Ronan’s City Council meeting on March 11 saw the council selecting former council member Marlene Melton to serve on Ronan’s Police Board.

In other business, council members discussed the Ronan Board of Adjustment’s suggestion to add “pawn shop” to the uses for the parcel of land located at 35958 Round Butte Road, but not the entire subdivision.

Public Works director Dan Miller said adding one more use to the list of 56 others for that particular parcel would work.

The board of adjustments also wanted a plan to mitigate parking issues at the pawn shop, such as customers parking on the walking path. Ernie Moran, one of the business’s owners, explained to the council that the pawn shop parking area would be east of the building against the wooden fence, and said they may move the fence.

He also said they plan to add curb stops. Seven cars can park there, according to Moran.

Council members approved the motion to change the zoning on the parcel of land occupied by the pawn shop. Members also discussed conditions to their approval and decided that in two years, the council will take a look at parking issues for the business.

Karl Sutton from Mission West Community Development Partners was back to ask the council to allow MWCDP access to public land adjacent to the former Rimrock Bullets property located at 102 Main Street. Under MWCDP’s Brownfields Program, Sutton said the organization aims to finish a phase 1 assessment and conduct a phase 2 assessment of the property, including removal of old tanks if tanks are found during their investigation,

The area is known to be an old filling station so that’s why they’re examining the ground. There’s anecdotal evidence the old tanks were pulled, and the ground beneath them was not contaminated.

Sandy Wirz, who heads up Ronan Pablo Youth Softball League, was at the meeting on behalf of the softball league and their use of the field off Mink Lane. They have a five-year contract for the fields and concessions stand, and they would like to begin on March 15, earlier than normal, to finish repairs to the fence and to finish siding. The season ends June 6.

Council also voted to allow SQK Quality Meat to use a shotgun (one shot) for slaughtering a longhorn, a bison, or a mature bull, whose skulls are too thick for a quick kill with a captive bolt. This happens rarely, about 1% of the time according to Janet Camel, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal planning director.

Jake Welker, the plant’s general manager will inform the city at least a day in advance if there will be a shot fired, according to the motion.

During council comments, Ronan Mayor Ryan Corum, who’s also a lieutenant of the Ronan Volunteer Fire Department, had a check to show the council.

Montana Representative Ryan Zinke was in town Wednesday to present the fire department with a check for a new Type 1 fire truck to the tune of $547,500. Corum wrote the grant for the truck and spent at least 35 hours on the project.

The next council meeting will be March 25 at 7 p.m.