Council approves ordinance on loud vehicle pipes

Tuesday night, Thermopolis Town Council approved an ordinance which repeals Town Code Section 10-123 and reenacts it to read that it shall be unlawful for any person to engage or participate in any motor vehicle speed or acceleration contest, commonly known as a drag race, or to engage or participate in any exhibition of speed or acceleration on any street in the town limits.

Further, the ordinance states it’s unlawful for any person to engage in exhibition of a motor vehicle’s pipe or mufflers without acceleration, commonly known as racking the pipes, or creating a disturbance with loud pipes or mufflers. This provision may be cited in lieu of any breach of peace ordinance or code section.

Town Attorney Mike Messenger said the language was updated as previous language would make it difficult to prosecute drag racing.

The provision regarding loud pipes and mufflers was added, Messenger said, because people with loud mufflers or no mufflers like to “rev the hell out of the pipes,” and there was no provision to deal with that.

Mayor Mike Mortimore expressed concern that the ordinance would negatively affect people getting vehicles ready for the demolition derby. That is not the intent of the ordinance, Messenger said, and it is more to address what’s happening in the streets and late at night.

As the ordinance was presented in an emergency situation, it does not require the regular three readings prior to being approved. The ordinance states an emergency exists because of problematic language in Town Code Section 10-123 and drivers who are violating that section.

In other action, council approved the street closure for the Gift of the Waters Pageant Parade on Saturday, Aug. 5.

Also during the meeting, Town Engineer Anthony Barnett provided an update on some water projects. With regard to lines in Hot Springs State Park, Barnett said things were going pretty well but the hot water line behind the Wyoming Pioneer Home broke and will need replacing.

Regarding the recent break on Canyon Hills, Barnett said Wilson Brothers, who is already working on the water line replacement project, will fix the break as well. It’s estimated the fix will be during the week of July 18.

Another water topic has been drainage issues along upper Fremont. The issues were brought to the attention of council by Ray and Belinda Moore, and Barnett reported that Big Horn Redi Mix was chosen to go into two different locations to drain what water they can. It will not alleviate the entire problem, he said, but will lower the groundwater to the level where it can go into the storm drain.

Another topic brought up at the meeting was in regard to a company that wants to contact citizens and inform them their service lines from their homes to the main are their responsibility. The company provides contracts in which they will pay up to $8,500 if such lines need to be replaced. Acting almost like a franchise agreement, the company would pay the Town $1 for each contract signed.

Messenger said people should exercise caution if they choose to sign up for a contract, as using a credit card could mean the contract would renew automatically unless a person was vigilant. Messenger further pointed out that the contracts are for service lines only, and the company providing them is not liable for anything inside the home.