Water and roads in Medicine Bow

The Medicine Bow Town Council met on March 14 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall. Mayor Sharon Biamon and all council members were present.

It took a matter of minutes for the council to approve the agenda, the minutes from the February 15 regular scheduled meeting and the financials.

Braeden Hyde of Sunrise Engineering (Sunrise) reported his firm was working on the street design, and the best solution seemed to be a polymer emulsion applied with the water truck. Sunrise would first crown the roads with gravel, spray on sublayers, then compact.  The product is environmentally safe. They will also use structural stabilization on Maple and West Spruce Streets, scarifying three or four layers. It will be similar to asphalt, and a supply could be stored to have on hand. 

Councilmember Sharon Kahl asked when Sunrise would start and Hyde said June.  Shieldmaster is the product name, but the bid package would only include the product specifications. 

Medicine Bow Fire Chief Robert Maddox said the town had already spent a lot of money on Maple Street and it wasn’t any better than before.  Hyde said most of the town has gravel, but needed the emulsion treatment. The Maple Street work had been part of the drainage work.  Maddox said the water runs away from the drains. Hyde indicated he would look. The design had been set up so the street would have gravel and asphalt applied immediately, but it has been 18 months since it was finished, and no paving was applied. 

Sunrise will advertise the bid for three weeks in April, and open bids the first week in May. Once the emulsion is applied, no one will be able to drive on the surface for a couple days.  It was estimated each street would take a few days to do.

Resolution 2022-1,  a purchasing policy, was approved.  

Resolution 2022-2, a resolution of the governing body of the Town of Medicine Bow declaring its intention to make certain improvements to the streets, was discussed.

The council went into Executive Session at 7:17 p.m. and came out at 7:42 p.m. Resolution 2022-2 was not approved. 

Public Works Director Hayden Bricker said they were waiting for better weather to complete meter replacements. The gateway and antenna were ready, but there were still about half the water meters to replace. 

The bulk water station would be up and running soon. After Biamon asked about pricing, Bricker said there would be a 4” fill for commercial trucks and a 2” fill for everyone else.  There would be two different rates for each size fill and it would be operated by credit card. 

Maintenance Operator Frank Fisher said there had been a suggestion  the Town raise its bulk water rates for commercial accounts.  Biamon said the Town of Hanna had raised its bulk water rates for commercial customers.

Clerk of Court Cindy Papisan reminded the public works department about the generator grant, which would expire in August. Fisher said the town might only be able to buy one with the funds available. Another solution would be to buy one portable generator.  He said the original plan was to get three generators, then public works  tried to get two, and were now struggling to get one.

Deputy Marshal Roger Hawks reported there had been three ambulance calls, one animal control, nine other agency assists, one code violation, one suspicious activity, and three miscellaneous calls.  There were 49 citations written and 35 warnings.  The year to date total paid is $272,651.00.  Biamon asked how the code enforcement was coming and Deputy Hawks said it would begin as soon as the weather improved.  Biamon said she wanted to see the deer feeding ordinance enforced, because the food people were giving them wasn’t good for them.  

Medicine Bow Museum Director Sharon Biamon said they were getting ready for the coming season.  Medicine Bow resident Lee Jensen said he had an antique in the back of his truck and asked if the museum would like to display it.  Biamon said she would look at it.

Medicine Bow Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Maddox said he had ordered two sets of bunker gear, and was pricing an air compressor and air packs.  The quote for them was $161,000.  On March 26 from 5 to 7p.m. there would be a Spaghetti Dinner, several trainings in April.  The fire department was looking into doing fireworks for July 4, coordinating with the Baptist Church for games.

South Central Wyoming EMS (SCWEMS) Representative Cindy Papisan said she had missed the last meeting, but had notes.  Councilmember Kahl said there had been a call for Medicine Bow which had been picked up by Hanna and asked why.  She was told the town’s only EMT had a doctor’s appointment and was unavailable, so Hanna responded. 

Kahl said sometimes dispatch would call Hanna, but not Medicine Bow. Carey Lake, N.P. at the Medicine Bow Clinic, said they were getting better about that and Adam Barron was also listed for responding to Hanna calls. 

Maddox said the agreement they had with dispatch was if there was anything in Medicine Bow, they would call the Medicine Bow ambulance first and the fire department, but if the EMT wasn’t available, they would call others. Bricker said Medicine Bow was the second to be paged for the interstate. Fisher said there were others in Medicine Bow taking the EMT class. 

The Boswell Wind Project would resume spring 2023, and SCWEMS should be getting money from it.  Lake said there was a question if all of the money would go to SCWEMS, as other fire departments and police might get some.  Biamon assured him the county was required now to make reports on exactly where that money was going.  

Planning and Zoning Commissioner Sharon Kahl said they had received a permit for a fence at 613 Oregon St. made of plastic composite.  They had also approved a permit for a deck replacement that was larger than the original.

The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m.

The next regularly scheduled meeting will be at 7 p.m. on April 11 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall.