Minutes 08/17/2009

 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE TOWN OF COLUMBUS,

COLUMBUS, MONTANA HELD AUGUST 17, 2009 AT 7:30 P.M.

 The meeting was opened with the Pledge with Mayor Woltermann presiding. Council persons present were Gary Anderson, Patty Sundberg, Terry Nystul, Jon Brown, Paul Edwards and Harold Houghton. Officers present were Fire Chief Cowger, Chief Pronovost, DPW Holten, Attorney Howard, Clerk Barndt and Judge Kober.

Dwight Day, Joe Halladay, Jennifer Ries, Irmgard Houghton.

The Mayor asked the Council if they had reviewed the minutes of the 8/3/09 meeting and were there any additions, deletions or corrections? Sundberg moved to approve the minutes as written, seconded by Nystul, roll call; all-yes.

The Mayor requested approval of the delinquent shut off request. Nystul moved to approve the request, seconded by Houghton, roll call; all-yes.

There were no Petitions and Communications.

Reports of Officers

There were no questions for Rich.

Sundberg asked Bill about the Alternatives concern? Bill stated that he had addressed the matter but had not yet seen any results. Anderson stated that Alternatives may refund some money to the party he had knowledge of.

Dennis stated that the fire hydrant on the east end of 3rd Ave. South had been relocated to allow for the change to the road for the airport game fence. He also said that he was in the process of reviewing a letter from the State that will require us to have a license to continue to compost grass. There is no charge for the license but we will have to address drainage in that area. We have been given a two month extension on the license submittal.

Next was a request from Dennis to allow the Mayor to award the bid for the sidewalk project, since there will be three weeks until the next meeting. Edwards moved to approve the Mayor signing of the Notice of Award, seconded by Houghton, roll call; all-yes.

There were no questions for Doug.

Ron reminded Council that the next meeting would be Tuesday, September 8th because of Labor Day.

There were no Committee Reports.

Unfinished Business.

Next was a letter from Interstate Engineering recommending that the low bid for the Water Tank Painting Project be accepted. Dennis stated that we had received two bid for that project. The first was from Maguire Iron for $296,000 and the second was from DeLoughery Painting Company, Inc. for $155,000. Dennis said that Interstate had received favorable comments from others who had used the low bidder. Houghton moved to approve the Mayor signing of the Notice of Award to DeLoughery, seconded by Sundberg, roll call; all-yes.

New Business

The Mayor reported that Bonnie Kem had resigned from the Soil Conservation District Board and had recommended Kenneth "Corky" Kem as her replacement. Sundberg moved to approve Corky Kem, seconded by Nystul, roll call; all-yes.

The next item was the beginning of the budget presentation.

Judge Kober began by making her request for pay increases for Court Clerk and herself of two steps plus COLA.

She spoke to the Alternatives issues and felt that the current problems had been addressed. She then referred to their request for Council funding of $7,500 for the Alternatives program. She felt that without it, the ADT Program would be lost. This program has been very beneficial to those with addictions.

She reported success with using a collection agency to collect past due court fines.

She thought that her work load and the Attorney’s had also. There are now more trials, more omnibus hearings because everyone now pleads not guilty.

Doug made his budget presentation requesting a 5% increase in wages but the rest was unchanged. He pointed to his work load being increased because of the State’s Public Defender rules, people who don’t or won’t follow sentencing orders, more repeat offenders and more revocation of sentencing orders.

The next presentation was from Chief Cowger. He passed out his budget which requested two steps plus COLA. He stated that his overall budget was down $200

Bill presented his Police/Animal Control budget. He said that his operating budget was down $9,000 and Annie’s was down $2,200. He is asking to replace his car, which will cost between $23,000 and $25,000. He has applied for grants which will allow him to purchase new LED light bars and participate with the County on DUI Enforcement.

Lastly, Ron gave his Clerk’s budget. He asked for part time help increase due to needed training and vacations. He stated that all budgets had been processed with 3.8% COLA and on step for full time employees based on evaluation. He increased his utility budget by $2,000 to cover higher NWE costs.

Comments Not On the Agenda.

The Mayor asked Marilyn if Alternatives had asked any other agencies for additional funding? She stated that Columbus and Red Lodge were the only two successful satellite programs. All others had failed.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

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GARY WOLTERMANN, MAYOR

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RONALD D. BARNDT, CLERK-TREASURER