At an organizational meeting, the planning commission nominated and approved officers and began reviewing draft bylaws and a public-participation plan template.

Unidentified Speaker 2, the presiding member for the meeting, called for nominations and declared the commission had appointed "Fisher" as president and "Justice King" as vice president, saying the votes were unanimous. The transcript records the motions and seconds but does not include a roll-call tally.

The commission reviewed a draft set of bylaws introduced by Unidentified Speaker 3, who said: "So we've got a basically, a draft set of bylaws, that we got from the Department of Commerce, but these are really, tailored after Kalispell and Whitefish, primarily Kalispell." The draft defines roles (including a city staff secretary to keep public records), quorum rules, meeting timing and procedures for public hearings, and includes an amendments policy that would require re-noticing if applicants materially change proposals.

Commissioners discussed regular meeting dates, with Speaker 3 and others offering options including the second Thursday, third Wednesday or third Tuesday of the month; the group tentatively favored the second-Thursday option to minimize conflicts with council meetings. Unidentified Speaker 1 asked whether virtual attendance should be explicitly allowed; the body agreed to language that members "present physically or virtually shall constitute a quorum," with a clarification that a member participating via Zoom must be present for the entire meeting, not just a single agenda item.

The commission also discussed vote thresholds for land-use appeals and variances. Speaker 1 noted the draft indicates a "concurring vote of 4 must take place" for certain actions once the commission assumes broader planning and zoning responsibilities, and members said scheduling should ensure members are present for decisions that require that higher threshold.

On next steps, Speaker 1 said the commission's first formal duty will be adopting a public participation plan. Staff and the Department of Commerce will supply examples and templates, and Speaker 1 noted the League of Cities and Towns prepared a summary of Senate Bill 382 to guide work on the plan. The commission confirmed it will begin that process at its next meeting, and members noted the city is still advertising for a fifth commission seat.

Unidentified Speaker 2 closed the meeting with a procedural reminder about public deliberations: "One important thing I wanna remind us all is that the public major of these meetings, that we will not be discussing things with veil. We will not be doing sidebar conversations..." The meeting was adjourned after a motion and a recorded "Aye."