Commissioners updated on GIS progress

At the first April Hot Springs County Commissioners meeting held at the Annex building, Brian Clarkson of T-O Engineers gave the GIS (Geographic Information System) report and said they have continued mapping the county road easements and right-of-way descriptions to link to historical documents. They previously met with Bo Bowman of the county’s planning department for a work session and they scanned documents from land-use change files. This includes continuing to incorporate land-use change records or documents into an online land-use classification application.

Additionally, T-O Engineers met with Shane Rankin of the Road and Bridge department to review desktop applications, test mobile applications for the maintenance layer, and provide training. They also purchased additional credits for the ArcGIS Online application. 

Regarding work they anticipate for the next period Clarkson said they will incorporate land use classification application into the HSC Geospatial Hub dashboard. They will continue mapping easements and right-of-way descriptions for Road and Bridge. Also, they plan on incorporating septic permits into GIS and continue editing the Geospatial Hub dashboard.

Nate Messenger gave the FBO report and said there were 204 total recorded operations at the Hot Springs County airport. This includes three air ambulances. They had six aircraft overnight and one request for a hangar.

Regarding fuel sales, Messenger reported they sold 578.88 gallons of Avgas and 1,521.58 of jet fuel. Messenger added, “Traffic was good this month. The Civil Air Patrol Squadron was down from Powell to do some training flights with cadets.” Also, an engineer from Morrison-Maierler was out to measure cracks for the upcoming crack seal project that should occur next year. Messenger said, “I did not get a linear measurement from him as he was measuring at 6 p.m.”

Les Culliton gave the maintenance report and said that the fair building re-roof project had a bid opening meeting on March 31. Only two representatives attended and only one made a bid, which was Wyoming Roofing for $122,605.92.

Regarding work at the courthouse, there was a pre-construction meeting on March 21. Culliton said that an email was sent out to the courthouse offices on start times and notification of activities. These emails will continue as the project progresses. This project started on March 30 with a demo of electrical work at the courthouse.

Regarding work at the law enforcement center, Culliton said they have a request from the maintenance team to drill holes for cable runs. This would be used for a camera system.

Shane Rankin gave the Road and Bridge report and said that he met with a WYDOT engineer as there was an inspection of 61 culverts on Grass Creek. Rankin said that 27 need to be replaced and that there would be deep dirt work to do. Rankin also said there are some tile pipes that need to be replaced and that he wants to bring them up to standard. However, Rankin said there are others in good shape. Yet, he said that all the cattleguards need to be replaced.

Rankin said that he is working on a grant from WyoLink with Bill Gordon to get new Motorola radios. Their analog radios don’t always have a signal in certain spots in the county and the digital radios would have more reliable coverage. 

Regarding the winter equipment maintenance, Rankin said that the work is almost complete. There was also a discussion with Rankin and the commissioners about the John Deere grater and what to do about potentially getting a new one if they trade-in on their CAT. There was also further discussion about a bid on a pickup. Rankin noted that the vehicle manufacturers no longer give a significant government incentive, as it is now only one dollar. Rankin added that previously, “they have never seen vehicles take more than a 3% jump in one year. They are looking at a 14% increase next year.” 

Bo Bowman gave the planning report and said that the Natural Resource Planning Commission (NRPC) met twice last month and worked on an updated draft of their plan. They intend to finish on April 23. The Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC) had a workshop in March where they were completing their proposals for amendments. The new document they generate will go through the 30 day public hearing period, which will also happen for the NRPC document.

The LUPC will meet again on April 20 and will address two applicants in a public hearing. They are the SonRise Ranch LLC, which seeks to have a land-use change from agriculture to commercial to allow a meat process facility. The other applicant is the Red Rim Ranch, LLC, which seeks the approval of a preliminary subdivision plat to divide 385 acres into 88 single daily residential lots and a land-use change from agricultural to residential. Bowman said that he sent out letters to adjacent residents so that are “no surprises.”

Bowman said that the DEQ has found some funding to continue their work at the old airport to turn over more dirt and examine the location’s soil and asphalt. Also, Bowman reported that there were many septic applications in 2021 and not much work was done because of supply chain issues of plastic. He contacted the subjects involved to see what activity was being done. 

Bowman also said that regarding the Eylse Dufour/ Ryan Collins application, the DEQ has approved their septic system and that they will be on the meeting agenda for April 19 at 3 p.m.

Bill Gordon gave the emergency management report and said he had been working for the past five or six weeks drafting a new county emergency operations plan. He hopes to get it out to the first responders in the second half of April for them to look at. Gordon added, “What the county emergency operations plan consists of in no way presumes to tell any of those agencies how to do or what they do. What it does is it tells them how we can all coordinate it, work together, work with the state, work with the feds, all the processes involved. What they do at a fire or an explosion or barricade gunman is all their business. So mine is an organizational plan. That’s what the nature of county plans are.” Gordon continued and said the plan will be reviewed by county attorney Jill Logan.

Gordon will be meeting later in April with other emergency planners. Also, the Land Emergency Planning Commission will meet on May 4 at 1:30 p.m at the Fire Hall to discuss the subject of potential Boysen Dam collapse and evacuation plans, “a doomsday scenario.”

Gordon added, “It is probably the highest impact event we could ever have here. And yet it is also probably the lowest likelihood that it’ll ever occur. So it’s a strange conundrum that it’ll never happen, but we have to plan for it.” Some of the commissioners asked how long it would take for a dam failure to impact the town. Gordon replied, “it’s kind of unique in that the time factor for responding is so brief. The estimates are that we will begin to see the leading edge of that water rising in the river at the swinging bridge in about 66 minutes, which then when you include the time that will take the control center in Casper to realize what’s going on.”

Trica McPhie gave the public health and prevention update and said they received three immunization awards for their coverage rates. McPhie also announced the opportunity to receive the fourth dose of the Covid vaccine. Hot Springs County is still third in the state for most vaccinations, which are at 50.58%.  

Barb Rice gave the youth alternative report and said they have 10 males and seven females with five new citations. They also had their monthly prevention meeting and did a Guy’s Night Out with Sheriff Jerimie Kraushaar and Terry Anderson facilitating. The men talked about respect, self-respect, behaviors, etc.

Rice then introduced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to the commissioner that would be between Central Wyoming College, the Career Readiness Department and the Help Center at Common Ground, and Hot Springs County Youth Alternatives. This agreement would be for concurrent/dual enrollment so that young adult participants can advance onto further training and job opportunities. Students will be registered at CWC under High School Equivalency. Student participants cannot be less than 16 years old and those under 18 years old must have approved documentation of non-enrollment in their high school of residence. County attorney Jill Logan voiced support for this agreement. This agreement will also give permission for them to look for additional funding. The commissioners voted and agreed to approve the MOU. 

Lindsey Woodward of Weed and Pest presented to the commissioners a request for a 2nd Mill for mosquito abatement. She described their activities and how they investigate larvae in the search for possible West Nile viruses. Woodward added how they spray certain areas to prevent mosquito growth. After her presentation, the commissioners voted and approved to grant the 2nd Mill to help pay for their work.

Kim Bartlett presented a request for matching funds for the courthouse landscape grant. Bartlett said their grant application for $500 was successful. The work they plan to do would be installing native plants in front of the courthouse. This would be a collaboration between the county’s maintenance crew and the Red Dirt Master Gardners. The commissioners voted and approved to provide $500 as a match which would be used from the maintenance budget. 

Doug Lindamood presented to the commissioners and asked them to consider approving the county’s available liquor license for his ranch on Grass Creek Ranch. Lindamood said that he moved to the area last year and has set up his ranch as an attraction for agritourism. He wants to sell local beer and Wyoming Whiskey drinks. The commissioners said that they notified the public of the opportunity for the liquor license and that Lindamood was the first to respond. The commissioners vote and approved to accept his proposal. However, his proposal will have go through a public hearing process before potential full approval. The fee for the license is $1,250.

In other business, the commissioners passed and approved these items: the State Parks requested use of the old airport for their emergency vehicle operations training course; the 2022 Wyoming Health Fair Employee Wellness Contract; Resolution 2022-03 for the enlargement of the LWSD to include the Hillberry property. There were no public comments given for this request. The commissioner voted and approved to appoint Mark Walker to the Predator Animal Board. 

Also in other business was a discussion with the commissioners and county treasurer Julie Mortimore and county assessor Daniel Webber regarding the Monthly Ad Valorem Transition Loan program and whether the county should apply for it. The conversation mentioned there is uncertainty in how the process will work between mineral company payments and special districts receiving payments from the Treasurer’s office. Chairman Tom Ryan asked county clerk Becky Kersten to send letters to the various districts that will be affected by the transition and if they have questions to contact Daniel Webber for details.