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The Missoula Art Museum on Monday lost a “significant” amount of ongoing city support for janitorial services and instead will have to ask each year for the appropriation.

At its regular meeting, the Missoula City Council approved a revised lease between the city and MAM. The revision means the city will pick up elevator maintenance for the museum later on, but the contract no longer includes ongoing janitorial support provided by the city. MAM executive director Laura Millin characterized the $22,000 cleaning cost as “significant” but also said the museum is accustomed to being part of the city's annual budget process.

Council approved the new contract on an 8-4 vote. Opposing it were Ward 2 Councilman John Hendrickson, Ward 4 Councilwoman Lyn Hellegaard, and Ward 5 Councilors Renee Mitchell and Dick Haines.

Hellegaard said she does not back city support for janitorial services at MAM. She isn't opposed to the Art Museum but is in favor of conservative spending on behalf of the city.

“I think we're going to have decreased revenues,” said Hellegaard, who used to served as a museum board member.

Ward 3 Councilwoman Stacy Rye said she wanted the city to support the museum, as it had invested $4 million in the city-owned building and doesn't charge an entrance fee. She said the museum should not be subject to the whims of councils for years to come.

“I feel pretty strongly about the Art Museum not losing the little bit of funding it gets from the city every year,” Rye said.

At the meeting, the council also approved 7-5 a request for proposals for a peer review of the Russell and Third Streets environmental impact statement. Council members set five public hearings and listened to a presentation about the county's need for a new Emergency Operations Center.

Some council members have called into question portions of the Russell and Third Streets EIS. They moved ahead Monday by approving a simple, four-part request for proposals for a peer review. Mayor John Engen asked whether the council had asked its questions of current consultants but Ward 3 Councilman Bob Jaffe said another party needed to address concerns.

“The answers from HKM, at least for some of us, were entirely unsatisfactory,” Jaffe said of the engineering firm.

The following councilors voted against the request for proposals: Ward 6 Councilman Ed Childers, Hellegaard, Hendrickson, Mitchell and Ward 4 Councilman Jon Wilkins.

At the meeting, council members also heard about the county's upcoming ballot request to fund an Emergency Operations Center. County commissioner Larry Anderson said he is a fiscal conservative but believes he must bring the request before voters because the need for a new center is “critical.”

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