Stop and Go coming to Hanna

The Hanna Town Council met at 6:30 p.m.on June 14 at the Hanna Town Hall. Mayor Lois Buchanan and council members Tracy Fowler, Sammy Sides and Jayson Nordquist were in attendance. Council member Bill Dys was absent.

Ann Calvert, the town treasurer, also served in the role of town clerk. The town council and mayor slated an executive session to remedy the recent vacancy.

After approving minutes from the May 10 regularly scheduled meeting, and the agenda, the council went to the board and department reports.

Public works said 2nd Street would be busy with road work in the near future. AML is still drilling sites down by the Hanna Plaza. Buchanan said the water treatment report which indicated all was well.

Hanna Town Marshal Ted Kranenberg told the council it had been a busy month and presented a draft of policy and procedures he had been working on. He suggested a workshop to review them. Buchanan pointed out there was some redundancy with the draft and before bringing the document to a workshop, he should address getting them out. Kranenberg showed the council a new logo for the department. The current one with a bucking horse, can’t used any longer.

Kranenberg said grants were coming up that had deadlines which sometimes only gave two weeks to apply. He was asking if he could apply for grants that had no matching funds attached without coming to the Council since he might miss deadlines waiting for the approval. The mayor and council decided it would be best for the department to still come before the council before applying. Buchanan said if a grant application had a tight deadline, provisions could be made to make sure a grant application was seen by the council.

Recreation and Parks Director Vivian Gonzales said she was working on a large grant which was designed to help communities that had once relied on coal as the main industry.

She said two new lifeguards were working out well. Gonzales said the next food truck distribution would be July 8. Two summer workers have been hired. She said the gophers around the recreation center were worse this year than any time she could remember.

“Maybe we need foxes back in town,” Gonzales said. “They are so bad, they are not only around the baseball field, but also near the center itself. It really is out of control. The ground moves when you walk out there.”

Carey Lake, South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services (SCWEMS) Hanna representative said the third reading of the organization was in the week to come.

“It all looks pretty good,” Lake said. “We are not losing our EMT in Medicine Bow.”

He said there are five EMT candidates ready to be certified.

Director of the Hanna Basin Museum Mike Armstrong said the Community Hall, which is owned by the town, needs work on its window frames and the building needs painting.

“I know this is budget time and I realize this is a bad time to come asking, but the building does need help,” Armstrong said.

Buchanan said the town could supply the paint. It was pointed out there were three summer helpers which might be able to work on the building.

“We will look into it,” Buchanan said.

Armstrong said a film crew from the Wyoming office of Tourism was bringing a film crew to the three northern Carbon County museums for a two minute clip to go online.

After the board reports, the financials were reviewed and approved.

Aaron Steny from WYDOT said WY 72 starting at the junction of US 30 to the bridge would have work done on it starting August 16. WYDOT will close one lane at a time and use a pilot truck to guide traffic. He there will be some stopping and waiting until the pilot truck moves the truck. It was estimated the work would be September 24.

Yvonne Johnson, the director for the Carbon County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) gave a report of what she has being doing around the county. Johnson said there were plans for a small housing development to be started in Hanna. She said it was a small project which could grow larger.

Johnson thanked the town for its member contribution to the CCEDC.

“Your member investment means a lot,” Johnson said. “It sends the positive message the work we are doing matters to the county. Thank you.”

The council approved boiler repair estimates for the recreation center.

The second reading of Ordinance 395 2022-2023 fiscal year budget was approved.

Under new business the council approved the notice of termination for North Fork Engineering task order 7008.19015.

Former Hanna town clerk Lesley Birge was removed as a signer on all bank accounts for the town.

Resolution 2022-557 which permits an open contain waiver for the Hanna Parks and Recreation Center on July 8 for the Sip and Paint Party.

The council approved $3500 for an estimate to inspect all the air handling units for the recreation center.

Jackie Reddish was approved to the board of the Hanna Housing Authority Board.

The council approved Resolution 2022-558 which authorized the Hanna’s Marshal’s Office to submit an application to the COPS grant program for $10,000 to assist financially in the process of the Hanna Marshal Office being certified/accredited.

Also for the Marshal’s office, the council approved was Resolution 2022-559 which authorized the department to put in an application to the COPS grant program for $20,000 to purchase police equipment.

The approval of Resolution 2022-560 allowed the town of Hanna to submit an application for an EDA (Economic Development Administration) grant in the amount of $1,858,480 to install and retrofit the recreation center with solar panels to offset the electricity and heating costs.

The last resolution approved for the evening was another application to the Marshal’s office. Resolution 2022-561 authorized the department to submit an application to ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) in the amount of $30,000 to purchase new mobile radios.

The council went into executive session at 8:35 p.m. It came out at 8:50 p.m. A new town clerk was hired.

The next regularly scheduled meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on July 12 at the Hanna Town Hall.