City Council Gets Update on Trafton Lift Station Cost

At the June 14 Malta City Council meeting, Mayor John Demarais and the council received word that the cost for the new Trafton Lift Station came in at $200,000 over the original bid.

“This actually isn’t too bad,” said Mayor Demarais. “When comparing other cities and the issues they are having. Prices are up all over. A new water tank in Cut Bank came in over a million dollars over bid. This is what the entire country is dealing with, and the city needs this new lift station.”

The council approved the application for a loan in two installments for $106,625 each.

The council also approved a customer agreement with NorthWestern Energy for upgrades to the electrical source for the new lift station.

The council approved an amendment to the deal with Great West Engineering increasing the payment by $74,000. It was agreed to for the purposes of keeping things moving, but the council asked that the reasons for the increase be sought out.

During the other comments part of the meeting, the council decided to schedule a work session on Tuesday, June 21, at 10:00 a.m. to address the wording of some of the city ordinances and to outline a job description for a compliance officer to be appointed at a later time.

In the department reports, Director of Public Works Jim Truelove informed the council that the pool is running well. He just has some small adjustments to get everything dialed in.

Truelove also told the council that the sprinklers are working in all of the city parks now, cameras have been installed at the rest area and are working very well, and that the gopher issue in the parks is being attacked.

“There are a lot of gophers, but I guarantee that their numbers are down,” said Truelove.

Truelove informed the council that the UV system for the lagoon has been serviced.

City Clerk/Treasurer Lorie Bond gave the council the usual reports of the May financials, the current check register, the current shut-off list, the revenue and expenditures budget vs actual report, and the CD renewal report.

Bond then informed the council that she had received an email from Dan O’Brien that stated he had been appointed County Attorney. He suggested that at the next meeting, the council appoint Lee Pekovitch as the City Attorney.

Mayor Demarais asked that Bond request Pekovitch to attend the next meeting so that the council can ask any questions before appointing her.

The next Malta City Council meeting will be on Tuesday, June 28, at 5:00 p.m.