The City of Tarkio Board of Aldermen met Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at Tarkio City Hall. The Pledge of Allegiance was conducted at 6:00 p.m. Roll call was done by Tarkio City Clerk Danielle Madron: aldermen Scott Walker, Blu Dow, Jeff Olson, and James Navin, Jr., were all present. Also present were: Mayor Jeff Agnew; City of Tarkio employees – Police Officer Tyler Dorrel and Street Superintendent Jamie Quimby; Tarkio Board of Public Works employee Danny Martin; City Building Inspector Jesse Payne; City Auditor Kenney Hales; and Tarkio citizens Michael Klosek, Sr., and Donnie Dockins.
Mayor Jeff Agnew asked for the approval of the regular meeting minutes from May 8 and special meeting minutes from May 14 and May 29. Walker made a motion to approve the minutes as presented and the motion was seconded and approved.
Kenney Hales discussed the city audit for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Overall, the audit looked good and he had no concerns.
Mike Klosek, Sr., presented a proposal for a new solid waste agreement for next year. The council will review and discuss the proposal and would like to discuss this more at next month’s meeting.
Mayor Agnew presented his appointments for department liaisons for 2024-2025. The 2023-2024 department liaisons were Jeff Olson (parks department), Jeff Agnew (fire department), Scott Walker (street department), and Blu Dow (city buildings). Mayor Agnew selected department liaisons for 2024-2025 as follow: Jeff Olson (city buildings), Scott Walker (fire department), James Navin (street department), and Blu Dow (parks department). The liaison appointments were approved as presented.
Department reports
Blu Dow, City Buildings – Blu is still trying to get in contact with the company to do the tuck pointing on the front of City Hall. She is also still working on getting the door frame fixed at the Tarkio Community Building. New wi-fi equipment has been purchased for the Community Building to help extend the wi-fi signal to the Tarkio Municipal Pool and to the Tarkio City Baseball Field. Cost of this equipment is approximately $187.00.
Jeff Agnew, Fire Department – Jeff had nothing to report.
Jeff Olson, Parks & Pool – The pool is open and running great. There have been no signs of leaks at this time. KC Gunite came and did a walk-through with lifeguards and park employees on pool operations, daily pool checks, and pool upkeep procedures. They also left multiple pool manuals on what repairs were made and what products were used in the pool renovations. Chris passed his Certified Pool Operator’s class. He will not have to recertify for the next five years.
Scott Walker, City Streets – Jamie Quimby gave his report:
• Repairs/equipment – The skid steer is down. A lower radiator hose has been ordered so it can be repaired.
• Rip rap – The county has taken several more loads of rip rap.
• Brightspeed – The street crew has found a couple of street signs that this company just pulled and didn’t tell them about. These will be fixed.
• Potholes – Cold patch has arrived and the crew has begun using it.
• Curb project – This project has started and is progressing. Rains have slowed the project, but with drier weather ahead, it should start moving much faster. The street crew has been removing the debris as quickly as possible.
• Tree removal – A tree on Park Street across from the funeral home was severely damaged by wind and was removed. The street crew cleaned up what was on the ground and had Mike Poppa remove what was still standing, because of power lines.
• Torrey Pines – Quimby contacted Mayor Jeff Agnew about mowing this area before the holiday weekend and he agreed that it should be done as it was very unsightly and there had been several complaints about it. A bill was sent.
• Ditch cleaning – There have been a couple of ditches that the crew had located and cleaned out. There are several more they are planning on doing.
Danny Martin, Tarkio Board of Public Works – A fire hydrant was relocated at the end of Main Street per Ag Partners’ request. Ag Partners paid for all work except the hydrant, which was being replaced anyway.
Jeff Agnew, Gould Peterson Municipal Airport – Jeff had nothing to report.
Tyson Gibbons, Tarkio Police Department – Mayor Agnew gave Chief Gibbons’ numbers to the board. There were no questions. There was an application for a reserve officer presented. This would be discussed in closed session.
Danielle Madron, city financials – No questions were asked and there was nothing to report.
A break was taken from 6:40 to 6:45 p.m.
Walker made a motion to enter into executive session per Chapter 610.021 Section 3 hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting a particular employee, etc. The motion was seconded and approved and the meeting moved into executive session.
Olson made a motion to close the executive session and the motion was seconded and approved.
Olson made a motion to hire Tee-Jay Thomas as a reserve officer for the Tarkio Police Department. The motion ws seconded and four ayes approved the motion and the second. The motion passed.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m. Next month’s regular Tarkio Board of Aldermen meeting will be held Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. at Tarkio City Hall, located at the corner of 6th and Main Street. Tarkio residents are invited and encouraged to attend all meetings.
