Ronan City Council plans to “go to school” on SIDs
Mission Valley Homesites developer Mark Drinkwater and his attorney, James Raymond, were on hand at last Wednesday’s Ronan City Council meeting. They were on the agenda with a second request to create a Special Improvement District (SID) in Drinkwater’s 221-lot subdivision on the southeast edge of Ronan.
“We came here once, and everybody seemed interested,” Drinkwater said. However, after that meeting, the developer said he had received a call from Public Works manager Dan Miller, saying “the council no longer wants to do an SID.”
After much discussion among council members, along with Drinkwater, Raymond, surveyor Marc Carstens and Ronan City Attorney Ben Anciaux, Drinkwater asked, “Is this SID something that is possible?”
Anciaux suggested that he and the council would benefit from more education on SIDs and asked the council if they were amenable to “going to school” on the subject. Council members agreed that they wanted to learn more about SIDs.
To facilitate that education, they plan to reach out to local banker Jamie Buhr and Tara Barry, financial officer for Lake County, to see if they’d be willing to discuss the topic either before or after the council meeting on March 26. They also asked Raymond to put together a SID tutorial to be presented by a neutral party.
The council also plans to follow up with a phone call to Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority and to seek more information from MSU Extension’s Local Government Center.
In other business:
• Sandy Wirz of the Ronan Pablo Youth Softball Association asked about a facilities-use agreement for the softball fields at Mission Recreation Events Center. After discussion with council members, Anciaux asked Wirz to email him a list of regulations that the association would like to see in the agreement, which Anciaux will be writing.
• The council passed resolution 20-25-2 for an ordinance violation at 710 2nd Place SW and 120 Franklin Street SW, dated March 31, regarding the removal of all junk and junk vehicles.
• Members voted to adopt a street improvement study prepared by WGM Engineering as a working tool for Ronan’s future road plan and improvements.
• The council voted unanimously to allow Miller to apply for a transportation alternatives grant from the Montana Department of Transportation to pay for engineering design work for Main Street from 6th Ave. SW to 1st Ave. SW, including storm drains, sidewalks, new pavement, lighting and trees.
• The group approved several open-container permits and street closures, including from 4-9 p.m. March 29 on Fourth Ave. SW, for a member’s meeting of the Ronan Co-Op Brewery; 5-9 p.m. March 8 at the Community Center for a fundraiser for Justice Quequesah; and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. May 17 on Main Street for St-Cha-Ro Floral’s 50th anniversary celebration.
During final council comments, Ronan Police Chief Robert Jacobson reported that Officer Klein will be leaving the force and continuing her law-enforcement career with the Montana Highway Patrol.
All the council members thanked Miller and his crew for doing a thorough job of keeping Ronan’s streets clear during the recent deluge of snow.
Mayor/Ronan Fire Chief Chris Adler brought the fire department’s aging airpacks to the city council’s attention, noting that the department has ordered eight of the pricey but essential packs to the tune of $54,000. He expressed appreciation to City Council member and fireman Ryan Corum, who has been writing grants for the department.
Adler added that the fire department is very close to closing the deal on land for the new fire department, located south of Glacier Bank.
A move to name a portion of U.S. Hwy. 93 the Sgt. Laverne Parrish Memorial Highway is underway, according to Adler, who was contacted by former state senator Dan Salomon regarding the project.
Ronan’s next City Council meeting will be held March 12 at 6 p.m. at Ronan City Hall.