Farmer Street, chip seal, pool updates discussed

The recent Plains Town Meeting was a quick and efficient gathering with councilors in attendance as well as Mayor Dan Rowan.

The usual general housekeeping was moved through with motions passed by council members for the treasurer’s report, claims and payroll, and previous meeting minutes.

Judge’s report presented 20 cases over the last month with collections totaling $1,035 for July.

For the Public Works Department and Fire Department updates, there wasn’t much spoken about other than the wiring work for the conjoined buildings has been completed successfully.

The Police Department should be acquiring their two new police vehicles that will be operational-ready within a two- to four-month time frame.

New business consisted of a brief explanation of the preliminary budget requirements to which a hearing was held at town hall last Friday for the mayor and town clerk (and or deputy clerk) to take comments from both the public and council members ahead of putting together this year’s budget.

The next item on the agenda was a brief discussion on the Fourth Street annexation; what this conversation roughly consisted of was in regards to the property swap that has been happening over the last few months.

Rowan updated council members the Ron Warren Rocky Mountain Surveyors had completed a boundary line adjustment which would extend the city limits line. The council then went to vote and moved to pass the extension of the city limits that would better keep in line with the Fourth Street annexation.

Mayor’s report

Farmer Street update: “Traver Construction is done with the drain system. I haven’t received the final request for payment yet but Ben told me that it will be roughly $2,500 less than his bid price because we used less asphalt than was called for in the bid. We are soliciting bids now and expect to have those back this week and paving done by the end of the month,” said Rowan.

A couple of council members chimed in to ask about a small “sink hole” that has presented near the new drain. Rowan advised he was unaware, but brought Public Works Department head Greg Welty into the conversation and advised he would look into it directly to get it fixed after a brief discussion.

Chip seal projects

“We have only been able to get one quote for the chip seal and seal project. I was waiting for another one to come today but it never came. I will contact Treasure State Construction tomorrow morning and have them schedule us in,” advised Rowan.

Council members agreed this was the best course of action to get the project going as the summer months were going to be gone soon and if not begun it would be next year when work could begin.

Plains Pool

“The boiler is still broken. The last part that was replaced did not fix the problem. I am told that the only other thing it could possibly be is the computer board which costs $1,000. We have also been averaging around 15,000 gallons a day in water loss. I have contacted Jakota Engineering from Kalispell and they are planning on a trip down for an onsite evaluation. They have experience in pool repair and construction and were recommended by Shari Johnson,” said Rowan.

Council members took a few moments to discuss the pool and repairs as well as the production costs to the city with regards to the facility. With delays to this season due to repairs and accompanied by future needed repairs, a short discussion on the possible raising of fees for the 2019 season began. The several council members agreed that the though the pool is not a money-making revenue for the town, a rise in fees could help offset the costs as they didn’t want to see the entity lost.

Police cars

“The bids have been received, RD has looked them over and approved the bid from Bison Ford for $40,564 per vehicle. The extra $564 per vehicle will be the responsibility of the Town of Plains. Shawn placed the order on July 24th,” advised Rowan.

Lift station pumps

“Gorman Rupp pumps from Russell Industries is what our public works employees are recommending as replacements for our current pumps. They are from $2,000 to $5,00 more than Homa Pumps from Advanced Pumps and equipment, depending on which soft start package is installed on the Gorman Rupp,” said Rowan.

Water tower

cleaning and

inspection

“I have received a quote from LiquiVision for cleaning and inspection of our water tank. As in years past, we save some money by scheduling this for the same time as Hot Springs so they can do it all in one trip. The quote for this years’ service is $1,462.50,” said Rowan.

Council members all agreed that the scheduled time and cost would be fine for which the town to proceed.

There was also only one propane bid made of this year, and council adopted to go with the rates of the lone bid.

Water leaks and usage updates showed a loss of 30.78 percent for 11,401,000 gallons pumped with 7,891,500 sold for the town.

Due to the Labor Day holiday in September, the next town meeting will be on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. at Plains Town Hall.