Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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Fundraising progress continues for Never Forget Park. Stacy Crimmins, a member of the Never Forget Park Committee, provided an update on the park to the Saratoga Town Council at their May 21 meeting. Crimmins went before the council to ask for approval to apply for a grant from the Wyoming Intertie Community Investment Project (WICIP) on behalf of the Town of Saratoga, which would grant $50,000 if awarded. The WICIP gives impact money for the Wyoming Intertie Project, which will build a...
The Saratoga Town Council failed to appoint a member to the upcoming vacancy on the Carbon County Visitors' Council (CCVC) at the May 21 meeting. Per the Carbon County website, the purpose of the board is to "to promote local travel and tourism within Carbon County and its municipalities and to receive and expend the revenues from the excise tax on lodging services." Members of the council are appointed by several separate municipalities in Carbon County, as well as one appointment from the...
With a deadline of May 31 for candidates to file for the primary election, some races will see some competition while others are either uncontested or without any candidates at all. This year, three seats are up for grabs on the Board of Carbon County Commissioners with five candidates having filed as of May 28. John Espy and Sue Jones both have filed to run for re-election. Joining them on the ballot will be Gwynn Bartlett, who has served as the Carbon County Clerk since 2010 and was re-elected in 2022, James “Jimmy” Hinkle and Garrett Ire...
Bub Barhurkhust, who was appointed to the Saratoga Town Council on May 7, met with the Sun to share his reasons for applying for appointment and what he hopes to accomplish on the council. The council had a vacant seat in February due to the untimely passing of Jacob Fluty. Barkhurst, owner of Barkhurst Collision Center, was one of two people to send a letter of interest to fill the open seat. In his letter to the council, Barkhurst wrote “as a long time resident and business owner of this commu...
The second reading of the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year Budget passed in title only at the May 21 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Ordinance No. 869 provides the details of the budget. Estimated revenues are based upon the previous year and are prepared using the Budget Preparation Handbook created by the Wyoming Association of Municipalities. For the general fund, $3,395,844.43 is anticipated in revenue. $2,244,408.20 is anticipated to come from taxes. According to the Saratoga Town Treasurer Cori...
Who best represents what Saratoga is? This is the question we at the Saratoga Sun find ourselves asking following the May 21 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council in which they refused to fill a vacancy on the Carbon County Visitors’ Council Board of Directors. With a month to fill the vacancy, weeks of advertising and a deadline of May 31 a motion to appoint the sole applicant—McCall Burau—failed due to lack of a second. When Councilmember Kathy Beck, who made the motion, asked why there wasn’t a second, Councilmember Jerry Fluty explain...
The Town of Saratoga Recreation Director Kim Hemenway resigned during the May 21 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Hemenway gave a report to the council during the meeting and discussed issues involving preparing the pool for the summer season. After her report, Hemenway gave the council a notice of resignation, saying her final day would be June 14. She thanked the Town for the opportunity of being employed there and the experience she gained from the position. She finished by asking the co...
Many members of the public showed up in strong support of a proposed chicken ordinance during a public hearing at the May 14 Saratoga Planning Commission meeting. During a previous Saratoga Town Council meeting, resident Jon Nelson presented a proposed ordinance that would allow people to own chickens on residential lots within town limits, which is currently mostly illegal. Under Saratoga municipal code 18.42.150, the owning of chickens is prohibited in residential zones with a few exceptions....
Filings for the 2024 Primary Elections are currently underway. Many candidates have already applied, however there remain many positions across Carbon County without any filings. The deadline to file for candidacy in all partisan and nonpartisan races is May 31. Here are the current candidates for the 2024 Primary Election as of May 21. For the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCC), three seats are open to be filled. Sue Jones and John Espy will be running for reelection. Their most recent...
Today marks the opening of the 2024 Primary Election filing period with a deadline of May 31 for candidates in all partisan and nonpartisan primary races. A complete listing of all offices can be found in the 2024 Primary Proclamation on page B6 of this week’s Saratoga Sun. A few of those offices include three seats on the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC), three on the Saratoga Town Council, two on the Encampment Town Council and three on the Riverside Town Council. Board of Carbon C...
At the May 7 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Mayor Chuck Davis said the public hearing to consider whether to create a joint dispatch center to serve the sheriff’s department and the county municipalities set for May 13 was tabled for logistical reasons. “The council is working to get a date confirmed,” Davis said, referring to when to reschedule the meeting. Getting everyone’s schedules to agree had proven difficult. Police Chief Mike Morris said they have agreed “in principle” that the best way to create a joint dispatch center would be...
These days it may seem as if election cycles never end, but only bleed into one another. While it can be easy to get fatigued by the constant election rhetoric, the civic importance of elections shouldn’t be lost. This year is a presidential election and, in Wyoming, one senate seat and the lone congress seat are also on the ballot. Also on the ballot are a number of county and municipal offices. Three of the five seats on the Board of Carbon County Commissioners will be on the ballot this e...
Nearly three months after the untimely passing of Saratoga Town Council member Jacob Fluty—and a month of advertising—the governing body received two letters of interest for the vacant seat. One letter was from Bub Barkhurst, owner of Barkhurst Collision Center, and the other was from Chia Valdez, owner of Saratoga Land Company and a current member of the Saratoga Planning Commission. Both applicants cited their long ties to Wyoming in their letters with Barkhurst stating his family had set...
Linda Kay Fisher-Perue went to be with her Lord on April 25, 2024. She was born on December 12, 1947 to Howard and MaryLee (Stock) Weinert in Falls City, Nebraska. She grew up on a small farm near Falls City and attended a rural school through 8th grade. Linda graduated from Falls City High School and then went to the University of Nebraska for one year. From there she went to Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska, not far from where she was raised. She obtained a teaching degree, for home...
At the May 7 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Bub Barkhurst was sworn in by Mayor Chuck Davis to fill the vacancy left by the passing of Jacob Fluty earlier this year. Barkhurst was one of two applicants to the vacancy. The other was Chia Valdez, who currently serves on the Saratoga Planning Commission. Both applicants read their letters of interest in public and were interviewed by members of the council in open meeting. See more in the May 9 edition of the Saratoga Sun...
On Monday morning, those driving up and down 1st Street in Saratoga likely saw an uncommon sight as a local resident held a protest outside Saratoga Town Hall. Wearing a bright yellow coat and carrying a pink sign, Jimmy Dempsey called for Mayor Chuck Davis to remove Town Clerk Jennifer Anderson for “neglecting her duty.” On his sign, Dempsey cited section 02.08.020 of Saratoga Municipal Code. This section of the code reads that all town employees may be dismissed by the mayor and council, wit...
Saratoga’s water line replacement project will begin in May, said Public Works Director Emery Penner at the April 16 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. “I don’t expect a big interruption in water service,” Penner said during his report on the Water and Sewer Joint Powers Board. In other business, the bids for the surfacing project at Never Forget Park came in higher than expected, Penner said. “We are going back to the drawing board on this project,” he said. The town rejected the Rocky Mountain Sand and Gravel bid of $389,742. “We’ll get mo...
On February 6, the Saratoga Town Council voted approved the River Street Waterline Replacement Project. This project is expected to start around May 1 and completed by late summer. Emery Penner, Saratoga Public Works Director, said two contracting companies bid to work on the project: Lewis & Lewis, Inc. and Rocky Mountain Sand & Gravel LLC (RMSG). According to Penner, RMSG was awarded the project with a low bid of $1.7 million. “We put this project out for bid a couple of months ago, the two co...
Taking a short break from discussing short term rentals, the Saratoga Planning Commission held a brief discussion over a proposed chicken ordinance during their April 9 meeting. Under current municipal code, it is mostly illegal to own chickens or other domestic fowl on residential lots within town limits. One of the only exceptions, per section 18.42.150© of the municipal code, are undeveloped areas in residential zones which are greater than five acres. This section of the code allows livestoc...
The Town of Saratoga recently hired two new full-time police officers who started on April 1. At the Saratoga Town Council meeting on April 2, Mayor Chuck Davis administered the oath of office to one of them, Casey Lehr. For several months, the police department has been operating with only three full-time officers which has stretched the department’s resources, said Police Chief Mike Morris in a later interview. He said the department has been “busy answering calls and doing what was nee...
Some cities and towns in tourist destinations like Wyoming and Montana have been capping, or are looking at capping, the number of allowable short-term rentals as a way to increase the number of long-term rentals for workforce housing. Some of these cities say requiring a permit through the ordinance gives the fire department authority to make safety inspections. This ensures properties are safe to occupy with working smoke alarms and other safety protections for the guests. The ordinance permit process gives towns a way to track the number of...
“Help others and give something back. I guarantee you will discover that while public service improves the lives and the world around you, its greatest reward is the enrichment and new meaning it will bring to your own life.” ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger. Last week, the Town of Saratoga began advertising for the vacancy on the Saratoga Town Council. The seat, previously held by Jacob Fluty, will be on the ballot as a two-year unexpired term this year. Whoever is appointed to the vacancy will onl...
The Saratoga Town Council discussed on March 19 whether to bring back for consideration a short-term rental ordinance which would regulate vacation rentals after a group of residents expressed their interest and the planning commission indicated it wanted to pursue this. Town Planning Administrator Emery Penner said in his report the planning commission had “a long conversation” with the public about an ordinance to regulate short-term rentals, such as AirBNBs. Four members of the public came to the meeting, he said. McCall Burau, chairman of...
The Saratoga Planning Commission has its hands tied, for all intents and purposes and we at the Saratoga Sun believe it is a disservice to the planning commission itself and the residents of Saratoga. While it is an advisory board, the role of the planning commission is to not only interpret existing zoning code but improve upon it as well. Such is the case regarding short term rentals in residential zones, which culminated in an 18 month process of drafting a proposed short term rental permit. At the recommendation of Kylie Waldrip, legal...
Short term rentals and their regulation—or lack thereof—in municipal code was yet again a topic of discussion for the Saratoga Planning Commission during their March 12 meeting. While a proposed short term rental permit was created by the planning commission last year, it was ultimately tabled in November 2023 on the recommendation of Kylie Waldrip, legal counsel for the Town of Saratoga. In February, James “Jimmy” Campbell asked the planning commission to continue to pursue some form of perm...