Lorett, McKinney and Pester face off in Ward 4

Will Lorett said he is running for Havre City Council because he and his wife come from families that have encouraged them to improve things wherever they go.

"So far that has included our home, our yard, our lives," he said.

Lorett said serving on City Council is the next logical step.

He will face Sarah McKinney and Lorraine M. Pester in the race for the Ward 4 Council seat held by Matthew Boucher. Boucher did not file to run for re-election.

Ballots in Havre will be mailed out to voters Friday.

The proposed mill levy increase that will also be on the ballot is probably one of the most important things the city will take up this year, Lorett said.

"I hope, very much, it passes," he said.

The proposed increase would generate an estimated $15 million over 20 years or $750,000 annually to repair city streets.

If approved by voters, the levy would cost owners of a property with a taxable value of $100,000 an additional $89.50 a year in property taxes. Owners of properties valued at $200,00 would pay an additional $179.

Lorett said it is important to maintain the city's infrastructure, especially given the weather conditions in the area.

"The city's streets are always in some type of level of disrepair," he said.

The issue of how to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries has been a subject taken up by cities throughout Montana. In Havre, the ordinance committee has discussed whether medical marijuana dispensaries within the city should be able to advertise.

Lorett said he favors allowing dispensaries. The dispensaries, he said, are like any other. He added that Montana voters voted for medical marijuana and that includes dispensaries.

A Vacant Property Registry Ordinance, or VPRO, is something Lorett said, he supports.

"I think there are quite a few places in town that are dangerous, could be generating revenue for the city in taxes, could be homes, could be businesses and they are just sitting empty right now. We should do something about that," he said.

Earlier this year, at the request of Council President Andrew Brekke, Mayor Tim Solomon established a five-member committee to look at how the city can address the problem.

The issue was raised by Samantha Clawson, a Havre home-owner and Montana State University-Northern grant writer and now member of the committee, who asked the city to look into creating a VPRO to discourage derelict properties.

Lorett said he thinks it would be a good idea for the city to do more to regulate vacant property.

Companies, have come in and purchased property and haven't done anything with it, he said.

"That should not be the normal course of business," he said. "If the owner isn't going to use or maintain those properties, they should be up for sale."

Cities and counties are grappling with how best to meet expenses with existing revenue.

If Havre was in such a situation. Lorett said, he would opt to raise revenue through a mill levy.

He added that he thinks government at the state level is doing too much cutting already.

How the city will clean up its parks after the record breaking Oct 2-3 snowstorm is something Lorett said he is interested in.

"All our parks are tree graveyards at the moment, and I am not entirely sure how all that is going to be cleaned up," he said.