Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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The town of Hanna normally has its voting at the Hanna Town Hall. But due to the social distance measures the town took to keep its residents safe, the voting took place at the Hanna Recreation Center in its gym. The recreation center building had it clearly marked on how close people could stand in line to be socially distant. Masks were not required, but some voters did wear them when they came into vote....
After the August 24 workshop held at Saratoga Town Hall, the Town of Saratoga will submit an initial request of approximately $200,000 for expected impacts from the Gateway South Transmission Line. In an hour long workshop between the Saratoga Town Council, Saratoga-Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board (SCCIJPB) and the Saratoga Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD) impact requests included a bulk water fill station, supplies for the SVFD and replacing or repairing the water...
Less than two years after officially taking office for his fourth term, John Zeiger has resigned from his position as mayor of Saratoga “effective immediately”. In a post made on social media late Monday night, Zeiger cited familial reasons—the upcoming birth of his grandson—as his reason for resigning. The post announcing his resignation comes after multiple vague posts about an upcoming decision. At the August 4 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Zeiger had appointed Coun...
The August 11 wildfire that burned about two miles outside the town of Hanna did not only burn 106 acres, but was also responsible for the Hanna Town Council being unable to establish a quorum. Councilmember Traci Fowler, who is Hanna Fire Department Fire Chief, and Councilmember Sam Sikes, a volunteer for the fire department, were absent fighting the wildfire outside Hanna proper. Council member Bob Patton was on vacation. One councilmember, Linda Schisel, called in. Mayor...
Hanna Fire Chief Tracy Fowler was in her truck just a little outside of Hanna when the call came over her radio that there was a fire burning outside of town on August 11. She turned around and went to the fire station. The fire's smoke could be seen in town. The location was on a hill 2.7 miles from town heading on WY 291 near the old RAG mine site. RAG International, a German coal mining company, were the last owners of the mines in Hanna before they closed and the land...
Though the agenda for the August 11 meeting of the Saratoga Planning Commission was sparse, the entire meeting surrounding Octagon Construction and the company’s development of a subdivision west of Saratoga. Bo and Kristen Stocks, co-owners of Octagon Construction, were joined by Craig Kopasz and Levi Wolfe of Engineering Associates to discuss the preliminary plat for phase two of the subdivision project as well as discuss signage for the development. In the case of Octagon E...
The Riverside Town Council gained another council member at the August 13, 2020 meeting. According to LeRoy Stephenson, Mayor of Riverside, Mark Helwick didn’t exactly submit a letter of interest for the open Town Council seats. Instead, he simply wrote “Yes, I am interested” on a Riverside public notice. Stephenson said, “as far as I am was concerned, that is better than any letter”. Although, Helwick is currently on the primary election ballot as the only person running f...
The Saratoga Town Council appears to be moving forward with plans to address findings from the audit of the 2018/2019 Fiscal Year following a workshop on August 13. As was reported previously (see “What’s the plan?” on page 3 of the August 12 Saratoga Sun), the workshop had been scheduled following questions from Councilmember Jon Nelson to Mayor John Zeiger and Councilmember Judy Welton, who serves as the liaison to Town Hall, about how they believed the findings shoul...
*Editor's Note* An earlier version of this article listed the time of the workshop as 5 p.m. on August 13. In the days the following the meeting, the time was changed to 4:30 p.m. This article has been updated to reflect those changes. The recently accepted Fiscal Year 2018/2019 was just one of many topics of discussion for the Saratoga Town Council during their August 4 meeting. With Councilmember Bob Keel in attendance, Councilmember Jon Nelson initiated discussion on how...
Moving forward, the Saratoga Town Council will meet an hour later than they have in recent years. The change in time comes following a failed attempt at an ordinance to change the meeting date of the governing body. In addition to changing the time of the town council meetings, the council appointed one of two remaining candidates to the open seat for the remainder of 2020. Time Change On the agenda, under Town Hall, was the first reading of Ordinance 858. The only...
The council chambers in Saratoga Town Hall once again served as the battleground for Councilmember Jon Nelson’s continued pursuit for answers in regards to the Town of Saratoga’s finances. During the August 4 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Nelson reiterated his request for material from town hall and questions in regards to discrepancies between amounts approved by the council and amounts expended by the Town of Saratoga. Additionally, questions surrounded the timeline...
The High Country Joint Powers Board (HCJPB) convened their regularly scheduled meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Hanna Town Hall. All board representatives from the towns were present with the exception of Bob Patton of Hanna. All mayors of Elk Mountain, Hanna and Medicine Bow were present. The board quickly approved the agenda and the minutes from the regular scheduled meeting held on July 2. Toby Smith, chairman of the HCJPB, said the landfill closure was going well....
UPDATE: Following an executive session in which two candidates, D'Ron Campbell and Michelle Cook, were interviewed the Saratoga Town Council voted unanimously to appoint Campbell to the seat left open by the passing of Councilmember Steve Wilcoxson. Glee Johnson, according to Mayor John Zeiger, had withdrawn her letter of interest prior to the meeting. More than a month since Mayor John Zeiger announced that three candidates for the open seat on the Saratoga Town Council...
The Hanna Town Council, the High Country Joint Powers Board (HCJPB) and Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) representative Craig McComie met at 6:30 p.m. on July 29 at the Hanna Recreation Center gym to talk to the residents of Hanna about the landfill closure and dumpsters. The Hanna landfill, which served the towns of Elk Mountain, Hanna and Medicine Bow, was closed at the end of June. Currently the towns of Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow have dumpsters throughout...
The Planning Commission meeting on July 14, 2020 started with a public hearing regarding the horses on Robert Smith’s property where he runs a bed and breakfast. There had been a nuisance complaint from one of the neighbors who was in attendance citing dust problems and issues with the expansion of the on going business. The Smiths rebutted that the complaint was in retribution for their own complaint to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regarding an illegal gravel...
A special meeting of the Riverside Town Council was held on July 28, 2020 to revisit the liquor license for the Mangy Moose since the Wyoming Liquor Commission informed the Council that it is not possible to issue a license for a term of three months. At the beginning of the meeting there was discussion regarding a letter that had been recently written to the Riverside Town Council which council member Ed Golden found offensive. He reminded the audience that the position of...
In the past two weeks, Carbon County has seen a continued increase of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as tourists pour into the state and parents prepare to resume school. According to local health officials, the number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began has reached 61 with 26 of those having recovered. There are currently 35 active cases of COVID-19 within Carbon County. In addition to the 61 total confirmed cases, there have also been six...
At the July 21 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, the governing body voted 3-0 to officially accept the audit of Fiscal Year 2019/2020 by new auditors Carver, Florek and James (CFJ). Councilmember Bob Keel was not in attendance. As was previously reported (see “Audit accepted, questions remain” on page 1 of the July 29 Saratoga Sun), Councilmember Jon Nelson asked Councilmember Judy Welton and Mayor John Zeiger how they proposed to address some of the findings in the audit....
Trash talk was no small part of the July 21 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council as the governing body addressed excess refuse near the municipal swimming pool and repeated violations at Family Dollar. Swimming in Trash Under a report from the Saratoga Police Department, Chief Ken Lehr informed the council that trash cans and dumpsters placed around the municipal swimming pool, Hobo Pool and boat ramp were all being overfilled. “Can’t keep up with the garbage down there. I d...
With the primary election rapidly approaching and the United States still dealing with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), absentee voting has taken center stage this election cycle. At the July 20 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC), Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett provided the board with an update on ballots. According to Bartlett, her office had sent out a total of 1,744 requested absentee ballots and 529 had been received as of the day of the...
After an extended public hearing and 30 day protest period that saw no written protest, the proposed Saratoga-Ryan Park Museum District will be heading to the ballot in November. During the July 20 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC), the commissioners voted unanimously to approve Resolution No. 2020-31 which directed Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett to place the question on the ballot. “As you recall, you had your public hearing for the proposed S...
At their July 21 meeting, the Saratoga Town Council formally accepted the Fiscal Year 2018/2019 audit from Carver, Florek and James (CFJ) as the 2020/2021 fiscal year begins. Along with the highly anticipated document came additional questions from Councilmember Jon Nelson in regards to the town’s finances. Councilmember Bob Keel was not in attendance as he was “tied up at work” according to Mayor John Zeiger. More or Less? The release of the audit followed the 3-1 appro...
Carbon County is seeing the highest spike in cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) since the pandemic began and a little over two weeks since the July 4 weekend. According to Carbon County Public Health, 11 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the last six days. Jacquelin Wells, public information officer for the Carbon County COVID-19 Incident Management Team, confirmed to the Saratoga Sun that there had been previous cases either in the Valley or connected to the...
COVID-19 took its toll on the Carbon County Council of Governments’ (CCCOG) meetings for the past four months. The last time the board met was in Rawlins on January 15. CCCOG meets every two months and the March and May meetings were not held due to restrictions set by the state. The meeting was started at 6:30 p.m. on July 15 at the Baggs Community Center. All but Hanna and Medicine Bow had municipalities represented at the meeting. After introductions of attendees, the b...
The Hanna Town Council met at 6:30 p.m. on July 15 at the Hanna Town Hall. All council members were in attendance along with mayor Lois Buchanan. The agenda and minutes from the June 9 regularly scheduled meeting and the special meeting held on June 23 were approved in a quick manner. Buchanan told the council that the High Country Joint Powers Board (HCJPB) at their last meeting decided to go to with last year’s budget as a blue print for this year’s budget. She asked Ann...
