Commissioners updated on county maintenance

At the Hot Springs County Commissioners meeting on April 6, Nate Messenger provided the FBO Monthly Airport report and said that March was good with 138 total recorded operations at the new county airport, of which four were air ambulances and six were aircraft overnight. There was also one hangar request. Their fuel sales were 608.27 gallons of Avgas and 439.69 gallons of jet fuel. Both traffic and fuel sales were up this month.

There was some discussion with the commissioners about the possibility of building a larger hanger to house aircraft. Messenger said it’s a “field of dreams” scenario and that they don’t really know what business would actually occur, but it would be a boost to the economy.

Messenger also said they turned in two requests for responses for Cares Act money. One was for utilities from April 2020 through December 2020 for about $12,000. The other was for Scott Miller’s work on the sign. Messenger also said that the upgraded AWOS sensor is here and they are just waiting on the DBT technician to come to install and calibrate it. The grant paperwork for that has been submitted to WYDOT Aeronautics. 

Les Culliton gave his county maintenance report and said that the county museum’s fire suppression system was unable to be fully tested because it could not drain down properly and that it was not connected to a monitoring system. He said a contractor is working on a solution and a proposal. 

A new bid document is being prepared from CRCI and Nelson Architect for roof work and should be done by May 1. The scope of the work included adding safety ladders for roof access, removing access to the roof at the top of the elevator shaft, and they can modify some windows for access to two of the roofs. Dave Kaufman said that he feels the roof can survive another winter if needed, but there are concerns about the cost of material and available labor. The commissioners mentioned concerns about pushing back work done and delaying it further.

Culliton also said there is a roof leak at a drain in a stairwell, the connection at a roof drain, and a section of the membrane would need to be cut out and patched back to repair the issue. Culliton recommends that they leave it until the roof is replaced. He would like to purchase a fall protection harness and safety lanyard to use while performing this work.

Culliton queried the commissioners about expectations in spending money in the budget for repairs and when to involve third parties. They replied with a discussion about the issues of delaying repairs and needing to discern where to spend money. They also talked about “midnight hour” issues and moving to preventative maintenance instead. A later conversation would be needed to go over specifics and budget items.

For the Annex Public Health building, Culliton reported that it also has roof leaks in the meeting rooms and foyer at the front entrance. He said the maintenance team inspected and did not find any penetration of the membrane or punctures. There were no soft spots when walking on the roof.

Culliton presented a list of options for the Long contract. There was a discussion about which level to use, where Culliton recommended Level 1. 

Shane Rankin provided the Road and Bridge report and said they had a good month. His team has been going through the county roads and blading them. They will be done in the next couple of weeks. Regarding the information on the Forest Service five-year agreement that was submitted in February, it was submitted to the representative’s superiors and they are still waiting to hear about it. They potentially will be done in May. The county receives about $8,000 per year to grade the road that leads to the Forest Service line.

Rankin also reported that did shoulder work out on Sand Draw and broomed edges. He said the blading has been nonstop for the past couple of weeks. Rankin also said he was in talks with Sheriff Kraushaar about saving money and doing service maintenance to the Sheriff’s department’s vehicles. Rankin added he would like to have a vehicle lift installed in his shop, which would cost around $4,300 and there is money in the budget for it. He said it would increase productivity and help the Sheriff’s department. After some discussion, Chairman Ryan said he is OK with this idea.

Barb Rice gave her Youth Alternative monthly report and said she has been busy with 16 total juveniles enrolled. Plus there were six middle school students who recently were cited for tobacco and marijuana possession and are now part of a five-month program. That makes a new total of 22 juveniles. The tobacco citations involved juveniles have to do a minimum of 10 hours of community service and pay a $25 fine. Rice added she wants to use officer Mike Mascorro to speak to the students since he has been doing a drug talk prevention program at the high school. 

Rice added that kids are struggling to find things to do, especially in the evenings and that they hosted a bonfire recently with 12 kids. There was also a BBQ where 17 kids showed up. County Attorney Jill Logan said that there are no foster homes in the county and that the workload is “killing Barb. We are using her for too many things.” Rice replied with resilience and said that a lot of the circumstance they are facing is due to COVID and the lack of jobs. The economic impact has affected families and the radical changes at school have affected the students. Commissioner Jack Baird said we should blame Governor Gordon and that “We should have never closed down.” Rice continued and said that COVID had a massive financial impact on the people of the community and small businesses. She added that her work is not any more complicated than before, other than logistical issues. Rice said that kids are hungry at home and they need a motel for housing kids. She said there is no crisis foundation, no foster parents and no beds for placement.

Bo Bowman gave his monthly planner report and said that the 2021 officers for the planning committee have been elected. Their next meeting will be on April 14. They also gave their annual report to the DEQ for their gravel pits. There will be tours possibly in May or June. They are also preparing for an application for a construction permit and there is a process in hand, but no one knows it yet. Therefore, they will have a spring ad in the newspaper and a press release for it. There is a new permit process that makes things simpler. It is one application and one page, with no fee. It’s not a building permit. They simply want to know when someone is going to build something. 

Bill Gordon presented his emergency management report and said the Owl Creek snow tell is at 21 inches of snow and has 5.5 inches of water. It should be good for irrigation and that the level really jumped from 14 inches to 21 inches. Gordon also said they have the Assessor’s 1995 Trailblazer Ford Ranger Pickup 4x4 that is available for in-town handy use. It has under 100,000 miles on it and is a small truck with a topper on it with manual transmission. There was discussion and the commissioners said they could share it or donate it to another entity or try to sell it.

Tricia McPhie gave her public health and prevention update. She presented the Temporary Assistance for Need Families Grant application, which would be given to the counseling center. They are asking for the same amount as last year for $20,000. Public health would be the grant manager. The commissioners voted and passed to accept the grant.

The commissioners also voted and passed the county health officer annual contract for the fiscal year 2022 in the amount of $9,600. There were no changes in it compared to the previous year. 

Additionally, the commissioners voted and passed the Amendment One - Maternal Child Health contract in the amount of $26,937. That amount was down 8.5% due to budget cuts. McPhie said there was “good news,” as a new maternal health nurse will be starting in May. Her name is Stephanie Hoffman and is originally from Ten Sleep and has been in Laramie working. She has maternal child experience, been in labor and delivery and is working on her lactation certification. There is also a new maternal health nurse program that will do home visits. 

Regarding COVID vaccines, McPhie reported that there were 1202 first doses of Moderna, 976 second doses of Moderna and 141 doses of Johnson and Johnson. She said people still want the vaccines. She also said there is interest in the Johnson and Johnson vaccine because it is a single dose. Commissioner Phillip Scheel asked about what percentage of the population needs to be vaccinated that will bring about herd immunity. The commissioners did some calculating of who had one dose, those who were under 18 years ago, those who have not yet been vaccinated and those who already have COVID. McPhie replied, “We’re not doing too bad in Hot Springs County.” 

The commissioners then discussed the Rental / Utility Relief Funds where only $3,800 would be provided to Hot Springs County. The point of contention of this matter was why should the commissioners be involved when the Department of Family Services already exists and would be better and administering this need. Commissioner Scheel said that DFS is the most in tune with the population that would need this funding. Commission Jack Baird asked, “What do we have to do with this?” Also, the low amount of $3,800 that would go to help pay rent and utility would be used up almost immediately. They also said that the cost to hire someone to administer the funds and provide them insurance, etc would not be a wise use of funds. The $3,800 is less than the cost of hiring. 

The commissioners held a public hearing about a request to reconfigure two residential properties of the Fish Hook Subdivision. One is developed and the other is vacant. County Planner Bo Bowman presented the proposal. It would roughly yield two lots, one being 5 acres and the other 4 acres. 

There were some concerns about if the RailRoad would be allowed access, the increase of density, setting a precedent for further development and concern for the area’s intention in development. 

The applicant to the request of the properties reconfiguring provided some data and documentation that addressed the concerns. 

Also present was a neighbor who opposes the proposal said they were concerned someone would build next to their property. The neighbor also brought up the property covenants which states that you cannot have smaller than a 5 acres piece and she questions how can they take a 9 acres area and divide it into two 5 acres lots. Commissioner Jack Baird said that the lots are already the size stated, they are not changing in acreage. 

Chairman Ryan said after all the voices gave their concerns, “I don’t see a big change here. I don’t see all the concerns.” Ryan also added that the county is not bound to the covenants of the land and the end result is there are still two lots. “It looks like they are straightening up the line.” 

The commissioners next spend some time scoring the properties checklists. After presenting the scores, the commissioners voted and passed the motion to access the redo of the property lines of the Fish Hook Subdivision. 

Jill Jarrard from Wyoming Downs, LLC presented a proposed resolution to the commissioners to accept their business doing pari-mutuel wagering and simulcast events at local bars. Chairman Ryan said he was confused about the need to do this resolution when the county residents already voted to have a pari-mutuel betting. Jarrard said they wanted to ask the county permission to place up to four units in bars who are interested in hosting them. Jarrard added that resolution also welcomes competition, and they would not be exclusive to any particular business. Jarrard described a technical process and workflow involved to do the setup and that it would take around five to six months to complete. This process and checklist of items are also governed by the Wyoming Gaming Commission. The resolution also differentiates itself from some large sites of electronic gambling where they are seeking to be in small local bars. Commissioner Scheel asked, “Why do we need a resolution for this? I am happy and encouraged about this, and the residents passed it. We need less paperwork.” Jarrad replied, “We are breaking ground and have never tried to do this before.” The commission then voted and passed the resolution to allow Wyoming Downs, LLC and other entities to perform their pari-mutuel business in local bars.