City Council hears of weed screens, pool prices and appointments

At Tuesday night's Malta City Council Meeting, board members heard updates from Public Works, approved a street closure for Crazy Days as well as an increase in pool fees which have already gone into effect.

Department of Public Works Director James Brown told the City Council that mowing has been done on a handful of resident's properties because they haven't maintained their yards. He said that the property owners are charged for the service and that generally, following a bill or two, the properties are maintained by the owners and the charges cease.

Brown said that the Public Works street sweeping efforts have continued and as of Tuesday night, 6th Street was being cleaned to be followed by a few more streets before the sweeping of the city avenues begins again. Brown added that Malta's Uptown will be swept a little more often than in years past to keep the area clean and looking nice.

Brown said that Public Works member Pat Gibbs has ordered a new pump for the lagoon to replace the old pump -- which will be kept as a backup -- because it has become extremely pitted. Brown said that Gibbs is also working on constructing a weed screen for the pump. If the weed screen isn't a success, the Public Works team will return to cleaning the weeds from the pump by hand. In years past, a boat was used to get to the pump and the weeds were removed by hand.

Brown told the City Council that the Public Works team has continued to work on the pool and that he had heard many compliments about how nice it looked at the Malta Swim Meet two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the pool started having issues last Sunday, according to Brown, and is leaking water and needs to have about 600-to-800 gallons of water every other day.

"It's not as bad as before," added Malta Mayor Shyla Jones. "But we are trying to figure it out."

In a later interview, Brown explained that some of the water is simply evaporating.

Brown also said that he is studying to get his building inspector license to take over the position vacated by the retiring John Demarias.

Mayor Jones informed Brown that she heard many positive comments about the clean-up of the Rodeo Arena in Trafton Park following the first Boots and Saddles event of the year.

Mayor Jones also informed the City Council that the rodeo scheduled for June 27 might not have the insurance lined-up for the event required by the city and that the event may have to be canceled.

Malta Clerk and Treasurer Carolyn Schmoeckel told the City Council that there was only one water shut-off since the last meeting and that person's water has been turned back on.

During the Public Comment portion of the City Council meeting, a few people brought up the topic of cardboard removal. The discussion focused on getting the bales of cardboard out of Malta and to a recycling center in Billings via semi-truck. Prices were quoted, strategies were discussed, but because the issue was not on the agenda for the night, no action was taken. More cardboard removal talk is tentatively scheduled for the next City Council meeting.

During the New Business portion of Tuesday's City Council meeting, the Malta Merchants requested a street closure in front of Veteran's Memorial Park on 1st Street East for Saturday, July 26 as Crazy Days is going to be held on that day. The board unanimously approved the request.

Fees at the pool, which took effect at the beginning of the summer, were approved by the board. The single session fee remains at $2, the single season fee went from $35 to $50, a family season pass went from $60 to $70 and swim lessons went from $30 to $35 for the two-week session.

"The pool goes in the hole anyhow," Mayor Jones said the cost associated with running the city facility. "But we were just really needing to (raise the fees) to help cover the costs."

Bonnie Wiederrick and Mark Hebert were both reappointed to two-year terms on the Phillips Transit Authority Board of Directors.

Also in new business, Councilmen David Rummel and Warren Abrahamson agreed to be members of the new Malta Tourism Committee as city representatives.

The next Malta City Council Meeting is scheduled for July 8.