One Nation, Under God

City Crew Begins Spring Cleaning

It is spring cleaning time for the Malta City Crew, reported Eric Witmer at the last Malta City Council meeting on Tuesday, March 22.

Filling in for Public Works Director, Jim Truelove, Witmer informed the council that street patching has begun. The city crew is also blading alleys and the street sweeper has been out cleaning the remnants of winter away.

Witmer also told the council that the cardboard yard between the fire station and MOI has been cleaned up and the fencing has been taken down. The extra garbage barrels that the city did have on hand have been given out to businesses and more have been ordered.

When asked if there have been any problems with the new way of handling the cardboard, Witmer answered, "Not that I have heard. We have had a couple of calls, but they were more for where the business should place them as opposed to issues."

Witmer informed the council that three members of the crew had spent time in Dodson helping out with the water issue that they had.

Secretary/Treasurer Lorie Bond told the council that she had received an estimate for getting the gym and upstairs resurfaced and oiled. The council decided that they would revisit it when the time gets closer to having it done.

Malta Fire Chief Josh Newman brought in one of the new radios that the department is getting. He informed the council that he has 10 of them coming in at a lower price than was expected. He said that he has a couple of companies looking for him to see if they can get more. He would like to have 20 total, but not if they are at a significantly higher price.

Newman then told the council that the department had purchased a generator, power washer, air compressor combo at a much lower price than a brand new one would cost. It will keep power to the entire station and ambulance so water would not freeze in trucks and the air brakes on the trucks could be inflated. Newman had already talked to the county and they agreed to put in $1,500. He was asking the council for the city to put in $1,500 as well and the fire department would take care of the balance as well as the installation.

The council agreed that it was a good idea to have and the money was there in the fire department budget. It passed by unanimous vote.

Parks and Rec Director Sally Wright was next to address the council. She informed the council of all past, present, and upcoming activities that they have planned.

They then asked if it would be possible to start taking care of the gopher problem in the parks earlier this year so that it may not be as bad as last year.

The council agreed it would be a good idea to start early.

Wright then told the council that they have an opportunity to start a full gymnastics class.

"We have a girl in town that is certified to teach gymnastics and we have had a lot of interest in having that class," said Wright.

Since the instructor has their own mats, and Parks and Rec had new mats in their budget, they asked if that money could be used to buy gymnastic equipment instead.

The council discussed the proposal and looked over the equipment that would be purchased and agreed it could be done. A motion was made, seconded, and passed by unanimous decision.

In new business, the council passed Resolution 1311, a resolution requesting the distribution of bridge and road safety and accountability program funds.

The council also agreed to the terms for Bryon Benton to continue lawn service in 2022. His bid was raised by $200 over last year's bid due to the rising gas prices. The council passed the bid by unanimous vote.

The next Malta City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 12, at 5:00 p.m. in City Hall.

 

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