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It appears that Saratoga will not be getting a new recreational vehicle (RV) park in the near future. At least, if one is built, it will likely not be by JaJaCa Properties owners James (Jimmy) and Jamie Campbell. During a public hearing for a special use permit at the March 9 meeting of the Saratoga Planning Commission, the would-be developers announced they would not be applying for an RV park permit and requested to pull their special use permit application. The latest development in the saga...
While the Town of Saratoga has yet to start on their audit of Fiscal Year 2020/2021, the Saratoga-Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board (SCCIJPB) is nearing the completion of their financial review. During their March 9 meeting, the SCCIJPB was informed by Chairman Richard Raymer that Binder Dijker Otte (BDO)—Anton Collins Mitchell (ACM), the auditing firm historically used by the joint powers board merged with BDO in 2020—had asked for direction from the board on the inclusion of a disclosure...
Over the past few months, the Saratoga-Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board (SCCIJPB) has discussed collecting on delinquent water and sewer accounts and terminating the services of those in arrears. Following their March 9 meeting, however, it appears that the joint powers board and the Town of Saratoga must first review and revise portions of their ordinance relating to water and sewer billing. In January, Director of Public Works Jon Winter asked both the SCCIJPB and the Saratoga Town...
When the buzzer sounded to end the 1A State Championship game, Saratoga's Gavin Bartlett embraced Upton's Luca Brooks. Then, with tears in his eyes, he walked to Coach Jason Williams and hugged him as well. A year before, the Saratoga Panthers had a much different result as they had won their first State Championship in school history. This year, Upton won the state championship-also their first in school history-but that also meant somebody had to lose. The Panthers had played through...
Should the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) invest in upgrading a bridge on Wyoming Highway 130 or should the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) spend more than $1 million upgrading Carbon County Road 504? That was the question raised during the March 2 meeting of the county commissioners in discussion with representatives from the United States Forest Service (USFS). Historically, Highway 130 has been the main thoroughfare for logging trucks transporting timber to the...
Consider it the “Luck of the Irish”. On March 8, Governor Mark Gordon announced in a press release that Wyoming will be removing the statewide mask mandate on March 16. Additionally, the requirements that have been in place for bars, restaurants, theaters and gyms for nearly a year will be removed as well. Even though the statewide mask mandate is being removed, Gordon encouraged Wyoming residents to continue wearing face coverings in indoor public spaces. While the statewide order has been remo...
More than a month after Blakeman Propane appeared before the Saratoga Town Council, the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) approved a conditional use permit for the Wyoming-based company during their March 2 meeting on a 4-1 vote. As was previously reported (see “But does it look nice?” on page 1 of the January 27 Saratoga Sun), Will Zilka of Blakeman Propane had appeared before the Town of Saratoga’s governing body to address any concerns the council may have had. While the bulk propa...
The first recreational vehicle (RV) park to be constructed since the passage of the Town of Saratoga's RV park ordinance may be in the ditches, quite literally, following the March 2 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Over the past year, Saratoga residents James (Jimmy) and Jamie Campbell have sought to construct a new RV park along Wyoming Highway 130. Under the name JaJaCa Properties, the couple have sought a zone amendment, a special use permit and an RV park permit. While confusion over...
As the Wyoming Legislature continues to debate funding education, school districts across the state are closely examining their budgets to find where and what to cut and Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2) is no different. According to CCSD2 Superintendent Jim Copeland, the school district has been told to remove $650,000 for next year’s annual budget. Nearly half of those cuts will come from the non-personnel budget according to a document on the district’s website. In that doc...
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Saratoga needs traffic lights. I’ll wait for you to calm down from that statement before I continue. Take a couple deep breaths, maybe look at this week’s editorial cartoon and take a sip of coffee. Better? Ok. Saratoga needs traffic lights. Look, I hate writing that probably as much as you hate reading it, but I think it’s a hard truth that needs to be heard. Since moving back into town limits a little over a year ago, I’ve discovered that our sleepy little to...
While the Saratoga Planning Commission recommended approval of a zone amendment for the Octagon Construction Group (Octagon) during their February 9 meeting, that recommendation did not come without some discussion. That discussion mainly centered around whether the proposed zone was appropriate for the proposed use as well as the process for zone amendments. The piece of property that Bo Stocks, owner of Octagon, is looking to rezone is currently zoned RD 9000, sits along Sierra Madre Avenue...
Since the Saratoga Panthers returned to the Valley as the 1A State Champions last season, fans have been anxious for the Panthers to make a return to Casper. Despite a season filled with restrictions, a two week quarantine and the general difficulty of the 1A Southwest Conference Saratoga will walk back into the Ford Wyoming Center. The Panthers do so as the No. 1 seeded team in the 1A West following a 3-0 weekend. On Thursday, Saratoga hosted the 1A Southwest Regional Quad where they fended...
Though the Encampment Tigers had been able to make appearances at the 1A State Basketball Tournament the past few years, they won't get the chance this year. On Thursday, the Tigers–like many teams throughout Wyoming–dealt with the "one-and-done" format of the modified regional tournament as they competed in the 1A Southwest Quad in Saratoga. Coming into Saratoga's Panther Den, Encampment faced the Farson-Eden Pronghorns, with whom they were tied for the No. 2 seed in their conference. The Pro...
While the Saratoga Lady Panthers had made significant strides in previous seasons towards making appearances at the 1A State Basketball Championship, this season was cut short due in part to the modified regional format and a loss to the Farson-Eden Lady Pronghorns. “I’m not going to pretend like we aren’t disappointed with how the end of the season turned out,” said Heather Bartlett, head coach of the Lady Panthers. “I felt the regional format for this year was so unfair, not just for us but fo...
Vaccinations against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been, by and large, successful in Carbon County despite a brief shortage caused by nationwide weather issues last week. In a February 17 interview with the Saratoga Sun, Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC) CEO Ken Harman stated that the vaccination rates for the county were sitting at 20 percent for people over the age of 21. While this doesn’t seem like much, especially when considering that 85 percent of the population needs to b...
The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) passed two resolutions during their February 16 meeting that adopted policies proposed by Kandis Fritz, Carbon County Road and Bridge Coordinator. Both policies seek to help the department in managing the nearly 1,000 miles of county roads. Weight Just a Minute The resolution that seemed to elicit the most discussion was 2021-08, which adopted rules and regulations for sizes, weight and permits on Carbon County roads. Fritz informed both the...
During their February 16 meeting, the Board of Carbon County Commissioners heard updates on both the Mullen Fire and the Hanna RR 316 Fire from Lenny Layman, Carbon County Emergency Manager. The commissioners were also updated on the status of a State Lands Investment Board (SLIB) grant for a Type 6 fire engine for the Carbon County Fire Department. Mullen Fire Starting on September 17 just outside the Savage Run Wilderness, the Mullen Fire grew to be one of the largest fires in Wyoming...
The Saratoga Town Council just barely had a quorum as it met on February 17. With Councilmember Bob Keel and Mayor Creed James both absent and Councilmember D’Ron Campbell joining by phone, the meeting lasted less than 45 minutes. With Mayor Pro-Tem Ben Spaulding chairing the meeting, the governing body covered a variety of subjects in a short amount of time compared to past meetings. Town Hall Since the first meeting in January, the subject of town hall has taken up a fair amount of d...
It doesn't take an avid basketball fan to see that Saratoga's Whitney Bennett loves to play the game. Whether in person or, due to limits on attendance, on the National Federation of State High Schools (NFHS) network one can see how involved the sophomore Lady Panther is on the court. The love of that game takes the young player a long way. Last year, as a freshman, Whitney and her older sister, Taylor, helped the 2020 Lady Panthers break a longstanding team record. Scoring a total of 82 points...
Last week, the Encampment Lady Tigers finished out their regular season as they went 0-3 in one conference game and two non-conference games. With no ticket to the regional tournament, the Lady Tigers are finding the silver linings from a season that didn't quite go their way. "Obviously we are disappointed about our season and how it turned out but when you encounter the injuries that we had during the season and the limited number of players, it makes it difficult to compete," said Clint...
The Encampment Tigers will be entering the 1A Southwest Quad Regional Tournament as the No. 2 seed this week following a conference loss and two non-conference wins last week. On February 16, the Tigers were dealt a narrow loss by the Saratoga Panthers (14-2, 6-1) but would go on to win by a substantial margin against the Rock River Longhorns and the Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Miners. Tigers vs. Panthers When Encampment hosted the Panthers earlier in the season, they had dealt a...
The Saratoga Lady Panthers, if anything, have proven over the last few seasons that they are growing as a team. Two seasons ago, the Lady Panthers bought their ticket to the regional tournament through a pigtail game but, this season, are entering the 1A Southwest Quad in the No. 2 seed. The regular season for the Lady Panthers, in fact, ended with three conference wins as they faced the Encampment Lady Tigers (3-13, 0-8), the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Lady Rattles (7-8, 2-6) and the Fars...
The Saratoga Panthers held onto their No. 1 spot in the 1A Southwest Conference as they fended off three conference foes last week. On Tuesday, Saratoga narrowly defeated their Valley and conference rivals, the Encampment Tigers (13-3, 5-3) and secured a substantial win against the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers (1-13, 0-8) on Friday. Then, on Saturday, the Panthers secured a single-point victory against the Farson-Eden Pronghorns (11-4, 5-3). Panthers vs. Tigers When Saratoga...
After nearly two months, Rocky Mountain Power finally received approval for construction of a transmission line between the Shirley Basin Substation in Carbon County and the Windstar Substation in Natrona County. As was previously reported (see “Rocky Mountain permit tabled” on page 1 of the December 30, 2020 Saratoga Sun), following concerns raised by the Medicine Bow Conservation District and land owners in the area the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) tabled approval of the con...
In recent months, representatives for Union Telephone Company (Union Wireless) have appeared before the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) for approval to extend the height of existing telecommunication towers. These requests come as Union Wireless prepares for the introduction of 5th Generation (5G) wireless, which has garnered questions and concerns about the health impacts of the newest wireless technology. During the February 2 meeting of the BOCCC, a conditional use permit from...
