Ronan library gets large donation

RONAN — The Ronan City Library announced it has received big donation at Monday’s city council meeting.

Library director Michelle Fenger was on hand along with other library board members to announce a $13,000 donation from a single donor. The donor wishes to remain anonymous.

Both the council and library board were excited by the news. The library had its budget drastically cut this fiscal year as the city struggles lower revenue. The library requested a budget amendment to include the donation, and Fenger said that another budget amendment could come soon if other donations, as expected, are received.

In other meeting news, two new city council members were sworn in and filled vacated seats at the meeting as well.

Ellen Kaphammer, Ward One, and Paul Soukup, Ward Three, were chosen by the council during its Jan. 28 meeting to fill the seats vacated by Keoki Lopezdevictoria and Dick Jungers. Both had previously run in last November’s elections but were defeated.

Members of the Lake County Spay/Neuter Task Force were on hand as well, hoping to solicit funding and sponsorship from the City of Ronan. Pam Gibson said this is the group’s third annual clinic and that the previous two have been extremely successful. The group estimates they helped over 1,100 animals and averted 644 animals. Gibson noted that these numbers are conservative and that they could actually be much larger. She said the two day clinic, to run on May 1 and 2 this year, costs more than $7,000 to put on, but that it is very popular. The smallest waiting list the clinic has had is 75 people and it takes only 5 to 7 days to fill up. Mayor Kim Aipperspach said the council will try to find some money, but because of the tight budget, it could be tough. He said the council will let the group know in two weeks to a month.

In other news, the police department requested to hire Troy Rexin as a new police officer. Rexin, from Livingston, will be the officer hired on the COPS grant the police department received this year. The grant pays for an officers first three years of service, as long as the city pays his fourth year’s salary. Rexin scored the highest on the application and was chosen to be hired. The council approved his hiring.

The finance committee, made up of Marcia Ganieany, Cal Hardy and Ann Brower, meet earlier this month to brainstorm ideas on how to better regulate finances and the budget for the city. The group came up with different ideas that they shared with the council members and will discuss during a meeting at a future date. The committee hopes to institute calendars and encourage communication between department heads and the council to prevent budgetary issues. They will discuss more ideas at a separate work meeting in a couple weeks.

The next city council meeting will be on Feb. 22.