Malta Mayor ready to drop hammer on speeders

Malta Mayor John Demarais took to social media ahead of last Tuesday’s Malta City Council meeting to address a complaint made by a citizen and seconded by many others; children in the street near Cedarview Apartments, and motorists speeding through up and down South 6th Street West.

While Mayor Demarais said there isn’t a way the City of Malta can tell parents how to watch their children, he said that he talked with Phillips County Sheriff Jerry Lytle following Tuesday night’s meeting and the two agreed that the speed limit has been and will be 15 miles per hour, more speed limit signs will be installed along the street, and the Sheriff’s Office will issue citations to motorists who don’t follow the posted signs.

“I sat there and watched a number of people speed and blow through stop signs there,” Mayor Demarais said. ““We have to nail six or eight people (with citations) and others will get the message.”

Mayor Demarais also said that the speeds bumps installed in the area don’t work and will be removed, stating that “the only people that slow down for them are those in tiny cars, people in trucks just speed over them.”

Mayor Demarais and the City of Malta will also look to reduce speeding in other areas of Malta where a high concentration of children converge including schools and pre-schools.

During the Public Work’s portion of Tuesday night’s meeting, Public Works Director Jim Truelove stated that the recent Spring Clean Up hosted by the City of Malta was a success and went a long way to ridding alley’s around the City of junk and debris. Director Truelove said that street sweeping has started in Malta and that the mosquito truck has been calibrated and is ready to combat the pesky critters. Director Truelove concluded his portion of the meeting stating that all the City’s parks are open and ready for the summer.

During the public comment portion of the night’s meeting, Frank Benson, a coach for Malta’s American Legion Baseball team, told the council that the team will play many home games at Trafton Park and was wondering if something could be done about the gophers in the outfields (a problem the City of Malta has dealt with for many years.) Mayor Demarais said years ago, when he was a Public Works Crew member, he used to go down to the park early in the morning and shoot the animals. He said recently, smokes bombs and poison bubblegum has been used and unsuccessful in killing the “super gophers” who are “dirty little buggers.” Mayor Demarais said that he has heard Strychnine has been used in other Montana towns and cities to deal with the animals and would look into the possibility some more.

During the Parks and Rec portion of the meeting, Co-Director Julia Tatafu reported that many spring sports have wrapped up for the season including kickball (which had 85 children participating), Adult Tap Dance Classes, five Spring Dance Classes (33 children) and the most popular class of the spring, Youth Tumbling, saw it's class come to an end after 70 children participated in the activity.

Upcoming events hosted by Malta Parks and Rec will include the Color Run the morning of The Malta First State Bank Car Show on June 1, more youth tumbling classes and the opening of the Munipal Pool on June 3.