Plains mayor reflects on past year

Plains Mayor Greg Eitelberg discussed the town at the end of 2016, and the current projects coming during 2017 and beyond.

“We have had a good year. We have a lot of things going on,” Eitelberg said. “I have a District Road Report that will be available on our website (www.townofplains.com). I encourage people to look at the road report and give us feedback on it.”

Eitelberg discussed the ongoing large project of correcting the issues with the sanitation lagoon near the Clark Fork River.

“There is a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) on the sanitation lagoon that we will be discussing in the city council meeting on Jan. 3,” he said.

The town of Plains is also working on the replacement and repair of the aging water pipes.

“The other large ongoing project is the galvanized replacement of the water pipes, which will be going on for 1 to 2 years more,” Eitelberg said. “Last month we lost 24 percent of our water when some of the pipes leaked or burst. There is roughly 1 to 2 million gallons of water lost when one of the pipes leaks or bursts. We don’t know where that leak or break is until the water reaches the surface or when the road starts to collapse. We had one of our trucks fall into a road up to the axle a while back.”

In 2016, Plains also had the youngest police officer to date, Chris Reyna, graduate from the Public Safety Officer Standards and Training program in Helena. He is currently working in Plains.

Eitelberg mentioned he would be delighted if more people attended and were involved with the council meetings each month.

“I lived here a long time and had not been inside City Hall until I decided to become more involved and active with the Plains government,” Eitelberg said. “I am looking forward to an exciting and busy 2017.”

The next Plains City Council meeting will be held Tuesday, Jan. 3, at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 101 W. Lynch St., in Plains.

For more information, visit www.townofplains.com or call 406-826-3411.