By Dakota Baker
Ronceverte City Council held its monthly meeting on Monday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m. The meeting began with the approval of the minutes from the previous meeting. It was followed by old business, which consisted of the second reading of Ordinance 2025-05, adding Chapter 5C-1-22, “Dangerous Abandoned Excavation of Buildings” to the City of Ronceverte Municipal Code, which allows for on-the-spot citations. A second reading was also conducted of ordinance 2025-06, adding chapter 5-15-11 “Disposition of City Property” of the City of Ronceverte Municipal code. This ordinance is enacted through Home Rule and allows the city of Ronceverte to convey personal property for amounts ranging from $ 1,000 to $25,000 without requiring an auction. Anything exceeding $25,000 will require an auction, and all items must be sold at fair market value. The second readings of Ordinances 2025-05 and 2025-06 passed unanimously, with no council members voting against.
There was no business related to wastewater, water, or stormwater.
Regarding new business, there was consideration of approving an urban deer hunt within the city for the 2025 hunting season. City Administrator Pam Mentz explained that this is a very time-consuming process, as applications have to be reviewed, licenses verified, approval obtained for the land to hunt on, and tax tickets issued. Then, the chief of police must inspect the property. Once all that is verified and approved, the city can write the hunting permit. Due to this time-consuming process, it was recommended that a $50 payment be made in addition to the cost of the urban deer hunt permit. No fee is paid until the permit is approved. Those participating were also instructed to call City Hall and report what they hunted for data recording purposes for the city, as well as the DNR. The council approved the urban deer hunt with the necessary permitting and approval of properties by Chief Hopkins.
Additionally, a date and time were considered for trick-or-treating within city limits. The council approved trick-or-treating to take place on Friday, Oct. 31, from 6 to 8 p.m.
During the council member comments, Tanya Hazelwood requested that the white deer be left undisturbed if spotted during the urban deer hunt. Additionally, Leah Smith encouraged citizens to report any concerns related to the city to the Ronceverte City email so that these issues can be tracked effectively.
Recent complaints about the sidewalks have been addressed; it simply comes down to funding. Grants must be obtained for these projects, which are very costly. The last estimate for sidewalk repair was around $4 million.
Mayor Deena Pack spoke during council member comments, advocating for kindness and caring for our neighbors during these politically charged times. “On a national level, I don’t know that there is a ton we can do about that but in our own little corner of the world, in our little town if we could kind of not focus on those divisions and maybe care about our neighbors and think about each other… maybe we can at least make our little town a little bit better”.
In other news, the flea market has closed for the season.
The next council meeting will be held on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
