The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The Chinook City Council held its monthly meeting on Dec. 3. Council members 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 November meeting. Approval of claims and reports was also motioned and approved. There was no public comment.

City department heads made their reports of activities. John Blankenship, for water treatment, said things were very busy with the upgrade construction. He had responded to a Montana DEQ request for some new water sampling sites—there are now 12 official sites located at businesses with two residential sites as backup. Jim Teel, streets and buildings, reported his crew was removing some of the caging materials in the old armory building on 9th Street, this will make the building more functional for storage and access.

For the police department, Jon Klobofski updated the council on some work Chief Zarn had been doing to purchase a new police cruiser. The council will take up the purchase after the first of the year. The department responded to 42 calls during November, including four theft cases. Klobofski said the department would be encouraging drivers to keep their tail and head lights in good order during the winter.

Eric Miller, waste water treatment, said things were going well and he was hopeful to start the process to hire a replacement for his vacant position. Gabe Harry, City Clerk, said things were busy but going well. Kraig Hansen, Fire Chief, reported a fairly low number of fire calls, always a good thing. City Attorney Mark Harshman reported no major issues he was handling.

Two council committees gave reports. Councilman Haider, who heads the garbage pickup and handling committee, said his committee was still working on signage, especially at the transfer station on Cleveland Road. Councilman Smith reported his committee had completed work on a water restriction ordinance, required by a state agency, and would be taking their information to the City Attorney to get proper and legal wording for the new ordinance.

Mike Inman said he had entered into a sell and transfer agreement with Trevor Smith, Milk River Disposal. Milk River Disposal would take over the city garbage pickup contract. After discussion it was motioned and approved to transfer the garbage pickup contract after a review of the official paperwork by the City Attorney. Once the paperwork is reviewed, the Mayor was authorized to approve the transfer. Smith said there would be no change in garbage pickup from how it is handled now. The contract has about four and a half years left of a five year agreement.

Michelle Turville, with Bear Paw Development, explained Draw Request #9 for payment of expenses related to the water treatment upgrade project. The draw was from the Rural Development Grant fund, totaling $702,410.96. Most was for construction costs but also included engineering fees, bond service payments to the company handling the bonding of the project and fees for services from Bear Paw Development. Council motioned and approved the draw.

Turville then presented items for Change Order #6. Change orders are required to pay for unanticipated problems or needed changes during a construction project. The total change order was for $12,596—the majority for a required change in sidewalks to assure compliance with state and federal accessibility requirements. Council motioned to approve all the change order but one item regarding a manhole that overflowed during construction.

There was some concern that the flooding could have been prevented and council wanted to hear from the construction company and engineering firm as to why the problem necessitated a change order. Motion was approved.

Major work at the water treatment plant is on hold for a couple of weeks while a problem with two pumps, that bring water from the river into the plant, is fixed. The proper operation of the new pumps is critical to the next stage of the project.

The downtown sidewalk improvement project stimulated a lot of discussion. Council feels the work is not completed properly and did not want to pay the contractor until the work was up to par. Because some of the funding for the project came through a state grant, the city is required to pay the cost of materials the contractor has used to date on the project so sub-contractors and suppliers can be paid. Council motioned to pay Frontier (the contractor) $63,959.69 and Siemens, design engineer, $4,048.19. These funds are CTEP draws (state grant). The final payment will not be made until there is a walkthrough, with the city, and a final punch list is completed.

Fire Chief Kraig Hansen gave an update on the most recent ISO audit—a process whereby an outsider checks the compliance of the fire department to a set of standards for fire protection. Hansen said, “The rating stayed the same for Chinook, at level 5, which is about midway on the scale the auditor uses.” This rating will have no effect on the current fire ratings used for insurance.

Council motioned and approved the appointment of Greg Jergeson to serve on the Blaine County Conservation Board. The appointment is for a two year term.

Mayor Hanson said he had received concerns from locals about the use of city property between the city shop and the water tower at the south end of town. During high school football games, Hanson said he believed the area needed to be accessible for parking by people who could not walk to the stands at the football field. He did say there were some liability concerns with too many people parking for tailgate parties. It was agreed that the police would patrol the area during the next football season and enforce the open container law.

Mayor Hanson also reported that he is talking to the Montana Department of Transportation about the large number of signs at the entrance to Indiana Street, heading south, from Highway 2. He is waiting to hear from the state as to how the problem can be addressed.

There was a discussion about adding a Reserve Officer program to help supplement the city police department. Currently there are two new officers who have not received POST training and they will be gone several weeks when they do their certification. City attorney said the mayor, under state law, has discretionary powers to add two police officers for 30 days at a time. A temporary officer would have to meet all the requirements of a regular officer to serve for the short periods. Mayor said he would look at some options to give the department some help during the personnel shortage until the new officers are certified.

Meeting was adjourned.