Hanna talks trash

The Hanna Town Council met Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. After routine approvals of the minutes from Sept. 12 and financial reports, the council went over reports from the different boards and departments.

After months of talks with Ron Munson, the contractor for the Saratoga Landfill, an agreement was reached for Hanna to take waste from Saratoga. The Hanna landfill will be closed in 2020 and trash from Saratoga will be helpful in getting the landfill to a point where it is fits the Department of Environmental Quality’s criteria to close the pit.

The landfill, located northeast of the Town of Hanna, is owned by the High Country Joint Powers Board, (HCJPB) consisting of two members each from Hanna, Elk Mountain, and Medicine Bow.

“We have to have the landfill closed in two and a half years and this helps,” said Leonard Gonzales, chairman of the HCJPB as he explained his reasoning to the council for making it five dollars a ton less expensive for Munson to come to Hanna versus going to Laramie. Munson will still haul trash to Laramie, but going to Hanna does save mileage and Gonzales said making the price less expensive is incentive for the landfill in Hanna to be used by Munson.

Gonzales did request someone from the town council attend the HCJPB meetings in the future if it was possible.

Matthew Cox, an applicant for the opening on the Southern Central Wyoming Medical Services (SCWEMS) Board, came before the council to introduce himself. Cox is from Nevada and recently moved to Hanna. He currently works for Fremont County Emergency Medical Services. In Nevada, Cox was a volunteer fire fighter for 20 years.

“From that experience, I came to understand public safety needs,” Cox said. “I think I can have a strong and logical voice on the board.”

The council approved Cox’s application to the SCWEMS board.

Jeff Neimark, the Hanna Town Marshal, told the town council of the success the Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow High School lockdown had in coordinating with different law enforcement agencies and Carbon County School District No. 2.“It went really great and everybody was on the same page with the SRP (Standard Response Protocol),” Neimark said.

Neimark told the council the Crown Victoria donated by Sinclair Refinery is ready for use.

The town approved the resignation of Steve Priest from the Hanna Recreation Board.

Pam Paulson, town treasurer, told the council about negotiations on impact money from Boswell Springs Wind Project based in Albany County outside Rock River and Medicine Bow. The impact funds could potentially grant the town $407,683. The project still has to be approved in November, so the money is not a given.

“There is a pre-hearing meeting on November sixth in Laramie that somebody will have to attend and the main hearing meeting will be the twentieth”, said Paulson. “And someone has to attend that.”

The next scheduled meeting for the Hanna town council will be held at the town hall at 6 p.m. on Nov. 13.