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Bozeman City Commissioners voted to accept a nearly $164,000 settlement from NorthWestern Energy regarding the March 5, 2009 downtown explosion.

The settlement covers incremental costs incurred by the city due to the blast, including overtime pay and extra staff needed for response and immediate cleanup. Commissioner Chris Mehl said he has spoken to downtown business owners currently filing lawsuits with NorthWestern over the explosion. He says none of these owners believed the city settling its own claim would impede their pending suits. Yet Mehl scoffed at NorthWestern, calling the settlement an "act of goodwill."

"Rarely has so much been made over so little that's been done in terms of good will. I don't think that NorthWestern is in any way, fulfilling what it could be doing in terms of goodwill and being a good neighbor to our community," Mehl said.

"All of the incremental costs pale in comparison to the incremental costs that the businesses, the family who lost a family member," said Mayor Jeff Krauss. "The incremental impact on those things is huge and yet we have this little bit being settled as a quote ‘gesture of good will.;"

Mehl says it's for practical and legal reasons he voted along with a unanimous commission to accept the settlement. NorthWestern officials have said the settlement is a compromise which would avoid litigation expense for the city and the company moving forward.

City staff initially sent invoices totaling $310,000 to the utility. This agreement forever releases NorthWestern Energy from liability to the city of Bozeman for the explosion.