Council approves Shriners parade

At the August 6 Thermopolis Town Council meeting held at Town Hall during citizen participation, Eric Kay presented a request for a proposed Shriners Parade on Saturday, September 21. Kay said that this day will be a conferral for new Shriners and that a couple of 100 people plus their families are expected to attend. The parade would begin at 10 a.m. at Senior Center Drive, come to the flagpole, turn around, and end at the VFW.

Kay added that the Shriner’s funny cars would be present and that they would invite horses and their riders, law enforcement, and others to participate in the parade. Kay said that he had already spoken to the Chief of Police Pat Cornwell and the DOT. The council voted and passed the approval to allow the parade.

There were no public hearings, however, Gail Schenck asked to speak to the council. Mayor Estenson recognized her to speak for the allotted three minutes. Schenck said, “I’m here to talk about the fireworks that were on July 4, and thank you, Honorable Council. As many of you know, over 40 years ago, I had brain surgery. Due to the surgery, I have had several side issues. One of these is I am very sensitive to noise, and I have been insulted over the radio for this. There is other brain damage relating to post-traumatic stress disorder after a near-fatal car wreck in the canyon in 2006. Both medications have failed. So I reduced this to having a service dog. I had this dog until July 1 when he was 16 years old and due to illness we had to put him down. Three days later was July 4. I was grateful he did not have to hear or feel the concussions that went on relentlessly from noon until after 12:30 a.m. at night. I felt like I was in Gaza. By 8:30 p.m., my PTSD was in full rebellion.” 

Schenck continued with emotion, “I quaked for those veterans who had endured firefights in Vietnam and in the Middle East. Not all of them were wearing hearing aids that they could rip off. I couldn’t. The dogs couldn’t either. I have lived in Thermopolis for 50 years. I have never had to endure such terror. When many of us think of fireworks, we think of crackers and sparklers and, you know, just simple things that are fun noisemakers. Never in many of our wildest dreams did we think of cannons or concussion blasts. Certainly not hour after hour. Many others were shaken to the core and our animals terrorized. Some still refused to leave their home or yard. I even know of ones from outside town that could hear the fireworks in town, and they lived north of town. While the weather was great, the huge fireworks just dispersed debris in other yards. It was awful. Who picks that up? Is the city going to do that? Health issues prevent some people from going into their backyards or extended property and doing that. There were only five complaints called to the PD, or town counted? We have gathered additional complaints.”

Mayor Estenson gave Schenck a 30-second warning. Schenck continued and said, “Many didn’t call in as they figured they would be ignored or even harassed because Thermopolis was allowing fireworks. Other fireworks in the county were thought they were legal as well. In the Independent Record, it says that we are to look at this for next year. Some of us were blindsided because of the sight, sound, and duration. Please do not. Think of the veterans, those that fear bumps in the night and animals that can hardly take the town show for years.”

At this point the timer bell rang, however, Schenck continued and said, “Some of us who endure every day. We will flee if this happens again, but some people can’t. And then who’s going to have the insurance if something happens, if there’s an accident?”

Mayor Estenson replied, “Thank you for your comment. We will take that into consideration when we decide for next year and condolences on your service animal. I’m sorry to hear that.”

Chief of Police Pat Cornwell announced during his police department report, “It’s been a long time to be able to say this, but we are finally a full staff.”

Town Engineer Anthony Barnett reported that they had a pre-bid meeting that only three town employees attended, but no contractors came. However, that day they had calls from two chip sealing companies that did want to bid on their project. Therefore, they issued an addendum as a two-week extension. They plan on getting bids about August 15 to have ready for the next council meeting. 

Mayor Estenson then discussed whether to decide if a workshop might be necessary to address vendors or organizations who are late in requesting 24-hour alcohol beverage catering permits for events in town. It was noted that most of the events occur either at the fairgrounds or the Hot Springs State Park (HSSP). Those permits require prior approval from either the fair board or HSSP officials. For alcohol to be permitted in HSSP, the park requires 60 days prior to application. 

Mayor Estenson pointed out that the alcoholic beverage permit for the Discover Days events was only requested on Thursday, one day before the event kicked off. Both permits from SonRise Operations, LLC for Beer For My Horses and Audra Dominguez for Discovery Days for August 2-4 were approved administratively. Mayor Estenson expressed concern over this and the discussion was about if there might be abuses to the process. At the end of the discussions, the council agreed to hold a work session and invite the entities who regularly request alcoholic beverage catering permits to attend and work out the matters. They will explore the ordinance or make changes to the ordinance and see if the permits need to be before the council or be done similarly by the administration.