Commissioners hear about roof issues

A slow down in aerial spraying created a slight dip in fuel sales at the Hot Springs County Airport during August according to FBO Nate Messenger.

Messenger told the Hot Springs County Commissioners at their September 1 meeting that the airport saw a total of 146 operations at the facility, including nine turbine helicopters and five jet engine aircraft.

They did discuss the building of a transient hangar during the meeting, which would be very good for the winter months. A transient hangar would allow visitors to fly in and have a covered area to park their aircraft in case on inclement weather.

As it is now, there is not enough hangar space for a visitor to park their plane anywhere except on the apron. Other airports have built a special hangar just for those flying in for the day so it isn’t an unusual request.

Messenger will be contacting other airports with a transient hangar to find out what they are charging and other information he can gather in order to have a complete summary of what could be built. The commissioners suggested it could be something added to the master plan.

Road and Bridge director, Dave Schlager, has been looking into a special coating that contains soybean oil to keep dust down on dirt and gravel roads. He had done some research into the product, but very little of it is being used in Wyoming, so getting information on how it works out here is difficult.

The cost of the soybean oil treatment is about $11,000 per mile.

Schlager is also looking into a different product that uses glycerin rather than the mag chloride the county is using now. He discovered 5,000 gallons of the glycerin treatment would cover about two miles and users are getting about two years worth of work out of a single application. This is much easier to use, too, as it is just sprayed on.

He said he would like to try the application in a couple of high traffic areas to see how it really works before making any kind of change from their current product.

Schlager said he has finished 19 county roads for the GIS program, gathering the locations of signs, culverts and other items to insert in the database.

New director of maintenance, Les Culliton, has started on the installation of the AC unit at the museum and plans on having it finished within a couple of days.

A few issues have been found with the roof on the Law Enforcement Center (LEC), including saturation. A report is in process of being put together, but there are nine different sections of roofing on the LEC so repair may have to be put off until next summer.

It could be possible to get one of the sections done this fall, the area over the penthouse, as it is leaking the worst and everything in the ceiling is saturated.

Culliton will get with the contractors to find out what can be done before winter.

Additionally, he was contacted by Green Turf, who says the lawns owned by the county are in really bad shape. They put together a proposal that includes a good discount, assuring the commissioners they could get two treatments in this fall.

The commissioners remarked they may have to do a budget amendment later in the year, but told Culliton to get back in touch with the company and have them get started.

Issues with the roofing project on the Hot Springs County Library seem to be never ending as they have now discovered the facia and soffit has disintegrated. It was made from gypsum board, which was popular at the time the building was built, however, it has not withstood the passage of time.

They have also discovered the entire entryway is being held up with wire. Apparently the project was very cheaply done according to the architect on site and they are finding more problems the further they dig in.

The area above the windows needs sealing as it wasn’t sealed at all during construction, they have found places where no insulation was ever installed and as the weight of the roof increased due to the water saturation it was breaking things beneath it.

A change order was agreed on by the commissioners at this meeting with more to come that will include lighting, spray foam and other items at their next meeting.

They are continuing to fight with the insurance company over the repairs, but the architect and the roofing company are documenting everything they are finding with photos to go with their daily field reports so they have a proper trail of findings.

Public Health Director Tricia McPhie informed the commissioners they will be doing flu clinics throughout October this year, but they may look a little different. Many will be held off-site rather that at the public health office.

McPhie said they are also looking in to the possibility of a drive-thru saliva COVID test for those who are asymptomatic. This would allow the test to be done orally rather than having to push the cotton swab up the patient’s nose, making it much more comfortable and simple to do in a drive-thru setting.

She indicated the hospital should be getting the latest generation of the rapid test machine, hopefully before the end of September. In addition, they are working on getting an antibody tester so blood can be looked at to see if a patient may have already had the virus.

Rounding out the meeting was a discussion on pari-mutuel wagering which will be on the ballot for Hot Springs County in November.

Several counties in the state are already allowing the wagering, and while is it not simply opening a casino, a lot of money is being made by the counties who have voted to opt-in. There is no expense to the county whatsoever and money made from the wagering would be split equally between the town and the county.

The Independent Record will have a more in depth story on pari-mutuel wagering in a coming edition.