County to create road committee
Advisory board will aim to qualify, improve Class II roads
by Ben Cannon

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Sublette County Commission, it was decided that a special committee be established to monitor and improve certain rural roads in Sublette County. The Class II Road Advisory Board, as the body is expected to be called, will act as a task force on behalf of the County Commission.

From Cheyenne, attorneys Mark Steward and John McKinley consulted the Commissioners over a speakerphone regarding the creation of a new advisory board.

The three member board will begin setting standards and establishing the criteria for Class II roads. A Class II road designation means that a road can receive some level of county upkeep. A Class I road is given full county road status and benefits as such. The advisory board will gather information and impose the standards the group will establish as part of its initial phase.

It was not made clear how the process would work, whether interested parties would approach the Class II Road Advisory Board or if the board will seek out prospective roads to receive Class II status, but the board will make a recommendation and the County Commission will come to a decision to give a road Class II or not, taking the recommendation into account.

In this way, the committee will act similarly to a planning and zoning board – more of a work task force than a decision-making body.

Commissioner John Linn suggested that Sublette County Road and Bridge Superintendent Butch Penton be appointed to the board, as he is perhaps the most qualified man in the county to review such matters. Commissioner Bill Cramer countered that Penton would not make an ideal selection and that the three positions should be filled by citizen volunteers. The attorneys agreed that Penton should not serve on the board to avoid any conflict of interest, but it would be beneficial if he were kept on as an advisor.

Joel Bousman, attending his first meeting as a newly-elected Commissioner added that a goal of the board should be to help alleviate costs on all sides.

“Part of the discussion should be how to bring the maintenance costs down,” he said.

Cramer, who was elected Chairman to the County Commission at the start of Tuesday’s meeting added an element of caution that the new board’s guidelines and statutes be a clear, concise, common-sense approach to the task at hand.

“One thing we don’t want is attorneys in there making fifty pages of regulations,” Cramer said.

After the Commission meeting, Lankford explained that many of the roads that might qualify from Class II status will be located in the older subdivisions of Sublette County, those built over three decades ago. The area around Bargerville, she explained, is full of roads that might benefit from a recognized and elevated status in the eyes of county government.

Lankford said that she would begin advertising for persons interested in serving on the board to submit applications. There was discussion among the Commissioners and Lankford as to how long the terms of the three board positions will be. Likely, the terms will run from one to three years and the inaugural class may all serve for one year on a trial-type basis.