Commissioners hear variety of reports

At the June 4 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting held at the annex building, Commissioner Phil Scheel was absent. Therefore, Chairman Tom Ryan dispensed with the normal Robert’s Rules of Order to conduct the meeting with Commissioner Paul Galovich and himself present.

The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the Accounts Payable Warrant Register in the total amount of $588,643.80 and of the payroll, which was $204,375.89. Commissioners Scheel (previously) and Ryan recused themselves on certain transactions.

Brian Clarkson and Maddie Ross of Ardurra gave the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) report and said they backed up some septic permits and land use change tracts from the online database. They received 2021, 2022, 2012, and 2005 land use change documents from the County Planner and processed and uploaded PDF fields to the AWS cloud storage. Additionally, they drew and attributed land use change tracts and appended new land use change tracts to AGOL data. They also removed document links and other information from the public septic permits layer on the HSC Open Data.

Clarkson and Ross added the updated the public facing Land Use Change Lookup dashboard with new land use change tracts and removed document links except for the Application and Approval Letter links.

Regarding their anticipated work for the next period, they will begin gathering and processing LiDAR data for the Planner REM model of the Big Horn River. They will also process and upload new land-use change files to AWS cloud storage, continue drawing and attributing land-use change tracts, and add tracts to the Land-Use Change Lookup App.

Additionally, they will continue to work on NG9-1-1 layers, gather and process publicly available data, and append address point layers to NG9-1-1 data model, as well as continue to provide support for online applications. 

The Fiscal Year 2025 GIS Mapping and Management Services Scope of Work is a pending action item and will be finalized during the commissioners’ budget meeting.

Nate Messenger gave the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) report and said they had 182 total recorded operations.

Regarding fuel sales, they sold 905.48 gallons of Avgas and 4,002.23 gallons of jet fuel. Messenger said, “The month of May was good out at the airport. Traffic and fuel sales are up. We had a significant increase in Jet A sales.”

The commissioners voted and passed the Approval of the Fixed Base Operator Agreement for $132,500 annually, effective July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026.

Shane Rankin gave the Road & Bridge report and said he attended a safety conference in Casper and that there was “a lot of good information this year.” They had been blading when the weather permitted. Rankin also said that they had a slide on Buffalo Creek and that “it dropped a couple feet, but the biggest problem with getting that filled was the amount of moisture. All of our material out here was sopping wet. Everything up there was sopping wet with all the bentonite and everything. It was just a matter of getting them dry enough to where we could patch across that and get vehicles across it. We ended up coming in over Memorial Week and then getting that done. So it’s at least passable.” 

Rankin also said the staking has been done by Ardurra at the old airport, and they are planning to start on that as soon as the blading and the patching are completed for this spring. Also, the guardrail that was damaged in the crash on East River road earlier this year has been repaired. Rankin believes it was paid for by insurance. 

Rankin continued and said, “The applications for the High Risk Roll Road Sign program are due in August. I plan on the county participating in this. It’s something we’ve done every two years for years past. They provide free signs and posts for worn out or shot up ones through the county. We’ll just have to get a list of them, get approved, and they’ll ship us the material. The only contract we have with them is that we will install the post and the signs within a year of receiving them. It’s a really good program. ”

Barb Rice gave the Youth Alternatives report and said they have 12 total juveniles in the program, which includes five males and seven females. Rice said, “We’re just starting in the summer, a busy season. We have a lot of projects.” Some of the activities the juveniles have been part of include camps, prevention training, knowing the adverse effects of cannabinoids, and a tour of Job Corps with Workforce Services.

Rice and the commissioners also held a discussion about commercial driver’s licenses (CDL). Rice said, “Job Corps provides an excellent opportunity for young people that qualify 16 to 24 or 25 years old. While they’re there to have that opportunity to get that CDL licensing through them, which really makes that an attractive situation, I think, for us.”

Chairman Tom Ryan discussed how the CDL rules have increased in difficulty in getting drivers to become qualified and that the demand for truck drivers has not gone away. Ryan added that, “One positive that’s come from that is Workforce Services has stood up.” Ryan also said that the community colleges in the state have also stepped up to help with CDL licensing and that “it’s such a valuable asset to have…If you have a CDL, don’t let it go.”

Rice added that if a student is enrolled in a trade, such as electrical apprenticeship, she recommends the student get their CDL, as it is likely the job will require it for truck driving.

Rice also said they attended and participated in the Safe Haven game night, trying to provide an opportunity and space. “Broadway Bakery has stepped up to say that space will be available, for young people, families, as a place to come in the evenings or weekends or whatever. It was wonderful. There was a really good turnout. I was surprised.”

The Youth Alternative members also helped out with the community cleanup downtown. Additionally, they began the food pickup, delivery and drop off for the Backpack program and will have swimming lessons as well.

Stephanie Conrad gave the Emergency Management report and said she had gotten some education and is almost done with her critical infrastructure certification. Conrad also discussed that the Camporee event in Gillette at the CAMPlex will be on August 5-11 and will bring 55,000 international children at the same time as the Sturgis gathering. Conrad said, “Maybe we will have quite a bit of traffic all over the state for tourists, because this event is for kids only. Families will be dropping their kids off in Gillette and traveling around the state.” 

Conrad also reported that, “Hudson mistakenly, I think, led out 210,000 gallons of wastewater into the Popoaggi river. The DEQ is doing an investigation on that and will at some time in the near future be doing E. coli testing and a report. And so I don’t know what that means for our river. We’ll keep an eye on that.”

Les Culliton gave the Planner/Project Manager report and said regarding the Hudson event that the water released was treated wastewater, not raw sewage. Culliton also said his office has been busy and that he has been working on the stormwater pollution prevention plan. He also has been getting calls about septics at the Red Rim Ranch area. 

Culliton added that the Natural Resources Planning Commission met on May 8. They have a newly appointed member, Dave Vorhees, but still have one more opening for a member of the group. Also, Culliton received a letter from the WCCA regarding the sage grouse that needed to be filled out and signed by the commissioners. Commissioner Paul Galovich and Chairman Ryan agreed to get the letter filled out and signed in time. 

Regarding the Land Use Planning Commission, they did not meet in May and will do a work session in June. They are having difficulty getting a quorum due to health and availability issues. 

Culliton also said that Tri-Hydro Engineering out of Laramie will be pulling soil samples again at the old airport for about two weeks starting on June 24. There may be some funds available for remediating the soil under the runway if it’s needed after the runway is torn up. 

Regarding the property at 518 Arapahoe, there is a hold up in the process due to some testing with the EPA. They hope by the end of July to have a document. 

Tricia McPhie gave the Prevention/Public Health update and said, “I’m super excited about our Wyoming Mental Health Fitness walking challenge. We’ve had as of last Thursday, 37% people actually coming back and logging the miles back to us. And of those 37%, the miles logged are 3,872 miles that people in our community have walked. There’s been a lot more people after that coming in and turning mileage in. It’s really exciting to see people talking about the trails that they use and the people that they are walking with…The goal we set for everybody was seven miles a week. And many people are surpassing that.”

McPhie added, “People can come in and turn in their mileage at any time, and then they will get entered into one of the drawings.” The program concludes on July 1 and they will have root beer floats in their office where everybody can turn in the last of their mileage. 

McPhie also said they have CPR training and offered it to all county employees, with 11 people renewing their certification. Additionally, Prevention hosted the high potency marijuana and other drugs training on how they impact the youth and community at Common Ground last week. The trainers also gave presentations at the high school and the middle school. 

The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the Community Prevention Grant Program for $192,045, effective July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026.

Dr. Vernon Miller also was with McPhie and announced that this would be her last presentation to the commissioners. Dr. Miller said, “I don’t know anybody in this state is a better county health nurse other than Tricia. She’s well-respected at the state level. She is up to date on everything….We’re going to miss her a lot. And I just want to express the appreciation that I know all of us have. For her and me in particular. We’re going to miss her a lot. So the best of luck.”

Chairman Ryan responded, “I agree with you wholeheartedly.” The commissioners both thanked McPhie for her service and the entire room of attendees gave a round of applause to her. 

The commissioners reviewed the Hot Springs County Rural Water Joint Powers Board (HSCRWJPB) Annual Report. The HSCRWJPB was approved for a Level II study, which started the previous week with a presentation by Water Development Project Manager George Moser on May 22. They are looking for a new source of groundwater and to look at a potential upgrade to the water treatment plant. DOWL is the engineering group working on the project as well. They hope to have by August some potential sites for drilling with a report in September. The HSCRWJPB doesn’t have the pay for the Level II study, the cost is covered by the state. The Town of Thermopolis is a member of the HSCRWJPB. There is a possibility that the state legislature might pay for a new water treatment plant if that is the direction they choose to go.

The commissioner voted and passed the approval to reschedule the June 18 board meeting date to June 28 at 1 p.m. due to calendar conflictions. 

County Attorney Jill Logan presented a Request for Approval of Resolution No. 2024-11 to Appoint a Special Prosecutor. Logan said, “Because this is a small county every so often, as much as we try to avoid and get conflicts which are fairly obvious, it is incredibly appropriate for my office to be pursuing prosecution…and so we trade out with other counties…We just don’t want it to look like we’re playing favorites.” The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the resolution.

The commissioners voted and passed the approval to allow a Outside Home Jurisdiction Liquor License Permission for 24-hour Catering Permit. This motion would allow the Clerk’s office to approve such a request. 

In other business, the commissioners voted and passed the Approval of Resolution No. 2024-10 to Continue to Impose a Two Percent (2%) Lodging Tax in Hot Springs County, to be Placed on the General Election Ballot on November 5, 2024. The lodging tax is not paid by residents of Hot Springs County. Tourists who use a motel, hotel or short-term rental paid the lodging tax. The lodging tax revenue is used by the State of Wyoming and the Hot Springs County Travel and Tourism board for marketing tourism to attract more tourists to visit the area. 

County Clerk Becky Kersten added, “It used to be that the lodging tax asked for 4% locally but the state changed that. We can only collect the 2%, they collect the remaining and we’ll bring that back through, but we’ll still be getting the same percentage. It’s just that we can only put 2% on the ballot and instead of the four.”

Other jurisdictions have much higher lodgings taxes. For example, according to Chairman Ryan, other areas have a 9% lodging tax and San Antonio, Texas has a 14% lodging tax.

The commissioners also voted and passed the approval of the Request for Payment No. 23 for $29,218.51 for the Black Mountain Road Project.