New face for MedBow public works

Mayor Sharon Biamon called the Medicine Bow Town Council meeting to order at 7 p.m. on January 10 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall.  Councilmembers Lucinda Schofield, Cynthia Chace, and Sharon Kahl. Others present were Town Clerk/Treasurer Karen R. Heath, Acting Public Works Director Hayden Bricker, Town Marshal David Redding, and Fire Chief Robert Maddox. 

Heath read the bills to be ratified. Kahl asked where the Chase bil credit card was. Heath said an amount was reimbursed which took care of the bill this month so there was nothing to pay.  L.N. Curtis and Sons had reimbursed the fire department for overpayment on some invoices. Maddox said that the fire department should get money back.  Heath said it likely would, but because the expenditures were in a prior fiscal year, the money should go to the town's bank account.  Maddox indicated the fire department would go through invoices to see if previous Public Works Director Charlie George had made any of the expenditures.  After this discussion, the bills were approved 

Medicine Bow Rural Health Care District Nurse Practitioner Carey Lake addressed the council and said he had signed a contract to be the provider at the clinic. The clinic hours would be Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The clinic is able to administer Covid tests but not the shots because administering the shots takes special training. He also received approval to care for veterans.

Chace asked if the clinic would ever be open five days a week and Lake said he would be willing to do that when there were enough patients to justify it.  

Biamon said the council would interview one candidate during Executive Session for the Operator 2 position and set a meeting for 2 p.m. January 13 to interview the other two candidates.

Attorney Robert Piper provided a contract for hiring his law firm.  The council reviewed the contract and Biamon signed it with council permission.  Biamon asked if he would be both the town attorney and the court attorney and he said yes.

Mark Davidson of Sunrise Engineering said the firm had the new streets design and were focusing on a cost-efficient 2" blacktop coating for the whole town, except Medicine Bow Estates.  Biamon asked if that would be sufficient and if it could be added to it in years to come.  Davidson said it would be better to let it cure for a couple years, and then add to it.  Biamon asked why Medicine Bow Estates wasn't included and he said there was a lot of prep work to be done there before a hard surface could be placed.

Bricker said it had been quiet and he was waiting for the snow to melt off a bit.  He would start replacing meters, again.

The mayor told Bricker there was a lot of junk in the second shop, and asked it be cleaned up when he got another operator.  He said that was his intention. Biamon then appointed him Public Works Director and administered the oath of office with the unanimous approval of the council.

The Medicine Bow Town Marshall said the Shop with a Cop program had gone very well, and a lot of kids from Carbon County had participated.  Redding said they owed a great thank you to Walmart, which had picked up the tab for anything over the budget.  As of December 30, 30 citations had been written, 55 were paid, 73 incidents had occurred of which 65 were traffic-related, three miscellaneous, one assist, one dog-at-large, one ambulance call, and two motorist assists.

Maddox said the Fire Department had donated 10 brand new tables to the community hall. Ten tables had been removed to the fire hall a few years ago for the food truck and had never been returned, so the department bought new ones and gave them to the Town. Biamon thanked him for the tables.

Joshua Broadway-Johnson became a full member, and new radios were priced at $30,000 to $40,000.  Maddox asked if Redding had contacted the Sheriff's Office about the new repeater. Redding said his department was still in talks with that department. The fire department was considering getting rid of old trucks, and the first one to be considered is the 1978 pumper.  Kahl said she could help with Homeland Security grants for the radios.  

South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services (SCWEMS) representative Cindy Papisan said new director Stayton Moseby had put together a report.  The past year, there had been 214 calls for Saratoga, 117 for Hanna, 83 for Elk Mountain, 36 for Medicine Bow, 29 for Encampment, 13 for McFadden, 12 for Riverside, 10 for the county area, five for Rock River, five for Ryan Park, and one for Elmo. SCWEMS has acquired a domain name for a website, SCWEMS.org.  Extensions for gurneys for loading were priced.  Seven people showed up for the EMT organizational meeting, but all turned it down when they heard Covid vaccines were required

Planning and Zoning Commissioner Kahl said they needed another person for the Commission.  She wanted to get together with Chairman Trevor Strauch to discuss re-zoning the Dolling Subdivision to allow manufactured homes. Heath said it was already zoned for those, just not trailers or double-wides.  

Biamon read a letter from Western Chip Seal  giving pricing for driveways and parking lots.  Heath said she would have the information available at the Town Office.

The Council went into Executive Session at 8 p.m. and came out at 8:20 p.m. and the town council meeting was adjourned.

The next scheduled meeting will be at 7 p.m. on February 15 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall.