At the latest City Council meeting, October 15, 2015 there were no visitors, no public comment and no sheriff’s report.
Previous minutes were approved and the pledge was recited.
Regarding the Wastewater Project, there is a grass issue at the lagoon. Bad fill is given for the reason that grass will not grow in one area. The construction company and council are working on a solution.
There is a small tear in the sewage lagoon liner. It is cost prohibitive for the manufacturer to come and repair it. Mayor Stiles figured the least that bill would be is around $600.00. So, the City is looking for a temporary fix. The good news is that the small tear does not affect the ability of the lagoon to function properly.
Bids were opened on the sewer contract. The Mayor said that if the good weather holds this fall, that project should be completed before the first of the year.
Regarding the Brownfield project, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality wants some more wells done there. So, progress is being made at the site of the old gas station but it is moving slowly reported Mayor Stiles.
A Northern Montana Regional Water Inter-local Agreement was signed by the City Council at the last meeting.
Regarding the old hotel on Main Street, the owners are looking at possibly donating it to Big Sandy. There is going to be a Brownfield assessment done on that building before anything more happens according to Mayor Stiles. One thing for sure is that Mayor Stiles pledges the City will not take on this project if it is to cost any money from the City at all!
Lately the hotel has been a haven for vagrants and pot smokers. The building is hazardous for Big Sandy and should probably not be there
according to the Mayor.
Funds have been requested by Big Sandy from the Lippard/Clawiter Foundation, mainly for area parks.
In Street Improvements, the old asphalt is crushed as best as can be done. People should be cautioned that asphalt and cement cannot be dumped at the dump site without approval of the Council. There are things in the cement and asphalt that was dumped there that would not crush up.
Council Members and the Mayor met with Rural Water to get more information on how towns and cities handle water and sewer charges on inactive properties.
“We got lots of homework to do. We will have to have meetings and start changing our codes for charging water and sewer rates,” said Mayor Stiles.
The subject of building a new swimming pool came up at this meeting. Rotary will pay for an engineer to come in and do some initial planning and to get an idea of how much a new pool will cost and where it will be built.
The Mayor reports that there are some changes in the Business License Code for Big Sandy. The first reading of the new code happened at the October meeting. The second reading where it becomes law will be at the November meeting. Folks interested in the changes should contact Mayor Stiles or City Council members.
Bids were opened to repair the roof of the City Hall. A metal roof is going to be installed with Brooke Anderson Construction getting the bid.
Claims were paid as well as journal vouchers. The meeting was adjourned.
For the winter the Council will be meeting on Wednesday. The November meeting will be Wednesday, November 11.
