EKALAKA TOWN COUNCIL MINUTES

Town Office: November 16, 2022, 5 p.m.

A. Call Meeting to Order at 5:08 p.m.

a. Roll Call Council: LIBBY BARTH, ANDY WRIGHT, AND MELISSA LOVEC (VIA ZOOM)

b. Employees Present: COLBY DIEDE

c. Appointed Officials Present: BUCK KRATZER, TERI JUMP, JENNIFER WILLIAMS

B. Pledge of Allegiance

C. Public Comment: NONE

- Council President Barth made a motion to adjust agenda order to sign in new council member, Rex McCord. Council Member Wright seconded; no further discussion, motion passed.

- Council Member Wright moved to appoint Rex McCord to fulfill Jimmy Mackay’s empty position, ending December 31, 2023, Council President Barth seconded; no further discussion, motion passed.

- Rex McCord raised his right hand and was sworn in by the Clerk to fulfill the vacant seat on the council for the remainder of that term, ending December 31, 2023. He signed the oath once stated and he was welcomed to the council at 5:23 p.m. on November 16, 2022.

D. Presentation of Petitions and Communications: Zoning and Permits: NONE

E. Minutes from last meeting(s): read, correct (if needed) and approve.

a. A name spelling error was pointed out. Thomas Jodan changed to Thomas Jodoin.

b. Council Member Wright moved to approve the minutes with corrections, Council President Barth seconded; no further discussion, motion passed.

F. Claims

a. Kirstin Sweet, of Bridger was here to assist the Clerk with claims and reports were handed to council members during this meeting.

b. Council President Barth moved to approve claims as presented: Check#15804 – 15806; #15813 – 15816; #15818 – 15844, Council Member Wright seconded, discussion included the phrase “ksweetllc” on the reports – it’s not a typo – those are the changes that Kirstin Sweet made without Teri, so there is accountability. With no further discussion, motion passed.

c. Payroll Summary – the Clerk will provide a Payroll Summary at each second meeting for the council to initial/sign. No need to approve or take action today as this wasn’t on the agenda.

d. Claims ending balance: $138,500.73

G. Reports of Officers:

a. Public Works Director (PWD): Colby Diede

i. (Streets, Parks, Pool, Water/Sewer/Landfill): Robin, from Rural Water was here today, we need to look into an alternative for the UV treatment system. The lagoon needs help, the pumps need help, and things aren’t great. PWD spoke with Chad, who told him our system is not a common thing in the area. PWD is looking into different options for pumps and treatment. He was asked by the council to provide quotes from these companies. Clerk stated that it’s approximately $3,000 for Russell Industries to come and this time the “fix” only lasted three days. With concern and questioning from the council, Mayor Kratzer clarified and pointed out that we have two major problems: 1. Pumps that take sewage to the lagoon. 2. Sewage Treatment (UV) before dumping back into Russell Creek.

ii. PWD reported that the last estimate from Xylem (UV System company) was $12,000 before they would come here to make any repairs or maintenance on our system. This is due to the demand letter sent from the Town Attorney, approved by the council.

iii. Mayor Kratzer would like to get away from the UV system all together – he will speak with Shannon Hewson, an engineer from Baker.

iv. Kirstin Sweet, still in attendance, offered some suggestions from their town, and gave information to PWD so that he can follow up on this. She also suggested that Robin, from Rural Water should know the system used in Bridger, MT.

v. PWD reported that the backhoe has crashed and is in need of a CAT mechanic – Mayor Kratzer reminded PWD that we hired Lance Barerre as PWD Assistant(PWDA) and he is mechanically inclined, so see if he can do it before we call in the CAT mechanic.

vi. Council Member McCord asked the PWD about sewage treatment and land dumping for fertilizer – there was discussion and information shared – it’s not something we can do with our sludge from the lagoon.

vii. Michael will be gone for a couple of Tuesdays – PWDA will tend to the dump during those absences.

viii. PWD asked for clarification from the council on legal right of way and snow berm situations. From Mayor Kratzer: It is the job of PWD to clear the streets and make them driveable – he is not to scoop into private driveways or yards – it is the responsibility of the private citizen to clear their driveway, yard and berm that may occur from city plowing. Do not place that snow back in the city streets. If PWD has issues with citizens, he is to professionally point them to the Mayor or the Council with their concerns.

b. Mayor: Buck Kratzer

i. Mayor Kratzer reported that we have hired Lance Barerre as PWD Assistant – he will start Monday, November 21, 2022.

ii. Waiting to hear grant status from Beth Epely with EPEDC – will email

iii. Waiting to hear survey status from Chad with Great West Engineering – will email

iv. Waiting to hear from Thomas Jodoin on Pilot Program through MT League of Cities and Towns – Attorney Williams will share the Mayor’s contact information with Mr. Jodoin.

c. Attorney: Jennifer Williams

i. Attorney Williams has set us up with Microsoft 365 email addresses. She passed out login information to each member, stating that she would email Council Member Lovec, as she was attending via zoom, and she would assist newest Council Member McCord with paper print-outs, as will the Clerk. The council asked that those email addresses not be posted in the paper, but that they be available to the public via the Clerk at the Town Office.

ii. Attorney Williams will contact Thomas Jodoin about the Pilot Program, sharing Mayor Kratzer’s contact information and gaining all that is needed to negotiate this program commencement.

iii. Attorney Williams reported that she will be absent for December 7 Meeting.

d. Council

i. Council President asked for Closed Session option to discuss private matter.

ii. No public report from the Council

H. Reports of Standing and Special Committees:

a. Administrative (Clerk/Treasurer) : Teri Jump

i. Cash report: $1,666,976.20

ii. Budget Preparation Software was installed yesterday. Kirstin Sweet is here to help the Clerk through the weekend. Kirstin will prepare the documents and essentially bypass the Clerk this year so that she can focus her training on other, more pressing areas in the Town. Her plan is to work with the Clerk on balance reconciliation going back to November, 2021.

iii. Rural Water Conference in Great Falls happens in March ‘23. The Clerk will get information to present to the Council.

b. Law Enforcement - ABSENT

c. Library- None

d. Fire Department/Committee – met today – will report in Unfinished Business

e. Safety Committee – met last meeting, November 2, 2022 after the 7 p.m. meeting. Basic PPE (boots, gloves, high visibility coat/vest, safety glasses..etc) was discussed and a reminder to employees that PPE purchases up to $500 will be reimbursed annually.

f. Interview/Hiring Committee: None

I. Unfinished Business

a. Website cost

i. Attorney Williams is leading the charge with this improvement of our availability – she suggested using Squarespace as our database and setting up the FB page while the Clerk is still getting settled in her role.

ii. Council President Barth moved to approve $120 annual cost to utilize Squarespace for our website, Council Member Wright seconded; no further discussion, motion passed.

b. EVFD contract

i. The EVFD-Town Contract was signed today!!! The council would like to extend their gratitude to the Fire Committee: Mark Wright, Wayne Yost, Pat Strickland, Buck Kratzer, Melissa Lovec, and Libby Barth. We are thankful also to our Attorney, Jennifer Williams, for working through all the corrections we’ve made over the last few months.

ii. Attorney Williams will circulate the Waivers in the next few days to obtain signatures from the Fire Committee. Council Member McCord was brought up to speed on the current status of the EVFD/Town agreement.

iii. Council President Barth moved to approve EVFD-Town Contract, Council Member McCord seconded; no further discussion, motion passed with three Council votes Aye and one abstention from Council Member Wright.

c. MT League of Cities Pilot Program for Clerk- previously discussed

d. HR Paperwork –

i. Clerk is waiting to hear from Colonial Life, Allegiance and Council Member Lovec to set up a meeting regarding HR paperwork/benefits discussion.

e. Microsoft 365 Status – COMPLETE!

f. UV System – previously discussed

J. New Business

a. New Council Member – moved up in the meeting schedule – placed before Presentation of Petitions and Communications.

b. Phone Tree discussion

i. Added to agenda per the request of Attorney Williams – this is something Council Member Lovec will help the Clerk with – at least will help with forwarding the town office phone to whomever is on call. This is an ongoing discussion.

c. Adding Teri Jump to US Bank Credit Card Account and removing Kitty Schmid

i. Council Member Wright moved to remove Kitty Schmid’s name and add Teri Jump to the US Bank Credit Card Account, Council President seconded; no further discussion, motion passed.

K. Closed Session Option

a. Mayor Kratzer dismissed the Clerk and Attorney Williams to go into closed session for the discussion of a private matter at 6:26 p.m.

b. Mayor Kratzer called back to open session at 6:33 p.m., welcoming the Clerk and Attorney Williams back to the meeting.

L. Announcements

a. Council requests packets, including the agenda, previous minutes, budget reports and anything else that needs to be discussed in a folder for each Council member. The request is that at a minimum, the Agenda and minutes are sent to each member the Friday before the scheduled Wednesday night meeting.

b. Mayor Kratzer requested that the council be more vocal in the meetings, rather than Attorney Williams. He asked that she make notes and present those during her time for reporting.

c. Council President Barth will be absent for December 7th meeting – general consensus states that a quorum should be present without her. The Clerk will record minutes and present them for the second monthly meeting on December 21, 2022.

d. Question from Council Member Wright on bi-monthly meetings – the council agreed to continue bi-monthly meetings until we are more in control of meeting length and issues at hand.

M. Next Meeting Date: December 7, 2022 at 5 p.m. (with Fire Committee Meeting at 4:30 p.m.)

N. Adjourn

a. Council Member Wright moved to adjourn the meeting, Council Member Lovec seconded; no further discussion, motion passed and meeting was adjourned at 6:43 p.m .

Minutes submitted by Council President Barth November 17, 2022.