 6th Circuit includes Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Great Falls does chalk vehicles as part of its parking enforcement program
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The city is hosting two public meetings on March 20 to discuss the proposed changes to the downtown parking program. The first meeting is at noon in the Gibson Room and the second at 6 p.m. in the City Commission chambers, both at the Civic Center. City staff and the Parking Advisory Board will present the PAC’s recommendations to gather
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The proposal to raise parking meter rates in downtown Great Falls last fall was essentially dead on arrival and the Parking Advisory Commission voted Thursday afternoon to make a more modest increase. They’re planning to take that proposal to a City Commission work session in April, meaning it will be at least May before the commission would take any action
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The city’s development processes and requirements are often blasted as impediments to development, but much of the land use code was revised in 2005 as part of a major community effort after continued complaints about the overall appearance of the city. Now, the city is working to update Title 17, the land development code, as staff continues to revise the
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Roughly two dozen downtown business owners gathered at Electric City Coffee on Monday to learn about the city’s parking system and the proposed changes, including a meter rate hike. Jeff Patterson, of the city’s Parking Advisory Board, as well as Craig Raymond, city planning director, shared information about the program and answered questions from the group. Board recommends rate hike
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The city is offering free parking downtown again this year for the holidays. All metered parking will be free Dec. 15-25. But to ensure everyone has access to parking, the two-hour maximum time limit at meters will remain in effect. There are more than 1,000 metered spaces in the downtown district. “Providing free parking during the holiday season is one
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