Commissioners discuss fair building roof

At the September 17 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, the commissioners held a public hearing to receive comments about the Community Development Block Grant Applications and Supporting Documents. No public comments were given. The grant applications are for work to be done at two locations, the Common Ground building and the property at 518 Arapahoe.

The commissioners voted and passed the approval of Resolution 2024-15 for the Block Grant Application so that remodeling could be done at the Common Ground building. They noted that Central Wyoming College will help contribute to the work and that we will have a presence in Hot Springs County providing education services to students here.

The commissioners voted and passed the approval of Resolution 2024-16 for the demolition of 518 Arapahoe and its adjacent buildings. Chairman Tom Ryan said that the county acquired this property “not by their choice” because of nonpayment of property taxes.

County Planner Les Culliton and the commissioners continued their discussion over the fair building roof bids. As noted in the previous commissioners meeting (Chairman Tom Ryan was unable to attend that meeting), Culliton explained they received three bids, one bid being about 50% less than the other two. He also said that his main concerns were about the application of the materials to seal the leaking roof of the fair building to be done effectively.

The commissioners discussed further and then voted and passed the approval of awarding the bid to DB Roofing out of Cheyenne for $34,850. Chairman Tom Ryan and Commissioner Paul Galovich voted for the bid, while Commissioner Phil Scheel voted against it. Commissioner Scheel explained his reasoning and provided some history of other previous commissioners where they chose the lowest bid that did not have favorable results. 

The commissioners voted and passed the approval to accept the resignation of Angie Guyon from the Travel & Tourism board. Guyon is now the tourism board’s Tourism Director.

The commissioners voted and passed the approval of the State Lands and Investment Board, Mineral Royalty Grant Application, and Supporting Documents for the Black Mountain Road Project. The commissioners will submit a signed commitment letter and then a resolution after the application is finished. The amount was $2,872,127.

In other business, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of the following: An agreement with Wilson Brothers Construction for the Black Mountain Road Construction for $5,776,127.50. Chairman Ryan noted that $5,000,000 of this money comes from federal funds.

The Approval of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Community Partnership Initiative (CPI) Agreement for $20,000, effective October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025; the Amended Plats for Miller-Schmidt, Charma Subdivision, and Commercial Park West; the Facility Use Agreements for Lucerne Water & Sewer District (2nd Tuesday of the month at 5:30-6:30 p.m.), Natural Resource Planning Committee (2nd Weds. of the month at 5:30-8 p.m.), Land Use Planning Commission (3rd Weds. of the month at 6-10 p.m.), and the South Thermopolis Water & Sewer District (2nds Thur. of the month at 6:30-7:30 p.m.); the Request for Reimbursement #1 for $33,013.06 for Airport Hangar Design; Approval of Amendment One to the Cooperative Agreement with the Wyoming Dept. of Transportation, Black Mountain Road CRIP Project for $5,000,000 with an Expiration Date of Project Completion. The WYDOT agreement includes the exchange of responsibility for a portion of the Black Mountain Road for a portion of the Grass Creek Road in Hamilton Dome to no longer be considered a state road.