City Hires Compliance Manager, Hears of Dog Issues and Vandalism

A relatively calm meeting laid out before the City Council as the members met January 24th in City Chambers. The pledge to the flag opened the meeting, with all council members present, and guests Matt Mudd, Glenda Knudsen and Kari Hould of the PCN.

Mayor Demarais introduced Michael Munoz, who has been hired as the Compliance Manager for the City. Mike hails from Detroit, he said he is “…glad to be living here…” He will be addressing the matters of compliance with City Ordinances, including making sure yards are safe and up to code, and that they are not a hazard to others. Mayor Demarais said of Mike, “…he has massive quantities in helping and managing people.”

Mike stated his experience; he has a business management degree, he attended college in Flint, Michigan. He has worked in construction for 49 years and is a member of IBW.

“Moving from a town of a million to a town of less than 2,000- it’s a bit of a culture shock, I think! But, anybody would have that. My goal is to just keep Malta quiet and clean. Quiet and clean comes from peaceful interactions with neighbors, and following the codes. I am big on codes.”

Mayor Demarais said, “He will be tagging cars shortly and be working up from there.” He added, “…there’s a ton of cars! So you better have a handful of pens and a couple pads!”

The mayor added, after Mike had left, “We made a good hire here, I am sure. We’ll see how it works out.”

He shares a room with the VA officer who comes to Malta monthly, for office space. The new position is 20 hours a week.

PWD Jim Truelove said the new camera system at the Event Center has been installed.

The board heard about the latest dog running at-large complaint. Mayor Demarais assured PWD Truelove “…you are doing a good job, you have some good backers.” He had visited with the kid and the mother, and did not cite them. He said his focus is getting them licensed.

PWD Truelove said the next order of business for his crew is snow removal. The post office area had been hit today and the crew is working on potholes in the snow. It was the general consensus after discussion that Malta is in much better off than Havre or Helena. “We’re doing the best we can.”

He said he was having an issue with the 621 loader, and that he is working on it.

The holiday greeting sign will be replaced, it is 40 years old and is in need of being updated. Clerk Lorie Bond passed around information about what she had been able to locate. It was budgeted for and is a good price at this time of year. The price is around $3,800.

She mentioned the price of landfill use. Those bringing in big loads will pay more than those with small loads. The matter will be checked into and reported on in early spring.

The Mayor stated he had visited with the Fire Chief, they had had some issues with the one truck, but now are up and going. As far as Law Enforcement, there is a new Undersheriff; the Mayor has asked Sheriff Lytle to bring him to a meeting, however, he hasn’t as of yet. He will again visit with the Sheriff about it.

The Parks and Rec report was provided by Clerk Bond. Saturday, a bunch of kids had come in, unattended and broke the backboard for the “Tiny Dribblers”. They were letting kids in the side doors. They were hanging on it all night. Five key fods were turned off. The council members had mixed feelings about the matter. It appears there were between 12 and 20 kids involved. See the article elsewhere in the paper. The cost to replace the backboards is $2,000 and these are no longer available. The option is to replace them with a lesser priced one.

There was no report needed on the Event Center.

Matt Mudd, of Great West Engineering was present and gave an update on the lift station, which is progressing nicely, the electricity has been install by NW Energy. Once the flow to the lift station is in place, it is pretty well completed. He is going to check on it after the meeting, stating the crew might be there working under the lights. The old building can be removed.

The parts from the old lift that are salvageable will be recycled. Matt was impressed with the project. The first one was built during President Truman’s administration.

Councilmember David Rummel said, “This project, of all the ones I have been around, has gone the smoothest, things have been pretty well on time, and on budget. I am super happy with how this project worked out…very low stress for us.”

Matt responded, “I credit the crew; a good contractor for the project helps, they deserve a lot of credit, it wasn’t adversarial, they worked together great.”

Mayor Demarais said, “These guys are going to get an excellent review from us…” and Rummel added, “Some of these others that have left, I would never recommend them to anybody, but that’s not the case here!”

Guest Glenda Knudsen appeared on behalf of the Girl Scout Troop 3903, and read a letter from the girls, inquiring about placing a table in the hallway for people to vote on their favorite cookie. This project is part of earning their, “Behind the Ballot” badges. She provided samples and spoke on the changes in cookie bakers this year; the council stated their support of the project.

The Council unanimously approved Draw Package #7 in the amount of $158,111.69.

The Council approved Trafton Lift Station Project Change Order #4.

Members of the Council also voted unanimously to continue to participate in the MMIA Employees Benefit.

There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned.

The next meeting of the Council will begin at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14th.