Mammoth Malta City Council Meeting

The Malta City Council Meeting last Tuesday night started a half-hour early, 4:30 p.m., to make room for a presentation on a recent housing study conducted by KLJ, an engineering and surveying firm out of Billings. Four hours and one minute later, the council voted – 4-0 in favor –to adjourn the meeting.

Pinched in between those 241 minutes were motions passed, skate parks discussed, projects approved and more than a few yawns.

The first business of the night was KLJ who has spent the last seven months creating a housing study for several eastern Montana towns and presented the final draft of the study at the council meeting. In it, the 42 page study -- featuring nine pages on Malta – concluded that the average Malta homes “were noted to be on the higher end of average rating scale” and “has several well established neighborhoods. On the flip-side, the number of housing units in Phillips County fell 6.7-percent between 2000 and 2010 and the population decreased by 7.6-percent. KLJ recommended a conservative approach to constructing new housing units and estimates that Malta will need to add an additional 64 housing units by the 2050.

During the Department Reports portion of the meeting, City Works Director Jim Truelove told the board that the trails have been weeded and he was looking into purchasing some solar lights for the walkway near the footbridge that crosses the Dodson Canal near Hill Crest Park. He added that once the lights have been purchased, David Boothe has said he will install them for the City.

At the conclusion of the Department reports, Malta Mayor Shyla Jones reported the poisoning of gophers in City Park was not working and the City is now working on a new way to rid the town of the vermin. She said she was approached by Malta resident Carter Clausen and he is trying to get Little League sanctioned here. One problem with the sanctioning of the league is getting insurance on the baseball fields riddled with gopher holes.

“We are looking into what to do,” said Mayor Jones. “But we are currently trapping them heavily right now on the ball fields.”

During New Business, it was announced that Helena Sand and Gravel – a firm out of Helena, Mont. – was awarded the bid on the large water project set to start on City Streets in May. The project could be completed by November, if the weather plays along, but could face a winter shutdown and have to start again next spring. Malta’s Rocky Mummey is listed on Helena Sand and Gravel’s list of subcontractors to provide gravel and other work. Mayor Jones said the work on 3rd and 4th Streets will be staggered – and the Phillips County Hospital kept in the information-loop -- to allow for free-flowing traffic to and from the hospital for the Phillips County Ambulance crews.

Earlier during the night’s festivities, a public hearing was held to discuss Phase Two of the City’s water system improvement project – main replacement and East Side looping -- was approved. The project is estimated to cost $1,119,000.

Ken Ulrich’s Evergreen Lawn Service was again awarded the City’s lawn maintenance contract which includes spraying, mowing, sprinkler maintenance and fertilization (among other tasks.) Last year Ulrich’s bid was $13,900 and this year his fee will be $14,377.

The City also approved the construction of a $50,000 skatepark (which later in the week became a $100,000 park) to be constructed at Hill Crest Park (see story on 1A) following a donation by a former Montana resident, several bids on used items the City was looking to get rid of were accepted and the City approved a rate change in the City Hall gym which will allow families to pay a reduced monthly rate for use of the facilities.