Personnel changes in Hanna

The Hanna Town Council met 6 p.m. Tuesday and made Ann Calvert the permanent Town Clerk and Vivian Gonzales the permanent Parks and Recreation Director. The council accepted Lois Buchanan’s resignation from the South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services board, which created an opening yet to be filled.

Larry Korkow, director of Public Works said the resurfacing work on Jefferson Street done by Cheyenne-based STC Construction looked good and was completed. After hearing the report from Korkow, the council agreed to pay the construction company’s bill of $57,996.

The council approved the repair and resurfacing of Third Street in front of Hanna Elementary school.

Gonzales told the council the roof at the Hanna Recreation Center was finished and when the town paid the bill from Swede’s Roofing, the warranty would go into effect. The council approved the payment for the roof repair. Gonzales told the council she was having trouble with the computer system serviced by Long Building Technology. She recommended holding off paying their monthly service fee until the computers were running correctly.

The council approved all bills with the exception of Long Building Technology’s monthly service bill.

Marshal Jeff Neimark said a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the amount of $27,900 which could be used for a sewer pump truck for the Public Works Department and a speed limit notification sign for the town. Neimark said the full grant would be available as long as the town of Hanna paid 46.5 percent of the purchases. The town agreed to put in an application for the grant of $27,900 to the USDA.

Pam Paulson, museum board member told the council construction in the newest building was going well and she said with Union Pacific (UP) commemorating their 150 years of business, the new building will be ready to help with celebrations since UP has given the museum several gifts.

Laura Lessard, a Hanna resident, told the council she wanted the town to find a way to use the town’s ordinances on dog feces, because Neimark could not write citations although her neighbor had “excessive” waste in the yard from four dogs. Lessard said the smell was noxious, especially after rain.

“It is horrible and the continued complaining I do is not taking care of the issue,” Lessard said.

Neimark said the current ordinance concerning dog feces, is that if a dog was being walked and defecated on another person’s property, the owner of the dog was responsible for cleaning up the waste. On private property, it became a concern for the Carbon County Health Officer to come out to the residence to check if the situation was causing a health problem.

Lessard wanted the council to consider changing the ordinance so that Neimark could write citations if there was excessive waste from dogs even if they were on private property of the dogs owner.

Mayor Tony Poulus suggested she get in touch with Carbon County’s Health Inspector, because if the town decided to rewrite the ordinance, it could take a minimum of three to four months. He explained that the ordinance would have to be written, discussed and then go through three readings. This would not be a quick process, whereas contacting the Carbon County Health officer could take care of this matter quickly if it was a hazard.

“I think it might be the quickest option to realize your goal,” said Poulus.

Neimark agreed with the mayor, but did say he would still check how other towns might dealing with similar situations.

Lessard said she would take the mayor’s and marshal’s advice and call the Carbon County Health office.

The next scheduled Hanna Town Council meeting will be 6 p.m. on September 5 at the town hall.