Officials sworn in at council meeting

At the Thermopolis Town Council meeting on January 5, town attorney Mike Messenger swore in both Dusty Lewis and Bill Malloy as re-elected town council members. The council also approved a motion to reappoint Julie Mathews for another term for two years. Messenger also swore her in for this position. 

In his report as director of public works, Ernie Slagle said that they lost their backup generator at the water treatment plant. A repairman arrived and found that all the computer boards are burned out in the transfer switch. Slagle said it would cost approximately $2,700 to replace the equipment. Slagle also said that people at Precision Analysis that test their wells are now no longer testing the wells. Slagle, “We are in the process of finding a lab that does this, which will probably be very spendy and I am in the process of trying to find a pump that will go down and pull water up from about 100 to 120 feet.” He said he will let the council know how that will go in the future. 

Assistant to the mayor, Fred Crosby asked Slagle if the fried circuit board could be a result of the recent power bump. Slagle said, “It could have, but it would be impossible to prove. But with as many power bumps as we’ve had, I suspect it highly.” Slagle added he is keeping his fingers crossed hoping there are no power outages, but he has a plan if they do. Slagle continued his report saying they had to buy over $5,000 in parts for their newest garbage truck.

In his report, Crosby said he is waiting for the results of the ISO audit. Crosby also said he has been busy with their insurance renewal for their autos, properties and equipment. He said, “I think there will be an increase,” referring to communication he had with Travelers Insurance who warned him about cost increases. Crosby said their new agent has been doing a lot of the legwork for them and the experience has been pleasant.