Town approves dispatch expenditure

Chief Julie Mathews made a request for funding for the replacement of the dispatch console which is used by both the Police Department and the County Sheriff. It is currently 16 years old with an expected life span of ten years. According to Mathews, “It’s basically non-functional-functional.” The components cannot be repaired and are rendered obsolete.  

The dispatch console is necessary equipment as it is part of the 9-1-1 emergency system, but it has failed. The console is off-balance in its mounting and being supported by 2x4 wooden beams.  

The required cost for its replacement is $31,000. Chief Mathews said there is a reserve in the Police department for equipment line items that can contribute to the console cost, clean up and install. The department has $4,000 allocated for this. There is also $10,000 remaining from hail damage funds and there is $4,000 from grant funds.  

Town Administrator Fred Crosby checked the contract between the Town and the County on how this situation would work financially as both the Police and Sheriff’s office use the dispatch console. The contract said that it shares the cost between them and is case by case. Crosby said that in the past they would approve the cost of an expenditure and then go back to the County later to work it out.  

After hearing Chief Mathews’ presentation and discussing how to work with the County, the Town approved the purchase of a new dispatch console system.  Once the purchase is fully complete, it will take approximately six to eight weeks to arrive from Colorado-based company Xybix.  

Chief Mathews did say that 9-1-1 emergency services are still working and the location of the dispatch systems has been moved closer to servers, however, if something goes wrong further it will be down.

The council also passed into law on its third reading the amended ordinance No. 822 making it illegal to feed wild turkeys within the city limits.  This ordinance takes effect on March 13. 

Council member Bill Malloy reported on the WAM Winter Conference which he said was one of the better conferences he’s participated in. There were several items discussed such as utilizing school resource officers and handling other similar citywide issues such as the cost of trash or waste disposal.  

However, Malloy highlighted, even more, pressing issues for the communities such as the ease of losing employees at a business, where the person just walks away without any notice. A guest speaker from Gillette, John Aquirre, talked about the idea of a “Stay Interview”. This is a regular, casual conversation between a manager and an employee but not about their performances.  The manager can ask the employee several key questions to see how they are doing, how to improve and what can be done to continue keeping the employee satisfied in their job.  

The Stay Interview will help management have better retention of their employees if they listen and make appropriate changes. Malloy noted that it is more expensive for a business to lose an employee and replace the person than it is to make changes and keep the staff on board.

Malloy also attended a workshop presented by Jim Mathis called “Reinventing Your Leadership.” Mathis had queries where you can learn what kind of leadership style you have and how to improve them. Malloy noted that times have changed and no one likes change, but we have to change to make an effect on the community.

Town Attorney Mike Messenger suggested that the different department heads in the Town might benefit from this leadership training.

Malloy also discussed the issue of suicide in the state of Wyoming and in particular in the youth. He said many have lost hope and don’t look forward to their futures. He shared with the council the times while being a teacher where he tried to help students who were showing suicidal signs.  

Malloy highly recommended that other leaders attend these conferences as the content is quite beneficial.