Malta Council meeting includes $40,000 donation from HFF for pool; Electronic speed limit updates

Though they were not on the agenda for last Tuesday night's Malta City Council meeting, Hi-Line Future Foundation (HFF) President and Vice President Jenifer Anderson and Mary Oxarart made a big splash by presenting the City of Malta a $40,000 donation to be used for the Municipal Pool refurbishment.

"We except and thank you very much," Councilman -David Rummel - filling the mayor's seat on the night as Malta Mayor John Demarais and Councilwoman Bonnie Wiederrick were unable to attend - said.

The HFF - a group of volunteers which include Anderson, Oxarart, Secretary and Treasurer Cassandra Pratt, and board members Ashley Stuart, DoDee Oxarart, Suzanna Stenberg, and Carly Prestwich - was formed in 2016 with the goal of saving the pool in the City of Malta and before last Saturday's Dueling Pianos fundraising event, have raised over $80,000 for the Project.(and nearly $1,700 at the pianos event.)

During the Public Works portion of Tuesday night's meeting, Public Works Director Jim Trulove reported that construction on the pool's bathhouse is set to begin very soon.

In other Public Works news, Director Truelove reported that the City of Malta's new digital speed limit sign left a few people scratching their heads as to the equipment's placement around town. Director Truelove explained that the sign has been moved all around the City of Malta in order to register it correctly with the sign's internal GPS system. Director Truelove also stated that the sign has been kept indoors the past several days because of the extreme cold which has hit Malta in the last few weeks. Director Truelove said that once the weather warms a bit the digital speed limit sign would be moved into school zones around Malta and then possibly on Highway 2 near Dairy Queen where high speeds are often reported.

In related news, Phillips County Sheriff Jerry Lytle reported that recent stop additions seem to be working.

"I have seen pretty good results with people stopping at the new stop signs," Sheriff Lytle said of the new sign installed near intersections near 5th Avenue East, 1st Street, and 8th Street East. "And I haven't had any complaints from citizens driving through them."