State grant may help with Plains projects

The Plains Town Council meeting was less than an hour, but its members discussed several issues, passed on a lot of information, tabled three items, and dismissed an item of new business that was found to be unnecessary.

Mayor Chris Allen said the town has an opportunity to get an $87,000 grant with 25% matching funds from the state. Allen said he'd like to see the council apply for House Bill 355 Grant, but they would have to do it by the end of the year. The grant could be used for several projects - streets, bridges, landfills, streetlights, wastewater treatment systems, public grounds and buildings, airports and fire suppression systems - but the town would have to prioritize projects.

Allen said he'd like to use funds on the fire hall to give the volunteer firefighters more room, a bathroom, and space to get a vehicle that sets outside in the weather indoors. "They've been tripping over themselves in those bays for years," he said, adding that more space has been the biggest complaint from the last two fire chiefs. They'll be discussing the grant at the Dec. 4 council meeting. With the town attorney, Loren Fitzpatrick, still working on the unfinished business of a "Mask Mandate" ordinance and a "Road District" tax, council unanimously voted to table those items until December.

The council again tabled the unfinished business of a new ordinance "Parking of Motor Vehicles," which was brought months ago up by Councilman John Roesler, who said there is a problem of people parking their vehicles in the street and sometimes causing a blockage. Roesler would like to see an ordinance that includes penalties. He selected a similar ordinance from another Montana community to use as a template.

Councilwoman Connie Foust motioned to have the police department look at a draft, with fines included, first before going to the town attorney. Councilman Chad Cantrell agreed that the police department should have input to an ordinance of this nature. "The big thing is we want to discourage people doing the wrong thing," said Allen. The motion was 5-1 with Councilman Garrett Boon opposing the tabling of the issue. The agenda item of new business "Fines for Animals, concerning loose chickens and other farm animals, was removed because the information was found in a separate place, which meant there was no need to proceed with it, said Allen.

The mayor noted that there might be an ordinance coming with regard to parking on Railroad Street at certain overnight hours during the winter months due to plowing difficulties they've had in the past. The ordinance would include the potential for ticketing. He also said that the council might want to amend the annual budget to get a new commercial grade lawn mower before next spring. He said the present one is getting old and has 1,600 hours on it and has issues.

The council voted unanimously to put on the December agenda a complaint by Josh Weedeman on behalf of the Harvest Community Church. Weedeman expressed his dissatisfaction in the town's cooperation with efforts by the church to get a variance for a building project. Weedeman said in the meeting's public comments period that he doesn't believe the church has been treated fairly by the town.

"Back in march our church had started planning to expand our sanctuary to meet the needs of our growing congregation and youth ministries programs," said Weedeman, who also said they've met with the planning board four times and the board had approved the expansion, but council disapproved it. Weedeman will be bringing the issue to the council at the December meeting.

The mayor passed on to the council and nearly a dozen people from the community that the Plains Community Ambulance has decided to hold off on the town helping with the special loan for a new ambulance due to the high interest rates. The council had voted last month to partner with the ambulance service to help the service get a new ambulance. The ambulance service was down to one ambulance and wanted to utilize the town to get a low interest intercap loan from the state to purchase the new vehicle.

Allen also stated that the town recently took down a large spruce tree next to the Rocky Mountain Bank reader board, which opened up the driveway access along the greenway from both directions. The site might be where a new Plains Lions Club tree will be planted for the organization's annual Christmas event.

In the mayor's report, he said that last month the town pumped 3,451,000 gallons of water and sold 2,953,800 for a 14% loss. Over the past several months the loss has been between 18-29%, he said. "We obviously are making some headway, at least it appears that way on the leaks we've been having," said Allen. "Hopefully that continues to improve. That's a good thing."