Malta City Council Meeting Recap

There were a few reports of construction miscues at last Tuesday’s Malta City Council meeting including new work that would need to be torn up and replaced and an incident which left one Malta resident admittedly a little hot under the collar.

“I got up to walk my dog yesterday morning at a quarter after seven and my blood pressure went to 300 over 995, I believe,” Linda Mingneau said. “They were pulling my Mugo Pine out into the street and I probably didn’t use very lady-like language.”

The “they” Mingneau was referring to was Helena Sand and Gravel (HS&G) – the construction crew in charge of the water project in Malta -- and the Mugo Pine was one of two trees that used to stand near Mingneau’s home. Last Monday morning, unbeknownst to Mingneau, one of the two Mugo Pines was knocked down and dragged away from her home on South 8th Street East. Mingneau — who said she apologized for her unladylike language with the HS&G employee —was told that she was supposed to be notified by HS&G about the tree removal two weeks earlier.

“I told them that I haven’t seen anybody,” she said. “I said ‘I haven’t seen a soul’.”

The HS&G employee said he would call his boss and try to figure out what went wrong and when the “boss” showed up, Mingneau said things didn’t get much better and she described him as “the rudest man.” Mingneau showed council members photos she had taken with her digital camera of the felled tree and explained that when the two trees were planted, years ago, she had a man come to her property to show her exactly where the property lines were so she could plant the trees. Mingneau said had she been told that the tree was going to be knocked down that she would have had a local nursery come and the tree could have been dug up, the roots wrapped in burlap, and put back after the constructing was complete.

“But we weren’t notified and the tree is still laying out in the street,” she said. “Then he told me that the City would have to take care of it. I told them that the other tree needs to be dug up and two of them need to be replaced that match … he told me, ‘it’s not my problem, lady’.”

Malta Mayor Shyla Jones apologized for the HS&G employee's actions and said she Mingneau should have been notified of the tree’s removal well in advance. Mayor Jones informed Mingneau, however, that the tree sat in a City of Malta utility right-of-way where trees are not allowed.

“If (a tree) is in the way of them putting in any type of a service, they do have the okay to remove them,” Mayor Jones said. “I know that is not going to make (the situation) any better, and I understand, and technically they cannot come on to your property with their equipment, they have to stay in our right-of-way.”

Mingneau said that the construction crew was in her driveway — at one point had the driveway dug up — looking for water shutoffs.

Mayor Jones again apologized for the actions of the construction crew and said the City Office receives many calls complaining about how rude some of the workers are. Mayor Jones said she didn’t know about the tree needing to be removed, but added that by law, the City of Malta cannot give direct orders to the workers.

“I hate to say this, but they can kind of do what they want as long as they are in the right -of-way,” she added.

Mingneau said that she would visit with the City Attorney to see what could be done.

“It totally ruined my yard,” she said. “I said ‘since you removed one, why don’t you remove the other one’ and he said ‘that’s not my blankity-blank job, lady’.”

No HS&G employees were present at the meeting.

Water Project Update

During the night’s water project update, Mayor Jones informed council that the construction work already completed on South 1st Avenue East would have to be ripped up and redone as pipes were laid incorrectly. Mayor Jones said the work starts near 5th Street (the Masonic Lodge) and runs all the way up the avenue near Valley Drug and Darla’s 3 Sisters.

“The new water pipe they have laid is out of alignment,” she said. “And then from the Post Office alley, up to 3 Sisters (the new pipes) run near sewer pipes and DEQ (the Department of Environmental Quality) requires 10-foot separation … in some places, you can see that it does not have that separation. They are going to have to move the pipe per DEQ and for our safety regulations to protect our citizens.”

Mayor Jones said that perhaps the toughest area to rework in do-over would possibly be at the intersection of 2nd Street and 1st Avenue because the water valves have been buried beneath concrete.

“This will not be a cost to the City,” Mayor Jones said.

Also related to the water project was a recent issue with local contractor Rocky Mummey receiving a deduction for asphalt his company made, allegedly on a “rain day.” The initial deduction for the work was a deduction of $2.50 per square foot of the $3.60 per square foot they charge on 4,000 square feet of asphalt. Mayor Jones announced at last Tuesday’s Council meeting that the bill submitted to HS&G — who Mummey subcontracts for — will now have a smaller deduction and will pay $2.88 out of the $3.60 (reducing the deduction by $1.78.)

“The deduction goes on a change order to Helena, Sand and Gravel,” said Mayor Jones.

Municipal Pool Update

During the Malta Parks and Rec report, Mayor Jones said two City Councilmen recently approached the Phillips County Commissioners and asked if a new pool could be put on a county-wide ballot to vote on funding the project and were told no. She said she took the news to the Hi-Line Future Foundation (HFF) which was formed as a non-profit last year who spearheaded fundraising in hopes of building a new pool (with a 2016 price tag of approximately $1.7 million.)

“They were upset that they would not at least let it go on a ballot to let the citizens decide,” she said.

Last year, Council members unanimously passed a motion to spend in the neighborhood of $31,500 on three new pool heaters, gas lines, sand for the filtration system, a new chlorination system, a new external pool vacuum and new battery and power pack for the pool’s Dolphin Vacuum. Mayor Jones said that if a new pool is not a possibility, HFF would like to continue to raise funds and give money to refurbish the current pool. She said that several years ago, a pool company came and gave an estimate that would cost almost as much as a new pool.

“Of course, they are in the business of selling stuff,” Mayor Jones added.

Mayor Jones said that the City of Malta would have another pool company come survey the current pool to see what the cost would be to refurbish. Mayor Jones added that once the City has more information that a town hall meeting would most likely be announced.

“If the pool truly can’t be revamped,” Mayor Jones said, “(HFF) would like to continue to raise money they said they would be willing to raise funds to go toward maintenance. The reason we had those public meetings (last year) were because we were spending $20,000 to $50,000 a year for maintenance and we can’t afford that. There is no way the pool can stay open at that rate.”