Ronan City Council considers outsourcing police department
UPDATE: as of Monday, Sept. 16, council decides against outsourcing.
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RONAN — Lake County undersheriff Dan Yonkin explained how much it would cost to outsource Ronan’s police force at a Sept. 9 City Council meeting, as the the council seeks options for police coverage of Ronan.
“This particular proposal would include city calls and primarily being assigned to work police protection in Ronan,” Yonkin said. “It wouldn’t have them out wandering the county.”
The plan calls for four full-time officers and one part time officer that would have to live within 10 minutes of Ronan and would be responsible to the sheriff’s department.
The program is projected to cost $360,000 for the first year. The initial start up cost is projected as $45,000. If the council decides to enter into the agreement, it will not have control over setting officers salaries as it currently does. Union rules require deputies salaries be set at 75 percent of the sheriff’s salary.
“We can’t bump that down,” Yonkin said. “ Those numbers are pretty well set.”
Yonkin said the plan did not include costs for new patrol vehicles or maintenance. Training, equipment and communication services were accounted for. Tickets for misdemeanors or ordinances remain in the jurisdiction of the city court under the plan.
The city did not take action on the plan.
“We appreciate coming up with a game plan to solve those problems,” councilman Cal Hardy said. “This was an option. Whether we can make that work or not, we had to get that ball rolling.”
The council also directed police officer John Mitchell to give the county two radios to see if Ronan’s equipment is compatible with the county’s equipment.
The council then approved paying its attorney Jessica Cole-Hodgkinson eight hours of overtime for the month of August at a rate of $100 per hour.
Hodgkinson gets paid $1,500 to work 20 hours per month.
“Right now I’m working extremely hard to keep my time down,” Cole-Hodgkinson said. “I think you are going to have to bite the bullet on this and at least for the next few months it’s going to be like that.”
Council members, Cole-Hodgkinson and attorney Philip Grainey then attempted to hammer out the details of financing the Ronan Library.
A taxing district for the library was created in June. The first revenue from that district will be paid to the library in December. The city has continued paying for the library since the district was created. The legal agreement being drafted would officially separate the library from the city on Dec. 31.
The library gave the city an estimate that it needs $52,000 to finance its operation through the end of the fiscal year. Some of that amount would be reimbursed, Grainey said. If the council does not approve the funding, Grainey said the library will pursue a bank loan.
At a previous council meeting it was suggested that the library’s budget committee and city’s budget committee meet to agree upon a feasible amount of funding for both parties, but that meeting had not yet happened, Grainey said.
“Something I think I need to point out to you is that last year the city budgeted under $20,000,” Melton said. “But this year, for the six months, (the library) is asking for $52,000 ... We’ve never done that.”
The council and Grainey agreed to continue working on an agreement.
The meeting’s agenda called for a first reading of the town’s new dog ordinance, but Cole-Hodgkinson said it wasn’t ready because she prioritized other city business since the last meeting.
The council then voted to levy 105.44 mils, which total $183,780, representing a $1,940 increase from last year.
Just before the meeting ended, Hardy asked that ongoing communications with the Ronan Fire Relief Association be kept on the agenda in coming weeks. The association claimed at an August meeting that it had not received payments that should have been made to the association.
Melton said the payments are now up to date.
Hardy said the Association would like supplemental documentation and clarification of the payments provided.
The exchange between Melton and Hardy grew tense.
“I don’t want to fight over this,” Hardy said. “ ... All I wanted to do is keep it on old business until someone’s happy. I have people who are unhappy.”
The next Ronan City Council meeting will be held Monday, Sept. 16 at 6 p.m.
