Chinook City Council reviews various construction projects
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The Chinook City Council held its November meeting on November 11. Councilmen present were Mitch Haider, Robert Smith, Chris Thurman and Clint Greytak. Mayor Keith Hanson called the meeting to order.
Council motioned and approved the minutes from the October meeting. Approval of claims and reports was also motioned and approved. There was no public comment.
Department reports followed. Police Chief Elmer Zarn showed new body cams that were purchased for officers to wear while on duty. The body cams will be used by officers once a use policy is in place. SLEUTH reports (a system for electronically reporting crime data to the state) are now up to date with plans in the works for how to store the data for local use. Zarn introduced two officers new to the force—Mike Schmidt and Brandon Olson. Each will be attending state mandated training (POST training) during the next six months. There was also an initial discussion regarding starting a reserve police program—whereby additional officers could be hired during special events requiring more police presence. No decision on the reserve officers was made.
John Blankenship reported that the lagoon at the water treatment plant was cleaned by Pike Construction and winterization projects that can be completed around the upgrade construction are done. Eric Miller reported on a visit by DEQ and a consultant. The Chinook Waste Treatment Plant will be featured in a national webcast put on by the EPA. Winterization projects are nearly completed.
City Clerk Gabe Harry reported an electronic data backup system is in place and current files are being added to the backup system. This system will be maintained by the city rather than pay a consultant a monthly fee to back up the city’s data.
Mitch Haider, council member head of the garbage collection committee, reported new informational signs will soon be in place at the transfer station on Cleveland Road and at the burn pile on Bowes Road. Robert Smith, head of the ordinance committee, noted the committee is working on new ordinances regarding water restrictions. The new ordinances are necessary to comply with state regulations that apply when there are reasons to manage a water shortage.
Mayor Hanson reported the city wrote a grant application for two electronic “your speed is…” electronic signs. The signs warn motorists if their current speed is over the posted limit. Grant winners will be announced in December. If the grant funds are received, signs would be placed on Highway 2 at both ends of town.
Old Business
Water Treatment Plant upgrade. In a printed report from the engineering firm doing the water treatment plant upgrade, it was noted that the project is more than fifty percent completed. Council motioned and approved Draw #7 for $477,375.08 for construction and engineering payments on the upgrade. The funds will come from the Rural Development grant. Council motioned and approved Change Order #5 for $6,759. This was to pay for unanticipated ‘exploratory excavation’ when trying to find buried pipes and new piping that was required. One more construction day was added to the contract as part of the motion.
. CTEP downtown sidewalk project - Mayor Hanson summarized a number of problems with the engineering oversight and construction of the sidewalk replacement downtown. Michelle Turville, with Bear Paw Development, explained that the CTEP administrators (source of part of funding) will not get involved to check the work until a request for payment is made. She added some of the concerns will have to be addressed when the final inspection is done. The mayor suggested that the council members take a look at the work and that a special council meeting may be needed to plan how to deal with the concerns.
• CDGB Housing Project - Chinook is in a grant funded three-city housing analysis (with Harlem and Malta). This project seeks to assess housing needs in the three towns and propose ways to ease housing shortages. A public meeting will be held in Chinook on Nov. 18 at 6 p.m., at city hall to get public input on housing issues. Grant administrators suggest ‘real estate agents, contractors, landlords, property owners and interested parties’ attend the hearing.
New Business
Council motioned and approved $953 for payment to NorthWestern Energy to complete electrical hookup at the water treatment plant. Council motioned and approved an amended plat from Blaine County Title. This involves Lots 8-1 and 10-1 of Block 39 within Chinook.
Council motioned and approved Resolution #801 regarding a TSEP (Treasure State Endowment Program) grant. This would provide a matching grant of up to $15,000 from TSEP for an engineering study of the city’s water distribution system. Council also motioned and approved Task Order #2 to initiate the water distribution study.
Council motioned and approved Resolution #802 which allows the transfer of $2.237 million from the Rural Development grant to pay off the INTERCAP loan (a short term loan from Montana used to pay early engineering and construction expenses on the upgrade to the water treatment plant).
Meeting was adjourned.
