SCWEMS, sludge and healthcare

The Encampment Town Council met at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Encampment Town Hall with two council members absent. Council members Kim Loftice and Gary Stull were present to make a quorum. Mayor Greg Salisbury was also present.

The agenda and minutes from the May 2 regular monthly meeting were quickly approved as were the financials. May’s payroll and contracted liabilities amounted to $24,803.67 and regular bills amounted to $51,808.07.

Karran Bedwell, the town’s South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services (SCWEMS), representative gave an update of the board. She said SCWEMS will have their regular meetings on every second Thursday.

She also said Encampment resident Irene Archibald had been made bookkeeper for SCWEMS. Bedwell and added Archibald had done an excellent job of getting the financials together and getting accounts receivable to where funds were coming in a better manner than in the past. She said SCWEMS was looking at grants to buy a new ambulance. One of the older ones recently blew an engine. A new engine would cost $28,000.

“With our new budget, we are planning on hiring two staff members, one that will be in Saratoga full time and who will rotate to Encampment, Bedwell said. “They will be working day shifts and we are going to put one in Hanna in the north end because we are short there too.”

She said the Classic Air contract would be renewed again this year. Bedwell reported that SCWEMS had received grants this year that totaled $25,000.

She said stipends would be given out to EMT volunteers who had been on call.

“We don’t have a lot to give, but we want to let them know that they are appreciated,” Bedwell said. “All and all, I think things are going pretty well.”

Deb Cunningham, a teacher from Encampment Preschool, asked the council for its continued support to the school’s scholarship. The council approved $1,250 for the scholarship program.

“That scholarship fund pays for every child that wants to come to preschool for free,” Cunningham said. “The money is used 100 percent to that scholarship fund.”

She said the last year they had 30 students and expect 26 in the year to come.

Jon Nelson, from North Fork Engineering, gave a report on the sewer lagoon improvement project.

He spent 15 minutes going over the sludge in the lagoon and how to take care of it. Nelson said the size of the lagoon does cause challenges for treatment.

“I guess this was a long winded way of asking the council’s approval of a task coordinated order on dredging,” Nelson said.

“I think we are working in the right direction,” Salisbury said. “Once we figure out the dredging possibility, then of course the filtration system is next, because it is causing a lot problems.”

The council approved a task order for dredging. Next the council approved North Fork to use a sub contractor.

The council approved $4,114.14 to be transferred to the Sewer Lagoon project.

Desi Vacher, resident of Encampment, said a person he had hired to clear snow near his business had hit a meter. The bill for the damage to the meter has eventually come to Vacher. He asked if the town would pay since it was for clearing the streets.

“We have only three employees and we try to do our best to keep at least part of the street utilized because our streets in town are 100 feet wide, and we don’t have the manpower to plow the 100 feet of road,” Salisbury explained. “If we start trying to keep it all open, we just could not do it, especially with all the snow we had to remove this year.”

He said the streets had been made wide originally so that a horse and buggy could turn around in the street.

Salisbury said he felt bad for Vacher but the snow removal around his business was on him and the damage to the meter was not something for which the town could be responsible.

A public hearing was made for the FY 2018-2019 budget amendment final reading. After the public hearing was closed, the council approved $1,358,368.03 for the amendment.

Another public hearing was started for the final reading of FY 2019-2020 and once closed the council approved the third and final reading of the budget for $1,970,453.63.

Ordinance 2019-01, the Union franchise agreement, was approved in its second reading. The public hearing for the ordinance will be held at the next scheduled town council meeting.

The council approved all town committee reports.

Salisbury acknowledged an audit had happened last week. He said it went very well and that there were only minor suggestions made.

Salisbury said a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on healthcare in the Valley was under consideration.

“Hopefully this all works,” Salisbury said. “I am not on one side or the other, I am trying to stay in the middle. The reason we have gotten involved is because, in Saratoga, the mayor basically was wanting to fool around with the contract and that is why me and Leroy (Stephenson) went down to that meeting, because this just isn’t the town of Saratoga’s problem, this is an entire upper Valley problem, and it needed to be addressed.”

He said the Corbett Foundation had put together a group to do analysis to find out if it is viable to have a critical care center. Salisbury explained how HMS has been trying to work on making a critical center hospital feasible.

“By July 17, they are supposed to have some of the financial stuff put together to see if it is going to work,” Salisbury said. “If not, we are going to have to have a plan B, C or D because we have to have health care. If we don’t have health care in the Valley, that is what I mentioned in the meeting, it will hurt the economic value of Riverside and Encampment, because a lot of people are not going to move here unless they have some sort of health care. If you don’t have health care and you don’t have people moving here, what is the next thing you are going to lose? The school.”

He said the town could become a ghost town if some sort of health care system was not implemented.

“I have only been to a few meetings, I was at the first one,” Salisbury said. “But I am becoming more involved because it definitely effects us up here. I want everyone to know that they need to pay attention to this, because this is a serious issue and it is going to effect a lot of people.”

Salisbury said an MOU with Carbon County Planning and Zoning was an agreement that Carbon County will let the Town of Encampment know if something was to occur. The council approved the MOU.

A mutual aid agreement with Carbon County Fire Department was tabled.

Stas Banach and Roz Herring were approved for three year terms on the planning commission.

There was a reassignment of plots approved by the council. Block 18 lots 17-22 were exchanged for Block 19 11-16 because Block 18 lots should not have been sold.

Grayling Wachsmuth, police chief said there were surplus items that should be sold at a sale on July 13.

“Most of these guns are from the 1980s and 90s, even some from the 70s,” Wachsmuth said. “I have been meaning to do this for about five years. It is time to do it. Might as well make the town some money.”

The council approved a contract extension with Hi Power LLC which was for electrical work at the mill and pay the company $32,062.50.

ACM, LLP was engaged at an estimated cost of $11,000. The company had to be brought on according to auditors because the town’s budget was over $1 million.

The deposit for the Jake Clayton Band of $1,500 was approved. The band will be playing in Music in the Park event on Aug. 3.

For the community barbecue happening in the park for the same event, Doreen Harvey, town clerk, was approved to purchase $350 for non-perishable goods.

The council approved advertising for interest for a community yard sale on Aug 3.

Harvey and Salisbury were approved to be bonded for $75,000.

The council approved the Town of Dixon for unclaimed funding in FY 2013-2014 Consensus Grant Joint Resolutions.

Resolution 2019-05 for camping in public areas of the town for events was approved.

The council approved signing the contract from the Carbon County Visitors Council for $1.250.40.

For the 4th of July fireworks display, the council approved purchasing $1,800 worth of pyrotechnics and $150 for the Doug Russell crew.

The council approved $650 for Intuit/Quickbooks annual payroll support fees and reserve fund transfers.

A check to Apex Communications written in Feb. has not cleared, so Harvey asked for a stop payment that totaled $93.85. The cancel approved stopping the check.

The Upper Platte River Solid Waste Disposal District’s contract was renewed. There will be no rate change.

The next scheduled town council meeting will be at 7 p.m. on July 11 in the Encampment Town Hall.