Speed bumps a go after council meeting

Mosquito spraying coming to an end, branches around town to be cut down and a disagreement about races held in the city were a few of the items discussed at last week’s Malta City Council Meeting.

Malta Mayor Shyla Jones said that the mosquito spray truck will soon start spraying every other day – barring a big rain – and as the buggers start to disappear the truck will make the rounds once every three days. Mayor Jones added that once the weather gets below freezing the spraying will most likely stop all together.

City Councilwoman Bonnie Wiederrick said a few citizens approached her since the last council meeting and asked if something could be done about low-hanging branches near several intersections around town – namely the corner of 9th St. and 2nd Ave., and the corner of 5th Street and 6th Ave. Public Works Director Jim Truelove said that he would look into the branches at those intersections, meet with homeowners, and get the problem areas taken care of.

During the New Business portion of last Tuesday’s meeting, a Malta citizen raised his concern about Phillips County Motor Sports (PCMS) and the noise generated from the dragstrip when races are in town. He said he feels that the noise has dropped the property values on lots of land he owns near the speedway.

Mayor Jones said that the noise is sometime bothersome, but also added that being inconvenienced a few weekends a summer is a fair trade for the races do for city businesses.

“I’ve talked to some of the business owners and they all appreciate the business they are getting,” she said. “Unfortunately, we don’t have enough people left in Malta to support all of our businesses and we need to have outside incoming in.”

PCMS President Greg Kirkwood, who was present at the meeting, said during the recent Labor Day races there were 96 cars in town on Saturday and 106 cars on Sunday. He said each car brings with them an average of three to five passengers and they spend an average of $200 or $300 in Malta.