Banning resigns Troy council

Troy City Councilman Don Banning submitted his resignation on Wednesday, Nov. 9, a day after losing a mayoral bid to incumbent Jim Hammons.

The city council accepted Banning's resignation on Wednesday night during the regular meeting. Banning's term on the council is up at the end of next month.

Hammons said the council is looking at appointing Larry Baker to the council for the remainder of this year. Baker, owner of Odie's Big Sky Cafe in Troy, was elected in last week's election to Banning's seat on the council.

Baker had a conflict last week and couldn't make the council meeting, Hammons said.

Banning served five years on the council having been originally appointed and then elected to his seat. His resignation letter wished the council well.

In January, the council has to reappoint John Clogston to the council to fill the remaining term of Hammons' seat. Hammons stepped into the mayor's slot during mid-summer when Mayor John Brown submitted his resignation. Clogston, who moved to Troy from Beatty, Nev., "a few years ago," was appointed for five months to Hammons' vacant council seat.

It's not known at this time whether Clogston is interested in serving beyond the five-month appointment, said Hammons, who is concerned about the changes in the council as the water project comes closer to reality.

City Clerk Sandra Johnson said it might be possible to begin advertising for bids in December or January to construct the first phase of the water project with work beginning sometime next year. That project has been coming together for the past two years and was identified as a city infrastructure priority by Mayor Roger Kenlser in the late 1980s.

The water project will replace leaking city mains, add a well and storage tank to the south side of town — across Callahan Creek — and introduce water meters to all city water users.

In addition, Hammons is looking seriously at alternatives to providing power to city residents through the only municipally-owned electric company in the state. Presently, the city has a fixed-rate supply contract to receive power from the Bonneville Power Administration but that contract ends in 2011. To avoid a significant increase in supply costs from the BPA at that time, which would have to be passed along to the city customers, the council is investigating alternatives sources of power including developing a biomass generator in the Troy area.

The city council's next meeting is Wednesday, Nov. 23.