Malta City Council Addresses Landfill Issues in Late March Meeting

Council member Dave Rummel opened the Malta City Council's late-March session at 5:30 p.m. after Mayor Demarais was absent, presiding over a meeting that put the city landfill squarely back in focus. No public comment was received when Rummel opened the floor.

Present were council members Laura Pankratz, Darren Demarais, and Bonnie Wiederrick, along with City Clerk Lorie Bond, City Judge Wade Riden, Trinity Young, Gina Lamb, and Rhei Tharp. Michael Knudsen covered for Public Works Department head Matt VanWinkle, bringing the infrastructure side of the landfill conversation into the room even in VanWinkle's absence.

The landfill has been a recurring pressure point at Malta City Hall. As recently as November 2025, the council was weighing a draft rate increase resolution, a sign that the facility's operating costs have been climbing. Montana ranks among the least expensive states for landfill disposal, with tipping fees averaging around $39 per ton nationally, but small municipalities like Malta carry those costs with lean budgets, and any upward adjustment in fees lands directly on residents and local haulers. What was resolved or deferred at the late-March session, the minutes will clarify, but the presence of a public works substitute alongside the full council underlines that the conversation carries technical as well as fiscal weight.

Routine motions were made and seconded to move agenda items forward, but the landfill discussion stood out as the meeting's substantive thread. City Clerk Bond has been central to coordinating compliance and regulatory paperwork for the city across multiple ongoing projects.

Residents who want to track where the landfill conversation goes from here can contact the city clerk's office or watch upcoming agendas posted through city channels. The next regularly scheduled Malta City Council meeting will be the next opportunity to see whether a formal action, such as a rate resolution or a staff report, follows from the late-March discussion. Council meetings are open to the public.