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On May 7, the Carbon County voters will head to the polls to make a decision on the One Percent Specific Purpose Sales and Use Tax, more commonly known as the 6th penny tax. It’s hardly popular to advocate for a tax, but we at the Saratoga Sun feel that the importance of the 6th penny cannot be overstated. The improvement of inadequate infrastructure, especially aging water and sewer lines, will be on the line for several municipalities. For many towns, the 6th penny tax is the best option to fund these projects. As its name implies, the 6th p... Full story
On April 19, the Industrial Siting Council (ISC) held a bifurcated hearing of the TransWest Express Transmission Line and impact funding requests from five affected entities at the Platte Valley Community Center. According to Wyoming State Statutes on sales and use taxes, the five entities; Carbon County, Sweetwater County, City of Rawlins, Town of Sinclair and Town of Saratoga, could have asked for 2.67 percent of the material construction costs, or $24.61 million, in impact funding. The...
The third and final readings of the trio of ordinances aimed at restructuring the Saratoga Airport Board as an advisory board were held during the April 16 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council and were passed unanimously. Council member Steve Wilcoxson was absent, but made known his support for the ordinances in a letter read by Mayor John Zeiger. Ellie Dana, Saratoga Airport Board member, was in attendance and voiced her opinions on, specifically, Ordinance 851, again. Council members also...
The Riverside Town Council met at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Riverside Town Hall. All council members and the mayor were in attendance. The minutes from the council meeting on March 21 and the agenda were quickly approved. Financials were gone over by Treasurer/Town Clerk Jan Cook and the council approved the bills. Ashley McKinney, representing The Platte Valley Little League, asked the town for help funding equipment. “Anything you can do for us is appreciated,” McKinney said. The town awa...
With the current fiscal year drawing to a close, the Town of Saratoga has spent the last several weeks looking over the general fund in hopes of going into Fiscal Year (FY) 2019/2020 with a balanced budget. As was reported previously (see “Cuts coming” on page 16 of March 27 Saratoga Sun), Councilmember Jon Nelson informed department heads, Mayor John Zeiger and other members of the council that the Town of Saratoga had been overspending over the last four years. Due to this overspending, Nel...
The Hanna Town Council met at 6 p.m. on April 9 at the Hanna Town Hall with mayor Lois Buchanan and council members Bob Patton, Sammy Sikes and Linda Schisel in attendance. Council member Tracy Fowler was absent. The agenda and minutes from the March 12 council meeting were approved in the first few moments. Patton gave the council an update on the Carbon County Council of Governments (CCCOG) meeting on March 20 in Sinclair (see “Tax talk at CCCOG meeting” on page 1 of the April 3 Saratoga Sun...
The Encampment Town Council met at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Encampment Town Hall where three council members and the mayor were in attendance. Shannon Fagan was absent. The agenda and minutes from the March 14 town council were quickly approved. Financials were approved at $44, 320.04. Sid Fox, Planning Director for Carbon County, was the first guest of the council. “I am here with Sue Jones, the county commissioner, to talk about a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the town and C...
Nobody reads the paper. While this statement, for the most part, seems to be made without any ill intent—it doesn’t reduce the sting to those who work for a newspaper. It is no secret that the industry has been having a very public struggle for the past several years. On the national level, newspapers across the United States have either merged or closed for good. According to a report from the University of North Carolina Center for Innovation & Sustainability in Local Media, “The Expan... Full story
Despite a continued struggle to maintain a quorum, the Saratoga Planning Commission was able to conduct a fair amount of business as they met on April 9 at the Saratoga Town Hall. While acting chairman Tom Westring and town council representative Bob Keel were in physical attendance, commission member Jim Beckmann joined by phone while Chris Duke was absent. During the hour long meeting, the commission approved a special use permit for Saratoga resident Kathy Wallace, discussed the Memorandum of...
The Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board (CCIJPB) put their proposed rate structure to the test on April 10 as they held a workshop before their regular meeting. As was reporting previously (see “Reviewing rates” on page 8 of the March 20 Saratoga Sun), the CCIJPB came to the conclusion to reexamine the water rate structure following several months of discussion that began with outdated billing of the Old Baldy Club (OBC). The hope with the workshop was that both residents and businesses in t...
The Saratoga Airport Board was, again, a top subject during the April 2 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. The second reading of Ordinances 850, 851 and 852 all passed unanimously—minus absent council member Judy Welton, but not without public comment from Ellie Dana, a member of the now-dissolved airport board. In addition to passing the second reading of the three ordinances, the council approved expenditures for the Saratoga Volunteer Fire Department, the purchase of a new robotic pool c...
The Industrial Siting Council (ISC) held a pre-trial meeting Wednesday April 3 at the Platte Valley Community Center (PVCC) Theater to line up exhibits and witnesses for the hearing on the TransWest Express, LLC permit application for the TransWest Express Transmission Line Project. Joining representatives from the ISC were officials from the various towns and county entities affected by the project along with representatives from TransWest Express, LLC and the Department of Environemental Quali...
The Carbon County Council of Governments (CCCOG) met at 6:30 p.m. on March 20 at the Sinclair Town Hall. Chairman Steve Nicholson was in attendance, but vice chairman John Zeiger and secretary/treasurer Morgan Irene were absent. After everyone identified themselves at the meeting and voting members for the different municipalities were identified, a quorum was established. The minutes and treasurer's report were approved quickly. An update of the Specific Purpose (6th penny tax) was given by...
The Saratoga Town Council met at 6 p.m. on March 19 at the Saratoga Town Hall without mayor John Zeiger in attendance. Council member Steve Wilcoxson was mayor pro tem in Zeiger's absence. The approval of the agenda and council meeting minutes from March 5 were both approved quickly. Sammy Flohr, Saratoga town treasurer, went over the financials for a total of $106,239.30 that the council approved. Will Faust from the Platte Valley Health Care Sustainability Project told the council a meeting...
The Saratoga Airport Board as it has been known for the past 41 years is no more. During the most recent meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Resolution No. 2019-05, titled “A resolution of the governing body of the Town of Saratoga, Carbon County, Wyoming, dissolving the Saratoga Airport Board,” was introduced, read and passed by a vote of 4-0. Mayor John Zeiger was not present during the last meeting as he was in Riverton, an absence announced during the March 5 meeting. The Saratoga Sun spo...
The evening of March 21 saw more full chairs than empty in the council chambers of Saratoga Town Hall as local hunters gathered for a presentation from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) about 2019 hunting season proposals. Saratoga Wildlife Biologist Teal Cufaude led the presentation as she went through proposed changes to antelope, deer, elk, moose, bighorn sheep and sage grouse hunting seasons. Antelope The first slides in the presentation covered Antelope Hunt Areas 50, 51 and 52....
“This is not sustainable. We know that. Obviously, we’re running out of money.” This statement from Saratoga Town Council member Jon Nelson illustrated the difficulties facing the Town of Saratoga as they prepare to set the budget for the next fiscal year (FY). With FY 2018/2019 nearing an end, the Saratoga Town Council and Town of Saratoga department heads gathered at Saratoga Town Hall for the second budget workshop in a series to discuss FY 2019/2020. In preparation for the workshop, Nelso...
On the afternoon of March 12, it seemed as if spring was just around the corner. The premonition of famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinaire (author's note: this is the full name of Punxsutawney Phil) seemed to be coming to fruition. With the official start of spring a week away and temperatures around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, it did not seem as if a storm was on the way. Of course, what does a marmot...
Despite just barely having a quorum, the Saratoga Planning Commission was able to move through their agenda with relative ease on the evening of March 12 at the Saratoga Town Hall. Acting Chairman Tom Westring and town council representative Bob Keel were joined via phone by planning commission member Jim Beckmann via phone as they heard from Louis Waits, co-owner of the Flower Pot, and discussed the soon-to-be vacant zoning officer position and the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the...
Despite the weather, the Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board (CCIJPB) was able to hold their regularly scheduled meeting on March 13 at Saratoga Town Hall. The topic of the water ordinance and water rates were, again, the central point of discussion at the meeting as the joint powers board continues to move forward with re-examining the current rate structure. Due to the blizzard, the Saratoga Sun was not in attendance, but spoke with CCIJPB member Roger Cox and Saratoga Town Council member...
The Saratoga Town Council met at 6 p.m. on March 5 at the Saratoga Town Hall with all the council and mayor John Zeiger in attendance. It was business as usual with the approval of the minutes for the meeting on Feb. 19 and the agenda for the evening. The financials were approved to the sum of $168,568.26. Correspondence had a letter from the Local Government Liability Pool (LGLP) telling the town that contribution rates were staying the same. LGLP informed the council that there had been no...
The Medicine Bow Town Council met at 7 p.m. on Feb. 11 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall. All council members and mayor Kevin Colman were in attendance. The agenda and minutes for the regular town council held on Jan. 14 and a special meeting on Feb. 4 were approved. Karen Heath, town clerk/treasurer, read the financials that were ratified and approved. Wind Discussion Jeb Steward, Encampment resident and chairman for the Wind Wyoming’s Way committee, thanked the council for inviting him to s...
The Saratoga Town Council met at 6 p.m. on Feb. 19 at the Saratoga Town Hall for a meeting that went for almost three hours. The mayor and all council members were in attendance. The start of the meeting went quickly with the agenda and minutes from Feb. 5 council meeting being approved. Next, the financials totaling $98,191.22 were approved. There was no correspondence. Mayor John Zeiger next had South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services (SCWEMS) Saratoga representative Marie Christen...
For several months, the Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board (CCIJPB) has expressed a desire to speak with a representative from the Old Baldy Club (OBC) in regards to their outdated billing, an issue brought up by board member Roger Cox in June (see “Lagoon done, billing discussed” on page 6 of the June 20, 2018 Saratoga Sun). During their regularly scheduled meeting at 6 p.m. on Feb. 13 at Saratoga Town Hall, Chairman Richard Raymer and Vice-Chairman Craig Kopasz reported that they had been...
In an approximately 20-minute Saratoga Planning Commission meeting every item on the agenda was tabled. During the Feb. 12 meeting, the commission briefly discussed four agenda items and decided that these were all items that needed further research, modification or reading. Three members, including Chris Duke, Bob Keel and chairman Tom Westring, were present at the meeting with Jim Beckmann absent. After approving the agenda and minutes from the Jan. 8 meeting and finding no correspondence the...