Skating rinks open in Malta

The frigid temperatures that hit Phillips County last weekend couldn’t have come at a better time …at least for those folks who are fans of ice skating.

At last Tuesday’s Malta City Council meeting, Public Works Director Jim Truelove let the council members know that he had recently started filling one of Malta’s two ice rinks (this one located at 7th Street East and 6th Ave East, Behind the Prellwitz property.)

Malta Mayor Shyla Jones said she had received several requests for the rink to be filled with water and the City obliged. (Later in the week, Malta Trails Director Laura Pankratz notified the PCN that a second ice rink, this one near the Bowdoin boat landing, has been cleared and is ready for skaters.)

“We got some requests (for the filling of the rink) before Christmas,” added Mayor Jones. “Next year, we have to remember to fill them before Christmas.”

Mayor Jones said she wasn’t sure why the rinks had stopped being filled in the winter and Director Truelove admitted that he had no idea.

In related news, Mayor Jones announced that the City of Malta now, once again, has a Parks and Recreation Board. She said that several people had shown interest in having a Parks and Rec board again in town and last Monday the people met to form the board. At that meeting, the people at the meeting elected Pankratz – mentioned in the ice rink portion of this story – as the board’s president.

“I think they put a good board together,” said Mayor Jones. “They are looking for activities in the community for people to do.”

Mayor Jones said the board discussed roller-skating in the City Hall Gym – an event that, at one time, drew large crowds on weekends.

“That used to be a big thing here,” Councilman Jim Sintler added. “I had my own skates and it was fun.”

During the Department Report portion of Tuesday night’s meeting, Public Works Director Jim Truelove told the council that the City’s newest garbage truck is having emission issues – a problem that started to plague the truck about a year into owning it. Director Truelove said he did some research into this particular model of truck and found that many of the trucks have the emission issues – i.e., when the truck idles for too long it will no longer get up above 1,100 RPMs. The City had been holding off on fixing the issue as it would have voided the vehicles warranty. That warranty is now expired and the council unanimously voted to pay the $5,500 bill to have the problem resolved. The mechanic who will do the work “guaranteed we will no longer have these problems with the truck,” Mayor Jones said.

Director Truelove said he purchased a new flow meter for fire hydrants as the City plans to start the water project this spring. The meter cost $750. He said that he recently worked at the Ultraviolet Building and replaced some wipers at the lagoon. He said that the City’s new mosquito spray recently arrived and aside from calibrating, the contraption is ready to roll for next summer. Director Truelove said a new gate was installed at the Landfill following a mishap with the person driving the blade truck.

During the new business portion of the meeting, Bonnie Wiederrick was named Council President – in place of departed William Crowder who retired in 2015. Bill Hicks was appointed to the the Law Enforcement Board replacing Warren Abrahamson.