Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 62
The Saratoga Town Council heard from their new appointment to the Carbon County Vistor’s Council (CCVC) during their regular meeting on July 16. Ellie Dana Raymer, the Saratoga representative to the CCVC, spoke to the council to talk about recent initiatives and the 2023 Tourism Master Plan. She highlighted specific portions of the master plan that she thought the town council “might be interested in.” Under “The Visitor Experience” portion of the master plan Dana Raymer focused on goals suc...
Members of the public got a chance to interact with and ask questions to local political candidates at the July 9 Valley Service Organization (VSO) Public Forum Three of the five candidates for Saratoga Town Council attended the forum, with Mike Cooley and Chia Valdez being the four-year-term candidates and Bub Barkhurst being the two-year-term candidate. Sophia Borg, the other two-year-term candidate, and Cory Oxford, a four-year-term candidate, did not participate in the forum. Each candidate...
The current election season chaos continued in full force at the national stage as President Joe Biden announced he was ending his bid for reelection on July 21. The move, coming after weeks of calls to end his candidacy, was a huge upheaval for both parties. Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump quickly decried the move, saying the Republican party should be “reimbursed for fraud” for the money spent attacking Biden. For the Democrats, the party has been left with no primary can...
The Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC) is looking to form a tax district which would help provide funding for the hospital. Stephanie Hinkle, MHCC Director of Strategic Operations, spoke with the Saratoga Sun to discuss the initiative and the process for the potential district. The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) will vote during the August 6 meeting to determine whether the formation of the hospital district will be put on the November 2024 ballot. If the resolution during...
Public notices and lifeguards were discussed at the July 2 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Joshua Wood, vice president of the Wyoming Press Association (WPA), gave the council a presentation on open meeting laws and the importance of using newspapers for public notices. Wood discussed the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) Resolution 24-09, regarding legal advertisements. WAM resolutions are not law, but rather suggestions for laws to be enacted by the legislature. The resolution...
Discussion regarding putting the formation of a hospital tax district on the 2024 election ballot took place at the June 18 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC). The proposed district would add taxes in certain areas in Carbon County to go towards the Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC). MHCC Board of Trustees members Garry Goergen and Jerry Steele presented the plan to the BOCCC. “Our hospital is in dire financial straits quite frankly,” Goergen said. “I think we’re...
Fiery back and forth took place as the Saratoga Town Council held a special meeting to hire a new pool manager on June 26. Emery Penner, Director of Public Works, began the meeting by presenting the hiring recommendations from the interview board formed by Mayor Chuck Davis for the pool manager position. The board interviewed two candidates for the pool manager position. They recommended the council hire Sandy Beffa as the pool manager. Councilwoman Kathy Beck questioned whether Beffa was...
Discussion on short term rentals (STRs) is likely to pick back up in the fall as the Saratoga Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing on the matter for August 13. STRs are housing rented out for a short period of time, typically ranging from a few days to a month. Long term rentals are leased for time periods ranging from several months to years. Previously, the STR discussion began in 2023 when the Planning Commission discussed passing ordinance to potentially regulate the rentals....
The Hotel Wolf brings a classic fine dining experience with a western theme to downtown Saratoga. The historic hotel and restaurant provides a wide variety of meals for both lunch and dinner. For lunch, burgers reign supreme. Each burger patty is made in-house, ensuring juiciness and quality. The Wyoming Whiskey Burger provides a great option, served with an excellent barbeque sauce and bacon. The sauce and bacon gives a one-two-punch of flavor and crunchiness. Moving into sandwiches, the Spicy...
Wyoming’s unofficial motto “water’s for fighting, whiskey’s for drinking” was on full display as people from across the Platte Valley attended a public hearing held by the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office on June 4. The hearing was in regards to State Engineer Docket No. 2023-6-2024, over the HF Sinclair Water Exchange. HF Sinclair purchased the Encampment River Ranch in January 2023 to supplement the refinery’s water supply during dry months, when the refinery’s water rights are not enough to f...
The Saratoga Recreation Department faced multiple resignations at the June 18 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Councilwoman Kathy Beck resigned from being town council liaison to the Saratoga Recreation Department Board. She read a letter to the community members, talking about her history with the board and her passion for recreation. In her letter, Beck listed health and wellness, physical activity, community engagement, economic impact and quality of life as reasons why recreation is...
One of the recent resolutions from the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) would give “local governments the choice of how and where to publish the required memorialization and notice under Wyoming law.” I don’t think this implementation is a good idea, for several reasons. Firstly, this phrasing gives no minimum requirement for where memorialization and notice should be published. If the goal is to allow greater reach of notice by allowing local governments to post notice online this...
Utah State University Professor Mike Glauser recently traveled through Saratoga as a part of his seven week journey to raise money for student scholarships. The goal of the fundraiser, called “Pedaling to End Poverty,” is to dramatically reduce poverty around the globe. Glauser is joined by his wife, several colleagues and a documentary crew to film the experience. Glauser and his team are following the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, a 4,228 mile route that runs from coast to coast. The trial was...
At the June 18 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, the governing body received a total of nine resolutions from the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) following their 2024 conference, including one focused on how public notices are published under law. WAM is a non-profit organization representing various local governments from across the state of Wyoming. The association holds conferences to discuss and inform on municipal leadership. The resolutions from the conference not are not...
Authorities from across the county met to hear comments and concerns regarding combined dispatch during a public hearing hosted by the Town of Saratoga on June 12. The Saratoga Town Council was joined by Saratoga Chief of Police Mike Morris, Rawlins Chief of Police Michael Ward, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken, Carbon County Dispatch Supervisor Tracy Newbrough, Saratoga Dispatch Supervisor Alex Munson and Rawlins Dispatch Center Supervisor Valeta Rodabaugh. The public hearing was held to hear...
After 30 years with Head Start in Saratoga, which operates under Carbon County Child Development, Pat Forbes is retiring as director. Forbes had an interesting journey before working at Head Start. While she always loved kids, childcare was not a career she planned on from the start. “I was going to be a stewardess. I had a degree in Spanish and Sociology. In 1974, when I graduated from college the first time, there was a fuel embargo. Everything shut down in the United States, including Pan A...
Hard questions regarding zoning were grappled with at the June 4 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCC). During the meeting, the commissioners held a public hearing regarding a zone change for the Blackhall Minor Subdivision near Riverside. The 40-acre area was originally zoned as ranching, agriculture and mining (RAM) before being redesignated as residential (RD-10) in 1982. The requested zone change in the June 4 meeting was from RD-10 to residential (RD), which would...
Two appointees were approved to the Carbon County Visitors’ Council (CCVC) at the June 4 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Per the Carbon County website, the goal of the CCVC is to promote “local travel and tourism within Carbon County and its municipalities and to receive and expend the revenues from the excise tax on lodging services.” Members of the council are appointed by several separate municipalities in Carbon County, as well as one appointment from the Board of County Commi...
Carbon County School District No. 2 is being awarded the Innovative School Lunch Makeover Award, in recognition of their efforts to improve the nutritional quality of school lunches. The district applied for the Healthy Meals Incentives (HMI) grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which provided $149,589 to go towards equipment, supplies, training, student engagement and farm-to-school activities. The Innovative School Lunch Makeover “recognizes improvement in the n...
Children took the future into their own hands at the June 4 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council as they discussed plans to renovate the bike park behind the Saratoga Public Library. Jaxon Owen, age 12, and Archer Burau, age 10, went before the council with a petition for a new bike track. “I’ve been a Saratoga resident for my whole life. I enjoy living here. I also enjoy riding my bike,” Owen said. “I would enjoy a nice bike park here.” Owen outlined various safety issues around the current p...
Fundraising progress continues for Never Forget Park. Stacy Crimmins, a member of the Never Forget Park Committee, provided an update on the park to the Saratoga Town Council at their May 21 meeting. Crimmins went before the council to ask for approval to apply for a grant from the Wyoming Intertie Community Investment Project (WICIP) on behalf of the Town of Saratoga, which would grant $50,000 if awarded. The WICIP gives impact money for the Wyoming Intertie Project, which will build a...
The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCC) discussed road issues and tourism during the May 21 meeting. Arla Strasser went before the commission to discuss the issue of putting magnesium chloride, or mag chloride, on Carbon County Road 201 east of Riverside. Mag chloride is put on unpaved roads to help control dust from drivers. Strasser spoke about the current conditions of the road, and raised concerns about how mag chloride may further deteriorate the road. She pointed to the issues the...
Families experienced outdoor fun on Jim Hammer Memorial Kids Fishing Day on June 1. Kids’ Fishing Day is sponsored by the Saratoga Hot Springs Resort, Saratoga National Fish Hatchery and Saratoga Lions Club. The event takes place on Free Fishing Day, when the Wyoming Game and Fish Department allows anyone to fish without a license. The other fishing regulations such as catch limit remain in place. Children under the age of 12 are invited to participate in Kids’ Fishing Day, where the three spo...
The Saratoga Town Council failed to appoint a member to the upcoming vacancy on the Carbon County Visitors' Council (CCVC) at the May 21 meeting. Per the Carbon County website, the purpose of the board is to "to promote local travel and tourism within Carbon County and its municipalities and to receive and expend the revenues from the excise tax on lodging services." Members of the council are appointed by several separate municipalities in Carbon County, as well as one appointment from the...
Bub Barhurkhust, who was appointed to the Saratoga Town Council on May 7, met with the Sun to share his reasons for applying for appointment and what he hopes to accomplish on the council. The council had a vacant seat in February due to the untimely passing of Jacob Fluty. Barkhurst, owner of Barkhurst Collision Center, was one of two people to send a letter of interest to fill the open seat. In his letter to the council, Barkhurst wrote “as a long time resident and business owner of this commu...