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On Monday morning, those driving up and down 1st Street in Saratoga likely saw an uncommon sight as a local resident held a protest outside Saratoga Town Hall. Wearing a bright yellow coat and carrying a pink sign, Jimmy Dempsey called for Mayor Chuck Davis to remove Town Clerk Jennifer Anderson for “neglecting her duty.” On his sign, Dempsey cited section 02.08.020 of Saratoga Municipal Code. This section of the code reads that all town employees may be dismissed by the mayor and council, wit...
Saratoga’s water line replacement project will begin in May, said Public Works Director Emery Penner at the April 16 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. “I don’t expect a big interruption in water service,” Penner said during his report on the Water and Sewer Joint Powers Board. In other business, the bids for the surfacing project at Never Forget Park came in higher than expected, Penner said. “We are going back to the drawing board on this project,” he said. The town rejected the Rocky Mountain Sand and Gravel bid of $389,742. “We’ll get mo...
On February 6, the Saratoga Town Council voted approved the River Street Waterline Replacement Project. This project is expected to start around May 1 and completed by late summer. Emery Penner, Saratoga Public Works Director, said two contracting companies bid to work on the project: Lewis & Lewis, Inc. and Rocky Mountain Sand & Gravel LLC (RMSG). According to Penner, RMSG was awarded the project with a low bid of $1.7 million. “We put this project out for bid a couple of months ago, the two co...
Taking a short break from discussing short term rentals, the Saratoga Planning Commission held a brief discussion over a proposed chicken ordinance during their April 9 meeting. Under current municipal code, it is mostly illegal to own chickens or other domestic fowl on residential lots within town limits. One of the only exceptions, per section 18.42.150© of the municipal code, are undeveloped areas in residential zones which are greater than five acres. This section of the code allows livestoc...
The Town of Saratoga recently hired two new full-time police officers who started on April 1. At the Saratoga Town Council meeting on April 2, Mayor Chuck Davis administered the oath of office to one of them, Casey Lehr. For several months, the police department has been operating with only three full-time officers which has stretched the department’s resources, said Police Chief Mike Morris in a later interview. He said the department has been “busy answering calls and doing what was nee...
Some cities and towns in tourist destinations like Wyoming and Montana have been capping, or are looking at capping, the number of allowable short-term rentals as a way to increase the number of long-term rentals for workforce housing. Some of these cities say requiring a permit through the ordinance gives the fire department authority to make safety inspections. This ensures properties are safe to occupy with working smoke alarms and other safety protections for the guests. The ordinance permit process gives towns a way to track the number of...
“Help others and give something back. I guarantee you will discover that while public service improves the lives and the world around you, its greatest reward is the enrichment and new meaning it will bring to your own life.” ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger. Last week, the Town of Saratoga began advertising for the vacancy on the Saratoga Town Council. The seat, previously held by Jacob Fluty, will be on the ballot as a two-year unexpired term this year. Whoever is appointed to the vacancy will onl...
The Saratoga Town Council discussed on March 19 whether to bring back for consideration a short-term rental ordinance which would regulate vacation rentals after a group of residents expressed their interest and the planning commission indicated it wanted to pursue this. Town Planning Administrator Emery Penner said in his report the planning commission had “a long conversation” with the public about an ordinance to regulate short-term rentals, such as AirBNBs. Four members of the public came to the meeting, he said. McCall Burau, chairman of...
The Saratoga Planning Commission has its hands tied, for all intents and purposes and we at the Saratoga Sun believe it is a disservice to the planning commission itself and the residents of Saratoga. While it is an advisory board, the role of the planning commission is to not only interpret existing zoning code but improve upon it as well. Such is the case regarding short term rentals in residential zones, which culminated in an 18 month process of drafting a proposed short term rental permit. At the recommendation of Kylie Waldrip, legal... Full story
Short term rentals and their regulation—or lack thereof—in municipal code was yet again a topic of discussion for the Saratoga Planning Commission during their March 12 meeting. While a proposed short term rental permit was created by the planning commission last year, it was ultimately tabled in November 2023 on the recommendation of Kylie Waldrip, legal counsel for the Town of Saratoga. In February, James “Jimmy” Campbell asked the planning commission to continue to pursue some form of perm...
On March 14, the Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 50th Anniversary at the Platte Valley Community Center. Local business owners came together to be recognized for their accomplishments both in business and the community. One of those top winners of recognition was Valley Foods & Liquor, which won 2023 Business of the Year. The local grocery store is owned and managed by Adam Clarke, a third-generation grocery store owner. Clarke said this Business of the Year Award...
At its March 5 meeting, Mayor Chuck Davis described the Saratoga Town Council’s accomplishments over its first year, saying he is proud of how the council has “come together.” “I think we have made some accomplishments in the first year we’ve been here and I’m very proud of that,” Mayor Davis said. The council worked on many new projects and hired several people. He enumerated each of the accomplishments. Referring to the period between January 2023 and January 2024, he said the council hired a new treasurer, Corina Daily; a new Department of...
*Editor's Note: The online version of this article has had the headline updated to more accurately reflect the nature of the City of Cheyenne's ordinance* As part of an effort to make housing more affordable, the City of Cheyenne, Wyoming, passed a group of ordinances in December that eliminate lot area minimums and density requirements for some types of housing. The changes make it easier and less expensive for developers to construct housing. As a result, the city expects more housing will be built and the greater the supply compared to the...
The Town of Saratoga is working on making its subdivision ordinance easier for developers to understand and access. This is one of the planning commission’s recent set of goals, said Emery Penner, town zoning administrator and public works director. Rewriting the ordinance in this way will be a lengthy process and involve several public hearings before both the planning commission and the council before the new ordinance can be adopted, Penner said. The town’s subdivision ordinance is located in Title 17 and 18 of the town’s code of ordin...
Three months after tabling a draft short term rental permit application, the Saratoga Planning Commission once again discussed the impact of short term rentals in Saratoga at its February 13 meeting. The discussion was brought up by James “Jimmy” Campbell, a resident and business owner in Saratoga. Citing the goals the planning commission has set for 2024, Campbell said he was disappointed to see there was nothing regarding short term rentals. Chairwoman McCall Burau reminded Campbell the pla...
Tragedy struck the Saratoga community early on the afternoon of February 9 when an avalanche claimed the life of 34-year-old Jacob Fluty. According to a press release from the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, a SPOT device emergency SOS activation was received in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. The location of the SOS was southwest of Bridger Peak in an area known as “Avalanche Alley.” Responding deputies were able to contact the individual who had activated the SPOT device, who reported he an...
Donald Frank (Don) Sherrod died Wednesday, Dec. 20, at Meadow Winds Assisted Living, where he had resided for the past year. Before moving to Casper, he made his home for almost 50 years in Saratoga, Wyoming. His passing at the age of 85 brought to a close a lifetime of service. Don was born Sept. 9, 1938, in Green River, Wyoming, to Frank Leroy and Gladys Belle Sherrod. At the tender age of 17 and just after graduating from Green River High School, he enlisted in the United States Navy. After...
The Saratoga Town Council voted to move forward on two public works projects at its February 6 meeting. One of the projects is the River Street Project, which will “roughly start at Elm Street and head south just across the Hugus Ditch,” said Public Works Director and Zoning Administrator Emery Penner in a later interview. “It will also include a section that will loop Walnut and Maple streets to the east of River Street as well as a new piece of pipe to the swimming pool.” In his report to the council, Penner said the River Street Project...
Living in a small community like the Platte Valley, every loss seems to be felt far more acutely than in more urban areas. Running a newspaper in a small community, one of the hardest parts of the job is receiving the obituaries. It's even hard when it's someone who is not only close to your age, but who you knew. I didn't know Jacob Fluty as well as his friends and family, but you can't grow up in a small town with someone and not have some knowledge of who they are. When I first heard about...
The Town of Saratoga may be considering switching contracting with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office for dispatch services following the January 16 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Currently, the Town operates its own dispatch services and contracts for the Town of Encampment. The City of Rawlins and the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office also have their own dispatch. All other municipalities such as Hanna, Medicine Bow and Baggs contract with the sheriff’s office. Some other parts of Wyoming have made the change to a joint dispatch syste...
The Saratoga Town Council has some tough decisions ahead of them regarding the Saratoga Police Department’s communication center. For years, decades even, Saratoga has maintained its own dispatch center. Not only has it dispatched for its own police department, but for the Encampment Police Department and the volunteer fire departments in Saratoga and Encampment. In the past, any suggestion of communications operating elsewhere was almost immediately rejected. Yet, what’s long felt like a necessity seems to have turned into a luxury, esp...
Short-term rentals in the Town of Saratoga have increased by approximately 100 percent from January to December 2023, according to airdna.co/vacation-rental-data. Saratoga does not currently have an ordinance that regulates short-term rentals, according to Emery Penner, director of public works and the town’s planning and zoning administrator. The Town of Saratoga, which has a population of 1,727 at the 2021 census count, currently has 145 available short-term rental listings, according to the airdna website. Sixty-six percent of these are A...
"If we were fully staffed and looking at equipment cost, that's one thing. We are truly one power bump or one illness away from not being able to keep the door's open 24/7." Supported by other law enforcement and first responders, Saratoga Police Chief Mike Morris laid out the case as to why a county-run centralized dispatch was likely a matter of when, not if. Morris, who was appointed to the position of chief last year by Mayor Chuck Davis, explained how staffing and infrastructure issues...
With the New Year upon them, the Saratoga Planning Commission is examining a variety of goals for 2024. One of those is to review Title 18, the zoning code for the Town of Saratoga, to determine where, if any, changes need to be made. The discussion took place during the commission’s January 9 meeting. “I think that this should be one of the top priorities for the board to go over the zoning ordinance and how we look at things,” said Mayor Chuck Davis. “Not only will this help the town out but it will also help out on how affordable housing...
House District 47 Representative Bob Davis (R - Baggs) updated the Saratoga Town Council on some key legislative issues at its meeting January 2. The representative said a Bureau of Land Management Resource Management Plan is underway in Medicine Bow. “We need to keep our eye on what’s happening in Rock Springs,” Davis said. He said the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan controls 3.8 million acres of public land and the federal government is trying to conserve an additional 1.8 million acres it contends is of “critical environmental concern...