Ronan’s City Council dealt with lots of civic business at the July 22 meeting.

One issue is the differences of opinion between the City of Ronan and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office regarding coverage and payment for county law enforcement services in city limits. 

The council delegated the investigation to the council’s Inter-Government Relations Committee, consisting of Ellen Kaphammer, chair, Larry Hall, and Mark Nelson. The three studied Montana state law and information gathered by other council members. 

They believe the issue needs to be settled by the council committee and the Lake County Commissioners. They plan to set up a meeting with the commissioners.

In other business, Mark Drinkwater, developer, asked the council to approve a three-year extension of preliminary approval for the Mission Valley Homesites subdivision. The initial preliminary approval expires in December of 2026.

Drinkwater said he’d put the property up for sale at the same time, strategizing a way forward in “minuscule stages … working on ideas and ways [such as a] tiny phase, 15 home sites then parlay that forward.”

Council member Mark Nelson asked whether, if the council granted the extension, the council could expect movement. 

“Estimating a year or so,” Mark Carstens, the project surveyor, said, “If  we really get cracking … we’d be there for next year’s construction season.”

The motion for a three-year extension passed unanimously.

Brittany Simonich gave an informational presentation on the TIF district. Simonich, who’s the community economic development manager for Mission West Community Development Partners, was asked what Ronan could do to support all the work of the Main Street revitalization and tourism grant. 

Using Havre as an example, she said they used an urban renewal district, a method of economically revitalizing areas of "blight" through public investments that stimulate private development.

According to the Montana Department of Revenue, “Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a way for certain districts to use property tax revenue to fund new development. It uses both base taxable values and incremental tax revenue from property tax increases. 

Karl Sutton from Mission West also asked the council to approve proceeding with a brownfield phase two site assessment to address the lack of documentation regarding the removal of fuel tanks at the property located at 240 Main St.

Mission West has a brownfields program that helps unlock stuck property with real or perceived contaminants, such as old gas stations or former mill sites. 

Sutton told Miller the brownfields crew conducted a records search of the property's history, but no one can remember. Sutton said the brownfields program has funds to drill and do some testing on the property. If contaminants are found, grants are available to clean them up. 

Also on the agenda was approval of 2nd Chance Saloon, Pheasant Lounge, and Valley Club open container permits for the Pioneer Days street dance. The Ronan Co-op Brewery also applied for an open container permit and street closure for Pioneer Days activities.

All four applications were approved by the council. 

Mission West also submitted a street closure application for their annual “Harvest on Main.” This is for Main Street between Fourth and Fifth Street on Aug. 27-28. 

The next meeting will be held Aug. 12, 2026.