Aquatic Center on the horizon?

Nicholas Haderlie presented the Platte Valley Aquatic Center Feasibility Study to the Saratoga Town Council meeting November 1. Haderlie told the Council that they had raised over $35,000 from 71 different donors to pay for the preliminary design and to pay for the feasibility study.

The proposal is to form a new non-profit entity which would own and operate this facility. It would take over recreational services from the Town of Saratoga while providing these services for the entire North Platte Valley. There have been several public outreach meetings and a public survey was offered online, all of which helped drive the design.

The sites studies are included in the study. The site they have settled on is between the library and the high school on Elm Street.

The estimates for the construction cost of the facility start at $12.5 Million. Several options are offered in the proposal.

Operational plans, showing the cost to run the operation, are included in the proposal. The annual costs to operate the facility is an estimated $655,000 or more depending on options that are selected.

Haderlie said they will fundraise the total cost of construction. He also said that he means to come up with $16 Million to build and then try to raise the funds to run the aquatic center. Haderlie hopes he can do that without having to go into the Town’s budget very far.

He said there is a donor who is willing to match up to one-third of the total project cost including capital construction, as well as any endowment they might raise. Another donor has committed to $2 Million dollars toward the capital construction.

Haderlie pointed out that the Town has an existing budget of just under $225,000 between the recreation center and the pool. He will be proposing the Town of Saratoga commit that money to this new non-profit entity, effectively privatizing recreation services for the Town.

The new entity will provide all the same recreation services that are offer now and operate this facility.

Haderlie will also ask Encampment, the school board and the recreation board to contribute funds. He intends to raise an endowment to fill the gap.

Haderlie said he is asking the town to provide the location for the aquatic center and to consider closing down the Saratoga Recreation Department, allowing the new non-profit entity to take over.

Haderlie proposed a lease form. He asked the Council to entertain a motion to review this lease with the goal of completing the project by the end of the year. Haderlie said the lease is just a model to start from with benchmarks. Its a fifty year lease with two, 50 years lease renewal terms. If the lease doesn’t renew, the facility would be 100% owned by the Town of Saratoga.

On the front end, construction would commence within 12 months of receiving all permits and approvals for the project. The center would have to be completed within 48 months so there are some built-in benchmarks that will push the project along. If this doesn’t happen, the project will terminate.

Councilmember D’Ron Campbell made a motion to take this proposal to the Town Attorney for review before making any decisions. Councilmember Hutchins felt there needed to be a closer look at the proposed wages because he felt they could change the operational costs considerably. Haderlie agreed. Hutchins was also concerned about the lease terminating and the expenses falling back to the town. The motion was passed to send the proposal to the attorney.

The Wyoming cost of living index for the second quarter of 2022 shows that statewide inflation is at 10.1 percent. This is the highest inflation since the third quarter of 1981 which was at 11.8 percent.

Councilman Jon Nelson commented that he was reminded a year ago they passed ordinance 2021.04 stating the town of Saratoga was not going to use anyone’s immunization status as a basis for employment. Nelson continued by saying that he had seen stories of the Supreme Court of New York ordering the city of New York to rehire all the people that were terminated because they refused vaccinations. The court is also requiring back pay for these people. Nelson said it made him think–the Council doesn’t always get it right, but occsionally it takes time to see the results of things they’ve done. Nelson said, “I just wanted to make a point that it was a good thing that we did.”

The Wyoming Department of Audit-Public Funds Division let Campbell know Saratoga is now in complete compliance because of the work performed by Georgia and Marie.

Nelson said the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB) application is very competitive. There were 113 applicants statewide and Saratoga scored the highest. The funds from the grant in the amount of one million dollars will be dedicated to the Spring Street Project.

Ellie Dana addressed the council concerning the play area at the Valley Village Child Care facility. They had withdrawn their request to fence in an area of the park and are now requesting permission to fence the yard. The fencing would be 325 linear feet, five foot tall chain link. The cost to the day care would be about $12,000.

Dana also presented a quote for the roof totaling $43,000, not including the additional insulation to facilitate the fire suppression. Another quote was presented concerning the water and crawl space, estimate being $30,000 to $50,000. Dana said the first remodeled draft has been done and they are now in phase two making sure the room sizes meet Department of Family Services requirements.

Dana said that had received news that the town attorney is not going to negotiate on the liability, including a complete agreement on the day care’s part that the town would be relieved of liability and they would release the Town from any liability even if the Town was at fault. Mayor James commented that it was the indemnification concerning the town’s negligence and maintenance on the building. James reiterated that obviously the town doesn’t have the budget to do any work up there right now. James said that the best thing to do is get together with the attorneys and sit down and talk about it.

South Central Wyoming Emergency Services (SCWEMS) SCWEMS is offering to sponsor two people through an EMT class. Stayton Mosby, SCWEMS director, presented resolution 2022-12 to apply for grant funding. The State of Wyoming was given $15 Million to stabilize Emergency Medical Services (EMS). There is currently $10 Million in a grant program to help stabilize EMS long term. The SCWEMS board decided to apply for the grant for an emergency medical responder (EMR) class to be held in Encampment and Medicine Bow. The EMR is taught basic first aid, how to use the automated external defibrillator (AED) and how to perform CPR. They are also taught how to stop bleeding. The grant would also be used for the purchase of two SUV style vehicles, reducing the fleet size from six ambulances to four, adding two quick response vehicles to be stationed in Encampment and Medicine Bow. These vehicles would be equipped with monitors, first aid supplies, the Lucas (a chest compression apparatus) and suction. This would cut down on the wasted advanced level equipment that has to be thrown away because it expires. Mosbey said that a lot of calls could be responded to in an SUV. The EMT would be able to access the situation and decide if an ambulance transport is needed, keeping the ambulances in service. It would also expedite the launch of a helicopter by getting there more quickly to maeke a determination. SCWEMS is asking for $165,000. The resolution was approved.

The next Saratoga Town Council Meeting will be Tuesday, November 15th at 6 pm at town hall chambers with a public hearing for liquor licenses.