Commission grapples with variety of issues

by Cat Urbigkit

Last Friday, Sublette County Surveyor Paul Scherbel was successful in his quest to have the Sublette County Commission sign a petition requesting the name Bull Draw be changed to Poston Draw. The draw is located south of Boulder on the way to the Erramouspe ranch, which at one point was the Poston ranch.

Road superintendent Mike McGinnis said he feels the county is making some headway with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality in getting approval for a monitoring plan for the Marbleton landfill. McGinnis said the county may wind up with a conditional-use permit for the expanded landfill, but may never get the regular long-term permit for the facility.

McGinnis also noted that any organization or group who would like to volunteer to conduct trash pickup along county roadways will receive assistance from his department. McGinnis said his department will supply the garbage bags and pick up the bags once they have been filled. He also noted the department would work with groups in hosting a barbecue, or may make a donation to the group for their volunteer efforts. Anyone interested in conducting this roadside cleanup is encouraged to contact the county road department at 307-367-4718 or 307-276-5770.

The commissioners briefly discussed meeting with the Teton County Commission to discuss the possibility of changing the contract for refuse disposal. Currently, Sublette County charges a maximum of $12.25 per ton to Teton County, and that amount hasn’t changed for quite some time, commissioners noted. The commission may begin discussions with Teton County officials about the issue at a meeting next week in Sundance.

Commissioners noted that another issue that may be discussed at the Sundance meeting is the proposed five-county joint powers board to sponsor water development projects in the Upper Green River Basin. The Examiner cautioned the commission to conduct its deliberations of Sublette County matters within the county in public forums, but the commissioners cited the convenience of having other county officials already gathered in one place, while noting that no decisions will be made outside of the regular commission business meetings.

The commission voted to set the speed limit on Front Street in Boulder at 30 miles per hour. Although Tyler Wilson had requested the commission post the speed limit at 20 mph, after hearing from McGinnis and Sheriff Hank Ruland, the commission adopted their recommendation of 30 mph.

Architect Brad Waters spoke to the commission about plans for the Hi-Country Senior Center. After consulting with senior citizens, Waters came up with a drawing of a 60 feet by 120 feet prefabricated structure with a covered porch on its southern end. The planned building doesn’t quite fit on the center’s existing site, but with a little more work, Waters said he should be able to make it fit.

"We’re really close to making this work on this site," Waters said, and the structure could be erected by October.

Lynn Oxner said the seniors are happy with Waters’ proposal. She said the VFW has very graciously agreed to allow the seniors to use its building for a minimal fee until the new senior center is completed.

Progress is also being made on plans for expansion of the Big Piney Library. Waters said the library is planning to move into temporary space on May 29 so that work can begin. This project has a $1.2-million cost estimate, as does the senior center project.

In other county building construction business, the commission learned that the circuit court office has moved from its old log building in front of the courthouse to the old library building, which was recently remodeled.

Sublette County Attorney Dale Aronson told the commissioners that he had recently inspected the Ag Center at the county fairgrounds with the building manufacturer and architect to examine the leaking roof.

The solution proposed at that meeting involved making repairs "with a sharp stick and a pellet gun," Aronson said. Water leaking into the insulation has not permanently damaged the insulation, according to the manufacturer, Aronson said, so long as the insulation is eventually drained.

According to an Aronson memo to the commission "in fact, he claims this problem is commonly encountered and temporarily remedied by shooting small drain holes in the fabric with a pellet gun."

Aronson has requested documentation from the manufacturer to support that claim.

In other business, Commission Chairman Bill Cramer said he learned some interesting things at a recent seminar in Colorado that he, Commissioner Betty Fear and County Planning and Zoning Chairperson Suzy Michnevich attended.