Chicken motion dies for lack of second

At the June 1 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, Darren Butcher presented some concerns to the council. The agenda for the meeting said he was going to speak about lawn waste. However, he quoted some bible scriptures about how the people can benefit those who oversee the land and he wanted to address the mindset of the council to appeal to them his cause about allowing chickens within the town.

Butcher said he wanted to help the community who are in need and that chickens would be a benefit by producing eggs and food. Butcher also presented other documents from other counties and towns that have allowed this measure. He asked for a vote and a discussion.

Council member Dusty Lewis made a motion to allow chickens within the town, but no one seconded it. Because of this, there was no opportunity to continue and have a discussion. 

During citizen participation, Doug Nelson of the local Farmer’s Market came in with his annual request for street closure on 5th Street and Broadway next to the Bicentennial Park. He needs orange cones and barrels for partitioning the area. The Farmer’s Market will be from June 19 until October 16, from 8 a.m. until 12 noon, with setup at 7 a.m. The council voted and passed, giving approval. 

Rachel Moon, representing the County Museum, requested an all-day street closure on 7th street next to the museum from Broadway until the alley for only half a block. The closure is for additional parking and the event. The museum is holding a free community event centered around the original photo of Sundance Kid and Etta Place. A historian writer will be presenting and there will be root beer floats and sarsaparilla served at the old Hole in the Wall bar. This celebration will occur on Saturday, August 14. The council voted and passed, giving permission for the closure.

Jackie Dorothy, representing the county’s Travel and Tourism Board, gave an update. She said motel rooms are filling up and there is an increase happening, “things are really looking positive.” Dorothy mentioned they are working on the magazines and will print 5,000 of them. 

Chris Paris and Wade Lippincott spoke representing Hot City Outdoor Alliance, a nonprofit that is seeking funds to set up a new trail on Round Top. Last year they had a meeting to discover what areas to develop more trails and involved the community. The Alliance’s latest project was a trail of T-Hill which has gained a lot of attention from hikers and mountain bikers from all over the nation and the state. Many tourists use an app called Strata as they travel to discover new trails and Thermopolis’s T-Hill trail often comes up in search results. The T-Hill trail is 5 miles and the Alliance wants to extend the options in the area.

For the Round Top trail, they recently received a grant through the Musser Foundation but it fell through and their application through the Conservation District was pulled because those were going to be matching funds. However, shortly thereafter funding came in from the Walton Foundation and the need to get a match came back as the deadline of the Conservation District already passed. The Walton’s are giving $20,000. Now they came to the Town Council to see if they would be willing to contribute.

Council member Bill Malloy asked Paris and his team if they approached the County Commissioners. Paris said that they did earlier that day and expressed they were “disappointed” in the response of the commissioners. Mayor Mike Chimenti asked Treasurer Tracey Van Heule if they have money to assist. Van Heule said they have a cash reserve and would have to address line items. After some discussion and some motions, one to adjust from having a condition on funding to not requiring a match, the council voted and passed to give $5,000 to the nonprofit. Mayor Chimenti asked the group to come back if they have any new updates from the County Commissioners.

Police Chief Julie Mathews reported that her department tagged 48 yards to be mowed and encouraged those property owners to mow their yards and have 10 days to clean up. Mathews said there were more to report that need to be tagged, but they ran out of tags.

Assistant to the Mayor Fred Crosby presented the 2021-2022 fiscal year budget in its second reading. There were no changes made at the time. The council voted and passed to accept the budget on its second reading. Pending any future changes, they will present the budget for a third and final reading to officially pass it. 

The council also received a renewal application from Carl Leyba for his appointment on the Travel and Tourism Board. Leyba’s term expired at the end of May.

No one else had submitted an application to the Town.

Mayor Chimenti asked, “How many years has he been on there?” Crosby said, “It’s been a long time. Jackie Dorothy and I could not find in the by-laws where there is a limit on that.

Tourism Director Dorothy said, “There is no limitation at this time. Also the board, all the members, are brand new and he’s the only one that has historic information about what the board has done and what we can do. And he’s expressed to me that what he’d like to do is one more term and then step off once he feels we no longer need him anymore.” Crosby mentioned Matt Hughes who recently resigned who was a county appointment as an Airbnb lodging business. Dorothy confirmed that and said, “We’re actually actively pursuing some people and because we want to have diversity on the board so we are looking for someone hopefully from the pools that can come on and represent. That would be something that would benefit us.”

The council voted and passed to reappoint Leyba to the Travel and Tourism Board.