Thursday, August 15, 2019 @ 7:00 PM
Big Sandy City Hall at 115 Johannes Ave Big Sandy, MT 59520
Mayor Schwarzbach called the meeting to order
Council members present Ted Pursley, Jon Sheehy, Colby Baumgarn and Darin Ray.
Staff Present: Larry Geyer, PW, Wendy Kleinsasser, clerk and Leslie Gregory, Pool Manager
Public: Lorrie Merrill, Luke LaLiberty and Rod Courtnage
Approval of Meeting Minutes: Colby Baumgarn moved to approve the June minutes. Ted Pursley seconded. Motion passed.
Sheriff’s Report Deputy Hale sent a message that he has been getting complaints about grain trucks speeding on Washington Avenue, kicking up a lot of dust. He suggested installing gravel speed bumps but the Council didn’t agree. The deputies will try to catch someone speeding and ticket them.
Pool Report: Leslie reported that the pool will close on Monday. Plans for repairs to enlarge the water pipes in the pool were discussed.
Public Comment: Rod Courtnage voiced a complaint about flooding around his house after heavy rains, which he feels has become worse since the school changed the way they deal with their drainage problems. The Council will make mitigating this issue a priority with public works.
Pivot: The Clerk forwarded the council an e-mail from the town’s attorney regarding an agreement to be put in place. She sent him the requested information he needed. One question was whether the Town would need DEQ approval for increase the acceptable salinity level for the irrigation system, but Luke LaLiberty of KLJ stated it was not necessary. The hay has been cut, baled and removed from the field. It appeared to the council members that it was a successful harvest.
KLJ:
New Water Project: Luke LaLiberty informed the Council that the water project is officially completed, with the exception of one water hydrant that may be located too close to sanitary sewer. They will look into it. He also left all of the drawings.
Bear Paw Development:
Water Project: Lisa Moisey will be presenting the Council with the final RD draw at the meeting on September 5.
Brownfield Project: No action.
New Business
MDT MOU: Ted Pursley moved that the mayor sign the Rest Area Memo of Understanding with MDOT. Colby Baumgarn seconded; motion passed
Account 251: The property owner requested that he not be charged for the months that the house was being remodeled, as he used very little water during that time. The council determined that doing so would set precedence therefore the charges should remain in place.
BaRSAA Resolution 2020-02: Colby Baumgarn moved to pass the resolution. Jon Sheehy seconded and it passed unanimously on a roll call vote.
Lot Mowing: the Council decided that the mowing should be done by public works.
Roger Terry Request: The council is in favor of his plan to tear down the old house that sits on his three lots on Third Avenue and replace it with two trailer homes to be used as rentals.
Wells Fargo: The closure of the Big Sandy branch was discussed. At this time, two banks have shown interest in establishing a branch in Big Sandy.
TTC discounted credits: The council will leave things as they are regarding this.
Procurement Letter: Due to a lack of explanation about this letter, no action was taken.
Unified Disposal rate increase: The clerk informed the council that there is a $5.00 per unit increase, which needs to be passed on to the user. This will be done as a Resolution which will be published in the paper. The public hearing will be held in conjunction with the budget hearing on September 5th.
Old Business
Water Ordinance: This will be addressed at the October meeting. It was also determined that we need to look at a sewer rate increase.
City Hall doors and windows: Colby Baumgarn moved that Ken Denning be awarded the bid to replace the two windows in the office and the one in the conference room, as well as the exterior door and the door into the office. Colby Baumgarn requested that the clerk see if it would be possible to widen the exterior door to ADA specs. Darin Ray seconded and the motion passed.
Committee Reports: None
Mayor Report: The mayor gave an update on the Regional Water project.
Public Works: PWD reported on the water leak near the old Sande’s convalescent home.
Clerk: The clerk passed on a request that Wayne Silvan be allowed to install septic on the two lots on the edge of town that he has up for sale. As this was not on the agenda, it will be voted on next month.
* The shut off list was distributed
* The correspondence was distributed.
Claims: Colby Baumgarn moved to accept the claims. Ted Pursley seconded and the motion passed.
General Journal Voucher: Ted Pursley moved to approve JV 2020-01, Jon Sheehy seconded; motion passed.
Any Business to be brought before the Council: The clerk asked how much we need to request from the Lippard-Clawiter Foundation. It was suggested $20,000.00 for pool repairs and $5,000.00 for a new RV dump.
The clerk will set up interviews with engineering firms for September 26. They will be scheduled at 30 minute intervals, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
A budget work session was scheduled for August 29 at 7:00 p.m.
Ted Pursley moved to adjourn, Jon Sheehy seconded. Motion passed.
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