Planning commission zoned out

With seven board positions and four board members, the Saratoga Planning Commission only had two members in attendance for their September 8 meeting at Saratoga Town Hall; Chairman Jim Beckmann and Council Representative D’Ron Campbell.

Commission members Tom Westring and Mike Lamprecht were not in attendance and Deb Clark had officially resigned from the commission in August.

This also marked the first meeting since the resignation of Kent Smith, who had been serving as the interim zoning officer since March 2019.

The two commission members approved two variances and tabled another cattle complaint. Campbell also discussed with Beckmann how the Saratoga Town Council would like to proceed with building permits in Smith’s absence.

Variances

The planning commission held two public hearings for variances, which they later approved, that saw little discussion. 

The first variance was for Venus Escallier, co-owner of Riverside RV Park, for an oversized sign on the northeast corner of River Street and Pic Pike Road. The size of the sign, according to the information provided to Beckmann, was 35 inches tall and 47 inches wide. The second variance was from Gladys Winkel for a six foot chain link fence in the front yard of her property at 205 N.E. River Street. Both variances had the majority approval of neighbors.

The oversized sign for Riverside RV Park was approved by the commission with the caveat that the sign would not disrupt the line of sight on either street.

Cattle Complaints

A complaint about cattle on property at 7th Street and Farm Avenue returned before the planning commission, this time from Lee Dejmal. Dejmal, however, was not in attendance. Scott Kerbs, whose cattle have been a subject of complaints before due to grazing on property owned by Randy Stevens, was in attendance.

“He isn’t here because the roads are closed and Kent (Smith) said he would call him, if you needed to talk to him about it but being as how Kent isn’t here, I don’t know how you’re going to handle that. I’m not authorized to represent him, legally,” said Kerbs. “This was supposed to be a hearing because he requested it. Do you have a copy of the letter in front of you?”

Beckmann confirmed that he had a copy of the letter, but stated that, with no advertising of a public hearing and Dejmal not in attendance, they couldn’t discuss the nuisance. Campbell moved to table the nuisance complaint until the October meeting of the planning commission. Kerbs asked that Dejmal be notified by mail and for a waiver on the time to move the cattle, both of which Beckmann agreed to.

Making do

Following a 30 minute executive session at the September 1 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, it was announced that the council would work alongside the planning commission to approve building permits following the resignation of Smith. The Town of Saratoga is currently advertising for the part-time position, which saw one application last year; Encampment resident Barry Cole.

Campbell informed Beckmann of the decision by the council. The chairman asked the council representative who would approve the permits with Campbell stating that, as she was the council representative to the planning commission, she would approve the applications with another council member, department of public works and other departments as needed.

“Are you comfortable taking that on?” asked Beckmann.

“If it’s reviewed properly, yeah, but I’m certainly not qualified. I’ve been getting calls to inspect people’s property because they think I’m a qualified building inspector, getting calls to come do gas line pressure checks. Not comfortable with that,” said Campbell. “In moving forward, if projects are going forward, we need someone available to sign.”

It would appear, however, that the current division seen amongst the council has made its way into planning and zoning as well. On September 9, a day after the planning commission meeting, a post was made by Mayor Pro-Tem Bob Keel to the newly created Saratoga Wyoming Office of the Mayor Facebook page.

In that post, Keel wrote that he had requested Smith return to Town Hall to aid Campbell in reviewing building permits for Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC) for a clinic across the street from Valley Foods. Keel added that he had been informed by two town residents that Councilmember Jon Nelson had a potential conflict of interest, though Keel did not elaborate on that conflict.

Keel, who is an employee of MHCC and would be potentially working in the new clinic, wrote that Nelson had informed him in a phone call that Keel had a conflict of interest in reviewing and approving the building permit. According to Wyoming State Statute 9-13-106, a public official “shall not make an official decision or vote on an official decision if the public official … has a personal or private interest in the matter.”

“Because of this I contacted My (Tom) Thompson (sic) the town attorney,” wrote Keel. “After discussion with the Town Attorney I would like to formally declare a conflict of interest and will recuse myself from any dealings with MHCC. Although I do not receive any financial benefit or incentive from the building that MHCC is constructing in Saratoga, I would like to remove any possibility that I could be making decisions that appear wrong or unlawful.”

The next meeting of the Saratoga Planning Commission will be at 5:30 p.m. on October 13 at Saratoga Town Hall.