MOU, drainage & discs

County officials visit Encampment Town council about MOU, drainages and disc golf discussed

The Encampment Town Council met at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Encampment Town Hall where three council members and the mayor were in attendance. Shannon Fagan was absent.

The agenda and minutes from the March 14 town council were quickly approved.

Financials were approved at $44, 320.04.

Sid Fox, Planning Director for Carbon County, was the first guest of the council.

“I am here with Sue Jones, the county commissioner, to talk about a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the town and Carbon County,” Fox said.

He said, due to a state statute that takes away a municipalities right to enforce up to one mile outside a town’s incorporated limits, the county was working with different towns to get an MOU (for more information on the state statute, see “Getting in the zone” on page 10 of this week’s Saratoga Sun).

“It really means, for the most part, whatever the town and the county want it to mean,” Fox said. “So I drafted an MOU because I have found if you put a document in front of people, you get a better response.”

He said in, his opinion, the document doesn’t obligate the Town of Encampment to anything although it does open up lines of communication and cooperation. Fox said the draft had not been reviewed by the county attorney or the county commissioners as a board.

“There is additional review to go through, but we wanted to get your input and see where we go from there,” Fox said.

Mayor Greg Salisbury said the draft MOU was informational.

“That is where we need to start,” Salisbury said. “At least it opens up communication in case we have something happen and be informed so we can set up some discussion and have some input.”

Resident Pat McLinskey came before the council to ask about a drainage problem he was having with his property.

“I was here three and a half years ago about a drainage problem,” McLinskey said. “I was wondering if the town could fix it.”

Salisbury said he had been at the property a few days prior and was aware of the problem.

“We are working on it and I was there last week, but you have to consider we have had a tremendous amount of snow this year,” Salisbury said. “We have a lot of water coming down this year and we are working on different drainages all over town. If we can cut it down and put in a culvert on the north street, it might possibly help.”

He said the town would continue to work on trouble spots with drainage.

Karen Dibbern, Encampment resident at 610 Jackson Ave., told the council she had water back up on her service line. It happened on a Sunday and she called a plumber. The plumber could not source the problem, so he called contractors that established the main line had frozen, cutting off her service line.

Dibbern has a $2,000 bill from the plumber she felt was the town’s responsibility to pay.

“I think the town recognizes that the line in the alley is public,” Dibbern said.

Salisbury said it was possible the line in the alley might be part of a service line, but it might be a line operated by the town.

“It is sort of a gray area at the moment,” Salisbury said.

He said there was a problem for the town to pay her bill because she did not contact the town about the problem until contractors had already done work.

“I wish you had contacted the town right from the get go instead of bringing in contractors,” Salisbury said. “Once you initiate contractors without our knowledge, you take it out of our hands and put it in yours. It goes for anybody. If you have a problem, you need to contact the town first.”

Dibbern said she did not think the town could help her on a Sunday because she did not know people were on call.

“24/7 you can call the town hall and there is a list of phone numbers to call,” Town clerk Doreen Harvey said. “Or you can call 911.”

Council member Bill Craig said a camera that was recently purchased by the town to go through water lines would help determine if the line in question was service or main.

Josh Craig from Mother Mountain Anglers came before the council to ask for use of the park on June 29 for the disc golf tournament called “The Tale of Two Cities.” The town approved the usage and date and also approved the purchase of a flag for the town to be displayed.

J. Craig said the date picked should have better turnout because it will not conflict with a disc golf tourney in Laramie which happened last year.

“I want to thank the town for all your support,” J. Craig said.

Rachel Swanson, representing Platte Valley Little League, asked the town for financial help as the season starts. The council approved up to $500 for the purchase of little league equipment.

Sandy Martin, Encampment resident, gave a card to the council that was signed by seniors of the town who wanted to thank public works for their efforts in snow removal for the past winter season.

Jon Nelson, North Fork Engineering, said the lagoon project loan from Wyoming State Lands and Investment Board (SLIB) Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF) had been conditionally approved on April 4.

“The next step in that is part two of the application which is due June 3rd,” Nelson said. “We are in really good shape on all the stuff we need for part two. The environmental process is usually what takes the longest, but we have all our environmental compliance letters back from all the agencies as of yesterday. Now, we need to put together the categorical exclusion letter which we have drafted and, some time next week, we will have a conference call with SLIB and go through everything that is needed for part two.”

He said he felt it was 50 percent done.

Nelson also gave information on the 6th Penny Tax. He said that the tax would not have its payout until October and he had adjusted spreadsheets to give the right numbers on what would be collected.

The town’s skid steer was approved to be fixed by the council. Cutting edges for the blade was approved.

The town will start cemetery clean up in early May, so the council approved advertisement to let the public know.

The council approved advertising for seasonal workers for the coming months. Purchases of materials from Ferguson Water Works was approved. $1,750 was approved for the annual fee to Environmental Systems Research Institute, a supplier of geographic information systems. Purchase of irrigation supplies from Sprinkler Warehouse for $603.65 was approved. 55 gallons of chemical treatment from Team Laboratory was approved.

Service contracts to the Encampment/Riverside Lions Club for $500, the Encampment Community Choir for $250 and Family Career and Community Leaders of America Pro-Start for $500 were approved in one motion.

Alison Sneddon, Winter Carnival Chair, gave a letter of resignation that was approved by the council. Alyx Munson said she was interested in taking over and the council approved her to take over the chair.

The council picked Suzie Cox, Judy Johnston and Cindy Baker to be the Encampment candidates for the Wyoming Association of Municipalities Joint Powers Insurance Coverage ballot.

The Fiscal Year (FY) 18/19 budget ordinance amendment first reading was approved. The FY 19/20 budget ordinance had its first reading approved.

The next scheduled town council will be at 7 p.m. on May 9 at the Encampment Town Hall.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 
Rendered 03/05/2024 11:55