Commissioners hear from Lindamood regarding employee housing concerns at his Grass Creek Ranch

At last Tuesday’s Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, commissioner Phil Scheel was absent. Therefore, Chairman Tom Ryan suspended the Robert’s Rules for the meeting. 

Doug Lindamood held a discussion with the commissioners about the future of his Grass Creek ranch and USDA processing plant. Lindamood is concerned about housing for his future employees as the commute to the ranch from either Thermopolis, Meeteetsee, or Worland is too prohibitive. One of the ideas Lindamood is exploring as a potential solution is to create a non-profit organization and use some of his land, possibly as a donation or lease to the organization, that would qualify him to apply for grants that would pay for the construction of housing. 

One of the key elements of this possible plan is Lindamood would need the support from the county. Lindamood said he is not asking for any money from the county, but is doing his due diligence to see if the commissioners would support such a plan. Chairman Ryan said he isn’t opposed to the plan and said, “It’s a great idea.” Lindamood said he would draft a white paper that explains some bullet talking points and get back to the commissioners.

The commissioners held a public hearing for a budget amendment. The amendment is for a total of $936,808.02 which includes $910.991.29 for LATCF Funds (a Covid relief), $22,744.67 in unanticipated revenue, $1,007.46 in miscellaneous Sheriff Revenue, and $2,064.60 in insurance reimbursements. There were no public comments given, except a question of what the details of the amendments were. The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the budget amendment.

County Attorney Jill Logan presented a request for approval for the County Officer Bonds. No action was needed to be taken, however. Logan showed in writing that all county offices were in compliance and they will be in effect July 1 and won’t change until there is a re-election. 

Frank Davis presented a request to approve a proposal for a Web-Based Building Automation System. Davis explained that the current computer system is antiquated using Windows XP OS and old Java scripting software. If he were to update the software and operating system, it would end up potentially not working at all. Davis said he wants a new computer and software that could be remotely accessed to operate the HVAC systems. The commissioners were hesitant about the idea because of the remote access to the county computer system. The commissioners asked Davis to consult with the County IT director Dean Peranteaux and vet the system first before moving forward. After further discussion, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of getting the system contingent on Peranteaux’s recommendations. 

Shane Rankin presented a request for the approval of an approach agreement for Nailed It LLC on County Road #35. The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the agreement. 

The commissioners and Town of Thermopolis Mayor Adam Estenson held a discussion about the WYDOT TAP Grant for the Old Airport. There were concerns from the Big Horn Basic Nature and Discovery Center’s (BHBNDC) issues for applying for grants from TAP, as one grant would be a planning grant and another would be a construction grant. Could both be applied successfully at the same time and not get canceled out? Chairman Ryan explored with Estenson and David Heardt on the phone about having the Town of Thermopolis sponsor one of the grants and the county sponsors the other being BHBNDC is a joint powers board with representatives from both county and town. Heardt along with his cohort Sarah James Elles of WYDOT said that would be a viable pathway. Mayor Estenson said he would bring up this information to the Town Council that night.

In other business, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of the 2023 Wyoming Airports Coalition Membership Registration, the Facility Use Agreement for the Annex Meeting Room, the ratification of the Cooperating Agency Response Letter to the BLM, the Support Letters for the Wyoming Discovery Days and the Petroglyph Wall and Waterway.  

The commissioners also held a discussion about the possible action of accepting or declining to fund for Problematic Gambling Behavior.

During the discussion, they learned it would cost almost half the grant money just to administer it. Therefore, they voted and passed the approval to decline the funding.