Announcement of new transfer station location 'forthcoming'

At the September 3 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, Town Engineer Anthony Barnett reported that Hot Springs County Commissioners approved a plat change for the potential transfer station location. Mayor Adam Estenson said that the location announcement will be made forthcoming pending from “fine tuning of the contract”.

Barnett also mentioned that chip seal work will going on from Amoretti to Broadway between 6th Street and 8th Street.

During citizen participation, Jacqueline Michel and Ellen Sue Blakey presented a proposal for a Little Free Library to be installed in the Bicentennial Park. It would be a “take one, leave one” library to share books with tourists and locals. Michel and Blakey represent the nonprofit Buffalo Creek Foundation for this cause. There would be no cost to the town for the library, and it would be built by a local contractor. They asked for permission to construct this on town property. The council voted and passed the approval of the proposal.

Meri Ann Dorman, representing the Chamber of Commerce, presented a request for street closure for the Moonlight Madness event on October 24, from 5:30 p.m. until 9 p.m. The closure will be on Broadway Street between 4th and 5th Street in front of Town Hall and the other side of the street. Also, the photo booth would be in front of the old fire hall. Dorman said the event is for the entire family and that last year, they prepared 300 bags of goodies. The council voted and passed the approval of the street closure.

The council also voted and passed the approval of the OEB Saloon LLC 24 hour Alcoholic Beverage Permit, Catering Permit for the Boots & Bling event.

Chief of Police Pat Cornwell reported that they were fully staffed, which enabled him and his family to take a vacation. School has started and the police department has given out “lots of warnings and lots of citations” for speeding, such as in a school zone and other matters. 

Director of Public Works Basil Sorensen said a streetlight was struck and also the landfill was broken into. The police are investigating both matters. 

The council voted and passed the approval for a variance request for a front home entry way in the 500 block of North 5th Street.

In administration, Assistant to the Mayor Jim Jeunehomme presented a request to the council to reconsider a motion regarding the resurfacing of the Family Park Basketball Court. Jeunehomme explained that during the previous town council meeting, he needed to be clear about the words “bid”, “quote” and “estimate” as each specify different legal meanings. Also, at that time, Jeunehomme didn’t have all the information about quotes for comparing concrete surfaces versus asphalt. This data came later. They wanted to continue to explore their options. The council voted and passed the approval to reconsider the motion, with council member Rachel Hughes voting against the motion. 

This led to a detailed conversation about the costs of concrete versus asphalt, the size of the space, the longevity of the materials, the groundwork preparation, the landscaping, the safety of the different surfaces, and other matters. In the end, the council voted and passed the approval unanimously to award Owl Creek Excavation for $39,768.05 to put in a concrete surface.

Jeunehomme also discussed with the council the need to update the current phone systems using the one cent funds. The phones and its wiring in town hall have existed since 2004 and has gone down recently several times. The downed system is separate from the law enforcement and 911 dispatch center, which did not fail. To pay for the new phone system, the town planned to use the money set aside for the coverings of the picnic tables in the parks. The panels of the phone systems keep failing repeatedly and the matter is of an urgent nature. The council voted and passed the approval to reapportion the one cent funds to install a new phone system at town hall.

Jeunehomme also presented the “Our Community Survey” which is for residents of Hot Springs County. The survey seeks to learn the interests of the residents and their priorities so that a collective effort can be made from the different existing entities in the county to make plans together. This would also help create a county strategic plan which, when that exists, would qualify the entities to seek our grants.