Malta City Council Recap for May 25 Meeting

The Malta City Council held its regular meeting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 25, at City Hall.

Present for the meeting were council members William Hicks, James Sintler, Bonnie Wiederrick, and David Rummel. Mayor John Demarais was on a conference call for the meeting due to illness. Also present were City Clerk/Treasurer Lorie Bond, Public Works Director Jim Truelove, Parks and Rec Director Sally Wright and Assistant Director Kristina Benner, and Barry Damschen of Barry Damschen Consulting, LLC, out of Helena.

Mayor Demarais called the meeting to order and then informed the council that he and PWD Truelove had attended the Montana Rural Water Systems conference and exhibition. He said it was very informative and that he had been re-elected as the Vice-President of the board. He also said that PWD Jim Truelove had been voted as the Public Works Director of the Year!

After the Mayor’s announcements, the council approved the minutes of the last meeting, the agenda for the nights’ meeting, and payment of the claims. All of these were motioned, seconded, and passed.

PWD of the Year Truelove then gave his report to the council.

He reported that the crew had a couple of digs over the last week and a half and that both problems had been fixed. They were planning one more dig in the next week.

Truelove said that the pool house had been completed. He would start filling the pool up on June 1, and it would be ready for their opening.

PWD Truelove said that the citywide clean-up was planned to start on June 14. It would last as long as it takes. Truelove also said that if anyone needs help with something, all they have to do is call.

Truelove reported that a new toilet would be installed in the bathroom in Trafton Park. The old one was cracked and unusable.

Lastly, Truelove said that he is looking into prices to get the ball diamonds in Trafton Park aerated and that he would inform the council on that when he gets the information.

City Clerk/Treasurer Lorie Bond then gave her report to the council.

Bond gave the council the current check register and the revenue expenditure (budget vs. actual) report.

Bond informed the council that Malta’s City Pool Instructor, Kelly Cederberg, had asked if they could include a free family pass in the raffle for the pool sign-up night. The council all agreed that it would be a great idea to do so.

Lastly, Bond reported that the DNRC representatives. would be in Malta on Wednesday, May 26, to do a floodplain run-through and to look at the levy. They will also look at the plans for the new bathroom building in Trafton Park and assess how the city is sitting on the application for that.

Next to report to the council was Parks and Rec Director Sally Wright.

She informed the council of the past few activities that had ended. Spring Yoga ended on May 11; they had 15 clients in those classes. HIIT classes would be ending on May 28 and they had 23 clients in those. They had two clients in the personal training program, and kickball ended on May 17, in which 80 kids had participated.

Wright then went on to tell the council of the upcoming events that were planned. Wright said they have the color fun run on June 5 and swim lessons start on June 7. Golf camp has two sessions this year with the first one starting on June 1-2. Wright stated that they had 26 signed up for this session and that it was closed. The second session is to start on June 28-29.

Wright then said they also have a dance clinic running on June 14-16, soccer camp on June 28-30, Art in the Park on July 14 and 15, gymnastics starting on July 19-30, skateboard lessons on July 20 and 22, and that there are three different sessions of summer yoga, a morning session, kids session, and a chakras workshop.

Wright then informed the council of the citywide improvements that they have been working on.

She said they have been cleaning up the parks every other week.

Wright said that the FFA had tilled up the volleyball court and the horseshoe pits. Parks and Rec were putting up a new net on the volleyball court and have it raked smooth and ready to go for the summer.

Wright then said that they have scheduled a clean-up for the tennis courts in June, and that they planned to put up new rims on the hoops there.

After the reports from the departments, the council moved on to old business.

This consisted of the request by PhillCo for a signed letter, requesting an engineer to do the water/sewer construction inspection, and ‘as builts’ for the MBIDD property.

Clerk Bond informed the council that the city attorney had read the letter and said it would be okay.

A motion was made to do the signed letter. It was seconded and passed unanimously by roll call vote.

Next on the agenda was new business.

Barry Damschen of Barry Damschen Consulting LLC, was there to update the council on the state of the City Landfill.

Damschen told the council that he was very happy with the way the landfill was looking and that Doug (French) is really getting the hang of everything that needs to be done.

Damschen then talked to the council about options that they would have in the future when it came time to cap the landfill. He said that the rule is, whatever liner you have on the bottom, you have to use it on the top. Whether that be a clay liner or a synthetic liner. He then said, that there is an alternative liner called an evapo-cap that can be used which is a much cheaper way to go.

Damschen told the council that they would have to do an alternative liner demonstration to use this type of cap. He then said that the money for this demonstration and evapo-cap would be much less than the alternative of doing the clay or synthetic cap.

Damschen explained that there is no timetable for when the landfill needs to be capped and that there is time for them to budget for the demonstration.

Damschen then made some suggestions to change the rates at the landfill.

The next item on the agenda was the Great West Engineering – Capital Improvement Plan for the City of Malta.

Mayor Demarais said that the council knows how he feels about this and opened it up for discussion.

Councilman Rummel said, “I think we have discussed this a lot.”

Rummel then made a motion to move forward with the CIP. It was seconded and passed with a three-to-one vote.

The last item on the agenda was the Great West Engineering – Trafton Park Lift Station Improvement and Funding.

A motion was made to move forward with the Trafton Lift Station plan. It was seconded and passed unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned at exactly 6 p.m.

The next Malta City Council Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 8, at 5 p.m. at the Malta City Hall.