Commissioners want to know how long COVID-19 team will be needed

A representative of the Wyoming Association of Risk Management (WARM), the company that takes care of liability insurance for government agencies in Wyoming, attended the recent meeting of the Hot Springs County Commissioners to discuss an overview on the library roof.

Through an architect and contractor, the commissioners had sent a roofing bid to WARM that was an upgraded product. The representative told the commissioners their bid was over double what the insurance company feels is necessary and only wants to pay “like for like”, meaning they will only pay to have the same type of roof put on the library.

The commissioners pointed out this particular roof has failed multiple times in the past and believe the upgraded roof would actually save WARM money in the long run as they wouldn’t be having to replace the roof every two or three years.

WARM would like to go back to the drawing board and add in the costs for replacing the saturated insulation and write an entirely new estimate.

The commissioners made it very clear that this issue has been dragging on for a year without any kind of satisfaction, not to mention no roof on the library, and they are not happy with the service they have been receiving.

The other roofs that need done will be put out to bid and informed the representative they expect the library roof to be expedited and the fair building also needs done rather quickly as it is leaking as well.

Sheriff Jerimie Kraushaar met with the commissioners, asking to upgrade one of the department’s vehicles to accommodate a K9.

Kraushaar said they are eligible for an 80-20 grant at the moment and would choose a Dodge Ram over another Durango.

The commissioners had already set aside funding in the budget earlier in the day and told the Sheriff to go ahead with the purchase.

In addition, a $34,900 grant has been awarded on behalf of Homeland Security. Those funds will be used to replace all of the radios in the department’s vehicles. The radios being taken out will be donated to Search and Rescue so they can now be a part of the WYOLink system.

Mayor Mike Chimenti and Assistant to the Mayor, Fred Crosby and others were next on the agenda to discuss the Joint Law Enforcement Agreement.

According to the commissioners, they are concerned about the amount of time IT is spending in dispatch. It is currently 300-percent higher than it was last year.

With all new equipment in dispatch, the commissioners don’t think that much time should be necessary, pointing out that when the town was paying the bill the hours were much less, but now the county is footing the bill it has become astronomical.

They need to identify if there’s an issue with a specific piece of equipment and since the town has records of all the emails, they will go through them to see if there’s something odd going on.

The commissioners also suggested the town needs to contact them and discuss purchases.

Furniture was purchased to the tune of $15,000 without even a phone call with the commissioners to discuss the expenditure. The town has now taken care of things on their end, but an addendum needs to be added to the Joint Law Enforcement contract that covers emergency expenditures.

Commissioner Tom Ryan said he has been getting a number of phone calls from disgruntled county residents about having to pay at the landfill when they do not have sanitation service.

Crosby said that kitchen waste is always free for county residents, but they are discovering people are adding more than just kitchen waste to their dumping. This kind of fraud has forced them to start charging for everything.

They further discussed the condition of the dump and the future of a transfer station. They determined they would need to put together some kind of joint board in order to figure out the ins and outs of the transfer station so it will be agreeable to everyone.

Bill Gordon and Tricia McPhie, part of the COVID-19 emergency command team, talked with the commissioners about how long they will be needed.

The commissioners want to know how long this is going to go on, with commissioner Ryan saying, “We can’t keep them safe forever. They (the public) will need to assume some of the risk themselves. We are going to have to start some discussions on going back to normal.”

Gordon said in a typical emergency situation, a storm for instance, you have a definite answer as to when things are over. In this scenario, however, there is no telling when things can begin going back to normal.

He said things are calming down as far as the number of phone calls and meetings they are having with the governor’s office and others, but it is going to be a slow process. He suggested the commissioners have a lengthy discussion with Dr. Vern Miller, the County Health Officer, before doing anything.

In other business, the commissioners appointed Levi Shinkle to the Library Board. Shinkle and Doris Ann Ready were both appointed to the Museum Board.