Ronan Council votes again to dissolve park board
Status of innovative play project in limbo
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Status of innovative play project in limbo
RONAN — The Ronan City Council had to vote again to dissolve its park board on Aug. 4, after its attorney advised that a previous vote made in July was not legally kosher.
The dissolution of the board also leaves the status of a planned innovative play project for Bockman Park possibly in limbo, as the board that was fundraising for the equipment now no longer exists.
“It was a surprise to everybody,” former park board member Mark Nelson told city councilmembers on Aug. 3 about the council’s July decision to do away with the park board. “There was no public notice. The only thing on the agenda was that you were going to vote on whether to renew our appointments or not. I think if you had concerns about us as a board then you should have not renewed any of us and then selected a new board.”
Nelson said that most of the board members would have stepped down anyway because of animosity that has grown between the board and council in recent years.
Attorney Kathleen O’Rourke Mullins said the city government did need to notice the public to do away with the board, which was established via ordinance.
“I did some case law research, and ordinances, you have to undo the ordinance in the same fashion that you put it into play,” O’Rourke Mullins said. “You can’t shorten the process.”
The council voted to do away with the board in a first reading. A second reading will be held at a later date.
Councilmembers defended their decision to do away with the board, saying that they were frustrated because the meeting dates kept changing without consideration for council member’s availability and that communication between the board and the council was poor.
Councilman Chris Adler said that he became particularly disgruntled when the city got a call from a collections agent asking for payment for a playground model that cost more than $1,500, but had not been paid for in over a year. Nelson said he had no knowledge of the overdue bill.
“It’s miscommunication,” Adler said.
The playground model was for a project that was meant to install culturally relevant playground equipment in Bockman Park. Fundraising for the playground was spearheaded by the park board and has been ongoing for several years.
Nelson said that he and other former park board members would provide the city council with an accounting of the funding and see if a deposit already paid for the playground can be returned to the city.
After the meeting, City Public Works Director Dan Miller said he did not know what the future of the play project would be, and that a decision will likely come from the new alternative to the park board, which consists of Miller and three city councilmembers.
