Town council considers ordinances for street, animals

At Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Thermopolis Town Council, town attorney Mike Messenger was charged with drafting two ordinances.

The first ordinance would see 14th – also Canyon Hills – closed as a through street. The issue with the route has been a concern, as in-dash and smartphone GPS applications tend to direct people along the route. The concerns raised include the heavy amounts of traffic on the street – an average of 1,700 vehicles per day according to a count done last year – and that people are simply bypassing almost all of Thermopolis.

During the meeting, Mayor Mike Mortimore acknowledged the work Forrest Coleman-Weisz has put in to successfully get Bing, Mapquest and TomTom to reroute traffic along the highway to the stoplight.

Coleman-Weisz said he is also working with Apple, and explained the company is really easy to contact but it was a bit cumbersome to begin the process of changing the mapping system. After explaining it was not in Apple’s best interest to route traffic along a street with school zones, two stop signs and by the Thermopolis Volunteer Fire Department and Hot Springs County Search and Rescue, Coleman-Weisz shared the most recent email he received showed the issue has been escalated.

Coleman-Weisz explained a problem is escalated until it gets to someone who can actually make a change, and he’s confident Apple will follow suit with other companies. He noted Apple is following suit with Google, as Google Maps is the most used app. What that means, he said, is that Google’s holdout is an issue.

Mortimore posed to the board the idea of making the street not a through route, and it was pointed out by Town Engineer Anthony Barnett that there is a safety concern and could be justified under the Safe Routes to School Program.

Coleman-Weisz also spoke about recent information gained from the Fill the Boot program. In addition to requesting donations at the stoplight, firefighters are also stationed at 14th Street. He asked the firefighters there to make notes of vehicle license plates, what the traffic is like and whether drivers are using some type of GPS app. What was learned, he said, is that about 75 percent of the people being routed down the street – specifically this past weekend – are tourists with rental vehicles that are using smartphones.

In addition to increased safety if the street were not a through route, Coleman-Weisz also pointed out that routing the traffic to the downtown would be beneficial to businesses and give people a chance to see more of town than just the big fire hall.

Asked how the traffic affects the fire department, Coleman-Weisz noted the structure fire this past Sunday and how he was stuck between two RVs on his way to the fire hall, when every second is critical. The confusion with so much traffic on the street makes the first responders’ jobs difficult, he said, as when people see vehicles with flashing lights they have a variety of responses, from pulling across the road, to trying to pull over too quickly, to not pulling over at all. Statistically speaking, he said, it’s more dangerous for him in the response vehicle travelling from the fire hall to an incident than it is for him on scene.

Another ordinance Messenger was asked to draw up will revise language in the Town Code concerning animals and fowl. Police Chief Steve Shay, who presented revisions to the code, pointed out many of the fees haven’t been updated in several years, even decades. Loss of tag penalties haven’t been updated since 1983, for instance, and impoundment fees for large animals such as horses, cattle, sheep and swine haven’t been updated since 1956.

Shay also noted the revisions take care of the licensing year reset. He explained this allowed, in theory, people to have their dogs at large in December of one year, then January the next, and the January offense would still be treated as a first offense.

Language was also added to address vicious animals, as recently there have been incidents of dogs attacking domesticated cats or other dogs. Another revision allows officers some discretion in deciding when an animal should be impounded, as officers can often find themselves taking an hour or more trying to find an owner when they also need to respond to other calls.

Dave Huber asked what happens with feral cats that are caught and impounded. Shay explained there are attempts to re-home the cats and those deemed not suitable for re-homing are euthanized. He added the town pays a monthly fee to the vet clinic to act as the place to impound and take care of the animals.

In other action, council approved a tap for Gottsche. Mayor’s Assistant Fred Crosby explained part of the work being done at Gottsche will separate it from Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital. Gottsche has been sharing a water line with the hospital, but now needs its own tap. The town code reads that anything over a two-inch tap needs council approval and a three-inch tap is needed. Crosby pointed out there is no change in the amount of water being used.

Also during the meeting, Barnett noted with regard to the current water line project, tie-ins on the side streets will begin, starting at Seventh and Warren. Once tie-ins are complete, the holes in the streets will start being filled and traffic flow will return to normal as they start prepping for pavement. There will be some minor disruptions of water service during this time.