CCEDC visits Riverside

The Riverside Town Council met at 6 p.m. on June 9 at the Riverside Town Hall. The first thing on the agenda was the public hearing of the liquor licenses for the Bear Bones LLC aka the Bear Trap and the Mangy Moose. Mayor Leroy Stephenson asked the audience if there were any issues and there were none. The council members in attendance were Fred Lorenz and Marl Helwick. Ed Golden was not in attendance. After the public meeting was closed, the council voted for both venues to receive licenses.

A 24 hour permit for June 17 2023 was granted to The Mangy Moose.

Jan Cook, the town clerk/treasurer said the permit had to be approved a year in advance and 2023 was no mistake.

Cook started going over the financials when Leroy made an observation about the money sent from the Carbon County Visitors Council.

Leroy said the few dollars from the Carbon County Visitors Council was appreciated, but recently he called the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office to find out who should be collecting taxes for rentals that might be registered or not.

“I did find out that I can’t find out who collects the taxes. I called up the Secretary of State’s office and they can’t tell me,” Leroy said. “They can tell me if I name specific people if they are collecting taxes from them, but they can’t tell me how many people are renting their residences out to an AirBnB or one of those types of businesses in Riverside. You would think that would be public information.”

“I would think the issue is, if they (renters) choose not to collect the lodging tax, even if they are providing that service, how is the State going to know?” Lee Ann Stephenson said.

“That was where I was kind of going with my inquiry, but they didn’t seem overly concerned,” Leroy said. “Anyway I was just curious and I was told, more or less, to stop being curious.” 

The financials were approved.

Guest speaker Yvonne Jonhnson from the Carbon County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC) spoke to the council to give an update.

“What you have before you, is what I have been doing in the past year,” Johnson said. “As an investor in the CCEDC, the first page is a justification of where your funds go and how we use your investment.”

Johnson said although she has not talked to the developer, she understands a development with a business was coming to the town.

Mayor Stephenson said there had been no permits issued, but there was a person looking to build some units and was bringing a small business with him. Leroy said he would put Johnson in touch with the developer.

“We are fairly certain it is going to happen,” Leroy said. “We just haven’t issued a permit.”

Johnson said in Baggs, Crowheart Energy gave their building to the town of Baggs.

“It is over 6,000 square feet and will be renovated to be an assisted living facility,” Johnson said. “The medical clinic is moving there and they are looking for it to have 10 to 12 rooms.”

She said there was a developer looking to build some homes in Little Snake River Valley, but had not been permitted yet.

Johnson said there was a small development being discussed to happen in Hanna.

“It is in the very early stages,” Johnson said. “It is starting out small and once finished they will see if there is more demand.”

She said the  CCEDC was establishing a grant program for new business start ups.

“We are looking at candidates that are two years or less,” Johnson said. “It is a simple application and they will select services they would like, such as help with advertising, grant writing and marketing. We will be setting the dollar amount at the next board meeting of the CCEDC.”

Helwick said at the meeting of Carbon County Council of Governments held on May 18 in Saratoga had a constructive discussion on the proposed fire district proposed for Carbon County.

“I found the information important to towns like Riverside and Encampment as the fire season starts,” Helwick said. “I think the fire district once it get up and going will do some exciting things for the county.”

Helen Weiland South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services (SCWEMS) representative went over the quarterly report.

She said the basic EMT class finished in May and many of the students had taken the class to work for the U.S. Forest Service.

“We are hoping to pick up a few volunteers to give us some hours from them,” Weiland said. “We are still looking to hire a full time EMT.”

She said revenues were up but so were expenditures.

“We are having issues with gas prices going up so high,” Weiland admitted. “But who isn’t?”

Weiland said there are some problems getting reimbursed sometimes for services given.

“These calls from the I-80 service area are where we go,” Weiland said. “For 335 of the calls, 65 have given no payment for 36 months. That is a lot of our deal, so we are working with Highway Patrol to get better insurance information so we can get paid back faster. Because what happens is the bills an insurance receives they pay, so if we can get our bills in first over the hospital and others, we can get paid first.”

She said SCWEMS was on budget. Johnson pointed out SCWEMS has a high figure of funds in reserve, but it was just a matter of time before two ambulances will have to be replaced.

“Our units are old,” Weiland said. “We are of course looking at grants and ways to get the money for these vehicles, but they are very expensive.”

Cook said Riverside Day in the park would contract out with the Saratoga Sandwich Company for 100 sandwiches if approved. The council concurred.

Lorenz said John Anderson had made gravel and Lorenz was leaving it to Anderson to put it on the street sections which needed it the most. He said the gravel was going to cost between $600 to $700 per load.

Lee Ann was appointed to continue to be the Riverside representative on the Specific Purpose Tax board.

The meeting then turned into a public hearing for Ordinance 228-FY 2022-2023 Budget for the third and final reading. There was an amendment introduced to give an across the board five percent pay increase to all town employees.

Once the public hearing concluded the council passed the ordinance with the new amendment.

The blanket voucher for the year 2022-2023 was passed with the five percent pay increase amendment instituted. 

“We were audited by the department of audit and they decided we were writing checks without approval of the town council,” Mayor Stephenson said. “What we were doing was paying our employees at the end of the previous month before we had approved it at the town council the following month. So they told us to pass a blanket voucher at the beginning of our budget period and that blanket voucher covers those checks, so we can approve those checks in advance for these specific purposes.” 

The next regularly scheduled meeting will be at 6 p.m. on July 14 at the Riverside Town Hall.