The City of Tarkio Board of Aldermen met Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at Tarkio City Hall. The Pledge of Allegiance was conducted. Roll call was done by City Clerk Danielle Madron: aldermen Scott Walker, Jeff Agnew, Blu Dow, and Jeff Olson were all present. Visitors were: city employees – Street Superintendent Jamie Quimby, Police Chief Tyson Gibbons, Police Officer Dorrel, Park Superintendent Chris Niles, Building Inspector Jesse Payne, Tarkio Board of Public Works employee Curtis Hedrick; City Auditor Kenney Hales; and citizen Michael Klosek, Sr.
Mayor Staten asked for the approval of the regular meeting minutes from June 14, 2023. Dow made a motion to approve the minutes from the June 14 meeting and all approved.
Mike Klosek, Sr. voiced his concerns to the board about low hanging branches over different streets and alley ways in town. His trash trucks and workers get hit by these branches while picking up the trash. Quimby informed him that they had started taking care of low hanging branches over streets, but that the city doesn’t maintain all alleys within the city. The street crew will continue to work on getting branches cut back.
Kenney Hales, Auditor for the City of Tarkio, spoke to the board about the audit for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. He said the numbers look good and there was nothing incorrect to report.
Mayor Staten asked for the approval of Park Board member appointments: Ashlee Driskell (president), Michael Klosek (vice-president), Jennifer Peregrine (secretary), and Summer Reeves, and Paige Agnew (members), all through 2026. The board voted to accept the appointment of all Park Board members.
Clerk Madron presented some options for new Christmas light decorations for Main Street. The board decided they wanted to do all white lighting this year. Dow made the motion to purchase two 6-foot white snowflakes at $479.00 each and 18 4-foot snowflakes at $370.00 each, for an approximate total of $7,618.00. The motion to approve the purchase of the 20 new Christmas decorations was approved.
The board reviewed the recent changes to the employee handbook. Agnew made a motion to approve the changes to the policy, Walker seconded and with four ayes, the motion passed.
Department Reports
Blu Dow, City Buildings – Travis Hicks installed the new evidence room door. Chief Gibbons is getting the handle and lock to have those installed. Travis will be back to measure and give an estimate for the work that needs done to the ceilings in City Hall.
Jeff Agnew, Fire Department – The new air tanks should be in soon. Chief Bredensteiner will send the bill to City Hall once it is received.
Jeff Olson and Chris Niles, Parks & Pool – Chris said he is waiting on a quote for the asphalt work on the tennis court. The sand should be in on Monday for the volleyball pit. The stencil for the basketball court has been ordered, so lines can be painted on the new outside court. Work to redo the crow’s nest has been estimated at just under $6,000.00. The funds to do this project will be coming from the baseball donations that have been made. Jeff Arp with MIRMA was here on June 29 and did an inspection at the pool. The only recommendation he had was that there be a small hot water heater put in the concession stand. This was already voted on last month and will be installed once it comes in. The recent CPR drill at the pool went well. The lifeguards were given some feedback to make this run even more smoothly in the event of an emergency.
Scott Walker, Street Department – Quimby’s Report:
• Brush Pile: The brush pile has been used properly so far this season. No items of concern have been dumped.
• RV Park: There have been a few campers lately.
• Cold Patch: Repairs to potholes continue. There have also been some street edges that have been repaired with this.
• Parks Department: They have assisted a bit with mowing and cleaned up a tree that fell near the sign for Summa Park.
• Street Name Plates: This project has been completed. Other signs that are faded or damaged are going to be replaced as time allows.
• Basketball Court/Volleyball Pit: Quimby has been in contact with Chris King and the sand for the volleyball pit should be here in the near future. The street crew will assist in spreading it and repairing any ruts left by the dump truck.
• Tree Removal & Trimming: There have been no trees removed this last month, but they have continued trimming low hanging limbs. They have cut five dump truck loads since the last meeting. There have also been some limbs down due to thunderstorms.
Curtis Hedrick, Board of Public Works – A total of 407,000 gallons of water have been used at the pool so far this summer. There have been algae issues at the lagoons that are being addressed.
Mark Staten, Gould Peterson Municipal Airport – The framework for the hangar building is being constructed. The Wing Nuts Flying Circus Airshow went well last weekend.
Chris Niles, Animal Control – There have been three animals in the pound this month. All were returned to their owners.
Tyson Gibbons, Tarkio Police Department – The K9 golf tournament is July 14. There are currently 14 teams signed up. The board asked about discussing the ordinance for vehicles being parked in yards. They would like to go over this ordinance next month. The number of vehicles parked on grass in yards has gotten out of control.
Danielle Madron, City Financials – Clerk Madron will be gone at the MIRMA conference next week. There was nothing else to report.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m. The next month’s regular meeting will be August 9, 2023, at 6:00 p.m.