New Town Councilors Seated

At the May meeting of the Whitehall Town Council new town councilors Bill Lanes and Linda Jung were approved and seated. Lanes, who was mistakenly serving for the wrong ward, now serves in Ward 1 (replacing Logan Reiff) and Jung will serve Ward 2.

Jason Crawford, engineer from Triple Tree Engineering, gave a report on the town’s upcoming water treatment facility, breaking the news to the Council that the Town Hall will not be a suitable match for the facility, as it is not large enough to house the entire system. The backup location since the beginning of engineering has been a new building at the Recreation Complex; Triple Tree Engineering is now working to make the new location comply with town needs and DEQ requirements. Crawford noted that the new location will have additions costs, but some previously slated costs from the original location may no longer be needed at the new location, helping to balance the project out.

Crawford said that Montana Rail Link and Montana Department of Transportation permits have been applied for to cross the railroad tracks and Legion Avenue, respectively. These permits were required regardless of the new location and will take several months to acquire. However, with the needed move to the Recreation Complex property, the project will have a budget and schedule adjustment of several months, with Crawford noting that bids will probably go out in late 2021, with winter work begun in early 2022. Crawford asked for a $50,000 budget amendment for engineering purposes not related to the new location, which the council approved.

Nicole Murray, a concerned Whitehall resident and parent, spoke up and questioned the current uranium content of the Town’s water and whether this could possibly be due to the Golden Sunlight Mine’s tailings runoff. Crawford said that several areas have natural occurring uranium in the standing water table and that Whitehall’s seems to be naturally occurring as well. Town Public Works manager Kory Klapan stated that the uranium levels, at last measurement, were 32 parts per billion at Division Street’s lagoon and 41 parts per billion at the firehouse. Murray questioned whether Triple Tree Engineering would be using a ceramic filter for processing, which Crawford could not confirm, but did say that the ionic exchange process of filtering is currently what is proposed from engineering.

Councilwoman Katy James presented an open letter to the Council and to the residents of Whitehall requesting that the Town and the citizens of Whitehall reconsider joining the Jefferson Valley Rural Ambulance District.

“Initially when the district was established, in-district residents were/are charged a $29 annual fee which is collected with annual taxes- one-time annually. Presently out-of-district residents (those residing in the town of Whitehall) are being assesses the $29 fee on top of their ambulance bill, each time they call for the ambulance and are transported. This is not paid by your insurance; it must come out of your pocket.

“Effective July 1, 2021, JVRAD will be increasing the fee to $100 per ambulance ride for out-of-district charges. We have three choices: 1. Whitehall residents can go through the petition process to have the Town put it on a ballot – this would be a cost to the town. 2. The Town Council could decide to put it on the ballot for the voters to vote yes or no on. 3. The town Council could do a resolution to join the district and then the residents would only have to pay the $29 fee per year on their taxes.”

James presented the letter and it was stated that the topic would be on June’s agenda.

• Town Attorney Ed Guza stated that negotiations are at a stand still with the Sheriff’s department, with several changes to what ordinances would and would not be enforced by the department being made to the contract. He noted that the department would not commit to a total number of hours of service without further negotiating; the sheriff’s contract has been the same for approximately 14 years.

• Janacaro-Hensleigh noted that Northwestern Energy will be replacing all gas and electric meters on home, beginning in July. An upcoming postcard from NWE will detail further information in regard to dates/times.

• Logan Reiff and Derek Bingham were accepted as new Rec Complex board members.

• Matthew Novak presented on the upcoming Whitehall Food Pantry building to be built at 110 South Division; excavation has begun, rough plumb in is next, following with a concreate foundation. The building is 24x30 and should ideally be completed by the end of July.

• The council approved 2021-6, which extends the burn timeline as April to May in order to match Jefferson County’s burn timeline. Burn permits must still be acquired and activated before burning.