Boswell springs again

The Medicine Bow Town Council met on February 15 at the Community Hall, rescheduled from February 14.

Those present were Mayor Sharon Biamon and Councilmembers Lucinda Schofield, Cynthia Chace, Sharon Kahl, and Dawndee Yocom. Others present were Town Clerk/Treasurer Karen Heath, Public Works Director Hayden Bricker, Town Marshal David Redding, Town Attorney Robert Piper, and Fire Chief Robert Maddox.

The minutes from the regular meeting on January 10, 2022, and special meetings on January 13 and January 18 were approved quickly along with the agenda.

Heath read the bills to be ratified and approved. She noted High Plains Power was both a ratification for last month’s bill and on the list to approve for this month.

Braeden Hyde of Sunrise Engineering said the company had been working on a new design for streets and were 60 percent finished, when Bricker contacted them with a new idea, as the Town would not be able to afford asphalt. Bricker said the Town was looking at synthetic polymers and sealants which would cut down dust and seal the surface, lasting five to 10 years.

One quote would cost the Town only $90,000 for the chemical, but didn’t include application. There were two or three other treatments being considered, and each street would have a plan, as they had taken samples from all the streets and had found different compositions of materials for all the streets. The product would also support the weight of trucks, though some streets would have to have more road base applied first. Bricker said if the Town decided later it wanted asphalt, the treatment would make a good base for it.

Carbon County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) Director Yvonne Johnson made a presentation to the council. Johnson said the Board was almost at capacity and Saratoga had begun investing.

Triple D Construction has Medicine Bow in mind for a project. The CCEDC will do a roundtable discussion to determine the needs, then do a feasibility study. Green Hydrogen Transmission Line will do a project located outside Elk Mountain, and will need a letter of support soon.

Johnson is looking into a co-op grocery store for Medicine Bow, Elk Mountain, and Hanna. Chia Valdez-Schwartz was introduced, and she would like to bring a radio station to Medicine Bow. She has bought a permit at auction from the Federal Communications Commission. The frequency will be 101.1FM.

Michael Paul of Innergex addressed the council via speakerphone. He is working on a transmission line project to connect Boswell Springs to the grid. The line is 34 and a half miles long both on private and BLM lands. Boswell Springs started, then stopped, and will restart in the spring of 2023. They have all their permits. Thirty-one temporary jobs will be offered from Innergex for construction of the line, and local preference will be given. Boswell will need 116 construction workers and 10 full time employees for the 77 turbines, which would generate $510,000 in sales and use tax. Letters of support would be needed, and he will ask for them at the appropriate time.

Heath said last month’s credit on the Visa statement had all been reimbursed back to former Fire Chief Peter Andrews’s card, and therefore belonged to the Fire Department, which has asked the council to deposit that money into their savings account. The council approved the deposit.

Biamon said a representative was needed at the pre-hearing February 17 and hearings March 3 and 4 to the Rock Creek Wind Industrial Siting Council. She asked if anyone wanted to be the representative, and when no one volunteered, The council approved the appointments of Biamon and Heath.

Biamon introduced the Town’s new attorney. Piper said he had discussed the matter of a procurement policy with Heath. He said there might be some confusion on procurement and recommended it be addressed in Executive Session.

Heath said there had been a lot of interest in the airport lately, as one company proposed putting in a flight craft tracking device, and another had suggested the National Guard use the site for a practice to improve the runways. The proposal to place a tracking device was actually a sales pitch, and Heath had told the company the Town could not afford it and didn’t need it.

The second idea came from an individual who had flown into the Medicine Bow airport in his private plane and heard the Guard had improved the runways at Green River, Wyoming and might be looking for a new training ground. He would keep the Town up to date on the response from the Guard.

Bricker said public works was waiting for the snow to melt so they could finish replacing meters. They were attempting to get a new bulk station with a credit card reader, and were working with Sunrise Engineering on a solution for the streets. Maintenance Operator Fisher had contacted an electrician and was waiting on a quote on the generators. The Town might be able to afford two, one for the Fire Hall and one for the Community Hall for an emergency shelter. A couple A/C units would have to be shut off if the emergency occurred in hot weather. Bricker said they were looking to get larger fuel tanks, as more entities were using fuel, but might be limited by EPA regulations.

Redding said since the January meeting there had been 107 incidents, five ambulance assists, five other agency assists, one battery, one missing person, and 85 traffic stops with 66 citations issued. Since he had assumed his office there had been $295,931 in paid fines. He was borrowing a Dodge Charger the Town of Hanna had lent him until the Chevy Tahoe was repaired. Piper said he had been transitioning the municipal court from the previous attorney’s firm to his.

Medicine Bow Museum Director Sharon Biamon said she had written a couple grants and had been cleaning the museum and ordering sale items for the gift shop.

Maddox said the Town had an ambulance again, with one full-time EMT and two, possibly three others in training. They were gaining members and working on getting new equipment, such as radios. 

South Central Wyoming EMS (SCWEMS) Representative Cindy Papisan said the town’s ambulance had a leak but had been fixed and had gone on a few runs. SCWEMS was going to ask the Town if they could fuel up at their tanks after hours. SCWEMS has a new mission statement which would be posted on their website, and two trainings had been held January 24 and 27. Biamon asked how often ambulances were checked for stocking and Papisan said are checked at least once a month, and after every run they do. SCWEMS was going to receive $100,000 under the county from the Rock Creek Wind Project. The runs since the last meeting were Elk Mountain 19, Saratoga 16, Encampment eight, Arlington six, Wamsutter two, Rawlins one, Riverside/Ryan Park one, and Medicine Bow three. She was also working on message board and traffic speed sign grants, as well as with Sunrise on a road surfacing grant.

Redding said he would like to order another police vehicle. It would be another Chevy Tahoe. If he ordered it now, he could have it by September at the earliest. Chevy would not accept orders until May. Robert Maddox said it was getting difficult to get parts for new vehicles.

Resident Davis Portier read a letter of apology to Public Works Director Bricker. Portier said he would need to get the water and sewer hooked up before pouring a slab for his house and asked when it could be done. He asked why he was being billed for them if he didn’t even have those services. He questioned why he couldn’t have a septic system. Biamon said septic tanks were not allowed by the ordinances. Heath said he wasn’t being billed for those services. Portier said the roads were getting bad, as there was no gravel on them. Mayor Biamon said they would get back to him with answers.

At 8:40,Biamon called for a recess, and the meeting resumed at 8:50pm. 

At 8:50 the Council went into executive session. At 9:31 the Council came out of executive session. The council approved Piper to draw up an ordinance for the streets. The council approved Piper to research deeds and the laws pertaining to the water and sewer.