Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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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 a...
The Carbon County Visitors Council (CCVC) met on February 17 via Zoom. It would be a short meeting compared to most CCVC board meetings. As it lasted exactly one hour. After all board members were identified, the agenda and minutes from the regularly scheduled meeting January 20 were approved. CCVC Director Leslie Jefferson went over the lodging tax collected and Carbon County had a major uptick from last month and last year. For the month of February, which included the...
When the Wyoming Legislature reconvenes in March, the perennial battle to keep public notices in Wyoming newspapers will return as well. On February 4, the Senate Corporation Committee voted 4-1 to advance to the Wyoming Senate legislation that would remove the requirement for counties and municipalities to publish minutes and salary information in newspapers. Senate File 17 was crafted under the guise of saving the counties and municipalities money during much needed budget crunches. During the nearly two hour meeting,...
Joel James, Brierly Associates, gave a presentation on the status of the Abandoned Mines Land (AML) program in Hanna on February 9. He explained the purpose of the program was to mitigate hazards to public health and safety posed by abandoned mines, which Hanna has in abundance. The program is funded by federal fees on current coal mining. He said final disbursement of AML funds ends in 2022, but that reclamation work will continue past 2022. James said, in 2020, the...
When the One Percent Specific Purpose Sales and Use Tax (6th penny tax) appeared before voters on May 7, 2019 one of the projects listed for the Town of Saratoga included the rehabilitation of one of the municipality's water storage tanks. The need to either rehabilitate or replace one of two water storage tanks southwest of Saratoga is likely more evident now that winter has arrived. Due to the leaking of one water storage tank, a large amount of ice has formed on the side...
The Saratoga Town Council is preparing to move forward with an audit of Fiscal Year 2019/2020 after making the decision to contract with a retired University of Wyoming professor. During their February 2 meeting, the governing body also discussed moving the pay period date for Town of Saratoga employees. Audit Preparation As the Saratoga Town Council moves ever closer to the end of the current fiscal year, it does so without an audit of the previous fiscal year. While an...
While the weather seems to be almost unseasonably warm right now, temperatures are expected to drop in the next week or two and bring snow with them. For some, this means it will be the perfect time to catch some fresh powder on their snowmobile or snow shoe in the Snowy Range or the Sierra Madres. For others, it will be the perfect time to work on their golf swing. Saratoga is no stranger to people brainstorming winter events that can bring in a crowd. For 38 years, the Sarat...
The Carbon County Council of Governments (CCCOG) met via Zoom on January 13. The board usually meets every two months on the third Wednesday, but this meeting was scheduled a week early. All municipalities of CCCOG were in attendance with the exception of Medicine Bow and Sinclair. In September 2020, Baggs mayor Anna Marie Waldron had asked if any municipality knew of a grant writer. Former Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO Stacy Crimmins’ name was mentioned as a p...
It has been several months since the Carbon County Visitors Council (CCVC) has met in person but, on January 20, the board met at Firewater Public House in Saratoga. In addition to the board members meeting face-to-face, the city of Rawlins sent Mary-Pat Whitfield to be their representative. The city has not had a representative since June 30, 2018. Whitfield has been a resident of Rawlins for 42 years and has worked with museums in the city. CCVC Medicine Bow representative Sharon Kahl resigned from the board because she...
Saratoga Town Council At A Glance Appoint of Legal Counsel • Mayor Creed James appointed Sundahl, Powers, Kapp & Martin as legal counsel with unanimous approval from town council. Saratoga Town Clerk • Town council approved contract of $50 per hour at 10 hours per week for Pam Paulsen to aid treasurer and assistant clerk/treasurer. Department of Public Works • Two payments of $25,900 to Bob Ruwart Motors for two new trucks for the water and sewer department using impact assis...
Safety and aesthetics were the top concerns raised by the Saratoga Town Council in regards to a proposed bulk propane storage facility south of town during their January 19 meeting. The facility, which will be constructed and operated by Blakeman Propane, is just outside town limits on property owned by Arthur Ingleby. Due to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Town of Saratoga and Carbon County approved on July 2, 2019, however, the county is required to solicit...
For the past several months, the wastewater treatment plant north of Saratoga has been dealing with something of a mystery. The enigma was first raised by Director of Public Works Jon Winter during the January 5 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council and again during the January 13 meeting of the Saratoga-Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board (SCCIJPB). According to Winter, the wastewater lagoon north of town had seen high levels of biochemical oxygen demand in the effluent of...
The, currently, two member Saratoga Planning Commission had a gas during their January 12 meeting as they discussed, among other things, the proposed location for Blakeman Propane’s bulk propane storage facility south of Saratoga. With no council representative at the moment, newly-seated Councilmember Ben Spaulding and newly-appointed Mayor Creed James sat in the audience to provide their input. Along with the propane facility, the planning commission also discussed a potenti...
While a run-off election in Georgia was determining who would gain control of the United States Senate on January 5, the Saratoga Town Council was finding their own direction during their first meeting of 2021 as they swore in new council members and a new mayor. Transfer of Powers As the final actions of Councilmember Judy Welton and Councilmember D'Ron Campbell, the Saratoga Town Council went through the customary approval of the minutes, agenda and paying of the bills...
While the Town of Saratoga will start the year with someone in the mayor’s seat, the Saratoga Town Council is also moving forward with replacing both their legal counsel and their town clerk. Both topics were discussed during the January 5 meeting of the governing body. Legal Proposals As was reported previously (see “New year, new everything” on page 2 of the January 6 Saratoga Sun), following a publication of Request for Proposals (RFPs) the Town of Saratoga had received fiv...
*Update* At the January 5 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Creed James was appointed to fill the mayoral vacancy. While many people may be hoping for change in 2021, one of the entities in Carbon County that will be seeing the most change is Saratoga Town Council. The governing body will be facing plenty of changes as of its meeting on January 5. Mayoral Vacancy From August 18 to December 31, the Town of Saratoga operated without a mayor following the resignation of John...
After nearly five months without a mayor, the Saratoga Town Council has finally appointed a member of the governing body to fill the vacancy. On January 5, recently elected council member Creed James was appointed just minutes after being sworn in to the town council. The vote to appoint James passed 3-0-1 with James abstaining from the vote. The appointment of James as mayor comes after two meetings in which both he, Councilmember Ben Spaulding and Lindy Glode, a former Carbo...
The Carbon County Visitors Council (CCVC) met by teleconference on December 16 with all representatives present. The agenda and minutes from the November 18 meeting was quickly approved CCVC CEO Leslie Jefferson went over the treasurer’s report. The board approved the financials. The board approved the 10 percent distribution from lodging taxes collected to the communities and Carbon County in the amount of $5,618.08. The lodging tax collected for the month of November a...
What does the future of Saratoga look like and who will have a hand in shaping that future? This has been a question that has weighed on my mind in recent years, especially as we see continued growth both here in Saratoga and throughout the Valley. While the agriculture and timber industries were long the leading economic drivers for the area, and still employ a number of people, the tourism industry has become one of the major parts of our economy. Of course, who wouldn’t wan...
In the age of the internet and social media, branding is everything. Wyoming, as a state, is fairly easy to brand. Attractions such as Old Faithful and the Grand Tetons are internationally recognized and, in recent years, residents have come to use the state's area code, 307, as an identifier. Branding a county, meanwhile, is a little more difficult. Danny Burau, owner of Firewater Public House (Firewater) in Saratoga, has decided to work towards that goal with the opening of...
As the governing body of Saratoga faces rapidly approaching deadlines related to the audit of Fiscal Year 2019/2020, the Saratoga Town Council discussed a re-engagement with James Childress of Childress Accounting and Consulting during their December 15 meeting. While no formal action was taken on the engagement letters from Childress, much of the discussion was haunted by the specter of interfund overhead allocations. Such allocations have faced vocal opposition from...
At the final meeting of 2020 of the Saratoga Town Council, held on December 15, Councilmember Jon Nelson continued to express his frustration and concern with payments to James Childress, the third-party accountant originally engaged by the governing body in September 2019. Over $8,000 The concerns from Nelson came early in the meeting, as Saratoga Town Treasurer Sammy Flohr read the accounts payable for the council. Among those accounts was an invoice from Childress...
As 2020 comes to a close for the Town of Saratoga, the Saratoga Town Council will be entering the new year without a mayor, town clerk, legal counsel and potentially without an accounting firm to perform their audit. This revelation came about during the December 15 meeting of the governing body as the municipality stares down and will likely fail to meet a December 31 deadline to submit an F66 form to the Wyoming Department of Audit. In emails sent by Mayor Pro-Tem Bob Keel...
“It is time to move forward in a positive manner. The Town of Saratoga has had too much conflict.” During the December 15 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, the governing body was addressed by former Carbon County Commissioner and Saratoga resident Lindy Glode as she voiced her support to appoint Councilmember D’Ron Campbell to the mayoral vacancy. As was reported previously (see “Choice or lack of options?” on page 5 of the December 9 Saratoga Sun), two motions to make a...
Albert Einstein once said “Time is an illusion” and I don’t think those words have ever been truer than in 2020. With only one week left in the year, I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that it isn’t March or April. Indeed, after March 13–a Friday–it seems as if all time just became a little more fluid. Time has passed so quickly, yet so slowly, this year that I almost forgot that next week will be my three year anniversary with the Saratoga Sun. That’s r...