City Council Meets On A Friday

Due to scheduling, workshop and training, the regular meeting of the Malta City Council set for Tuesday, October 8 was held on Friday morning at 9 a.m. Due to the absence of Mayor John Demarais, Councilmember David Rummel conducted the meeting which started at 9:10 a.m. Present for the meeting were council members Bonnie Wiederrick, Bill Hicks, and Laura Pankratz. Also present were Lorie Bond and PWD Jim Truelove. Attending with interest in the swimming pool matter were City Attorney Lee Pekovitch, Kayla Warren, Macie Hould, Yavon Pekovitch, Ashley Stuart, Sawyer Kindle, Rhei Tharp, Megan Newman, Shyla Jones, Ed and Loy Pekovitch.

The meeting was opened with opportunity for public comment. There being none, open comment time was closed.

Rummel asked for approval of the minutes from the previous meeting; Hicks moved to accept the minutes, which was seconded by Pankratz; motion passed.

Wiederrick made a motion to accept the agenda, seconded by Pankratz, and motion carried, 3-0.

Hicks moved to accept the claims, seconded by Rummel, and motion passed.

PWD Truelove stated a new piece of playground equipment had been installed in Riverview Park, and several at the meeting stated they had taken kids there and it was well received.

He thanked the council for letting him go to the League of Cities training last week.

Truelove stated that a subdivision of Hillcrest had been flushed last week; he had received a report of manganese up there, so it was attended to.

The crew had cleaned up after the wind hit the city, trees were cleared. The garbage truck has issues. The workers are trimming alleys. They will also be blading the alleys.

Truelove stated he will be starting a list next week for leaf removal. Grass containers will be left out for a while.

Rummel inquired about quick-patch and several of those in attendance offered suggestions as to where some might be utilized.

Hicks inquired as to the hole in the street between the County Health Clinic and Buechler Insurance and Truelove stated the project was on hold due to permit issues and there should be progress made this week, and there will be additional diggings as the lines are being updated.

There was an animal control issue last week, a sheep had been on the loose and things were under control. He thanked Rummel for his assistance in locating the sheep. Truelove stated that he had used his flashing stop lights, however, the sheep ignored them. The animal was contained safely.

Bond shared that the council members had been provided with the current shut-off list, check register and the September financials.

Rummel stated there were no departments present for reports, so the next order of business would be the presentation by the Hi-Line Future Foundation on the swimming pool project.

Macie Hould provided copies of the presentation that Kayla Warren would be giving. Warren then addressed the council and guests on the progress made by the HLFF on pool renovation, repairs and options.

Warren said the estimated budget for the project is $545,391 with an anticipated start date of October 14, 2024 and an opening date of July of 2025. The HLFF has been working with Sunset Pools as well as Simpson Landholdings & Construction, LLC.

At 9:30, Mayor John Demarais joined the meeting and took over the chairing of the meeting.

Approximately one hour was spent on the presentation by the group, as well as input from the attendees at the meeting.

Due to the length of the meeting, readers are invited to access the City of Malta online to listen to the elements of the meeting.

In short, no action was taken due to the meeting being for presentation and information sharing. There are still details to be worked out and legalities to be addressed. The HLFF has made great strides in the footwork for the preparation; there are still questions to be answered and funding options to be researched. Sara Warren has been hired as a grant writer for the HLFF in securing grants and funding.

No action was taken on the matter.

Item 3 on the agenda was the waiver of fees to allow MOI to use the gym for a Halloween party. Rummel made a motion, seconded by Wiederrick to approve the waiver and the motion passed 4-0.

The 4th item on the agenda was use of the gym for Trunk-or-Treat for Halloween. Ashley Stuart stated that it was merely a back-up option in case of inclement weather, otherwise it would be held on Front Street. Hicks made a motion to approve the use of the city hall if needed; Pankratz seconded the motion and with a 4-0 vote the motion passed.

Moving on to the #5 item on the agenda, the council had a request for street closure of First Avenue East for the Oktoberfest Soup Cookoff. Wiederrick moved to allow the closure, seconded by Rummel; motion passed 4-0.

On the agenda was a Task Order for treatment of the manganese in the water system. Malta was to receive a grant for this with 0% payback, Demarais said, "This is a true grant." A motion was made by Rummel, seconded by Hicks to accept the Task Order, motion passed 4-0.

Demarais addressed the HLFF while stroking his beard and stated, "Someone is going to pay big bucks to cut this beard off." He urged Warren to start a beard growing contest for the pool fund raising.

With that bit of wisdom shared, the meeting was adjourned and the next meeting set for Tuesday, October 22nd at 5 p.m.