Is Bird's Eye Pass a county road?

The Hot Springs County Commissioners are going to spend the next couple of months reviewing information before making a decision on whether or not Bird’s Eye Pass is a county road.

According to research done by Ray Shaffer, a stage stop was established there in 1906 along with several roads in the county. Of course, there was no funding available to improve the road at that time.

The train arrived in Wind River Canyon in 1913 and the road went through in 1944, basically eliminating the need for the Bird’s Eye Pass road, however, no records can be found that it was abandoned as a county road at that time.

In fact, map surveys done at that time showed it as a county road, but another survey in 1982 did not include it in the county road designation.

Currently, the road is blocked on both ends by private landowners. Shaffer said he understands private property rights, but still believes it is a bona fide county road.

Commission chair Tom Ryan said he isn’t sure the county would ever actually use it as a county road, and with the condition its in, is not sure it’s a road we would want to use anyway.

The issue came up a few years ago when an enormous slide in Wind River Canyon rendered the canyon impassable. An alternative way from Thermopolis and Casper was discussed then, suggesting Bird’s Eye Pass would be a viable alternative.

Commissioner John Lumley said the county somewhat set a precedence when they fixed Kirby Creek, but the decision needs to be made on whether to abandon it or not.

Although they did not make a definite decision on Tuesday, they will be having County Attorney Jerry Williams look over all the information Shaffer gathered and any other history available before making a final finding.

Maintenance director Anthony Fruciano spoke to the commissioners on Tuesday as well, expressing his concern that several unanticipated items that have arisen lately may drain his budget and he wanted the commissioners aware of the situation.

Once instance is the rooftop HVAC units on the Senior Center building.

Apparently two of the units are working well while the other two are all but falling apart. Fruciano has a bid to remove and replace the two older units for $24,700.

There are still State Lands and Investment Board (SLIB) funds left over from the emergency repairs to the building’s roof and the commissioners agreed that money could be used to replace the HVAC units.

Another unexpected event was the failure of the drive motor in the sally port at the Joint Law Enforcement Center (LEC). It had been temporarily fixed in April before finally failing. The cost of replacement of the motor is $1,700, half of which will be paid by the Town of Thermopolis.

Apparently repairs on many of the AC units in the county buildings are on the verge of failing as well and Fruciano is concerned this is going to bust his budget, leaving his department about $6,000 in arrears.

The commissioners assured him the money can be taken out of emergency funds rather than draining his entire budget.

Along those same lines, Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Gordon urged the commissioners to put in a back door at the Senior Center as an alternate escape route.

The front door of the building is just 188 feet from the railroad tracks and Gordon is concerned if there were some kind of derailment with noxious materials or dangerous chemicals, the seniors would have no where to go to get away from it.

He suggested speaking with the architect that designed the new roof to get an idea about what can be done to provide a rear exit as well as chatting with the school district to find out if there would be a way to put a gate in at the rear of the building to allow those inside to escape across the football field.

Gordon suggested the costs could possibly be covered by a grant from Burlington Northern and is already putting paperwork together to that effect.

The commissioners also made the following appointments to various county boards: Diane Winter and Jerry Langbein to the Land Use Planning Commission, Jennifer Paris and Leslie Basse to the Library Board and Phyllis Baker to the Museum Board.