Water, fowl at Hanna Town Council

The Hanna Town Council met at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at the Hanna Town Hall with three council members in attendance. Council member Traci Fowler was absent. Mayor Lois Buchanan was present.

Before the regularly scheduled town council meeting started, there was a public hearing for a special use permit submitted to establish a RV park located at 608 3rd street.

There were no objections and several attendees from the audience voiced positive comments on how well kept the park was by land owner Alice Koeneke.

At 6:07 p.m. the regularly scheduled town council meeting commenced.

The agenda and minutes from the July 9 town council and special meeting on July 24 were approved within minutes.

Council member Bob Patton gave his report on the Carbon County Council of Governments (CCCOG) meeting in Dixon on July 17 (see CCCOG hosts WYDOT on front page of Aug. 7 of Saratoga Sun).

“We had an interesting meeting that was heavily attended,” Patton said. “WYDOT gave their projects for the next six year and one thing I was amazed by, they said it costs a million dollars a mile to put an overlay on a highway and that is if they don’t have to do anything else.”

He said Hanna had to choose a representative to the Specific Purpose Joint Powers Board. Pam Paulson, town treasurer, was selected and approved.

Ann Calvert, town clerk and bookkeeper for the High Country Joint Powers Board (HCJPB), told the council that the budget was being worked on.

“We are trying to get a handle on how much revenue is coming in before coming to the different municipalities saying how much money we need,” Calvert said.

Larry Korkow, Public Works Director, said much more water was being bought by Summit Line Construction than had been anticipated.

“The water they are hauling out, which was supposed to be 800,000 gallons, has turned into 4.2 million,” Korkow said. “Through the month of July they hauled 906,000 gallons of water out of our well.”

He said the town’s well can sustain the water being taken.

“The road on Jefferson is getting torn up quite a bit by heavy load trucks using that route, although it seems to be sealing itself a little bit with the rain,” Korkow said. “They have been have hauling quite a lot of stuff that we hadn’t been aware because we thought they were going to be using Medicine Bow.”

He said the water treatment plant was running well. Korkow pointed out that the town used 10 million gallons of water for the past month versus 15 million last year.

“You can see the impact of getting all those leaks fixed,” Korkow said.

Craig Kopasz, Engineering Associates, said 71 Construction was finishing up remaining projects.

Jeff Neimark, Hanna Marshal, said new Deputy Marshal Patricia Gonzales had received 120 hours of training.

“She is doing very well,” Neimark said. “Her excellent background has her eligible with our training and has made her eligible for professional license with the state of Wyoming. It usually takes four to five years.”

Gonzales came from Weld County, Colorado.

Neimark said the speed limit sign had moved to the streets the large trucks were using.

Municipal court collected $2,117 this month.

Vivian Gonzales, Hanna Recreation Director, reported on King Coal Day at the recreation center on July 27.

“We did pretty well; we came under budget,” V. Gonzales said. “I am still working on getting myself certified to become a lifeguard instructor, which will help us so we don’t have to send trainees to Rawlins.”

She said the hot tub permitting was getting pulled together.

Sunshine Solaas, director of the Hanna Basin Museum, said she was putting up new exhibits.

“I am happy to say, I got to sit down with Nancy Anderson last week and learned so much,” Solaas said. “The museum is going well.”

After the boards and departments were approved, the financials were approved.

In old business, Ordinance 384, an ordinance amending Title 6, Section 6.08.130 titled Kennels was approved on its third and final reading.

“For a commercial kennel, this would be used for breeding purposes it is $500 dollars a year, and a hobby kennel is $300 a year,” Buchannan said. “There is also the $20 license that all businesses have to have, so this can get pricey.”

Before going over new business, Lavonne Tlystos asked why the microphones were gone. She said it was sometimes hard to hear the council. Calvert said the town was looking into purchasing a sound system for the room in the near future.

The council approved the mayor to sign a contract with 6 Point Construction LLC for the South Jefferson water main replacement. After approving the mayor signing the contract, the council approved 6 Point Construction to proceed to work on South Jefferson.

A task order presented by Jon Nelson of North Fork Engineering to begin the design of Phase 1 of the Old Town Water System Rehabilitation Project was approved.

The Special Use Permit submitted by Alice Koeneke for establishing an RV park of two spaces located at 608 3rd Street was approved.

A workshop was approved for the council to consider increasing water and tap fees.

A fowl/chicken permit for Robert Nelson at 1019 Jade Drive was approved.

Tlystos interjected her disapproval that fowls were allowed in town.

“I think we should entice people to come into town and I don’t think chickens do that,” Tlystos said. “I really think it is ridiculous to have chickens in town.”

“I don’t feel the same,” Buchanan said. “I think it draws people to be able to have opportunity.”

Solaas agreed with the mayor.

“I have nine children and we live in town,” Solaas said. “I can tell you, those chickens help feed my kids.”

Calvert said she has instances of people wanting to move into town because there were fowl permits.

After the discussion, a fowl/chicken permit for Angela Hoffman at 105 Mountain Court was approved.

Resolution 2019-512, a resolution amending the expenditures for the town of Hanna for the fiscal year July 1, 2018 through June 30 2019.

A purchase for a new patrol truck for Hanna’s Marshal Office was approved. The truck’s purchase price will be entirely covered with funds from impact fees.

The next regularly scheduled Hanna Town Council meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Sept. 10 at Hanna Town Hall.