By Michael Howell
The Hamilton City Council is mulling over the possibility of accepting as a gift 12 acres of land located behind the K-Mart store on Highway 93 at the north end of town. According to City Planner Dennis Stranger, the owner of the land, Mr. Seals, has tentatively committed to donating the land to the city if the city will pay for the necessary appraisal of the property. Stranger estimated the cost of the appraisal at about $5,000. The deal is tentative. If Seals doesn’t get the tax benefit he is looking for then the deal is off.
Stranger said that there would be some unanticipated costs having to do with an environmental check to determine if there are any hazardous wastes on the property. He is looking into the costs of that. He said there were once a couple of mobile homes located on the property but they had been removed. However, some electrical pedestals and septic tanks remain. He said the area was currently zoned high density residential. He said he did not know of any approved development plans for the land, but he would look into that.
Councilor Joe Petrusaitis expressed concern about a possible dump being located on the property. He wondered why the property was being given away.
“He wants a tax deduction,” said Stranger.
“Personally, I’m a bit leary about the deal,” said Petrusaitis, “but let’s see what happens.”
A motion to send a letter tentatively accepting the property on condition that it meets the environmental review was passed on a 5 to 0 vote, with Petrusaitis abstaining.
The council accepted Mayor Jerry Steele’s recommendation that they hire a different auditor for the coming year. He recommended hiring former auditor Terry James Burk rather than re-hiring current auditor Jennifer Cody despite the fact that Burk’s bid for the contract was about $3,000 more than Cody’s. Steele said he was not dissatisfied with Cody’s performance, but that it was a good idea to change auditors every once in a while to get a “new set of eyes” examining things.
Councilor Ken Bell questioned whether Burk, who served as the city’s auditor prior to Cody, was really a “fresh set of eyes.”
The Mayor defended his recommendation, saying that it had been several years since Burk had audited the city and so it would be a fresh new look at things. He said Burk resigned from the job only because he was not being provided the information he needed to do the audit.
Asked by Bell if he was dissatisfied with Cody’s performance at all, Steele said he was not. He said it was just time to get a new set of eyes on the job to take a fresh look at things.
Councilor Joe Petrusaits said that he thought Cody’s work was very thorough.
“I would stick with Cody,” he said. “We have a tendency to spend too much on projects, it’s time we looked at saving a little money.”
Councilor Al Mitchell said, “I have a tendency to agree with the Mayor on this one. I don’t think Cody did a bad job. She did a good job. But I believe it’s good to change up auditors from time to time.” He said it was just good practice.
The Council voted 4 to 2 to hire Burk. Bell and Petrusaitis cast the dissenting votes.
A public hearing was held for the purpose of taking public comment regarding amendments to the Hamilton Municipal Code, specifically Title 18 Floodplain and Floodplain Management. Adopting the floodplain management regulations allows residents in the floodplain to obtain flood insurance. The ordinance was unanimously approved on first reading. A second reading is scheduled for the next council meeting.
The council also approved a payment to WGM Group in the amount of $35,971 for locating underground utilities, preparing a submittal to the Montana Department of Transportation for the Fairgrounds Road left turn lane, and construction services for Fairgrounds Road Phase 2.
Council President Jenny West said that she was glad to see the work being done since it will alleviate a lot of traffic problems and put Fairgrounds Road into a safer state.
At a recent Committee of the Whole meeting on November 25, the council heard more about the downtown fire alarm siren from Fire Chief Brad Mohn. The council has received many complaints about how loud and disturbing the siren is and Mohn has been researching possible remedies. Although he had previously expressed concern that removing the siren might jeopardize the City’s insurance rating, he said after researching it that it was not the case. He also noted that there is no requirement concerning how loud the siren had to be. He suggested that the council consider placing a timer on the siren so that it only operates from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. He said there is no volume control on the siren but he could look into something that might work.
Mohn reiterated that the siren was used for safety reasons. He said from 20 to 26 people can respond to a fire call in their personal vehicles and other drivers in the downtown area need to be alerted that this is occurring.
Stranger said that he had done a little research and found that half the towns he looked at had sirens and half did not. He also suggested that it might be worth talking to the Rocky Mountain Laboratory since they are working on their own siren to reduce the volume.
Bell said that he thought the siren was necessary. He said it was a matter of safety for pedestrians when the firemen are responding.
“Maybe we could shut it off at night or baffle it,” he said. “I’d like to see the Fire Department look into attenuating the volume, but I don’t want to see it go away. I would vote to keep it 24 hours a day.”
West said that it appeared there was consensus to put some time limitations on the siren.
Mohn said that he would look into the possibility of some sort of baffling and into installing a timer.