St. Ignatius Council prepares to purchase property, replace municipal judge
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ST. IGNATIUS — Much of the St. Ignatius Town Council’s July meeting was spent discussing the upcoming finalization of a property purchase, as well as how to handle the recent resignation of the town’s municipal judge.
The property in question houses the Mission Valley Food Pantry, as well as a rented commercial and residential residence. The town is purchasing the property because the owner offered it to the town for what Mayor Steve McCollum said was “a hell of a deal.”
But the council has not yet seen the inside of the property and was unsure of how much to charge the tenant for rent. The food pantry has a contract and has paid rent for its space through 2046, McCollum said.
“I’m not into running a charity thing,” Council Member Ray Frey said of setting the price of rent for the business and residential living space at the property.
Council Member Chris Heffern said that he was wary of increasing rent too much. “It could kill his business,” Heffern said.
The council agreed that they would re-visit the issue in August, with a possible field trip to the property. In the meantime, the town’s attorney Molly Owen will work on drafting a leasing document. The back portion of the property would be excluded from any leases, council members noted, and it is the council’s intent to use it to store town equipment.
The council also grappled with how to deal with the resignation of Municipal Judge Sharon Richardson. The judge turned in a letter of resignation to the town clerk on July 6, which was the same day of the town council meeting. The town clerk said the judge’s resignation was caused by a move out of state to handle some family matters. Due to the short notice, the council was unable to formally act on the resignation at its July meeting and will tackle it in August.
Town Clerk Mary Leishman said that she had been filling in for Richardson as an appointed substitute leading up to the resignation. The council will have to appoint another judge, unless someone files as a write-in candidate for the upcoming election, Leishman explained to the council. In the meantime, the council said it might reach out to the Ronan Municipal Court to see if it would be willing to share a judge.
“Continue what you are doing, but if it gets too overwhelming for you, contact them,” McCollum directed Leishman.
The council also heard from Police Officer Jessie Girsch who presented data to back up his request for a raise. This comes after Police Chief Matt Connelly raised the question of pay increase when the officers were presented with new employment contracts to sign at the June meeting. In both cases, McCollum told the officers that pay increases would be considered during the budget making process, which begins in August.
The St. Ignatius Town Council will meet again on Aug. 3 at 6 p.m.
