Medicine Bow readies for eclipse, liquor laws

The Medicine Bow Town Council met May 8 at the Community Hall to discuss preparation for the upcoming solar eclipse, renew liquor licenses and fix the retaining wall in the Community Hall.

There was a public hearing to take comments on the renewal of liquor licenses for The Old West Bar, The Virginian Inc. Bar and The Diplodocus Bar.

Members of the public had several comments: Cindy Chace said Diplodocus (Dip)Bar owner Jo Anne Bennett had a license for years but as the Bar is not operational, it wasn’t fair to let her keep it and the town didn’t need three bars. Don Mayfield said as long as Bennett complied with state requirements she should have it. Toby Smith said he had no problem as long as she complied.

Sandy Levengood asked where Bennett was posting notices of open times and Councilmember Sharon Biamon said she had seen the notice at the post office.

Mayor Kevin Colman said this was the last year the Dip Bar could be non-operational under new laws. Jim Colman asked if the license was lost, would it be lost for good and Mayor Colman said yes, because the town’s population had dropped. Levengood asked if the Dip Bar didn’t sell this year, would the license be lost. Mayor Colman said it would unless the bar became operational full time. Levengood asked if the license was lost could someone else get it back and Mayor Colman said no unless the population grew significantly. After the discussion, the council approved all three liquor licenses.

Karen Heath, Town Clerk/Treasurer said she had received an email on another town’s preparations making her aware other towns were taking the solar eclipse seriously. She said other towns were ordering extra portable outhouses and deciding whether to allow tent camping in their parks. She said if the council decided portable outhouses were needed they should be ordered then. Mayor Colman said he didn’t favor opening the parks to tent camping because there were plenty of RV camping places and added the Sheriff would speak to anyone camping at the park. Troy Maddox asked what he was going to do because people might decide to camp anyway. Mayor Colman said they would turn on the sprinklers. He said Medicine Bow is in the 97 percent viewing area and every hotel was booked. Kenda Colman asked if the RV parks would allow tent camping. Mayor Colman said Vernon Scott has done so previously. Levengood asked about private rentals. Mayor Colman said campers were allowed to be parked and occupied for 7 days under ordinance. Brennan suggested using the airport for tent camping. Mayor Colman said there was there was no way to police those grounds. A motion was made to authorize Town Clerk/Treasurer Heath to price portable outhouses.

Director Charlie George said they have started repairs on the retaining wall at the Community Hall. He said it would cost $10,000 to fix. Public works had to remove a slab and strengthen and replace the wall. The upstairs porch has settled 4” on one side and also needed fixing. He said the liability was too great to leave it. The work was approved. George said the bottom of the Town Hall door seals had rusted out and the only way to fix them was to replace the whole storefront. He had a quote for $17,500 from Cowboy Glass. The council requested more quotes be obtained. The purchase or lease of a backhoe for the town was tabled until a future date.

Invenergy’s Krista Mann proposed two projects in Carbon County, one called Echo Flats, which would be located on the southeast side of 7 Mile Hill and consist of 200 turbines, and one called TB Flats on the east side of the Dunlop project consisting of 100 turbines. She said they were in the process of doing surveys. Councilmember Biamon asked when construction would begin and Mann said realistically construction would begin in 2019. Mann said the energy produced would go to Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming and Utah.

The museum was almost ready to open and fireworks were approved for both July 4 and Medicine Bow Days. Erin Pitt was made a full time member of the Medicine Bow Volunteer Fire Department.

The next scheduled Medicine Bow Town Council meeting is 7 p.m. June 12 at the Medicine Bow Town Hall.