Riverside talks fire district

Riverside Town Council’s September 9 meeting began with discussions about the fire district proposed at recent meetings of the Carbon County Council of Governments. Riverside focused on deciding between two options on how the fire protection district would be established; a resolution by the Board of Carbon County Commissioners or a petition of 25 percent of 25 percent of property owners.

The council’s decision came down to how the community would represent itself. Having a population of seasonal residents, council members were concerned those without permanent residency wouldn’t have a voice through a resolution.

This led the council to choose to support the petition process of getting 25 percent of 25 percent of property owners in the proposed fire district.

Councilmember Fred Lorenz stated, “Since everyone would be affected by this, everyone deserves a say”

Briefly mentioned were ambulance wait times in the rural community. Having no local medical services, when a major injury occurs South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services (SCWEMS) is heavily relied on in these communities. It was mentioned with over an hour wait time, something was certainly wrong with the current system in place.

Changes may be coming to Riverside Party Day. With the possibility of a date change along with music options, the town council hopes to see larger turn outs at next year’s party. The willingness to work around other events in the county may help attendance.

Finally, discussions were had about details concerning new playground equipment. After researching the cost of installing the new equipment and the time frame of delivery, there were many variables to look into such as when delivery would be and how the coming winter conditions would affect the plans for installation.

The council is deliberating the possibility of having the equipment set before winter arrives or in the spring. The council was left with much paperwork to examine on the matter before the next meeting.

The next meeting of the Riverside Town Council will be at 6:00 p.m. on October 7 at Riverside Town Hall.