Malta City Council: City pound, pool and trains

A flurry of information was dispersed at the first Malta City Council meeting of April, including the new museum on Highway 2, City Pool upgrades and changes to departure times at the local Amtrak station.

At the meeting, the new Antiques Modes of Transportation Museum – soon set to begin construction near Malta’s other museums on Highway 2 – was discussed. Schmoeckel said that she had met with Jane Ereaux and Kay Hould to talk about the new construction being built in the flood plain.

“It’s just a matter of completing the paperwork and getting in compliance (with FEMA),” said Schmoeckel. She said that the new museum will be built but that it has not received FEMA approval yet.

The council was also informed of residents living near the levee on the Milk River whose personal property is getting to close the structure. Schmoeckel said that each year the Army Corps of Engineers comes to Malta to inspect the dyke.

“People try to put property right to the edge of the toe of the dyke and they are not supposed to,” she said. Property is to be at least 10-feet from the toe of the dyke as engineers will be coming to town to do their yearly inspection in the second week of May.

“It’s not the city of Malta doing this,” she said. “We are mandated to enforce this rule.”

She said that if residents are not in compliance that the city will go in and remove the items.

In the public comment portion of the Town Council meeting, Mayor Shyla Jones stated that Amtrak has changed its passenger train schedule due to high freight and oil traffic on the rails. Schmoeckel said that the town had received an email notifying them that the East Bound train will not leave Malta at 11:52 a.m. and the West Bound train will depart at 2:20 p.m.

The mayor also approved the city of Malta as pound master through December of 2014. The city will now board stray animals in a cage at the city shop. Mayor Jones stated that none of the area’s veterinarians were interested in the appointment, according to the meeting minutes.

“It’s a very thankless position to be in,” said Schmoeckel. She said that there is one stray at the city shop. She said that stray animals will be announced on the radio and held for three days. From there the animals are put-down.

During the correspondence portion of the meeting, Schmoeckel announced that the city received a letter about National Train Day. But, she added, the letter contained very little information, including when National Train Day is. She said that years ago, she remembered that people were encouraged to spend National Train Day at Veterans Memorial Park and when they train zipped by people would wave and hold signs.

“Over the years that has died off,” she added.

For clarification, National Train Day is held on May 10, according to nationaltrainday.com. According to the website, no events are listed in Malta – none in the state of Montana for that matter. The closest location to Malta holding a National Train Day event is Shelby, Wyo., but the website does ask that if people are interested in hosting an event that they register the event on the site.

Editor’s note: The Malta City Council Meeting is held at the exact time that the Phillips County News is being picked up from the press. The PCN apologizes for the tardiness of the city council meeting’s news.