Libby City Council meeting report

The Libby City Council on Tuesday voted to spend more than $50,000 from the economic development fund in order to purchase a new street sweeper and flush truck to replace failing equipment.

The sweeper has a price tag of $201,300 and the flush truck costs $172,500, but a grant from the Montana Department of Transportation is absorbing 86 percent of the cost, reducing the city’s obligation to $50,163.96.

Councilwoman Dejon Raines said the water and sewer committee decided to propose the expense from the economic development fund because quality infrastructure is vital to the city’s long-term development needs.

Councilman Allen Olsen asked if the transfer from the economic development fund was to be another loan to the city and, if so, how it would be repaid. The Council determined the funding would be given to the city as a grant, not a loan.

Olsen then asked if the city would be able to recoup any of that expense by selling the equipment being replaced. Mayor Doug Roll said the city has held several recent auctions to sell outdated equipment and such a move was certainly possible. Councilman Brent Teske, who heads the city’s water and sewer committee, said the equipment was at a point where the maintenance costs were higher than replacement costs, so he wasn’t sure what kind of return an auction would generate for the city.

The motion to purchase the equipment passed the City Council unanimously.

The Council also addressed the revised version of Resolution 1865, which would establish a fee schedule for public records research and duplication.

Council members Brent Teske, Allen Olsen and Dejon Raines questioned several areas of the resolution they considered vague. As a result of those questions, ordinance committee chairwoman Peggy Williams offered to pull the resolution back to committee for further analysis.