Commissioners deal with damages

A couple of unexpected mishaps with the sheriff’s department needed explained to the commissioners at their meeting last week, mishaps that will hopefully be covered by insurance.

A new truck purchased by the sheriff’s office was recently hit while it was parked, culminating in over $5,000 worth of damage. The commissioners gave the go-ahead to have the repairs done with any monies over the insurance amount to be covered out of the department’s repair budget.

The second issue is a jet ski used by search and rescue.

During a recent rescue off the river the jet ski tossed its rider due to conditions and actually sank. Once it was retrieved from the water, it was determined repair costs would be between $4,500 and $5,000.

Search and rescue uses the jet ski several times a year for rescues and uses it for practice maneuvers approximately six times per year. It was originally purchased using a Homeland Security grant in 2009.

The commissioners agreed it is a definite asset to the department and that it would make sense to try to get it fixed since there is no grant money available to purchase another one.

The department is going to look into possible help from the state’s search and rescue as well as insurance coverage.

As of July 18, they have rescued 42 people from the river and would like to see warning signs posted to help people understand the dangers of floating right now with the height and swiftness of the water.

An architect out of Sheridan will be coming to Thermopolis to look over the condition of the multi-purpose building at the fairgrounds.

An inspection of the condition of the building, roofing and insulation should tell them what happened with the installation of the roof and insulation inside the building that is essentially falling apart in places, causing a danger to animals and humans using the building.

After the architect does his inspection, they plan on talking with manufacturers to determine what the next move is, whether it was an installation issue or a faulty product issue.

Worst case scenario would be pulling the whole roof, but they are hopeful it can just be a repair solution rather than a complete tear off.

The architect’s part of the plan should be completed by the end of Aug. with the work going out to bid, one way or another, by the end of Sept. Unfortunately, that will be pushing the envelope on construction time since it would be pretty close to time for the snow to fly.

If that is the situation, repairs may have to wait until spring.