At the business-packed Ronan City Council meeting Oct. 14, Ronan city attorney Clif Hayden reviewed the Friends of the Children grant administration contract, project administration plan, interlock agreement, and the city’s contract with the Montana Department of Commerce, taking questions from council members as he went through the documentation. 

Friends of the Children received a Community Block Development Grant for the exterior of the building they are rehabbing on Main Street in Ronan. 

Billie Lee will be the grant administrator, and “the professional services agreement is the city’s contract with Lee to help manage the grant,” Hayden explained. The effective date will be Oct. 1.

City clerk/treasurer Kaylene Melton had questions and corrections, including city personnel’s role for all FOTC grants. City personnel will only handle FOTC’s  CDBG funds, including helping Lee prepare final financial papers.

After adding the definitions and employee duties, council members voted to approve the corrected edition of the documents, which Hayden will have ready for signatures and submission to the state this week.

Ronan’s Public Works Director Dan Miller brought forward a resolution proposing to accept Morrison-Maierle as design engineer for the city’s wastewater improvement project, and council members approved it. 

Council also passed an agenda item authorizing Mayor Corum, with assistance from Miller and Shari Johnson of SAJ Engineering, to negotiate the scope and cost of engineering services for the wastewater project, to be approved at the next Ronan City Council meeting.

In other business, Melton asked the council to approve Craig Shepherd’s engagement letter for the year ended June 30, 2026, for his work on the city’s annual financial report. The council approved Shepard’s engagement letter. 

Melton also brought information for council to discuss on subscribing to the Local Government Center’s Small Jurisdiction Co-op with two other small towns, Winifred and Harlowton.

The $3,500 fee will be split three ways and will help answer questions more quickly, according to Melton.

Brittany Simonich, on behalf of Montana Main Street, asked council to authorize Mayor Ryan Corum to sign the Montana Department of Commerce grant application, requesting $50,000 for the downtown parklet and native plant demonstration garden implementation project. Council passed the motion, and Mayor Corum signed the application, since its due date was Oct. 15, 2026.

Simonich also announced a site visit by Kansas State University. The university has been looking into the Brownfields program and has identified four downtown Ronan areas that could use it. 

They’ll visit on Nov. 9 and hold a community meeting, according to Simonich.

Mark Brookman and Juanita Swaney paid a call to let city council know about the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention program they work for and their outreach to Ronan Middle School students.

They also had some sobering facts.

Although cigarette smoking is down, nationally 17 percent of teens are using e-cigarettes, commonly known as vapes. Popular with Ronan middle-schoolers, one vape contains the same amount of nicotine as 120 packs of cigarettes, Brookman and Swaney said. Also trendy are “pouches,” small, tobacco-free oral pouches filled with nicotine powder and flavorings. Kids can swallow them when they’re about to get caught.

A complaint letter to the city of Ronan brought up the compost pile at SQK Quality Meats Processing plant. With animal innards in the compost mix, it reeks, according to the missive. Tribal authorities agreed, and the offending pile went away.

Ronan’s next city council meeting will be held Oct. 28.