LINGLE –The Lingle Town Council reconvened at 7 p.m. sharp Wednesday evening at the Lingle Community Center, with new business to discuss amongst the council, as well a fair number of attendees that showed up to the meeting.

A prime matter that was discussed during the meeting was a strong aspiration by council members, as well as Lingle residents, for the town to have more signs regarding speed limits within town. In accordance with the council, traffic coming in from the surrounding highways into Lingle has been a serious concern for safety regarding walking and cycling pedestrians. The solution discussed was to hopefully install more speed limit signs in the appropriate areas, as well as stop signs within a reasonable amount of foreseeable time. 

“I would really like more residents to speak up about this and let us know,” Council Member Brandie Cook said. “Because the people that are going to know more about this than anyone, are the residents.”

Town Attorney, Anna Barnes proceeded to bring up recent legal matters within Lingle. According to Barnes, there was one case involving a sentencing hearing this month for an assault, followed by an issue regarding utilities with a small number of Lingle residents not currently able to pay utility bills. The reasons were regarding probation issues, as well as one resident currently being in the custody of U.S. Marshals. The council motioned to write off the bills, three separate cases specifically, that were unlikely to be able to process payments at this time. It was further discussed that a small claims court case may be the solution in the future to resolve matters relating to this.

Council Member, Kathy Wilhelm, commented further on the issue, stating “Let’s try to be a little aggressive about this, and make sure we get this settled so that we can put this behind us.”

The Council further discussed city camera matters, brought up by Police Chief Endra Andrews, who was able to obtain $40,345 quote for new city cameras. An economic development grant was also discussed, but would only be a $20,000 proposal. 

The question on the table with the Council was whether to go with a $20,000 grant, or a $40,000 grant on city bought cameras.

Council Member Cook commented, “Who knows what we’ll need next year. It doesn’t matter what grant you put in for, you have to fast forward to estimate how much we’ll need. You have to make sure that everything you ask for is there.”

There was no motion at this time on which grant would be accepted for city cameras. 

The 1974 city ordinance, which was discussed at the last meeting, was brought up yet again by town council. The ordinance related to a recent matter regarding moving a trailer home out of a property, and being replaced by a more modern trailer. The ordinance states that if this is proceeded, a new trailer may not be placed on the property. It was agreed on that this ordinance will remain as is. There will be no change, and once a trailer is removed from a property, it may only be replaced by a house.

Moving on with town matters with summer concerning maintenance, Lingle maintenance staff, Jeremy Ochsner and Logan Dailey, advocated that the town pool has been well prepared as far as necessary repairs, maintenance, and should be ready for patrons promptly on schedule for the summer. It was further advocated that the water quality in Lingle is very high, and the area is very fortunate to have such a quality for public pool use.

It was, however, motioned to deny certain upgrades on the pool that were not considered priority, or necessary. Due to budget restraints, the city of Lingle would not be making these particular pool upgrades at this time, however all necessary priority repairs are up to date. 

New pumps have also been ordered for the Lingle Fire Department, which according to council, was indeed a priority at this point. 

A following matter on the agenda was community speaker, and Lingle resident, Jessica Pontarolo, who advocated for raising funds for a bit of extra summer fun for Lingle children.

“We were hoping to raise a little money for our kids’ homes school activities this summer,” Pontarolo said. “This would not go to covering books and school of course, but particularly my daughter has some real interests in marine biology. We thought it would be a good incentive for them [Lingle children] to learn how to run a budget and have opportunities for them to go visit an aquarium. We felt it would be very appropriate for them to pick a project, and then earn the money for it themselves. We were hoping to get the councils consent to have a concession stand at the Lingle park.”

Pontarolo further added that if her proposed concession project would be able to operate at least three times, it would be considered a success.

It was agreed on by the Council the concessions would preferably operate during the weekend of the Lingle Garage Sale. It was further added by the Council it would be beneficial for Lingle, as well as the children to be able to do this during summer pool hours, which wouldn’t require a significant amount of funding or encounter major problems.

The council had no major concerns and encouraged the residents to hold some concessions this summer in order to raise money for the cause.

The meeting was adjourned at 8 p.m. promptly and will reconvene at the Lingle Community Center at 7 p.m. May 24. 

For further questions and information, please visit townoflingle.com.