Council covers a lot of ground Tuesday

With skillful execution of parliamentary procedure, the Thermopolis Town Council meeting was started. The agenda was approved with one change.

A catering permit for Shorty’s Saloon for Octobrewfest to serve alcohol on the main street was granted.

Alex McLean requested an application to close the street at the stoplight for the Homecoming Parade. The town needed to sign off on the parade to be able to turn around at the stoplight. Mayor Mike Mortimore signed the application so it can be passed on to WYDOT. Movement to approve U.S. Constitution week was the final bit of citizen participation.

Anthony Barnett from Engineering Associates stating that several chip seal projects have been started.

Bids for the town water system improvement have come in. Many of the bids were over the advertised bid estimate, but still fell within the budget. The town was holding a $50,000 retainage for Wilson Brothers out of Cowley until they return to fix a broken sewer line.

Assistant to the Mayor Fred Crosby brought up that the town is under the process to install a RF transmitter on all resident water meters. This will make it so no one has to enter a resident’s property unless there is a need for a service call. The town estimated that they are half way done installing them.

Crosby also said there is an excess surplus of equipment at the town shop. He would like to advertise for bids to get rid of the junk. There was discussion about using one of the old police cruisers as a speed deterrent. Also there was a question on what to do with all the extra light bars and squad car cages. A motion was made to advertise for bids to get rid of excess equipment. It was passed.

London Jenks, a Hot Springs County High School teacher, requested to do a deer survey as a study for a class. The Wyoming Game and Fish warned that if the deer was baited the town will lose its hunting permit to thin the deer. A motion was passed that Jenks cannot bait the deer.

Barton Stam from the U.W. Extension Service looked at two pine trees downtown, one to the west and one to the east of the flag pole. The trees are dying and need to be removed. It is a rough environment for spruce trees. They need to be replaced with something hardier.

The final bit of business was the water rate increase. Councilmen Tony Larson was concerned that this is still not going to solve future needs. Larson stated, “We have done just enough to get us by.” He voiced that the town was coming in to low and that we will just have to keep increasing every year, why not build a surplus by charging a bit more.

Mayor Mortimore brought up that this is just the beginning of the process; we need to focus on raw water in the next couple of years. The mayor stated, “All residents and users are sharing the burden across the board.”

The council reiterated that is the start, it is a change. The plan will be presented at the next Town Council meeting October 6.