Hanna hot tub down the drain

The Hanna Town Council met at 6:30 p.m. on December 8 at the Hanna Town Hall for their regularly scheduled meeting.

Council members Jayson Nordquist, Sam Sikes and Mayor Lois Buchanan were present in person and council member Linda Schisel was in attendance by phone. Councilmember Tracy Fowler was absent.

Buchanan started with the High Country Joint Powers Board (see Hanna Landfill Closed on page 1 of the December 9 Saratoga Sun). She informed the council that the landfill was successfully closing and the meetings would be quarterly after January. She said Ann Calvert, the bookkeeper for the board, had given her notice and January would her last meeting.

Public Works Director Larry Korkow gave the next report.

“You can see that AML (Abandoned Mine Lands) is still drilling around town,” Korkow said. “They are trying to get done around the middle of December. They finished the well down by the museum and it makes a lot of water; 800 plus gallons a minute.”

He said the landfill cleanup was almost complete. Korkow brought a map to show what the landfill would like once the closure was complete.

Water Treatment Plant Director David Sutter said the operation of the facility was going well. He said that the plant hours would be reduced to three days a week.

Korkow told the council that, in 2017, the town went through 111 million gallons of water. Since the projects to fix the leaky pipes throughout town were completed, the water usage had gone down to 63 million gallons.

“You can see the infrastructure work that has been going on with these pipelines have been really working,” Korkow said. “We are buying about half the chemicals we once did.”

Resident Jon Ostling asked later in the meeting if there was savings on water, could the rates go back down. Calvert said the savings would be a little over a dollar and that the town depended on those funds.

Marshal Jeff Neimark was not present but Buchanan said that he had reported a quiet month.

Vivian Gonzales, Hanna Parks and Recreation director, said the recreation center had a quiet month too due to some staff member’s exposure to COVID. The center was closed for two months. She said bingo would be played on December 15 sponsored by the Senior Center and the Christmas Bazaar was canceled. 

Gonzales told the council later in the meeting that the hot tub replacement project was getting expensive.

“This project is getting bigger and bigger,” Gonzales said. “The main problem and issue is that there have been no records found for spa/hot tub.” (See “Hanna hot tub hi-jinx” on page 12 of the November 11 Saratoga Sun).

She said this meant nothing was grandfathered and that, to get the hot tub in compliance, it was going to require walls to be knocked out, plumbing and electric work besides the tub itself. She said the engineering designs had already cost $4,000 and no work had been done.

The funds set aside for the hot tub had been $54,000. There was other monies the recreation center had access to, but to put in the hot tub, the center’s account for maintenance would be drained.

“There are other things that the recreation center could use and the grant we have for the hot tub was meant for the recreation center,” Gonzales said. “We can use those funds as long as we use them to improve the rec center. There is a lot we could do with that money to make the facility better.”

It has been over five years since the hot tub has been used.

When the council realized that the hot tub would cost over a $100,000 it was decide it would be best to terminate the project. The council approved the termination.

Melissa Sikes gave a quick report on South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Service (SCWEMS).

“We did not have a quiet month,” M. Sikes said. “We actually broke records. We had 39 calls in November for just Hanna. We have had 286 calls so far this year. Last year we had 220, which had been the highest we had ever done.”

The Carbon County Visitor Council representative said that lodging tax revenue was down about a third from last year. He said the worst hit municipality was Rawlins.

Donna Pipher from the Hanna Housing Board said work on the gutters was being done. She said the board was now full. Pipher said a person needed to be hired for work around the complex.

The Hanna Basin Museum board representative said that he had seen an old railroad shed being brought in by public works that day. Korkow confirmed that they had gone to Nancy Anderson’s property and retrieved the donated museum item.

The rep thanked public works for their help and said, in addition to the shed coming to the museum property, a contractor had been found to fix the World War I monument that had been vandalized several years before. Because the monument is made of stucco, it has been difficult to find anybody to work on it. The contractor is coming from Colorado and is the same one working on the restoration of the Sinclair Theater. 

S. Sikes reported that the Hanna Fire Department had answered over a 100 calls this year and he was happy to report they had 14 volunteers.

Ann Calvert, town treasurer, went over the financials. The council approved ratifying and paying the bills.

Ordinance 389, amending section 8.04 of the Town of Hanna Municipal code, to establish the Town of Hanna as responsible for municipal waste, to increase fees for business garbage rates and accessibility of dumpster and establish fees for large items was approved in its second reading.

Nordquist was appointed to the Planning and Zoning board.

The Bank of Commerce was approved as a depository.

The town approved the hours for the landfill. They will be Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Korkow, Gonzales and Buchanan discussed moving dumpsters currently at the recreation center to the dump. All had seen instances of residents abusing the receptacles with furniture and construction debris.

“I hate to see losing the 24 hour access, but I am so disappointed on how it has been abused,” Buchanan said.

Korkow agreed.

It was suggested cameras could be put up. The council decided to watch the situation of dumpsters at the recreation center a little longer.

Due to the burn scar around the Hanna water treatment plant, ash and sand were getting into the reservoir. 

“It is 600 feet by 300 feet,” Sutter said. “That is just the water surface. To cover it will be a huge cost.”

Korkow said he had talked to Craig Kopasz of Engineering Associates who suggested putting up some snow fences around the reservoir.

Buchanan said the Conservation District has also offered to help. It was decided more research was needed to find the best alternative.

The council tabled approving a gas line for the Hanna Basin Museum Cottage and Victor Anderson building until it was understood what responsibility the town would be taking on by allowing the lines.

Buchanan said she would attend the next museum meeting.

The town council approved a $10,000 purchase offer for the loader and bulldozer owned currently by HCJPB. Korkow said the bulldozer was in bad shape and would cost more to fix than it was worth but the loader was in fixable shape.

The next scheduled meeting is at 6:30 p.m. on January 12, 2021 at the Hanna Town Hall.