Howdy makers of Montana!

Welcome back to the Bozeman Build Report covering trade related activities happening in Montana. Thanks for bearing with me last week being away from the office on vacation, today were back at it content dated (11/4-11/18) covering Montana seed potatoes, mineral lease funding distributions, new insurance commissioner and FWP director, $26M St. Mary canal repair loan, Metallica money to finance Montana trade school students, meteors, USDA November edition, Last Mile prison education graduates, Stillwater layoffs started, Sidney Sugars, Lost Trail, political spend, Canadian Montana border crossings, Bozeman to ban plastics, mixed use buildings, landfill sprinklers, Flying D film, and a wetter weather outlook.

Enjoy and keep at it,

Daniel

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When and what is the Bozeman Build? The BB is a 1x/week free email newsletter delivered Monday mornings focused on Montana blue collar content. We are not a financial or building advisors.

Montana and Bozeman Trade Pulse

Divided into a greater Montana and Bozeman section.

Montana trade pulse

Nov 06, 2024 According to numbers from the Montana State University Seed Potato Certification Program, almost 10,957 acres of certified seed potatoes were grown in Montana in the 2024 crop. MSU runs the voluntary certification program, which includes testing and inspection to help produce top-quality crops. (Montana Ag Network)

Nov 10, 2024 The Department of the Interior's Office of Natural Resources announced it distributed $16.45 billion in funding to states and tribes across the nation. The funding was generated in fiscal year 2024 from mineral leases and energy production on federal and Tribal lands as well as federal offshore areas. A total of $4.29 billion dollars was disbursed to 33 federally recognized Tribes in various states, including Montana, which received $22.54 million. (NBC MT)

Nov 11, 2024 Washington and Montana elect new insurance commissioners. In Montana, James Brown takes over from Troy Downing, recently elected to the US House of Representatives. (Captive Insurance Times)

Nov 11, 2024 DNRC approves $26M for St. Mary Canal repair (KRTV Great Falls)

Nov 12, 2024 KALISPELL — Trade students at Flathead Valley Community College (FVCC) in Kalispell recently received a grant from a unique program, the Metallica Scholars Initiative, which is associated with the actual heavy metal band Metallica. Through Metallica’s All Within My Hands program, FVCC received a $75,000 grant that has allowed 300 students in the occupational trades program to purchase $200 worth of tools, equipment and materials for their classes. (KBZK)

Nov 13, 2024 Anyone looking north at the sky at about 6:34 a.m. on Wednesday got a rare treat in the form of a meteor streaking across the sky and burning up in the atmosphere. Viewers described a bright flash of bluish-greenish light along with an orange streak before and after. (Bozeman Daily Cronicle)

Farmers.gov sent this bulletin at 11/14/2024. USDA Montana Newsletter - November 2024

November 13 2024 Governor Gianforte Unveils Historic Pro-Jobs, Pro-Family, Pro-Business Budget: Path to Security and Prosperity (State of Montana News Room)

Nov 14 2024 Fourteen students graduated from The Last Mile (TLM) web development program at Montana State Prison. The cohort spent the last year learning technology skills, including web development, coding, and software engineering. (Montana.gov)

Nov 14, 2024 COLUMBUS — The first wave of nearly 600 layoffs at Stillwater Mine began Tuesday. Before August, the mine had about 1,675 employees and will be keeping roughly 1,000. One hundred five salaried employees are expected to be laid off, and 440 hourly. In addition, roughly 200 workers resigned from the mine since the company announced the layoffs this summer. (KTVQ)

Nov 15, 2024 Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Dustin Temple will retire at the end of this year, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced Friday. The governor’s office said FWP chief operating officer Marina Yoshioka would be acting director of the agency. (Daily Montanan)

Nov 17, 2024 SIDNEY — Nearly two years after American Crystal Sugar Co. shut down the Sidney Sugars factory, farmers in the area are still getting accustomed to the new normal. (Montana Ag Network)

MDT News

From the MDT News Releases page dated 11/4-11/15.

• 20241115-132853 | Construction Complete On Dalton Mountain Road Bridge Replace

• 20241113-145924 | 2024 Construction Complete On S Billings Blvd

• 20241105-085407 | Sidewalks - Sunburst Design In Progress

• 20241104-145651 | Construction Paused On South Of Missoula Bridge Preservation

Lost Trail

Located near Sula Montana is reporting 48 inches of snow, still uncertain when their open date will be but they sure have more than enough. (Lost Trail). The Lakeview Ridge snotel site closest to Lost trail is reporting 160% of NRCS 1991-2020 Median.

Political spend Montana

Tester’s spending by late October totaled $81.8 million, by far the most ever by a federal candidate committee in Montana. Sheehy’s spending amounted to $22.2 million. Millions of dollars in candidate spending won’t be added to the ledger until early next year. (Montana Free Press)

Canadian Border Crossings

Our friends to the north: Montana and Canada share 13 active border crossings in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. For information on individual border crossings, like border wait times between Montana and Canada—along with each port's hours of operation— visit cbp.gov.

I stopped through the Chief Mountain port on the way to the Calgary Airport last week and captured a super cool snow cat along with Chief Mountain in North Glacier on the way.

Quality Montana County Music

Bozeman trade pulse

Nov 7, 2024 Bozeman passes city plastics ban. The new ordinance will introduce changes to the Bozeman Municipal Code, effectively banning the sale or distribution of polystyrene foam and the use of single-use plastic bags, straws, or stirrers starting May 1, 2025. There are exceptions included in the ordinance. he Montana Secretary of State reported that the vote passed with 63 percent in favor and 37 percent opposed. Bozeman is the first city in Montana to implement such a plastics ban. (Montana Right Now)

Nov 13, 2024 An application has been submitted to the city proposing the demolition of several buildings to construct a 7-story mixed-use building. According to city documents, the proposed project would demolish the existing buildings and build a seven-story, 174,216 sq.ft mixed-use building. The building is proposed to include 46 residences including two, three, and four-bedroom units on the second-seventh floors. (Bozeman Real Estate Group)

Nov 13th 2024 Bozeman family is expressing their frustration over a city housing project being proposed right in their backyard near their farm. The proposed site is located on Fowler Lane. The project is proposed to use 20 acres of land to construct 12 residential apartments that will be three stories tall with 312 units. (NBC MT)

Nov, 15th 2024 Bozeman Best Buy is now open, The Bozeman store is Best Buy's fourth location in Montana, with stores in Billings, Kalispell, and Missoula. (KBZK)

New Bozeman project proposals

Sourced from the City of Bozeman Project Information Portal, new projects created from start of November to current date.

• 24351 - Petra Academy Site Plan, Add Secondary Building and additional parking to existing school building/site.

• 24511 - Valley Glass Site Plan, Proposing an additional warehouse to the existing site plus enhanced parking

• 24515 - Atwell Hotel - Site Plan, Construction of a 104 unit hotel

• 24532 - Wallace Works Phase 2 Site Plan. Learn more about Wallace Works

• 24533 - Hidden Creek Preliminary Plat, Create a 2-lot minor for the developers to obtain the Northern lot

• 24545 - Altos Photonics Site Plan, New construction will include one (1) structure including light manufacturing, storage, sales, and a small restaurant space.

• 24584 - 1920 w Bab_5 Plex, New construction - 5 plex Residential Kirk Subdivision

• 24585 - Mill Building Renovation SP. Adaptive re-use of the existing/vacant warehouse building and an addition. Proposed uses create year-round use for the Tinwork Art community space. Total project square footage is approximately 7,500sf.

Sprinklers at Bozeman Convenience Site

Landfills have sprinklers for Fire prevention, Leachate evaporation, and Stormwater separation. Here is a photo of the Bozeman convenience sites sprinkler system.

Big Sky updated map

Big Sky's new map includes the paths of the new One&Only Gondola and Madison 8. (Big Sky Map). The new two-way gondola will span approximately 3,500 feet with a modest vertical rise of about 200 feet. Renderings suggest a Doppelmayr lift with Omega V cabins. Read more about the gondola on Peter Landsmans liftblog.com.

Urban Builds

Located around the North University Neighborhood.

Sheathing costs

As of November 14th 2024 captured at the Home Depot location in Bozeman.

Mini film about Turners Flying D Ranch

Weather

Looks like a wet/snowy start to the week transitioning into colder wetter than average November weather later this week into next week.

Here’s the 8-14 day precipitation outlooks central Montana targeted to get that much needed above average precipitation heading into next week.

Mountain west snotel, here’s how the Rockies are sitting snow wise.

History of the week

J.W. Beeson: “My coat was made in the early 1900s of Winter Kill Horse with blue-striped canvas bed ticking lining and hand carved wooden buttons. (Montana History Portal Miles City Cattle Drive Collection)

Have a great week,

Daniel

bozemanbuild.com & blockbiome.com