HCJPB gets closure grant

The High County Joint Powers Board (HCJPB) met at 6 p.m. on March 1 at Elk Mountain town hall.

The board went over routine business of approving Feb. 8 meeting minutes, Feb. 22 workshop meeting minutes and paying bills.

Bruce Levens, from Wyoming Solid Waste Systems, spoke to the board about his company and how it might be able to help them with their waste in the future.

Levens asked about the grant that had been obtained and what it entailed.

HCJPB went before the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB) and received a $1.35 million grant to help with the closure of the Hanna landfill. The grant was conditional on a 75/25 percent SLIB/HCJPB split. Engineering Associates will get 10 percent of that grant for their work in helping to obtain the grant.

The grant was awarded on Feb. 15.

Levens listened as Elk Mountain Mayor Morgan Irene and HCJPB chairman Leonard Gonzales spoke about the their towns’ needs.

“I am here on a fact finding mission to see if and where we might be able to work together,” Levens said.

After Levens left, the landfill board got some bad news.

Mike Martin, Hanna landfill director, said that the torque converter had broken on the loader. He told the board he would know the cost of repairs in a couple of days.

The board then went to work on their budget for the coming year and moved some money from line items that had excess funds to other line items that needed more funding.

The next scheduled HCJPB meeting is 6 p.m. on April 5 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall.