Malta City Council talks parking, airport

Off the dozen or so subjects broached at the first Malta City Council meeting of November automobiles were a hot topic, specifically how to park them and where to race them.

At the final meeting of October, the council passed a resolution to offer to sell lots of land at the old Phillips County Airport south of Malta to the Phillips County Motor Sports (PCMS) organization which currently rents lots at the area and hold several races per summer there. The resolution called for an offer of $90,000 and Malta Mayor Shyla Jones brought the offer to the races shortly after the October meeting. At the November council meeting held on November 14, the council members accepted a counteroffer of $75,000 to make the sale to PCMS (approximately 30 lots.)

The old airport is currently listed as a Superfund Cleanup site by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the City is currently in a 99-year contract with the PhillCo Economic Growth Council who has been tasked with bringing economic development to the old county airport land. The Superfund cleanup was nearly to completion at the begging of the year, but an incorrect price quote earlier in the process by the engineering firm left the project short the funds needed for completion (nearly $38,000 short.) PhillCo members felt that Mayor Jones had gone behind their back to make the sale offer and wondered if the sale was legal. Mayor Jones said an attorney was drawing up the sale and council felt the sale was indeed legal.

Councilman Jim Sintler said he had heard that several towns were seeking to lure the motorsport organization away from Phillips County and PCMS members said in the past that they did not want to deal with PhillCo, but rather the City of Malta when it came to the purchase of the land. PCMS has also said that with the purchase of the land that they can expand the raceway, get bigger sponsors involved, and host more racers.

“If we weren’t going to be benefitting all three parties, we wouldn’t be doing it,” Mayor Jones said. “This is truly benefitting all three parties because it is going to get the cleanup done and (PhillCo) is going to be able to sell the other (remaining) lots.”

The City of Malta plans to use a portion of the sale price to finish the Superfund cleanup, use some of the money for surveying and closing costs and then give the remaining money to PhillCo.

The first instance of automobile-talk at the Malta City Council Parking occurred earlier in the meeting and touched on angle-parking, or the lack thereof, in parts of the City’s downtown area.

Several business owners were at the meeting and requested that angle parking is allowed on South 1st East from the Coffee Corner’s Corner (formally 3 Sisters) all the way east toward Stretch’s Pizza and A&J Mobile Fleet Repair. The idea of angle parking arose this summer when construction for the City’s water project was underway downtown and left people but no other option but to park at an angle in front of many businesses. Currently, angle parking takes place at several sports along South 1st East — in the Todd’s Technology, Family Matters and Mint Bar region — as well as in front of Patty’s Floral and the VFW on the western portion of the street.

In her preparation for the night’s meeting, Mayor Jones said that she discovered that the topic of angle parking had been discussed as recently as 2006 when a temporary ordinance was passed to allow the already existing angle parking but added that the ordinance was never finalized. At the end of a nearly 20-minute discussion, it was decided that a committee comprised of business owners and a councilperson (and assisted by Malta Public Works Director Jim Truelove) to research what would be the best course of action to take with a possible permanent change to parking along the street. If and when the change is proposed, the City’s insurance agency would look at the proposal and, if need be, new signage would be placed in the area ahead of the change.