Culbertson council approves routine items, accepts surplus bids, schedules meeting-time change and sends HB 124 letter

The Culbertson Town Council opened its regular Jan. 7 meeting by recording attendance and approving routine business, then moved through a set of motions that the minutes show carried without objection.

W. Bruce Houle moved to approve the agenda; Dave Solem seconded. The council then approved the Dec. 3, 2018 regular meeting minutes and the Dec. 12, 2018 workshop minutes on a motion by Houle, seconded by Mark Nelson. Houle later moved to approve the December treasurer’s report, journal vouchers (including payroll JV 181200) and December bills; Mark Nelson seconded. The minutes record no objections and state each motion "carried." The meeting record lists six members present and two absences.

On surplus property the council accepted two bids tied to Resolution 469. Jason Bergstrom submitted a $150 bid for a Model 1700-A (serial #565774) "Old Airport Truck"; G&P Auto bid $510 for a 2001 Dodge 1/2 ton (VIN JB7HF13YXIJ561049). The minutes state the town will retain property that received no bids.

The council also voted to schedule a second reading of Resolution 471 at the regular February meeting; the resolution would set regular council meetings for the second Monday of the month and move the start time to 5:30 p.m. Dave Solem made that motion and W. Bruce Houle seconded.

In a separate motion, W. Bruce Houle moved that the council send a letter to their legislative representative to express concerns about potential impacts if funds from HB 124 were no longer distributed to local governments; Mark Nelson seconded. Town Clerk Tiffani Trangsrud was assigned to update the council on any changes related to that matter.

Mayor Larry Crowder said he is researching preliminary drawings for a new fire hall and that SDI Architects & Design provided an estimate of about $10,000–$12,000 for preliminary drawings. The minutes do not record any vote or funding authorization for the fire-hall drawings at this meeting.

All motions recorded in the minutes include the mover and seconder; the minutes record "no objections" for each, and the motions carried. The minutes do not list individual roll-call votes or abstentions.