Location, Location, Location

In March, the Town of Saratoga responded to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) by closing town hall to appointment only and limiting meetings of the Saratoga Town Council to 10 people or less. While government business has been exempt from the health orders issued by Governor Mark Gordon and State Health Officer Alexia Harrist, local governments throughout Wyoming have still taken precautions.

Since then, meetings of the Saratoga Town Council in March, April and May have been livestreamed by the Saratoga Sun. In May, Gordon amended the health orders limiting gatherings of 10 or less to allow for 25 people or less. At the May 19 meeting, the limit of 10 or less had been increased to 17 or less. This included the council, all department heads, press and three members of the public.

While department heads sat in the council chambers with a few members of the public, additional members of the public sat in the halfway in hopes of entering the room. Randy Raymer expressed his frustration with department heads being in the council chambers while members of the public waited in the hallway. Later in the meeting, Councilmember Jon Nelson proposed that future meetings be held at the Platte Valley Community Center.

"I'd like to propose that we move our meetings for the time being to the (Platte Valley) Community Center. I think some of the issues that have already been mentioned this evening in terms of limited seats in this room, many of which are occupied by staff and council members, we can alleviate that simply by being in a bigger room and still keep the separation," said Nelson. "So, I would like to propose that we move our council meetings to the community center."

A move to the PVCC for Saratoga Town Council meetings is not without precedence. Last year, the governing body held their meeting in the PVCC Theater (see "Political theater" on page 1 of the June 12, 2019 Saratoga Sun) following an expected increase of attendance. Ultimately, nearly 100 people attended that meeting of the Saratoga Town Council.

Nelson stated that he had talked with PVCC Director Joe Elder about using either the PVCC Theater or the Great Hall and that both would be available for use by the Town of Saratoga.

"Personally, I don't agree with it but that's just me," said Zeiger.

Before making his motion, Nelson stated that he believed the business of the council was "intentionally required to be done in public."

"Having as much public participation and access from the public as possible is important to our duties and responsibilities and anything we can do to increase the number of participants is the right thing to do," Nelson said.

Nelson made the motion that town council meetings be held at the PVCC for the "foreseeable future." Keel seconded the motion, stating that he didn't want the public to think that the governing body was trying to limit who could attend the meetings. The motion failed by a vote of 2-3 with Nelson and Keel casting the affirming votes. Zeiger, Councilmember Steve Wilcoxson and Councilmember Judy Welton all casted dissenting votes.

The next meeting of the Saratoga Town Council will be at 6 p.m. on June 2 at Saratoga Town Hall.