Plains City Council discuss water and deer issues
<p><strong>Mayor Greg Eitelberg swears in John Curry, Danny Rowan and Sandy Chenoweth as members of the Plains City Council during their January meeting.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Greg Eitelberg discusses the possible solutions to drainage issues on one of the streets in Plains.</strong></p>
PLAINS – The status of deer in the area and water drainage were the topics of discussion at the first Plains City Council meeting of 2016.
During his mayor’s report, Mayor Greg Eitelberg noted there had been two deer killed in the last month. He has been tracking deer deaths within the city limits of Plains in hope of getting a better idea of their numbers and distribution around the community. The city hopes to get more information on the deer as a first step toward coming up with a solution to the deer problems within the city.
However, Eitelberg noted there seemed to be fewer deer in town. He recalled, in the past, he has seen deer tracks all over his yard and the parks this time of year, but they do not seem as prevalent this year.
“I don’t know what it is,” he said. “Maybe we killed so many; we were killing 36 this time last year.”
Eitelberg is also in discussions with two engineer groups to look at Farmer Street and possible drainage options. At present, the street floods very easily whenever there is rain or snowmelt. This leaves a giant pool of water through the street for traffic and pedestrians to navigate when going through the intersection.
The mayor and engineers have been considering raising the road, so there is less of a sink for water to gather, then putting in a catch basin with a pipe going under Railroad to send the water into the ditch along Highway 200.
During the meeting, the city council also swore in newly elected members. John Curry, Danny Rowan and Sandy Chenoweth are all returning members of the council.
They also needed to vote on council officers for the year; this was doubly important since the previous president recently stepped down. Rowan was voted to be the new president of the council.
The City of Plains will be looking for a new member of the council in the near future.