City Council Welcomes A New Deputy Sheriff; Discusses Saving Money On Loan

At the Tuesday, November 23 Malta City Council Meeting, Sheriff Jerry Lytle introduced Marie Buchfeller to the members as a new, full-time, Phillips County Deputy Sheriff.

Buchfeller has been a reserve deputy for two years, working at the Phillips County Fair and other large events.

Sheriff Lytle told the council that Deputy Seth Sanguins was leaving the sheriff's department and going to work with the Fish and Game Department.

Mayor Demarais asked Sheriff Lytle if the department was fully staffed now.

"Yes, Deputy Wyatt Uphaus will be going to the academy in January and Marie Buchfeller will be on the list for April. Once they get through the 12-week long academy, we'll be fully staffed," was Lytle's answer.

Sheriff Lytle handed out a sheet of the monthly and year-to-date statistics for the Sheriff's Department. He said that citations for the month are down compared to last year but, "the numbers for the year are about the same as last year. All in all, it seems that people are trying to be legal citizens."

The council had a call-in meeting with Mr. Harold Lance from AMKO. A company out of Fargo, ND about possibly refinancing the city's USDA loan.

Mr. Lance told the council that what he was asking for that night, was permission to get numbers from the city clerk/treasurer and to take those numbers to market and get bids. He said that this would cost the city nothing. No cost to the city at all unless they voted to accept the bid. If they decline it, it costs nothing.

Lance also told the council that right now, the rates are much better than what they were when the city got the loan and that he believes the city could save upwards of around $1.2 million and pay the loan off six years earlier.

He also explained to the council members that if the city did decide to accept a bid, the cost to the city would be rolled into and be included with the bid, just like in closing on a house.

The council discussed the proposal and saw no problems with moving forward to receive the bids that AMKO could come up with as long as there was no cost to the city until a bid was accepted.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed 4-0 to move forward with AMKO and see what the saving could be.

The council held a short public hearing on amending ordinance 451, an ordinance on building on a floodplain, with ordinance 455.

It is a common action, done every couple of years, to keep the city ordinances up to date with the laws and codes.

There was little discussion during the public hearing and it was closed.

Later in the meeting, the council voted 4-0 to accept ordinance 455.

In Public Works Director Jim Truelove's report to the council, he told them that the city crew had one water dig on 9th Street West. He said it was a fairly straightforward dig but that the Headstart School did cancel one day due to the lack of water.

He told the council that the Christmas lights were up and that they would be lit on Friday night after Thanksgiving.

Truelove then asked the council about whether to proceed with the construction at the Women's Club now that there is no pressing need to have it done right now. The council discussed the issue and decided to hold off on that project right now to get the new Malta Event Center completed and ready to go.

He then told the council that with the current problems and issues that have been occurring at the Trafton Lift Station, he wants to have a bypass put in to make sure they are covered in case of a failure.

"With winter coming, I need something that is going to be consistent and reliable through the winter months," said Truelove. "This will ensure that if the pumps fail, the bypass will keep it going."

Mayor Demarais added, "The cost to paying for the bypass is better than taking care of the damages caused from a backup if it fails."

If all goes well with the ARPA money, the City of Malta will be shovel-ready for the new Trafton Lift Station in April/May.

The next City Council meeting will be on December 14, at 5:00 p.m., in City Hall.