HELENA — The City of Helena is committed to providing essential services to the public while also making it a top priority to protect the health and safety of our citizens. The City continues to follow the direction of Lewis & Clark County Health Department, and the State of Montana in relation to the COVID-19 health outbreak. In order to accomplish “social distancing,” City departments with non-essential services and staff are transitioning to working remotely. Department hours may be affected, in-person services are impacted, or services may be modified to ensure the health and safety of the public and staff. The delivery of in-person services will be reevaluated on Tuesday, March 31 and will be based on COVID-19 trends and CDC guidelines.
Please see the following modifications each department is taking:
MUNICIPAL COURT
No walk-in payments until April 15, 2020. Please use the following options to pay court fines or fees.
- Mail in payment with check or money order- to Helena Municipal Court, 228 Broadway, Helena MT 59601
- Call in using a debit or credit card (transaction fee applies) Helena Municipal Court at 447-8466 EXT 1
- Use online payment at CitepayUSA.com www.citepayusa.com [citepayusa.com] (transaction fee applies)
- Please call if these options will not work for you
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – BUILDING DIVISION
All business will be handled electronically or by phone for the health and safety of our staff and the public. The City Building Division Office will be closed to the public beginning at 12:00 p.m. March 19th until further notice.
- All correspondence is being handled electronically. Please email plans, applications, or documents to one of the contacts noted below.
- Payments may only be made by credit card or debit card over the phone. Checks and cash will not be accepted.
- The process for requesting inspection will remain the same. General Contractor shall call the Building Division to schedule inspections. City Inspectors will continue to do inspections as timely as possible.
- Review of plans will continue as timely as possible.
- If you have any questions, feel free to call 447-8438 or 447-8437. Email documents totdupree@helenamt.gov and rrowsey@helenamt.gov
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – PLANNING
The City Planning Division is working remotely with limited hours in the office. Most business will be conducted electronically, but there is availability for appointments to drop-off plats and applications.
Please visit our website [helenamt.gov] for more information regarding new remote processes and updates from the Department. For general questions, please call (406) 447-8490 and leave a detailed voicemail or e-mail citycommunitydevelopment@helenamt.gov. You may also contact the assigned Planner via work phone or work email for ongoing projects
For questions regarding variances, conditional use permits or zoning, please contact:
- Zoning Officer at htaylor@helenamt.gov or call 406-447-8448
- For questions regarding Minor or Major subdivisions and boundary line adjustments, please contact lgengler@helenamt.gov or call 406-447-8459
- For questions regarding annexation or the Growth Policy, please contact mmcconnell@helenamt.gov or call 406-447-8492
- For questions regarding Grants or ADA compliance please contact eray@helenamt.gov or call 406-447-8491
- For additional information or questions concerning any of the above please contact shaugen@helenamt.gov or 406-447-8445 or 406-459-4860.
You can access all our forms, applications and other planning information atwww.helenamt.gov/government/departments/community-development [helenamt.gov]
- UTILITY CUSTOMER SERVICE
- In-person services for payment or licensing is closed until further notice for the health and safety of our staff and the public.
- Utility payments (water bills) will continue to be accepted and processed promptly from the drop box locations, via telephone and online.
- For phone payments, please call (406) 447-8450 during business hours of Monday-Friday 8:00am – 5:00pm. Business hours may change at any time.
- For online payments visit HelenaMT.gov/services [helenamt.gov]
- Drop boxes are located:
- City County Building (at the end of the Utility Customer Services Division counter)
- Van’s Thriftway (on wall outside West side entrance above mailbox)
- Across from the Base Camp on Broadway (Located with the mailboxes, FedEx boxes etc.)
- Albertsons on North Montana Avenue (outside on wall by the mailbox)
If you are experiencing trouble paying your water bills, the City of Helena will work with you on deferrals, payment plans, etc. Water service shut-off is suspended during these challenging times.
Individual water meters will continue to record water usage and utility bills will continue to be generated and delivered to our customers. However, at this time, water will not be shut off for lack of payment. For questions regarding water billing, please call (406) 447-8450
CAPITAL TRANSIT – EAST VALLEY BUS SERVICE
The East Valley Bus Service will be reduced to the following schedule until further notice:
- The bus will run one morning and one evening route per day.
- The first bus route will run from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.
- The evening route will run 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- The following stops are scheduled for this route: Purview Health Center, East Helena City Hall, and Farmer and the Dell on York Road.
The red and blue fixed-route bus service is suspended until further notice. Paratransit bus services are evaluated on a day by day basis.
PUBLIC WORKS - ENGINEERING
City Engineers are working remotely to ensure the progression of scheduled projects. The following individuals can assist with Public Works engineering projects:
- Kim Cross kcross@helenamt.gov for questions, contracts, invoices, or anything else. Kim can also route your questions to the appropriate contact.
- Ryan Leland rleland@helenamt.gov for City projects.
- Adam Jorgensen ajorgensen@helenamt.gov for street openings & building inspection.
- Kevin Harrington kharrington@helenamt.gov for fire flow and encroachments.
- Marty Binde mbinde@helenamt.gov for voluntary sidewalks.
- Visit HelenaMT.gov/engineering [helenamt.gov] for a full contact list of engineers.
For the latest news or changes in City services, please continue to follow “Community Headlines” at HelenaMT.gov[helenamt.gov].
