County Commissioners hear several reports

At the April 4 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, Chairman Tom Ryan was absent. Therefore, Vice Chair Phil Scheel suspended Robert’s Rules of Order for the meeting and Commissioner Paul Galovich was present.

Brian Clarkson and Maddie Ross of Ardurra Engineering gave the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) update and said they have finished scanning septic permit documents, and processed and uploaded permit files from 1981 to 1978 to cloud storage. They also started the Hot Springs County (HSC) Open Data/GeoHub tutorial for the commissioners, as well as working on the site layout. Additionally, they provided technical support to Road & Bridge for the Road Maintenance applications. 

Regarding anticipated work, they will provide the commissioners with training material for the HSC Open Data and HSC GeoHub sites. They will meet with the commissioners on April 18 to discuss and review their 2022/2023 work and discuss the direction for the following fiscal year’s GIS services.

Ross also said they will return the septic permit field to County Planner Bo Bowman and draft the Scope of Work for HSC 2023/2024 GIS Services. Ardurra will continue to all septic permit information to the GIS database, continue mapping land-use changes for the Planner’s Land-Use Change application, obtain additional county road easement/right-of-way documents from Cody Stewart, begin mapping descriptions, and add to the Road & Bridge Department application. 

Nate Messenger gave the FBO report and said there were 194 total recorded operations in the past month. Included in that amount were three air ambulances, four aircraft overnight, and two requests for a hangar.

Regarding fuel sales, they sold 1,061.99 gallons of Avgas and 2,204.88 gallons of jet fuel. Messenger also said, “Steve’s plumbing installed a new water pump, which will cost around $850 plus labor. The snow is holding back some weekend traffic, but hopefully, that will end soon. WYDOT Aeronautics Commission will be in town in the middle of May to do a facility tour. It will be a good chance to discuss our projects with them and stress any needs or wants. We need to determine who you would like involved in this discussion with them. We are making some slow headway with Mr. Jones’ hangar project. We should have a lease agreement to sign in the next few days.”

Vice Chairman Scheel recommended Chairman Ryan be part of the discussion with WYDOT. Messenger and the commissioners also discussed replacing the batteries for the airport sign and Messenger is working on finding a solution. 

Shane Rankin gave the Road & Bridge report and said they have been trying to do blading but the recent snow storms have hindered them. Rankin said they are training a new hire while doing snow removal and equipment maintenance. Rankin added they are ready for the spring and summer. 

Rankin mentioned a WYDOT grant for communications devices, such as radios, and they are waiting for the grant agreement to come back, so he give it to County Attorney Jill Logan and County Clerk Becky Kersten to continue the process with commissioners. 

Regarding their crew’s digital tablets, Rankin said they have been delivered and set up. The crew is now familiar with the devices and will continue their training.

Regarding the Black Mountain Road project update, Rankin said there isn’t much to report at this time due to the weather, but they anticipate the work as the spring comes and the weather gets better. At this time they are planning in the office. 

Frank Davis gave the maintenance report and said at the courthouse they replaced the light in the front of the building and that the HVAC computer system is well on its way to being completed. For the Annex/Public Health building, Davis said the parking lot likes were retrofitted to LED, and they replaced all of them, and they fixed the light on the top of the door. Davis added they have a bid for the notification if the generator does not start. Also, the Wyoming Gas Company and TWE are still trying to find the problem with the generator, not wanting to start. The commissioners vote and passed the approval of TWE’s bid for $2,123.70.

Regarding the Law Enforcement Center, Davis said they installed a new washing machine, and that there is a variable frequency drive slowing going out in the penthouse. They have a bid from Long for the replacement. The commissioners voted and passed the approval of Long’s bid for $303,960.

Regarding the County Library, they had isolation valves installed beside the pumps. They also installed automatic bleeders to bleed the air out of the system.

Regarding the courthouse parking lot, Davis said that he and Road & Bridge Supervisor Shane Rankin talked about cleaning up the lot and using material when the time comes. They also are working on getting bids for possibly a walking sidewalk between the front of the cars after the parking lot is redone, instead of putting parking blocks back up.

Bo Bowman gave the Planner report and said that the Natural Resources Planning Committed (NRPC) meets on April 12 and there is no Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC) meeting for April. Bowman added he is ready for the septic season to begin.

Bowman presented the final plat for the Shaffer Subdivsion, which is now known as Shaffer Acres. The plat had 16 conditions, and all were met. The commissioners voted and passed the approval for the plat to be signed. 

In other business, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of RFR#8 for the Big Horn Basin Nature & Discovery Center for $3,656.10 and RFR#9 for the Black Mountain Road project for $27,176.02. The commissioners also voted and passed the approval of the Opioid Settlement Participation Agreement and the OneWyo II Opioid Settlement MOA. Hot Springs County will receive 0.8% for the settlement, which comes from 44 states being involved and a total of $26 billion amount. The specific settlement amount for the county is pending to be determined. 

Bill Gordon gave the Emergency Management report and said there are different opinions about the water and snow drainages that feed into Boysen Reservoir, but he said the amount of moisture “tends to be on the high side.” The various snow tells Gordon monitors are above the medians. Gordon added “It could get interesting,” regarding the Wind River Canyon having landslides because the ground is full of moisture. Gordon also said that this is not something they haven’t seen before. 

Trice McPhie gave the Public Heath/Prevention report and introduced Department of Family Services’ Penny Anderson and Nichole Rush to the commissioners regarding the proclamation that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. Commissioner Scheel read the proclamation to the public and then the commissioners voted and passed the approval for the proclamation. 

Barb Rice gave the Youth Alternative report and said they have 16 juveniles with citations, including 11 males and five females. There are 20 students in the classroom, 16 on the High Set, and there are four adult students in their Basic Education course. They also had an art class and 13 people showed up at a tobacco prevention session they coordinated with Jen Cheney. 

Rice also held a discussion with the commissioners about Central Wyoming College (CWC) and the difference between their goals and her student’s goals. CWC is preparing students for continuing their education, whereas Rice said most of her students are seeking employment, particularly in trade jobs. Rice said all of her students except two are working at the same time they are taking their classes with her. There was also discussion about working the Town Hall to potentially find guidance and possible funding to help Rice. Rice is working with students and their citations with both Circuit Court and the Municipal Court. 

Shawna Farrell and Chip Axtell presented to the commissioners a request for the 2nd Mill for the HSC Weed & Pest Board. This is a regular annual request going back many years. The Weed & Pest Board will perform mosquito management with ground fogging, aerial fogging, and other methods. The commissioners voted and passed the approval for the 2nd Mill. 

The commissioners held a discussion regarding the follow-up to the TAP Grant and the Big Horn Basin Nature & Discovery Center (BHBNDC). Brad Beccera, a board member of the BHBNDC, made a request to the commissioner to have a sidewalk included in their planning and construction that would connect with a sidewalk in their plan. Currently, one of the BHBNDC issues is they cannot have a sidewalk that deadens according to ADA requirements. If the commissioners make the sidewalk connection the BHBNDC’s plan will be approved. 

Dr. Megan Olson and Travis Winger presented to the commissioners a request for use of the old airport runway for their wedding ceremony on September 24. They agreed to provide the insurance paperwork and a $500 cleaning deposit, which is refundable. The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the request.