The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

The regular March City Council meeting was held on March 6. There were no visitors. After the Pledge was recited there was a call to order and the minutes of the last meeting were approved.

Deputy Hale was on hand. The sheriff’s department had a citation for a dog issued.

The Water Line project was discussed. Things are on hold until further word from Rural Development.

Bear Paw Development had nothing to report at this meeting.

The Montana Department of Transportation sent an amended agreement for care of the highway park. MDOT agreed to pay the city for cleaning up the area and agreed to pay the power bill as well.

The city announced that they plan to bring fireworks back to Big Sandy for the Fourth of July after being absent for a couple of years. The fireworks are all bought with donations. There will be donation cans around Big Sandy and people wanting to give donations now can leave them in a box at City Hall or give them to the Mayor or any Council member.

Mayor Stiles said he has enlarged maps and the Council is going to be looking at water and sewer services on various properties.

There was a lot of discussion of how to best repair ditches around Big Sandy.

Mayor Stiles commented that the shut off list is getting long again. If you don’t want your water shut off, pay your water bill. If there is no one at the City Clerk’s office leave it with the Mayor or in the box at City Hall.

There are 28 water meters left to change out that are not reading properly. The City would appreciate it if people would make themselves available to the Public Works Director so he can change out those meters.

There will be a new sign posted at the dumpster site. It will contain rules on what can and cannot be dumped in the dumpsters.

The Gun Club building is on city property. Last year there was vandalism of the building and a break in. For that reason there are new rules in place about who can be at that site. People going to the Gun Club need a decal on their rear view mirror that says they have access to the site. The new rules have been coordinated with the sheriff’s department and people without a decal can be cited for trespassing. Decals may be obtained by contacting any Gun Club officer.

Claims were paid and journal vouchers were approved and the meeting was adjourned.

The next regular meeting will be April 6, 2017.

Due to the Mayor being out of town, there was no report in “The Mountaineer” regarding the February City Council meeting.

Here are a few bullet points about what went on at that meeting.

The web page for Big Sandy was finalized.

The public vote for a new pool will be held in June.

The Council voted to buy a reversible snow plow at the State Auction. Big Sandy needs a reversible plow because the present plow has to plow opposite the way the traffic is going and has become a safety issue.

Restrooms at City Hall are going to be locked after hours.