Commissioners deal with full agenda

At the September 3 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, Chairman Tom Ryan was not present for most of the meeting, although he appeared via Zoom for a short time. Therefore, Vice Chairman Phil Scheel suspended Robert’s Rules of Order so that he and commissioner Paul Galovich could conduct business.

The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the Accounts Payable Warrant Register for $558,999.76 and Payroll for $215,293.07.

Maddie Ross of Ardurra gave the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) report she said they drew and attributed 2024 septic permits, uploaded documents to AWS, and appended new permit locations to ArcGIS Online data. They also ran automated parcel updates for ArcGIS Online data.

Ross also said they continued adding NG9-1-1 data layers from publicly available data and updated FDGC metadata for data layers and ensure compliance with Wyoming NG9-1-1 standards. 

Regarding anticipated work for the next period, Ross said they updated the ArcGIS Online parcels layer on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month and they will draw and attribute 2024 septic permits as necessary. They will upload documents to AWS and append new permit information to ArcGIS Online data.

They will meet with Jerimie Kraushaar to discuss NG9-1-1 data and GIS priorities for the Sheriff’s Department. The will continue to work on NG9-1-1 layers and coordinate with county staff to obtain additional required data, and will append address point layers to the NG9-1-1 data model.

Ardurra will also meet with Planner Les Culltion on September 9 to discuss directions for septic inspections of the Field Maps application. They will continue providing support for online applications.

Nate Messenger gave the Fixed Based Operator (FBO) report and said they have 166 total recording operations. These included four air ambulances, 10 aircraft overnight, and three requests for hangar space. For the hangar requests, there were two single engine piston aircraft and one single engine turboprop aircraft.

Regarding fuel sales, Messenger said they sold 1081.48 gallons of Avgas and 2016.85 gallons of jet fuel. Messenger added, “The month of August was slower than expected. We had approximately half the traffic and fuel sales we had this month last year.”

Messenger continued and said, “The efficiency inspection was conducted by Adam Keifenheim of WYLITE. He stated he would have to get creative to find a solution for the insulation in the SRE building. We will be looking for a report from him.”

Also, Messenger said that Senator John Barrasso flew in for a few hours on August 23 and the annual inspection on the fire extinguishers was completed. 

They will hold the annual Fly-In and breakfast from 7-11 a.m. on September 14. They will also host the Billings Flying Mustangs model airplane club fly-on September 13-15. Messenger also will be attending the Wyoming Airport Coalition’s conference in Saratoga September 18-19.

Shane Rankin gave the Road & Bridge report and said they had “an interesting month” with work primarily being done at the old airport road. They have the approach left to do but they are waiting on it due to the utilities in the ground. Also, Rankin has been training some of his employees with blading and smoothing roads again. They also put the arena back together after the demolition derby for the Chamber of Commerce. 

Rankin also presented some compact track loader bids, and the commissioners discussed the other bids descriptions. Rankin recommended the bid from Kubota because of their warranty and their price of $77,000. The commissioners voted and passed the approval to accept the bid from Kubota.

John Dorman gave the maintenance report and said the detention center plumbing work is finished. They are also waiting on parts for the portable generator and will continue to do more regular maintenance work.

Stephanie Conrad gave the Emergency Management report and said she was invited to participate in helping out with fires and the recovery program in northeast Wyoming and Johnson in the previous week. Conrad said that 174,000 acres burned. She also described the usefulness of their GIS that the local emergency manager was using, and she expressed great interest in learning the Hot Springs County’s GIS system. The GIS maps were identifying the different land categories, such as BLM, state, or private lands, and how the fires were approaching certain areas or had already burned other areas. 

Conrad also said that the fires burned 500 miles of fencing and they needed 10.5 million feet of new barbed wire to replace the lost fences. According to Conrad, barbed wire that was burned would not be usable because it would be brittle. As a solution, they were able to get some barbed wire from a local landfill.  

Conrad said she went to the HSC Senior Center to help people sign up for Code Red to be able to receive emergency notifications. She expressed to the community to think about being prepared for an emergency and a 72 hour kit with plans for their families and animals should something happen. 

Vice Chair Scheel discussed with Conrad how they recognized the usefulness of the GIS maps and envisioned spreading its application to other county departments. The commissioners were excited to hear Conrad’s interest in learning the GIS and that Maddie Ross of Ardurra would be in town on September 9 so that Conrad could meet her to learn more and ask questions.

Shawn Mohr gave the Prevention/Public Health update and said has been learning about “where things are at and meet face to face with folks”. Mohr recently was hired to replace Tricia McPhie, who resigned earlier this summer. 

Mohr brought to the commissioners attention that he learned the opioid dispensing rate is “pretty high in Hot Springs County, especially compared to other counties in Wyoming and especially the United States.” Mohr said he plans on researching the matter further before making any move or asking for money. According to the CDC statistics, 92.2 people out of 100 in Hot Springs County have been prescribed opioids. Mohr plans on creating a task force to investigate the accuracy of this measurement and verify the data.

Mohr said, “That is the prescription of opioids within the county. Per capita. That’s where it was kind of a hot button. As soon as I saw those numbers, I was like, we need to start looking at that. From my experience and from research, if you have a high opioid dispensing rate and then all of a sudden that stops, folks will tend to use illicit drugs to replace that need, so we kind of want to look at it from a holistic perspective and. One figure out where it’s coming from. And number two, are there things that we can be doing that could reduce that? Because if you have a high use of opioid use in the community, that gives more opportunities for kids to use it for, people that want to abuse in that kind of stuff, simple things like what we have here, lock boxes for, medications can kind of help prevent that from kind of bleeding out into other areas.”

Mohr said they are continuing to seek out filling the open Maternal and Childcare Health Nurse (MCH) position. 

Barb Rice gave the Youth Alternative report and said they have 16 total juveniles in the program with eight females and eight males. They released four recently and added six juveniles. Rice said it’s a “busy season” with many different projects. They include the food drive, the skate park project meetings, the annual rummage and pie sale, the airport Fly-in. 

Rice added that this is Suicide Prevention Month and they have the suicide watch, walk and other activities this month. They are also working on a big property cleanup with the town, which will take them a couple weeks to do. Additionally, Rice said that they have their Parent Information Center as well.

Les Culliton gave the Planner/Project Manager report and presented the Charmac Subdivision and the Miller-Schmit Amended Plat/Property Line Adjustments and the Commercial Park West Amended Plat. These all came through the Land Use Planning Commission and did not involve a land use or public hearings, as they were simple property line adjustments. In separate motions, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of all applications.

Culliton also discussed the fair building roof repair and presented three proposals. One was DMB Roofing from Cheyenne for $34,852. The second was KW General Contracting from Gillette for $65840.80. The third was Rattlesnake Field Service from Worland for $69,820. 

Culliton added, “Coming from my past, doing a lot with contractors and doing bids with them in my previous role, I’ll be completely honest with you. The $34,852 bid from DMB being at 50% of the other two, bothers me. My past experience is showing when somebody comes in with that low of a bid, chances are they’re going to come back with changes as they get into the project, things that they didn’t see when they first inspected the facility. And who knows where that price ends up if they come back with changes?”

Culliton continued and said, “I don’t know, DMB. I talked to some of the people they did work for. The people liked the work that was done. But I can tell you, I did have one of the people tell me that the price did change as they worked it. Both KW and Rattlesnake, I talked to a couple of the people that they provided, and of course, the contractor provided you somebody to talk to. Chances are it wasn’t a bad experience. Right? And the people I spoke to, both those companies that dealt with, thought they were very reputable companies.”

Culliton and the commissioners then discussed the use and types of the materials for the work and how long they last. This included silicon and other types of caulking and also discussion about how the roof was not designed for HVAC use. Warranties were also discussed and also the possible of an entirely new building being constructed in the future.

Commissioner Paul Galovich responded to Culliton’s bid information and the 20 year warranty from DMB and said, “It is a cost savings to the county…I think it’d be advantageous to consider saving $35,000 by having DMB’s quote for that.”

Culliton responded, “I agree with you with what you say to a point.” But he expressed concern about the activity on the roof and how to control traffic on it.

Vice Chair Scheel added to the discussion and said, “Conversely, to Paul’s sentiments, I am not excited to award a roofing project to someone who’s coming in that far. I wasn’t on the commission when we had significant roof issues at the indoor arena. That was the lowest bid taken. It was a local contractor. We thought that we were going to be able to handle that. We had warranty issues that failed to be resolved. I am not in favor of awarding this to DMB roofing. Between the other two companies, I have a ton of experience with Rattlesnake. They are, in my mind, a local company. I think between the two of them, there’s a couple thousand dollars difference there. In the past, I know that this commission that I’ve sat on has not taken the lowest bid and kind of caught some hell over it. But I think it is our responsibility as commissioners to make good decisions based on experience. So I move that we give the contract to KW Contracting to have them re-coat the fair building.”

Commissioner Galovich did not second the motion, which caused the motion to die. The matter was tabled until the next meeting.

The commissioners held two public hearings for Liquor License Renewals for Bailey Enterprises Inc. dba Pit Stop #10 and the Legion Town & Country Club, Inc. Both public hearings did not have any public comments given. Separately, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of both renewals. 

Recreation Director for Hot Springs County Brian Parker held a discussion with the commissioners about their current project for building a community center. He stated their goals are to collaborate with multiple entities in town to get the project off the ground.

Parker said he reached out to the Northwest Regional Director for the Wyoming Business Council and proposed the idea to get further guidance and information. This led Parker to speak with the Community Programs Director for the USDA. Here, they could potentially apply for federal grants.

According to Parker, the proposed rec facility is community based specifically targeted toward wellness. As part of the process, a financial feasibility student would be done and it would include environment guidelines. 

The potential location for the community center would be in the Hot Springs State Park next to the park’s headquarters. There will be a meeting on September 23 at 6 p.m. at the fair building to continue the exploration of the project.

Sheriff Jerimie Kraushaar discussed with the commissioner about a courthouse security assessment on September 19. The assessment will examine the courthouse and make a schematic of the building. The Sheriff, a representative from the commissioners, and others, will participate in the assessment. This work will prepare them to potentially qualify for grants for security improvements.

The commissioners voted and passed the approval for the Engagement with WWC Engineering to Conduct Phase I Environmental Site Assessments for the Common Ground building and 518 Arapahoe. 

In other business, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of a Memorandum of Understanding with Hot Springs County Rural Water Joint Powers Board for Administrative Assistant Services and Office Space/Supplies for $500; the appointment of Rick Mickelsen for the Land Use Planning Commission member; the Ratification of Wyoming Airport Improvement Program Certificate of State Grant-in-Aid for $6,905, Hangar Design and Associated Work (County share $4,603); the request for payment no. 26 for $17,975.14 for the Black Mountain Road Project; and the Ratification of the Community Development Block Grant Letters of Intent.