Alberton swears in new council, appoints attorney

The winds of change swept across Alberton the past week with three new faces taking over the reins of the town's affairs.

At the Alberton Town Council meeting last Tuesday, not only did two new council members start their political career, but the new town attorney was also confirmed by the council.

The meeting started with Reece Roat and Joshua Acker taking their oath of office. Both Roat and Acker promised to support, protect and defend the Constitutions of the United States of America and Montana as Mineral County Justice of Peace Wanda James swore them into office.

After replacing the seats of outgoing council members Kay Barth and Fred Knight, Roat and Acker got right down to business. Roat's first action in his four-year term was to make a motion to nominate council member Dick Darne as council president, which was seconded by Acker. Darne reluctantly accepted. "I'll take it, if nobody else takes it," he said.

Roat's and Acker's second action as newly inaugurated council members was to be part of the unanimous vote to confirm Mayor Joe Hanson's hiring of Michelle Lampton as Alberton's attorney. Lampton, who graduated from the University of Montana School of Law in 2006 and has been living in Frenchtown since 2001, filled the vacancy left after the council ended their ties with Ted Hess-Homeier at their December meeting.

At the December meeting, the council voted unanimously to end the six-year tenure of Hess-Homeier after receiving a letter from him that stated he was going to raise his hourly fee from $90 to $150. Lampton told the council that her hourly rate would be $90. She said she was hesitant to take the position at first, but the charm and personality of Hanson had won her over.

She said she had walked around Alberton before the meeting and she liked what she saw. "I thought this was a great place … and I'm glad to help you guys out," she said.

Harve Murray, the post commander of the Alberton Post 131 American Legion, was at to the meeting to ask the town for help in placing a snow shed over the rail car and caboose of the Alberton Railroad Museum. Murray told the council that there had been a problem with a leaky roof on the rail car for several years and the problem will soon be happening to the caboose. He said that there was a lot of irreplaceable items in the museum and something needed to done soon to make sure they stay safe.

Murray said the American Legion had looked at putting a tin shed over the buildings and the estimates they received for the project had been over $3,000. He said the American Legion has limited funds and couldn't afford the project and wanted to know if the town could help them get the shed built as quickly as possible. "I come in front of the council and town to see if there is someway that this year we can cover that museum," Murray said. "We got to do something or we're going to lose what we got."

The council said they would take a look at the cost of the project and check whether or not there were any grants available. The council added that it would see if there were any organizations that would be interested in helping build the shed. They asked that Murray get back with them at the February council meeting. "If it can be done, let's do it this year, because like I said there's a lot of stuff in there we can't replace," Murray said.