The Rainelle Town Council held its regular meeting on Monday, July 11. The evening’s agenda was filled with a multitude of town-related matters. The list included the resignation of the town recorder, the second reading of a new ordinance, the construction of a helipad and much more.
First up on the agenda were announcements. Primary among them was the resignation of town recorder Eddie Midkiff. Other items included the storm drain project start date projection of early fall and the closing of the bid process from the generator project.
After the conclusion of the announcements, the council turned to unfinished business. The only item under this section was the second reading of a new ordinance allowing ATVs and UTVs to operate on town roads. The second reading passed without issue.
The council turned its attention to new business. First up was a discussion of a helipad for the fire department. Representatives from the Rainelle Fire Department spoke about their search for a place where helicopter rescue such as HealthNet can safely land within town limits. As it stands, firefighters must travel to surrounding areas such as Rupert to set up landing zones when emergencies requiring a helicopter arise. The fire department has identified a potential location on Seventh Street owned by the town.
The council voted to donate the property to the fire department to build a helipad.
Next up was a discussion of raising town garbage bills. Due to increasing fuel costs, the council proposed raising garbage bills by $1. The motion passed.
The final item of new business turned to the water plant. A representative spoke about the plant’s alert system. The current system sends alerts to water plant employees when a fault is detected. Regardless of the time, employees must go to the plant to determine the nature of the issue. With a new system, employees would receive a notice of the specific problem and be able to handle many potential malfunctions directly from their phones. Council voted in favor of purchasing the new system.
After the conclusion of new business discussions, the council heard remarks from citizens and then adjourned the meeting.
The Rainelle Town Council will meet again on July 25. All meetings are streamed via Facebook Live.
