Fresh asphalt from Billings company may need to be ripped from Malta streets

Malta Mayor Shyla Jones reported that a concrete-provider located in Billings recently called the heads of the construction crews and engineers in charge of the City of Malta’s current water project to report that their company had been sending bad concrete to Malta work sites.

“Turns out that they did not send asphalt that meets spec and this is a fraud issue,” Mayor Jones said.

Mayor Jones stressed that the asphalt problem has nothing to do with either Helena Sand & Gravel (HS&G), the construction crew in charge of the water project, or Rocky Mummey who was hired by HS&G to lay concrete.

“They billed for a different asphalt than they sent,” Mayor Jones said of the Billings company. “The bad news is, depending on the specs on it, it could all have to come out, and there could be more bad asphalt than there is good asphalt.”

Mayor Jones said it is not yet known where the bad asphalt is laid in town, or how much of it was put down, but added that at a construction meeting this week measures will be taken to pinpoint where the “bad asphalt” was placed around town.

“Again, this is not a Helena Sand and Gravel issue, it is not their fault,” Mayor Jones said. “And it is not Rocky’s fault either. It has nothing to do with them.”

Mayor Jones was told that the Billings company has also fired the person who was in charge of sending the asphalt to Malta.

Mayor Shyla Jones said “there is a light at the end of the tunnel” in reference to the current water project and its construction that has many of the city’s streets ripped apart including the main thoroughfare through town.

“There are three blocks basically left,” Mayor Jones said at last week’s City Council meeting.

Mayor Jones said there is a block on Central Avenue, which still needs to be completed, 6th Street from Central to 1st Avenue will soon start and there is a block left to complete on the north side of town. Mayor Jones said the construction crew went back and replaced a valve they forgot to insert during the work on 9th Street.

“Hopefully the underpass will only be down for about a week,” Mayor Jones said. “But it is hard to tell.”

The Phillips County Sheriff’s Office placed a post on social media reminding people of Montana Code Annotated 61-8-201 which states failure to obey traffic control device can result in 2 points on driving record and $85 fine.

“The underpass in Malta is closed except for emergency traffic only,” the post continued. “We know it's a pain in the butt to take the frontage road detour but it's also the law. Realize this is only a temporary closure so please have patience and save yourself $85. Take the detour.”

Mayor Jones said HS&G hopes that they will pull one of the three crews in town on this week and the second crew leaving the week of August 27.

“They feel they are on schedule,” Mayor Jones said. “However, they did tell us they figure (they will be here) until mid-September. As crews finish, they plan to start working on punch-list items.”

Mayor Jones said that the “punch-list” is a list containing work that needs to either be redone or modified to meet the projects agreed upon specifications, adding that the punch list is currently four pages long.

“And that is just the west side,” she said. “There is not a ton of digging that will have to be done but there are a couple of valves that are going to need to be redone.”

The council unanimously approved the annual street maintenance assessment as well as the annual street lighting assessment following two public hearings on the topics at the Tuesday night meeting. The street maintenance was approved for $1.15 per lot front footage for a total of $18,562.01, up from last year’s $117,681.40. Lighting was approved at $0.007 per square foot or $104,654.63, up from last year’s $102,526.46. Resolutions #1238 and #1239 on underground sprinkler and sidewalk and curb assessments were also passed on the evening…the first to do with loans made to residents to install underground sprinklers, the latter to do with loans made for sidewalks and curbs.

The council also approved Ordinance #450, an ordinance amending Ordinance #405 that governs the collection of water hookup fees and the responsibilities of the City and property owner.

During the Malta Parks and Recreation Report, Natalie Judd reported that the Co-Ed Adult Softball league will crown a champion this week. She said that a number of teams from last year, five, doubled this year to 10 and a total of 125 people filled out those rosters. She said that during games on Mondays and Tuesdays, Salsbery Bros. Waterslide was being set up in Trafton Park for children and Emma Harms was selling concessions including hot dogs and hamburgers.

"I've been driving down by the park on those nights and it is great to see so many people in the grandstands," Mayor Jones said.

Judd talked briefly about the upcoming children's soccer league (see story on page 2B of this week's PCN) and said that the kid's volleyball league will also return this year.

Kathleen Bohn-Bagley, John Demarais, Edward A. Haver IV and Gary Knudsen were all present at the Tuesday night meeting as was City of Malta’s Ward 9-2 candidates Bill Rock who is running against incumbent Bonnie Wiederrick.