City asks residents to only use cans for garbage in Malta

Malta Public Works Director Jim Truelove told the Malta City Council last Tuesday that there has been an abundance of metal, tree limbs and other items placed in residential garbage cans instead of being taken to the dump, and Malta Mayor John Demarais said the act needs to stop.

“We have been having problems with metal in the garbage cans; tree limbs in the garbage cans, and we can’t have our drivers digging through cans for 20 minutes, I'm not going to ask them to do that.” Director Truelove said. “We would ask people to not do that anymore.”

“The only thing that is supposed to be going in those cans is household garbage,” Mayor Demarais said. “We would ask that people take the other items to the City Landfill.”

Director Truelove’s information came during his bi-weekly report to the Mayor and Council Members. Director Truelove said now that the Malta Swim Meet is over, he hopes to get the rest of the city looking up to snuff, which includes cutting residential lawns of people unwilling or unable to do so (that work started prior to the Tuesday night meeting, at the homeowner’s expense), weed eating, street repair, and removing abandoned vehicles from City streets. At the last City Council meeting, it was reported that the City would begin towing junked cars off the streets and storing them at the City Shop until a facility could be built to house the vehicles. Director Truelove said he talked to people at the State of Montana about how long the City must wait before having the cars hauled to the junkyard and sold for scrap and was told 30 days.

“All I want to do is get the streets cleaned up and I have been working with the (Phillips County) Sheriff’s Department and they are helping me with that,” he said.

Director Truelove said that any junked vehicle valued at $500 or lower can be destroyed after it is towed, and the 30-day wait period is waved. Mayor Demarais said that the value of a junked car for scrap is about $130 which will nearly or completely cover the cost of the towing.

“We aren’t trying to make any money, we just want to get them off the streets,” Mayor Demarais said.