City Council Hears Reports, Ponders Deer Issue

Following the opening rituals, the City Council had a relatively quiet meeting and agenda. Present were Mayor John Demarais, City Clerk Lorie Bond and Council members Bonnie Wiederrick, David Rummel and Bill Hicks; absent was Councilperson Jim Sintler. Joining the Council members at the meeting were PWD Jim Truelove, John Wright (Compliance Officer), and Sally Wright (Recreation Director) and Josh Newman, of the Volunteer Fire Department.

PWD Truelove gave his report on happenings and events of the City crew. He stated the crews are now in the process of blading the alleys.

He reported that the lift station work is pretty well completed.

With great enthusiasm he reported that there hasn’t been any vandalism since the last meeting. This word was well received by the Council and Mayor.

Fire Chief Josh Newman addressed the Council and said that the department has had 40 calls since he last attended a meeting. A new air compressor had to be purchased as the other one quit; it is needed for the air for all the trucks, not only tires, it is used for air suspension for the weight the trucks have to carry.

The fire department will be doing some training in the near future and also putting together some PSA’s (Public Service Announcements). He said the crew that is onboard right now is relatively young, many with one to three years of experience.

One of the trainings will be a mock fire and the public will be advised in advance of the actual event.

He was asked about the recent fire on 1st Avenue and 6th Street, he stated the fire was contained to one room and that it resulted in mostly smoke damage. Holding the fire and damage to one room was possible because of fire blocks the firemen use. The owner will have to compare the price of repairing to demolition of the structure.

Newman stated plans are in the makings for a training using oversized doll houses to assist in the training of newer and younger volunteers who have not experienced a major house fire. Also, the elementary students will be included in a training where smoke machines will simulate a fire in the building at the swimming pool and learn the crawl, walk, run techniques to escape a house on fire.

For reader information, Sunday Oct 8th through Saturday Oct. 14th is National Fire Safety Week; October is designated as Fire Safety Month. Be sure to thank a firefighter for the work they do.

Sally Wright, Parks & Recreation Director, gave a report on the recent activities. The Fall Soccer season ended Sept. 21th; there had been 79 kids participating. The Fall Dance team (grade 2-5) performed at half time of the football game on Sept. 29. She was pleased with all the comments and feedback, as the 38 dancers had only rehearsed four times.

Currently, the Martial Arts has 8-10 students per month; Fall Tiny Tots started on Sept. 28th; Fall Yoga started Sept. 12th, and currently 19 people are attending. Low Impact Exercise Classes started on Sept. 12, with eight people attending. Youth Basketball for grades 3-6 will begin October 12th.

John Wright, Compliance Officer, stated he has contacted seven individuals regarding camper/trailer issues, five individuals have been contacted in regard to parked vehicles. Of the four individuals contacted about junk vehicles, three are in compliance now.

PWD Truelove stated that the lift station is all but done now.

Under new business, the Mayor stated he wanted feedback from the Council about the deer situation; he stated that social media has been having a bit of varying remarks about the matter. Mayor Demarais said “some hate them, some love them…” and he has told them it is not a City matter, the discussion and comments should be directed to the Fish Wildlife and Parks (FWP). Councilperson David Rummel and Mayor Demarais will set up a meeting with the FWP with hopes of finding a solution to the deer, which are no longer responding to horn honking, noise makers or dogs barking. Many have complained of their being a nuisance and becoming frustrated with the overwhelming take over in parts of town.

Roundup is holding a special drawing for an archery only mule deer hunt in and around Roundup and 56 either sex tags will be drawn. This is the 10th annual Roundup Mule Deer Management Hunt. This is being held due to unacceptable property damage and concern for human safety. Havre tried a similar approach, which had mixed results; when a deer isn’t dropped when shot it can wander off and die elsewhere. Often this is in the yard of an elderly person who physically can’t remove it. Also, it may wander to the yard of someone who is of the “love” category and against the hunting of the defenseless animal.

The next meeting of the City Council is Tuesday October 24th at 5 P.M.