Plaques and policing

The Medicine Bow Town Council met a few minutes after 7 p.m. on October 12 at the Medicine Bow Community Center. Mayor Sharon Biamon called the meeting to order and those present were council members John Cowdin, Lyle Flansburg, Lucy Schofield, and Trevor Strauch.

The council approved the agenda for the meeting and the minutes of the regular town meeting of September 14 .

Town Clerk/Treasurer Karen Heath read the bills and ratifications. The Council approved the financials. There was discussion on the City of Laramie landfill bill which was less expensive than the High Country Joint Powers Board bill. The lower bill surprised some audience members.

Sunrise Engineering’s Braeden Hyde updated the council regarding the drainage project on Maple Street. The project is getting close to completion with all the storm sewers and roads. There were minor adjustments made to hydrants and meter pits. Hyde said they were very happy with Oftedal, the contractor. Public Works Director Charlie George said there were materials left from the project and he would like authorization to buy them. The estimated cost was around $8,100. Hyde said the project would likely come in under budget enough to cover the cost of the materials that George wanted.

Ordinance 3-2020 Planning and Zoning Ordinance on third reading was read aloud and approved. The ordinance is revising codes for planning and zoning of the town.

Heath had received two options for the lease purchase of the new pickup for the town. One was for $28,082.55 for two payments, with one up front, and the other was for $29,627.36 with no upfront payment. Heath suggested paying the upfront payment and avoid excessive interest costs. The council approved her recommendation.

The family of Russell and Emma Donnelly donated over $600 to the cemetery fund. The family had an excess amount from the prepaid funeral of Emma Donnelly. They wanted to donate the amount to Trails End Cemetery, with the stipulation that plaques be purchased for Russell and Emma, at a cost of around $25 each, to be placed on the board in the Memorial Park.

Heath explained to the council they needed to approve all budget lines that were over the amount of budget in order to spend them, which included the cemetery fund. There is a statute that requires the Town to accept the money before spending any excess. The council approved to accept the excess in all budget lines and amend the budget to reflect the amounts. The council then approved the purchase of a plaque for Russell and Emma Donnelly.

The council reviewed a payment agreement the Town of Hanna uses for utility customers who are unable to pay their bill. Biamon directed Heath to adapt the payment agreement for the use of Medicine Bow.

In his public works report, George said the 1.5 million gallon tank had been painted and Barch Industries had done a good job. The Maple Street drainage project will be completed in another week. He said the new pickup truck would be in very soon.

Medicine Bow Marshal David Redding said, as of October 1, everything has slowed down and was going well. Biamon said they were impressed and were happy with his efforts. Biamon asked when the police truck would be back and Redding said it wasn’t finished yet.

Biamon said she would like to sit down with him and go over some of the ordinances, especially the fines. Redding said the Town needed to come up with a solution to people who were unable to clean up or who couldn’t afford to clean up. Biamon said the Council had met in workshops to clean up the ordinances and were addressing the issue. Redding said the Town now had a prosecuting attorney from Brown and Hiser, and the last court had run smoothly.

Biamon, who is also the Medicine Bow Museum director, said she had spoken to the mover of the Fossil House that is still outside Medicine Bow. She said he agreed to

“get busy” and move it.

High Country Joint Powers Board Representative Toby Smith said Craig McOmie had ordered the Medicine Bow garbage truck. The board was getting a list of equipment to sell and the contractors capping the landfill should be done November 1.

The Council went into Executive Session at 7:38 p.m. to discuss personnel. At 8:08 p.m., the council came out of the meeting and approved sealing the minutes of the Executive Session.

It was decided Biamon and Heath would interview candidates for the part time office help on October 16. The wage for the position was set at $10 per hour, and the successful candidate would work the first two weeks at 30 hours each week and then go to 16 hours per week. After that was announced, Biamon adjourned the meeting at 8:15 p.m.

The next regularly scheduled council meeting will be at 7 p.m. on November 9 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall.