City Council Talks Pool, June 22 Events

Following the opening ritual of the pledge to the flag, Mayor John Demarais announced, "We have had an employee resign two weeks from today, so we will be looking for another Gate Keeper."

He said he would be attending a Bear Paw Development meeting in Fort Benton. He also set June 25th to meet with Bear Paw Development to go over things, for them to share what they offer, etc. There were no guests present, all four councilperson were in attendance.

A motion was made by Councilperson David Rummel and seconded by Councilperson Wiederrick to approve the minutes, motion passed. Councilperson Bill Hicks made a motion to approve the agenda for the meeting, a second was made by Councilperson Laura Pankratz; motion passed. Rummel made a motion to pay the claims, which was seconded by Hicks, and the motion passed.

PWD Jim Truelove provided an update on department work. The crew had a dig on the west side, it was a service line. Work will begin at the Veterans Park this week, as time allows, to fix the water issue, as well.

The paving is completed at the Elementary School and the consensus was, it turned out nice.

Truelove stated the pool has been painted and the filling of the pool will take a couple days. Once it is filled, the chemicals and balance of the Ph levels will take a couple days. The pool holds 136,000 gallons of water. It was stated that the swim team has a meet here soon. The life guards have been hired and have been assisting with the preparation of the pool.

Truelove said the blade guy will be going out this coming week. He also said the mosquito truck will be out in the evenings now that they have given notice of their presence.

Material for updating the irrigation line at Trafton has arrived and that project will be completed as schedule allows. It may be up to three weeks before a ditch-witch can be lined out.

Clerk Lorie Bond gave her report. She stated the life insurance company had been changed and Council members would need to update the beneficiaries on the policies.

Thirteen pool guards have been hired. The pool manager,Kaycee Bond, and two life guards attended a training in Lewistown and brought back a lot of ideas for the pool lessons. The life guards have their testing on June 18, and names can be shared at that point in time.

Truelove stated that he had heard today that the swim meet was to be here on June 22nd . No one has contacted the City with communication of any happenings at the pool. Mayor Demarais stated he would be visiting with the swim team and having a discussion on communicating with the City.

Compliance Officer John Wright was next on the agenda; he stated he had sent three letters on junk vehicles; two properties have been taken care of. One is working, making progress, so he was given an extension.

Wright stated he had sent out thirteen lawn letters, five are taken care of and eight are within their time limit to get things completed.

He was asked, "Are they nice to you?" and he replied, "Most people are, and then at the end they get a lot nicer when they realize it has to be done no matter what anyway!"

There were no reports from other departments.

Demarais stated, "I will tell you one thing; Jim (Truelove) will deny every word I say. Jim puts a lot more time in on the pool than he writes down on his time card; I try to have him refrain from that because you know what free work brings? More free work. He is good and very conscientious. And that is good for us."

Under new business, Pankratz made a motion, followed by a second from Rummel, to sponsor the fireworks for the 4th of July. Motion passed.

An application for street closure for the Poncho's BBQ Cookoff on June 22nd on First Street and the Mint Bar was reviewed. Hicks made a motion to approve the closure, Wiederrick seconded the motion - motion passed.

Resolution #1354 authorizing the transfer of $20,000 to the Capital Fire Truck Fund was the last agenda item. Wiederrick made a motion to approve the transfer, seconded by Hicks, and motion carried. This action allows for the building up of the funds to purchase a new fire truck over ten years to lessen the financial burden of around $1M all at once.

Demarais inquired about a siren and if there is a need for one. Discussion followed and currently the City does not have one. At one point a siren was used to alert more firemen that help was still needed for an emergency. It was stated that in case of a flood a siren would be needed. Some felt with the cell phone availability, it would not be necessary.

Rummel stated, "Could we get a price, John? Things have changed a lot and we all have a phone in our hand. We can get a notification from the Sheriff instantly. Every person I know has a phone...it's not quite the problem it used to be. If it's very expensive, I am not really interested."

Demarais announced the next meeting is set for June 25 at 5 p.m.; Wiederrick made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Hicks, motion carried.