Town Hall open by appointment only

At the November 17 Town Council meeting, Mayor Chimenti said he recently had a meeting with Dr. Miller about COVID-19 and the increase in the county and Thermopolis.

Chimenti asked the council for approval to lock the doors to Town Hall and have the public make appointments when necessary to see someone.

Payments to the town would be dropped off in a box outside the front doors. If someone makes an appointment, they would have their temperature taken.

Chimenti added that Dr. Miller said he and other county health officers asked for a mandatory mask ordinance. The Hot Springs County mandate was passed just prior to the council meeting but attendees did not have that information at the time.

Mayor Chimenti said, “I don’t know how we would enforce that [a mask mandate] here, but I’m putting the word out that people please start wearing masks so we can get this COVID-19 back under control.”

Chimenti also said that they are trying to get a handle on COVID-19 before they have to do a mandatory shutdown.  

Town clerk Tracey Van Huele presented information of the town audit performed by the accountants Michel Wright and Associates who were not able to attend. She said it was the same as prior years with only one comment, which is the segregation of duties, which they will have forever. This was because Thermopolis is a small community and there are not enough people or manpower to do the separate accounting functions. Michael Wright would emphasize the importance of oversight by the mayor and council, and Van Huele encouraged them to ask any questions as they go through the audit. The council passed a motion to accept the audit.

Town attorney Mike Messenger presented the first of three readings of the recodification of ordinances. This is an ordinance of recodification that is effective January 1, 2021, and also repeals the prior existing codes. There are more than 400 pages of information. The first reading was voted on and approved. Upon the third reading later, it will be fully passed. 

Assistant to mayor Fred Crosby presented an application from the Discovery Center Board requesting the appointments of Jeb Schenck and Joe Moon as a joint appointment between the town and county. The county has already appointed Schenck and will put him on the board until January 2023. The county also appointed Moon. Crosby recommended to the council they appoint Schenck and to wait for Moon to complete his paperwork. The council motioned and voted to approve to have Schenck be appointed to the Discovery Center Board. 

Crosby also presented a list of bids for new police vehicles. The lowest bid was Ken Garff of Utah for a 2021 Dodge Durango Pursuit at $30,820. There was a question in the meeting whether a five percent fee for an in-state bid preference would apply to the purchase since it is a public improvement. During the meeting, Messenger investigated the question. Crosby also said the second-lowest bid from Bob Rewart of Wheatland for a 2021 Dodge Durango Pursuit at $31,000, which is only $180 different for the same vehicle. Crosby said he was not sure which way to go until they found out about the in-state preference. Mayor Chimenti suggested that they table this issue until later in the meeting as they investigated the answer. 

Crosby reported they received the DEQ Permit for a transfer station that had seven conditions on it. Crosby said, “This would be a first step in getting a transfer station.” Councilmember John Dorman Sr. pointed out there was not much time left to work on this. Crosby agreed and said they would need to have a joint meeting with the other entities involved for the transfer station. 

Crosby then moved on to an idea he had to change the schedule of when the landfill was open.

He first suggested having the landfill be open Monday thru Friday and not be open on Saturday. He said the reason for this is they only have one staff person present on Saturdays and Mondays, and this has caused some problems. He said, “I almost would feel more comfortable if we have two people out there per day.” But there isn’t enough in the budget to pay for more manpower.

Crosby added that he talked to council member Dusty Lewis and they know that a customer who works Monday thru Friday would prefer to have access on the weekends.

Mayor Chimenti proposed having appointments for people who wanted to access the landfill on a weekend.

Crosby said that might be possible or to do one Saturday a month and spend some overtime.

Lewis suggested every other Saturday.

The reason for additional staff is there are many people passing through the gate and dumping trash where they are not supposed to, and loads are not being inspected properly.

There also have been complaints of customers acting badly with the staff. Public works director Ernie Slagle said that when the customer was putting trash in the wrong place and confronted “they turn vicious, do name-calling and turn nasty.”

Slagle added there is just one staff person and they are too far away to call a Sheriff’s deputy to get help in time. They need a person to man the gate to prevent unapproved access. Slagle also said that shutting the gate has been tried and customers end up dumping on the ground outside the gate.

Council member Tony Larson suggested they schedule every other Saturday they would have two people and save money. “It would be time and a half for somebody.” Crosby and Mayor Chimenti then agreed to get some more information and to table the issue until the next month’s meeting.

The council meeting returned to the bids of the police vehicles. After much discussion and trying to determine the proper way to hand the bids, Tony Larson motioned to simply take the lowest bid from Ken Garff in Utah.

The amounts difference were negligible, and taking the lowest bid would be the simplest way to be compliant. The council seconded and passed the motion with a condition about the delivery costs.