The City of Runge may be held responsible for making improvements a local bank needs in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to discussion at the town’s regular meeting December 11.

Wells Fargo Bank and the city share the same building, and Wells Fargo officials are telling the city their agreement says Runge has to provide the upgrades, Mayor Homer Lott told council members.

The addition of a new sidewalk and ramp allowing easier access for the disabled could cost enough to make an impact on the city budget for this year. Council members agreed to look up the building agreement and have their city attorney advise them on what to do.

At the same time, Runge is advertising for bids in two area newspapers, hoping to find someone to repair the building’s roof for a reasonable price.

"It’s just deteriorated," Runge Mayor Homer Lott said. "It should’ve been fixed about eight years ago but it never was. We’ve got two major leaks and it’s going to lead to other things. The way that roof is designed; it’s more conditioned to lead to other leaks."

Council members have had to deal with leaks at the fire department building recently, as well, and September was a bad month for water leaks, Lott said.

Council also discussed the status of Runge’s first responder program. There still are no new trainees to staff the medical first response unit, which is designed to arrive at an emergency situation and stabilize a patient before an ambulance arrives on the scene.

Lott said council members need to set a goal of training at least 10 people early next year to do the job. He also said Runge needs the first responder program badly due to the town being far away from emergency care.