Plains council fills seat

The Plains Town Council unanimously voted to seat John Dossett on the council as a replacement for Councilwoman Connie Foust, who recently resigned and moved to Nevada.

The town held a special council meeting on Friday morning to choose between the two candidates who applied for the Ward 1, Seat 1 position - Dossett and Charles W. Bickenheuser - to fulfill the two years remaining on Foust's term. The 64-year-old Dossett was born in New Zealand, but has been a Plains resident for 38 years and became a U.S. citizen in 2004. For the last two years he has served on the town's Parks and Recreation Committee and plans to continue on the committee as a councilman.

"I have a strong desire to serve this community and this country has given me so much and I want to give back to the community," said Dossett, still sporting a slight Kiwi accent. Each candidate was given four minutes before the vote to tell council members why he'd like to be on the council.

"I'm very interested in keeping Plains a small town and not being overwhelmed by growth," said Bickenheuser, who has lived in Plains for the last five years. The 77-year-old Bickenheuser was born in Missoula and is a retired educator and a Vietnam veteran. He said that he had hoped to bring to Plains his experience in research and gathering information from other small towns facing the same growth and change conditions that Plains now faces. He has worked on several projects with the town and has volunteered his time and money toward the betterment of the newly named Greg Welty Memorial Park. Both candidates felt that Plains was one of the best places in the world.

Plans were to select a council member at the regularly scheduled meeting last Monday, but it did not get on the agenda. Council agreed to meet Friday morning for the task. Councilman Chad Cantrell moved to nominate Dossett to the council. That was seconded by Councilman John Roesler. Lana Dicken, John Sheridan and JD Crabb (via phone) voted in favor of Cantrell's motion.

The regular council meeting last Monday went only 34 minutes, but the six members passed two pieces of new business and tabled two old ones. Foust decided to participate in one last meeting before leaving town.

The council unanimously approved the recommendation of the Planning Board that McGowan Grocery does not need a variance for its upcoming store expansion. Corey Booth, who heads the Planning Board, said that the new owner of the building where the old mercantile business was located is opening a glass business and plans to erect four small houses along East McGowan Street and North Hubbard Street. The lots are 42x100, too small for today's code, but they were grandfathered, said Booth.

The council also unanimously approved the recommendation of Nikki Ericksen, the Plains Library director, for new board members Nate Stropka and Sophia Fisher. Ericksen said the library will be conducting a silent auction fundraiser this week. They raised $1,200 last year, said Ericksen. Bids can be placed online until Oct. 24 at at http://www.plainslibrary.org or at the library. Ericksen is also looking for volunteers to repair the fish pond in front of the library.

Mayor Joel Banham told the council that workers started demolition of the old lagoon and should be finished by the end of the month or the beginning of November. He also announced that Montana Highway Patrol donated six used tasers to the Plains Police Department, a value of around $9,000.

Anthony Young, of Horse Plains Volunteer Fire Department chief, said his crew raised $4,400 at the fair's 50/50 raffle, which enabled him to purchase a complete turnout outfit. He told the council that he has two new firefighters - Don Moore and Brandon Fowler. He also said that he promoted Curt Alexander to captain. Young informed the council that one of his fire trucks started smoking and is in need of repair. "We were pump testing our trucks and the pump testers noticed oil dripping on the exhaust after it started to smoke from underneath. So we canceled the test till the issue can be resolved," said Young.

The next council meeting is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m.