County buildings need new roofs

The Hot Springs County Commissioners had a discussion with Hot Springs County Airport FBO Nate Messenger regarding whether or not the county should go into another lease for a tractor at the airport.

According to Messenger, the price for the lease will be going up next year to $1,600 for 50 hours of use. This year, he said use had been between 45 and 48 hours, so the 50-hour limit would be fine.

The commissioners suggested a used tractor, either one just off lease or a newer model, might be purchased instead of leasing, saving the county money in the long run.

Dave Schlager, Road and Bridge supervisor, told the commissioners if that was the direction they wanted to go to make sure they don’t get one that is too old as getting parts could become a problem.

Messenger told the commissioners, too, the seal coat has not been done on the runway and it is getting really late to do so. He believes it would probably be best to wait until spring at this point and the FAA and WYDOT both agree with the idea of waiting til spring.

If the seal coat was to be done now, there is a good chance it wouldn’t “stick” and would have to be torn up and done all over.

Messenger will contact the FAA and WYDOT again to see if the work could be done in the spring, preferably before June so it can come off this year’s budget.

Maintenance supervisor Anthony Fruciano wanted to discuss a lease with the commissioners as well, this one for a small plow tractor to take care of snow on the sidewalks of the county buildings.

Fruciano said the lease is $1,200 for the season and the new tractor should be delivered within a couple of weeks.

Building inspectors came in and took a look at all of the roofing on county properties and declared the Senior Center, museum and annex roofs are all good. The library and the courthouse, however, will need to be re-roofed.

Its going to take some engineering since the roof of each off the buildings is a bit complicated, but an engineer will need to take a look at them to ensure the bid specs are correct before putting them out.

The commissioners decided they wanted an engineer to do an inspection of the roof on the fair building as well since the insurance adjustor indicated it would need replaced as well.

During her monthly report, Barb Rice, director of Youth Alternatives indicated to the commissioners there have been three expulsions in the last month at the middle school and she is working on some type of program to cover the gaps for those students.

When a student is expelled, they are missing out on instruction, making it even more difficult for the student to catch up once the transition back into school begins.

Whether it’s a 10-day suspension or longer, Rice doesn’t want the kids to fall behind so she is talking with the school and other resources to find access to an online curriculum that will keep the kids on track.

Rice said it’s a tough situation for the kid, the family and the teachers trying to keep it all together after an expulsion.