Commissioners updated on GIS progress

At the July 2 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, Brian Clarkson and Maddie Ross of Ardurra gave the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) report and said they have fixed email notification for the Road & Bridge Road Maintenance application and updated the Road Maintenance survey in Survey123. They received additional land use change documents from the Planner and processed and uploaded PDF files to the AWS cloud storage.

Ross said they also drew and attributed land use change tracts and appended new land use change tracts to AGOL data. They also made revisions to existing Land Use Change (LUC) tract attributes per Planner request, and they discussed options for LUC archive tracts. Also, they updated parcel data on ArcGIS Online and updated parcel layers in Planner applications.

Additionally, they conducted research on NENA & State of Wyoming Next-Gen 911 standards and developed a database schema to hold HSC NG911 data.

Regarding anticipated work for the next period, Ross said they will attribute LUC tracts with archive stat and update public and internal Land Use Change Lookup Dashboards to distinguish archive tracts. They will also begin gathering and processing LiDAR data for the Planner REM model of the Big Horn River.

Additionally, they will continue work on NG911 layers and gather and process publically available data. They will coordinate with County staff to obtain additional required data and append address point layer to NG9-1-1 data model. They will also continue providing support for online applications.

Shane Rankin gave the Road & Bridge report and said they had “a very busy month.” The blading on almost all county roads has been completed. Some have been done once, twice, or even three times. Rankin also said the new patch trailers “works amazingly well” and they have been able to patch more potholes a day and more efficiently. 

Regarding the old airport road, they have cleared the brush topsoil and ripped out the old culvert, putting in a new one. Rankin said the recent survey gave a good guide on knowing what to do.

The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the Right of Way (ROW) Permit No. 2024-0001, for Wyoming Gas, Red Rim Ranch, All Expense Paid. Commissioner Phil Scheel abstained from this vote.

The commissioners also voted and passed the approval of ROW Permits 2024-0002 and 2024-0003, for Rocky Mountain Power, Red Rim Ranch, All Expenses Paid.

John Dorman gave the Maintenance report and said they have not heard from Rawhide and they haven’t shown back to finish the intake project. Dorman will reach out to them. Also, the stucco walls are done at the Senior Center and they have done a lot of sprinkler work.

Les Culliton gave the Planner/Project Manager report and said that he and Ardurra have updated the GIS archive layer and they need to do more cleaning up before that load more data into GIS. Culliton and the commissioners discussed holding a work session on July 15 related to some issues at Red Rim Ranch and DEQ. 

Culliton also said that NEPA training is coming up in Pinedale in October. The Natural Resources Planning Committee didn’t have a meeting this month due to low attendance. The Land Use Planning Commission did not have a June meeting either, and they still have one open spot on its board. 

Regarding the old airport, the soil sampling continues. Regarding 518 Arapaho Street, they will do some sampling of materials there on July 10-12. For the fairgrounds grandstand handrail project, Culliton said that someone has taken a look at the place and they are waiting for a proposal. 

Stephanie Conrad gave the Emergency Management update and said they got the preliminary award for a State Homeland Security grant for an access control update. Conrad said, “The state had over $11 million in requests, and they only had $3.6 million to give out.” They were awarded about $39,000. Conrad suggested doing a work session on what to do with the funds. The grant will not cover the $4,000 of labor and will only cover materials. 

Connie Guntley gave the Prevention/Public Health update and said they had 15 children’s immunizations, found adult immunization, 12 chronic disease clinic visits, and three TB screening. For the June events, one of their staff participated in a live exercise in Gillette in preparation for the large Camporee event to come this summer as an evaluator.

Alos, Prevention Coalition is excited to have started their new Prevention Grant cycle that begins July 1 and ends July 2026. The Wyo Walks project has concluded with a total of 12,946.12 miles, which is the same distance as crossing the US 4.6 times. They celebrated with their root beer floats event. 

Nate Messenger gave the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) report and said there were 162 total recorded operations. Of those aircraft, four were air ambulances, six aircraft were overnight, there were three requests for hangar space. The hangar requests were three single engine piston aircraft.

Regarding fuel sales, they sold 1478.8 gallons of Avgas and 1386.52 gallons of jet fuel. Messenger said, “The month of June was slow. Traffic and fuel sales were down compared to last month and quite a way below this month last year. I am not sure, but I think river conditions are playing a part in the fishing traffic.”

Messenger added, “Most of the mowing is done for the year with dry weather here. I have some touch up mowing to do and need to finish weed eating areas I can’t get the tractor to. Storage Tank Solutions out of Montana was down to do the Spill Bucket and overfill alarm testing. It went good, no issues noted. I forwarded the results to the DEQ.”

Messenger continued and said, “I am starting to plan for the Fly In this year. Looking at potentially having it on September 14. We will be joined by the Billings Flying Mustangs again this year with their model airplanes.”

In other business, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of the Big Horn Basin Nature and Discovery Center, WYDOT Transportation Alternative Grant Application, Resolution No. 2024-12 Authorizing the Submission of an Application for Federal Funding Through the Transportation Alternatives Program Administered by the Wyoming Department of Transportation for Hot Springs County for the Purposes of the Children’s Outdoor Discovery Center Area Project, and Support Documents. Chairman Tom Ryan abstained from the vote as he is on the TAP commission. 

The commissioners voted and passed for the approval of a Wyoming Business Council, Business Ready Community Grant Agreement for $1,327,895, Effective Upon Full Execution through June 30, 2029; Request for Reimbursement No. 1 for $3,000 for Indigent Burial Costs; Annual Compensation Agreement with the University of Wyoming for $27,924, effective July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.

The commissioners voted and passed the approval to attach a spreadsheet to the minutes of the proposed 2024-2025 budget summary.

At the June 28 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, the commissioner voted and passed the approval of the Revenue and Expenditure Report. They also held a Public Hearing for the 2023-2024 Budget Amendments. There were no public comments given.

The commissioners also voted and passed the approval of the Accounts Payable Warrant Register for $865,654.54 and for payroll for $212,179,37.

The commissioners reviewed and made a selection for the Renewal of the County Commissioners Scholarship. This scholarship is not funded by Hot Springs County but by the Legislature through the University of Wyoming. This is the first time a student has applied for a renewal. There were two students who applied, but only one spot was open. After the review, Lexi Overfield was selected unanimously. During discussion, the commissioners said, “Both applicants were very well qualified” and they were “very impressed” by both students.

Farm Bureau Insurance Agent Mark Whitt gave an update on the county’ Properties/Vehicles, Crime & Cyber Insurance. Whitt recently did a review of the values of the county’s properties through an extensive examination of the county’s inventory. The commissioner expressed their pleasure in having a local insurance agent to do the work. The commissioners voted and passed the approval to sign the paperwork.

In other business, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of the Ratification of Amended Categorical Exclusion (CATEX) for the County Owned Hangar Project, originally approved January 16, 2024 and the Ratification of Greater Sage Grouse Land Use Plan Amendments Environmental Impact Statement Letter to the Bureau of Land Management.

For the Ratification of Facility Use Form for the Annex Meeting Room for the June 25 Hot Springs County Republican Candidates Meeting, Commissioner Phil Scheel voted not to approve. However, the ratification was passed by Commissioners Paul Galovich and Chairman Tom Ryan. During discussion, they spoke about how to potentially handle facility use requests when the event requested would happen prior to a commissioners meeting for approval.

The commissioner voted and passed the approval of appointing Phylis Baker to the Hot Springs County Museum Board and Shelly Deromedi and Marcia Nelson to the Hot Springs County Library Board. 

The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the Modification of Grant or Agreement No. 3 with U.S. Forest Service for $8,000 for Calendar Year 2024, Road Maintenance on Grass Creek; Approval of Public Health Maternal and Child Health Services Agreement for $28,5000, Effective July 1, 2024 thought June 30, 2026; Request for Payment No. 24 for $22,819.88 for the Black Mountain Road Project; Agreement with Ardurra for $89,500 for GIS services, fiscal year 2024-25; and the Approval of the Joint Law Enforcement Agreement, Effective July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026.