Penny to plug line?

The Riverside Town Council barely had a quorum when they met at 6 p.m. on Aug. 9 at the Riverside Town Hall due to the absence of council members Katie Cheesbrough and Fred Lorenz. With council members Ed Golden and Liz Swynarczuk, however, business was able to be conducted.

Patrick Lynch, Encampment representative for the Sierra Madre Water and Sewer (SMWS) Joint Powers Board, was in attendance due to the absence of Lee Ann Stephenson, who serves as Riverside’s representative on the joint powers board. In a letter addressed to the Riverside Town Council, the joint powers board requested help in securing funding from the upcoming Specific Purpose Tax, also known as the 6th Penny Tax, for future projects. The 6th Penny Tax may appear before voters on May 19, 2019.

Lynch informed the council that one of the major projects that the SMWS joint powers board was looking at was repairing or replacing the water line that ran beneath the Encampment River north of the WYO 230 bridge leaving town. According to Lynch, the current line has become riddled with pitting which will lead to a decrease in structural integrity of the pipe.

The joint powers board was proposing either the pipe be replaced going underneath the river or the pipe could be sleeved as a low-cost but effective alternative. With no other uses planned for the 6th Penny Tax, the Riverside Town Council voted to support the SMWS joint powers board on their proposed uses of the funding.

The council also discussed the possibility of a communications tower being placed just east of Encampment and its impact on the surrounding area. The tower, which would be approximately 310 feet in height, is proposed to be built on a local ranch just outside of Encampment. The council agreed that, while they didn’t oppose the tower itself, they did oppose the location of the tower.

It was decided unanimously that the Town of Riverside would send a letter to the Carbon County Planning and Zoning Commission that they were in support of the tower, but not in support of the currently proposed location. A public hearing for the structure of the tower is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sept. 10 at the Carbon Building in Rawlins.

The next scheduled meeting of the Riverside Town Council will be at 6 p.m.