Minutes, notary and trash

Med Bow Town Council discusses variety of topics at regular meeting

The Medicine Bow Town Council met at 7 p.m. on July 8 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall with President of the Council Karla Denzen presiding due to Mayor Kevin Colman being absent. Council member Sharon Biamon was not present in beginning of the meeting.

Once Biamon arrived, the agenda and the minutes from the regular council meeting of June 10 and the special council meeting on June 26 were approved.

The next order of business was to ratify and pay the financials presented by Town Clerk/ Treasurer Karen Heath.

The bid from Danko on the fire tender was approved. Fire Chief Peter Andrews said he was happy with this company. He said they were the company that could build exactly what the fire department wanted. He pointed out none of the other companies could match exactly what the department wanted and they were more expensive.

Denzin said the next item on the agenda was a discussion on the process of how town council minutes are introduced to the public.

“I’d like to say I’m here, first of all, whenever I’m here, I’m here as a citizen, and second of all, as a town council member,” Denzen said. “It’s important to me to speak my point of view as a citizen along with voting on the town council. I would like to entertain the idea of maybe changing our approach on our minutes to more businesslike and more professional like and more factual, just stating fact, stating how many people are in the audience, stating the fact of the business and stating the outcome, not so much the dialogue of what he says what she says. I feel like if the citizens of the town were really interested, they would be here to hear and participate in that.”

Several residents said they felt the minutes were done well.

Heath said it was a Wyoming statute that required her to have the minutes published, in the town’s case, posted, within 12 business days of the meeting. She said it was probably because the State was thinking of bigger towns that met more often than once a month who could approve them every two weeks. She said she had to post them, whether they had been approved or not.

Denzin said she wasn’t trying to take information away from the public, but it was more about being factual and posting. She said she had abstained from approving the last two meetings minutes because there were mistakes.

The council approved to leave the minutes recorded the way they are alone. Denzen voted nay.

After the discussion on the town’s minutes Denzin asked how much Dan Smith had been paid to the Friends of the Museum as deposit for moving the Fossil House Museum. Biamon, who is the director at the Medicine Bow Museum, said that information was available at the museum.

Heath said there has been concern when she was away there was no notary in Town Hall. She said it costs $100 for a 4 year bond, and $30-35 for the application for Kenda Colman, the Deputy Clerk/Treasurer as a notary. Resident Crystal Maddox, who is a notary, said she was willing to do notaries while the Town Clerk/Treasurer was out of town and was willing to have her phone number listed on the Town Hall window. Denzin asked how much a notary was, and Heath said she didn’t charge during business hours because the town paid her fees. Denzin asked how much, if she would charge, and Heath said that by statute a notary could only charge $5 per signature.

Heath said the WYlite grant was completed and ready to turn in. Part of the grant required WYlite to come out and perform an energy assessment on town hall, and then make a report. The report included a 10 percent contingency fund added to the quote, which brought the total cost of doing the windows at $33,570. Originally the council had approved matching funds of $5,000 for the grant, but the contingency brought the amount to over that, to be specific, $8,570. The council approved the match.

Public Works Director Charlie George said there was going to be a road project starting soon on Route 487 and the contractor was going to store roto-mill in Medicine Bow on the town’s property near the old sewer lagoon. The construction would start on July 15. He said the new pickup would be ready by the end of the week and informed the council the old mosquito sprayer quit, and now public works was using the new one.

George said some people have come to him regarding the trash problem along the highway where people traveling were using the business. It was suggested to offer courtesy dumpsters, but the town had a shortage of dumpsters. He said he was holding off buying anything until the High Country Joint Powers Board took over the trash service if possible. One solution offered would be to fence in the dumpsters and lock them. He said he foresaw a greater problem with all the people coming into town and the overuse of dumpsters. There would also be a problem with the lack of disposal for construction debris, old furniture disposal and hot water heater disposal.

Biamon said they would lock the dumpsters. Denzin asked if the businesses would pay for the locks, and George said it wouldn’t cost more than $100. Biamon said it would come out of the sanitation fund.

Andrews reported he was getting a new truck from Laramie County Fire District. He said it cost $3,500 and was a great deal. Probationary member Spencer Pitt had fulfilled all his obligations and the department was recommending him for full member status. The council approved Pitt to full member status.

South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services representative Jim Colman said the board had changed their meetings from Tuesday to Thursday.

A letter from the Carbon County Visitors Council informing of new ways of receiving grants was received. The council decided to give the letter to the Medicine Bow Museum.

The next scheduled meeting is at 7 p.m. on Aug. 12 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall.

 

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