Plains approves budget

The Plains Town Council approved the annual budget and added two new committee members, but much of the time at last week's meeting seemed to be discussing a non-agenda item.

John Sheridan, the council chairman, filled in for Mayor Joel Banham. Last Monday evening's meeting was coming to a close and the council had just appointed Bambi Wright to the Plains Planning Board, which prompted Commissioner Dan Rowan to suggest that the town update its subdivision regulations, particularly when a subdivision might be going in between the hospital and the school. Rowan, a former Plains mayor, said the subdivision ordinances have probably not been updated since December 2012. "A lot of the laws have been changed since then - they probably change every year - I would suggest that the Town of Plains consult with a planning consultant. Money for a consultant would be money well spent," said Rowan.

Rowan had heard they were working on a proposed subdivision in town and wanted to warn them that it can be a complicated process. "When I was mayor, I dealt with the aftermath of a bad subdivision. The future town leaders will be dealing with the decisions you guys make on subdivisions for decades and longer, so it's important to get it right," said Rowan.

The proposed subdivision would be 10 lots on 4.25 acres between Plains High School and Clark Fork Valley Hospital.

Booth and Councilwoman Connie Foust were both concerned about the additional vehicle traffic so close to the school. Plains resident Charles Bickenheuser said that according to an engineer with the Montana Department of Transportation, the rough estimate for traffic per household was 10 a day, which makes a subdivision of 30 around 300 a day. "As a resident, I wouldn't want that kind of traffic going by the school," said Bickenheuser.

Booth said the planning board's approval about two weeks ago didn't give them approval to start building. That has to come from the council. He said he didn't see that they were doing anything illegal, according to the town's ordinances. He hopes that because it's next to the school and could be a safety factor, that the school and the general public would get involved.

Dr. Kathleen Walsh, superintendent for Plains Schools, wrote a letter to Tamara Ross, the consultant for the subdivision owner, with the school's concerns, including the possible increase of walking traffic, uncontrolled access to the school's sport field and the increase of vehicle traffic on Rittenour Street, which she said would impact student dropoff and pickup during school and when the school is hosting events, including during construction.

Rowan believes the majority of the Plains School students live outside the town limits and parents of those students would need to get involved. Booth said they couldn't reject it at the planning board level because there was no legal reason, but he added that council has more power than the planning board and could reject it. It would also go through a public hearing process.

"I'm not interested in telling someone what they can do with their property unless it's a safety issue," said Booth. Foust said that dealing with subdivisions on the planning board was frustrating. "There's nothing in the planning that requires them to let you know what they're putting on the lots. And that's a big deal in terms of parking and congestion and that type of thing," said Foust.

The final budget of $1,513,241 was unanimously approved by the six council members - Lana Dicken, Connie Foust, Chad Cantrell, John Sheridan, John Roesler, and JD Crabb - a $166,394 increase from the previous year. The biggest chunk of money went to law enforcement for $382,350, a $4,800 increase.

The council also unanimously voted to make the pool park the "Greg Welty Memorial Park."

"It never really had a name other than the pool park," said Sheridan. Welty passed away in February at age 62 of a cancerous brain tumor. He had been the public works manager and worked for the town for 21 years. The Plains pool is the E.L. Johnson Memorial Pool, but the park itself had no name. Signage will go up at a later date.

The council also approved adding Becky Fields to the Parks and Recreation Committee. Fields, who has lived in Plains for three years and is the owner of Warrior Fitness, said, "I hope that I can help and do a good job." Wright, the new Planning Board member, grew up in Plains and has lived there on and off for the last 33 years. "I'm excited to help out," said Wright.

The members once again tabled the Review of Chapter 4 because they are waiting for word from the town attorney, and tabled a Wellness Program that was brought about by Banham.

The water storage tank along Highway 28 recently passed inspection. MIDCO Diving and Marine Services of Rapid City, S.D., suggested that the town consider locking in bids for the next two inspections at a cost of $4,263 for 2027 and $5,159 for 2030, according to Sheridan. By approving these contracts now, the town would avoid any escalation costs in the future. However, it was questioned whether or not the council could allocate funds for a future budget. The council voted to table it until the November meeting and to meanwhile investigate whether or not it can legally be done. In addition, the town might have its new tank in place before the 2030 inspection of the old tank. Sheridan noted that MIDCO's bids for the two future inspections were lower than any of the recent ones.

Sheridan said that the diver noted that the tank was well preserved with very few problems. "It's a good tank. It's been taken care of for a good number of years. It has lived its expected lifetime," said Sheridan.

In the mayor's report, Sheridan said the town is considering changing the way it bills residents for water and sewer use. Presently, the town mails hard copies. Those who are interested might be able to get their bill via email. He said that Jonalie Comeau, the town water clerk, did some research and determined that the town could save money by going to an electronic billing system. "If we can get approximately half of our accounts to go to the email notification we can save around $2,000 a year in the cost of postage and card stock for the mail," he said.

In his report, he said the town pumped 11,169,000 gallons of water and sold 8,142,720 gallons for a loss of 27%. However, he said a portion of that water usage was due to some 750,000 gallons on the Campbell house fire.