by John Dowd
Hamilton City Council met Tuesday, March 5 to discuss several upcoming city projects. However, when the meeting opened, concern about the Sheep Creek mine following a meeting held a couple weeks earlier, made it into the opening. After that, the council said goodbye to the beloved long-time city clerk, who is retiring.
During the public comment period of the council meeting, Robert Steinhoff stood to address the council. He explained that he attended a meeting hosted by the Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association and Trout Unlimited. The meeting called upon Dr. Phillip Ramsey to speak on the dangers of a proposed mine up Sheep Creek. According to Steinhoff, “I thought it wasn’t going to affect me, but I learned that it would only take just one little mistake and we will all be hurting.” Steinhoff said that he heard about the track record of the company when Ramsey told how it was not very good. Steinhoff stated that the company has supposedly been in the state seven times already, and each time left taxpayers with the bill for the cleanup. Steinhoff then asked if there was anything the city was doing, or even could do. According to Steinhoff, “We have to act now, and stay ahead of this.”
Mayor Dominic Farrenkopf said there was not much they knew to do at the time, though they may need to look into it as “more and more people are talking about this.” Farrenkopf said that was all he could say on it at the time. However, at the end of the meeting, during the non-agenda items discussion period, several of the council members weighed in on Steinhoff’s comments.
“We need to keep our eyes on it,” said council member Jenny West. “It might be beneficial to talk to Darby and possibly Stevensville as well.” Her thoughts were shared by several other council members.
In discussion on regular agenda items, the first to be brought forward was the issue of re-roofing the city street shop. According to Hamilton City Public Works Director, Donny Ramer, the building is used for snow plow storage and for other maintenance equipment. According to Ramer, it is the original roof, which has some significant leaks and insulation issues. Ramer believes the new roof will cut down on the heating bill and allow better dry storage of equipment and an improved maintenance space in which to work.
The council had previously put the project out for bids, with the lowest they received coming from Summit Roofing for $55,100. The Summit Roofing bid was approved unanimously.
The council also approved an updated deputy clerk job description. This was meant mainly to clarify details on the city’s new initiative to improve outreach to the community, including activity on social media.
The highlight of the night’s meeting was the celebration of the retirement of Town Clerk Rose Allen. According to Mayor Farrenkopf, Allen was with the city from 2002 to 2024. Within that time, she admitted to having worked with four different mayors and at least 26 different council members. She is proud to be ending her time with the city on a high note. “It’s nice when you have a council and a mayor that can work together,” said Allen.
To send her off, the mayor told the story of how he first met Allen. He was signing to be mayor and asked her which color pen he should use, black or blue. She told him he could use whatever color he wanted. Since then, he found that he preferred to sign official documents in blue. However, that day he chose to sign his name in black, “and now I regret it,” said Farrenkopf. After a laugh, he told Allen, “Every time I sign my name with a blue pen, I will remember you.”
Allen’s place is being taken over by Rosie Ramer, the former utility billing clerk. The council joked that it will be fortunate they do not need to learn a new name for the same position. Rosie Ramer has been with the city since January of last year and has recently been training to take over Allen’s position. However, according to the mayor, this will now leave the billing clerk position open. He encourages applicants to apply.
At the end of the meeting, the council members in attendance all voiced their goodbyes to Allen. “Rose, thank you for all you’ve done,” said West. Darwin Ernst echoed those words, saying, “I thank you for all you’ve done and I hope you have a really fun retirement.” Allen commented last, saying, “I Just want to say thank you to everyone for all the support you have given me.”