City Council Introduces New Compliance Officer

Malta City Council members, Mayor John Demarais, City Clerk/Treasurer Lorie Bond and PWD Jim Truelove met on August 31, with Mayor Demarais opening the meeting at noon The Mayor closed the regular meeting and opened a special meeting. He stated the purpose which was to receive public comments concerning Resolution 1339, setting the mills to be levied for 2023/2024 and the 2023/2024 budget. Clerk Bond stated that 224.62 mills would be levied at $2,575.66 each, generating $578,545 in taxes. With no public comment, the Mayor closed the public hearing and reopened the regular meeting.

Under New Business the Mayor presented the Council with Resolution 1339 – levy mills for 2023/2024. A motion was made by Councilperson Bill Hicks to adopt the resolution, seconded by Councilperson Sintler and the motion passed unanimously.

The Mayor then presented the Council with the 2023/2024 budget. Following a motion by Councilperson Rummel, seconded by Councilperson Wiederrick; a roll call vote was taken and the motion passed.

In other comments, Clerk Bond stated there will be a presentation by St. Mary Rehabilitation Working Group on Monday, Oct. 2nd at 2 P.M. This will be given at the Council Chambers in the City Hall.

Clerk Bond also asked the Council to set a time and date to reschedule the Tuesday, Oct. 10th meeting of the Council as both she and Deputy Clerk Barrett will be attending the Montana League of Cities & Towns. Discussion was held and set, the OCTOBER 10th Council Meeting will be held FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6th at 9 a.m.

On Tuesday, September 12th the Council members and Mayor met in chambers at 5 P.M., following the pledge to the flag, the meeting was called to order. Also present were community members, Marilyn Taylor and Jerry Roberts.

With motions followed by a second and a vote, the minutes from the last meeting were approved, as were the agenda for the night's meeting, claims and payroll.

PWD Jim Truelove opened his report stating the Department of Labor had made an inspection; the few things that were items the shop was written up for were minor and he would be sending in documentation of compliance. He stated he had ordered two pallets of mosquito spray and they were narrowing down on the end of the spray. With the spraying now cut back to every other night it is looking like the amount left will be adequate. It helps that the mosquitoes are starting to give up and lose stamina.

Truelove reported he had to purchase a new soft start for the lagoon; new rims and tires for the pivot were ordered.

Following the attendance of the residents in Murray Trailer Court at a recent Council meeting, one water meter had been changed out and the water mains in the Court had been flushed; he said there were no improvements in the pressure.

A new pump for the Ezzie's Lift Station had been installed and another one was on order so that the other pump can also be changed.

Truelove reported that the booster pump on the hill had failed, the impeller was replaced and it was back up and running. While doing so, he also bumped up the pressure slightly hoping to improve the water pressure in the distribution system.

He said he has been placing the speed limit sign out in different places and will continue to do so around town. The 300-gallon garbage cans have arrived.

Compliance Officer (CO) John Wright reported he had sent out seven vehicle letters; three were about junk vehicles and four were about recreational vehicles. Of these vehicles, six are now compliant. Mayor Demarais asked the CO to meet with him to cruise around town because he had noted a few properties that need to be addressed. Councilperson Sintler stated there is a camp trailer hooked on to water parked by the Cedarview Apartments; Councilperson Hicks stated that the weeds are high on the railroad property north of Stretch's Pizza

Mayor Demarais called for public input and there was none.

The Mayor then reiterated to the Council and those in attendance with changing the October 10th meeting of 5 P.M. to Friday, Oct. 6th at 9 a.m. as the City Clerk and Deputy Clerk will be attending a conference. This was put into a motion, seconded and passed.

Resolution 1340 cancelling the Nov. 7th general election of certain municipal Officer for the City of Malta was before the Council. It would cancel the election of the uncontested Ward 2 City Council and Laura S. Pankratz would be elected by acclamation to the Ward 2 City Council. A motion to cancel the election in Ward 2 was made, seconded, and passed. There will still be a mail-in ballot election for the three individuals vying for Councilperson for Ward 1. The three candidates are incumbent Councilperson William Hicks and challengers Jerry Roberts and Warren Abrahamson.

There being no further business to come become the Council, the meeting was adjourned. The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 26th at 5 P.M.