Commissioners to vote on new Ronan library district
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RONAN — During the Jan. 30 Ronan City Council meeting, librarian Jolaina Cramer confirmed the Lake County Commissioners would hold a public hearing to decide whether or not to move forward with the creation of a new library district in Ronan.
The City of Ronan was forced to cut library funding from around $51,000 in 2007 to $17,000 this year.
According to library employees and board members, it is nearly impossible to run a library when funds have diminished at such a rapid rate.
The Ronan City Library provides books, computer access, reading programs and other services to the local community. An average of 1,800 different items circulate in the community, and more than 500 people visit the library every month.
In December, the library successfully obtained roughly 800 signatures of registered voters within Ronan School District No. 30. The minimum number of signatures required to gain consideration by the Lake County Commissioners Office is 620.
The new district would create a broader tax base for the library based on the Ronan School District coverage area. As the new library district would affect those residing within the school district, the Lake County Election Clerk checked the validity of all signatures and sent the petition to the Lake County Commissioners. The petition was approved by the commissioners, so next comes a public hearing regarding the new district.
The public hearing will take place Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 10 a.m. at the Lake County Courthouse.
“We’re encouraging people to show up and voice their opinions,” Cramer said.
After the public hearing, commissioners will decide whether or not to proceed to the next step — a district-wide vote with ballots cast from all registered voters in the proposed new district. Cramer said she hopes to have the vote sometime in May so it can coincide with the already-scheduled school voting ballots.
In other city business, workers discovered several leaks in an old service line near the new water treatment plant. According to public works director Dan Miller, the line was cut by a previous contractor some 20 years ago, but never shut off.
“It’s an old service line,” Miller said. “They went to disconnect the line, and they cut the piece of line out, but they never turned the power off. Once we were aware of it, we fixed it correctly and then we dug up the rest, just to be sure.”
The leak had been emptying into the ground for two decades and never surfaced, so city officials were unaware until they discovered a leak between the new treatment plant and water tank.
“(The water tank) empties fast enough to present problems turning on the system,” said engineer Shari Johnson.
City workers have dug up and sealed several leaks in the system since finding the original leak, and plans are under way to install a new valve between the treatment plant and the water tank.
