Town Pump put their request for a beer and wine license in again and it almost evaded us. My research tells me that this is the first step necessary for them to also try and get the alcohol and gambling permit. So, this is the legit and correct address and location for Frenchtown for us to protest.  The letters have to contain your Full Name, Mailing Address and Street Address, License number 04-999-5146-301 and the applicant name FRENCHTOWN 1 LUCKY LIL'S LLC, AND an indication that this letter is a letter of protest. It must be SIGNED and POSTMARKED by November 18th, so 5 days. Not a lot of time, I know. I also know that many are discouraged and think we have no chance of preventing them from going in. I promise you that we absolutely DO have an EXTREMELY good chance. Don't lose heart! ❤️ I don't publish all of the comings and going that happen on here, mostly becomes of time and confidentiality, but I want you to all keep up the good fight. EVERY thing that we do helps put a stop to this stupid idea of theirs. Denial of an alcohol and gambling permit could absolutely dissuade them from their project as the casino tends to be a big revenue generator for them. Frenchtown stopped this once, 20 years ago, across from Benny's. Let's do it again!!!

 I will attach my updated letter for reference. Let's flood the department of revenue with our protest letters!!!

Also it is important that the statute we are protesting under allows the department of revenue to discard any protests that go outside the scope of the beer and wine license. So, for example, if you want to argue that there are already enough establishments in frenchtown that serve alcohol, that's great. But if you want to argue that there's going to be too much noise or light pollution, that won't be a valid grounds for a protest.

Also, we need to hit a certain threshold to guarantee a public hearing. I've heard conflicting numbers, but I think we should should for at least 100 protest letters. That means individual letters (if two people sign a letter its just one letter). They need to be postmarked by the 18th. If you drop letters off on the 18th to go into the post office and ask them to be postmarked while you wait... because sometimes something dropped off on the 18th won't get postmarked until the following day (depending on time of day).
Please keep protests of the beer and wine license about the beer and wine license. Again, not about traffic, noise, trucks, etc. Focus on it being near a school (even if it's not within the 600ft limit) and how they will try to attract high schoolers to their deli for lunch (and closer to the alcohol). Focus on crime... we only have a few sheriff's deputies for the whole county. Focus on how they bragged that they have over 100 security cameras in their facilities... because they know there is crime! Focus on how we already have Frenchies, Alcan, Benny's, Montana Brunch Company in town and Larry's right down the road. We don't need more alcohol sales in Frenchtown... we are already saturated.
Here is what the statute says:

(1) A protest letter as described in 16-4-207, MCA, must:
(a) contain statement(s) of the writer's intent that the letter be considered a protest;
(b) describe the reason for protesting the granting of a license;
(c) identify the appropriate action by:
(i) providing the license number and accurate trade name or applicant name in a case of a
transfer; or
(ii) the trade name and applicant name and stating that it is for a new application for an
original Montana all-alcoholic beverages license; and
(d) be received by the department by the published protest letter deadline.
(2) A protest letter containing multiple signatures is considered one protest letter.
(3) If the grounds stated in the protest letter contain public convenience and necessity issues, the
prerequisite number of protest letters required to initiate a public convenience and necessity
hearing, as defined in 16-4-207, MCA, must be received.
(4) Pursuant to 16-4-203, MCA, protests are limited to the operation of the alcoholic beverage license
only.
(5) A protest letter which fails to meet the criteria in (1) through (4) will not be considered.

Sierra Futch | Mailing and physical address | Frenchtown, MT 59834

Montana Department of Revenue
Office of Dispute Resolution
P.O. Box 5805
Helena, MT 59604-5895

To whom it may concern:

I, Sierra Futch, am a lawful resident of Missoula County and wish to protest the license issuance for Frenchtown 1 Lucky Lil’s LLC (TP Casino Ops LLC, Owner) License No. 04-999-5146-301. I request that this protest be considered during your review of the application and that a public hearing be scheduled to address these concerns pursuant to Montana administrative rules and applicable statutes.
Town Pump, Inc. owns parcels of land in Frenchtown Montana located at or about 17000 Frenchtown Frontage Rd., Frenchtown, Montana 59834. I did not see an address listed on the notification in the Missoulian, which I am quite sure is a requirement that has not been met. In a public meeting held on the evening of July 10th, 2025, a representative of Town Pump, Inc. told the assembled Frenchtown residents that they intend to build a fuel station and convenience store in Frenchtown including 24-hour operations, alcohol sales, and gambling operations. Town Pump, Inc. is known to operate or substantially control establishments under the brand names of or substantially similar to Magic Diamond, LLC, and Lucky Lil’s, LLC among others.
I protest the issuance of the above-referenced license to any location within Frenchtown, Montana, for the following reasons:
(1) Frenchtown is only occasionally patrolled by the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, and there are no local law enforcement officers, which may lead to insufficient policing of the proposed establishment.
(2) There is already adequate public convenience within Frenchtown for licensed activities. The addition of these services by Town Pump, et al., will not materially promote the public’s ability to engage in licensed activities.
(3) The proposed Town Pump fuel station and convenience store, which is anticipated to sell packaged alcohol and alcohol for on-site consumption, constitutes an attractive nuisance to the students of Frenchtown High School by creating an environment likely to attract and expose minors to licensed activities unsuitable for their age. Frenchtown High School and Middle School is ½ of a mile away from the proposed location and has a heavily trafficked bike and walking path connecting the locations.

I request, and look forward to, a public hearing of these concerns as specified under the applicable rules and statutes of the Great State of Montana. 

Submitted,

Sierra Futch
Phone number
Address