Thayne Wyoming Town Government

Thayne Town Council Meeting
March 12^th, 2008

Present: Mayor Don Aullman. Councilmembers: Jim Bartleson, Lindsay Spencer, and Lorell Woolley. Clerk: Joan Jensen.

Mayor Aullman welcomed those in attendance and called the meeting to order. He then asked Robert Hood to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Amber Erickson and Alesia Winters were first on the agenda representing the Thayne EMT’s. Amber informed the council that the EMT’s are working on their By-Laws and they have had three new people apply. They expressed concern to the council about things in their EMT building that needed to be repaired. They know that the town is working on getting plans for a new building, but Alesia stated her opinion that we needed to get new carpet, fix the ceiling tiles, and paint the walls and ceilings. Mayor Aullman asked them to get cost estimates. He informed them that they needed to get three bids with the same specs and the town would have a formal opening date. Council also discussed the next date for meeting with the architect regarding the emergency services building. The date selected was Friday, March 28^th at 7:00 p.m. at the Thayne Town Hall. (The meeting has been rescheduled for March 24^th at 7:00 p.m.)

Marlow Scherbel was next on the agenda. He explained to the council that he was attending the meeting to correct a mistake with the map that was submitted for the McKim Addition. There was an affidavit of signature that wasn’t reviewed before the last Platt was signed and so it was not done properly. He asked the council if they would re-sign the corrected McKim Addition Platte. This map also creates and extension of Wright Street and Park Street which has now been changed to Myers Street because of naming streets after past mayors. The streets are dedicated to the town with the filing of this Platte with the county. Councilman Bartleson made the motion to approve the Platte and have the mayor sign it. Councilman Woolley seconded the motion. Council discussed with Marlow the process for vacating the streets that have never been constructed that were dedicated to the town. Marlow suggested that we work with the town attorney. There is a legal process that the town needs to go through in order to vacate these streets. Clerk Jensen will work with our attorney to get the process started.

Scott White was in attendance representing Howard’s Cove. Scott reminded the council that he was asked to engineer a drainage plan and have it approved before the council would sign the final Mylar. Council reviewed the Mylar. Councilman Bartleson asked Scott what he was going to do with the water right issue. Scott informed the council that the water rights flowing through that ditch are illegal. They will shut the ditch off so that there is no water going through it except for drainage water. The drainage will go into a septic tank and then into a French drain. Councilman Bartleson stated that he had met the requirements of the town and made a motion to approve the Mylar and have the mayor sign it. Councilman Woolley seconded the motion.

Scott also had a subdivision map, “Hidden Creek”, that was within one mile of the Town of Thayne that he needed the council to approve. The subdivision has central water and enhanced septic tanks. Council discussed that the subdivision would have no adverse impact on the town. Mayor Aullman asked for a motion to approve the subdivision. Councilman Woolley made the motion and Councilwoman Spencer seconded the motion.

Steve Sletner was next on the agenda. He represented the Hokanson Ranch Development. He presented to the council a presentation that they have planned for the development. They want to bring to Star Valley a “Create a Neighborhood” concept where he believes that people will want to live. Council discussed with him the concept of creating neighborhood designs and not just subdivisions. They hope to hook onto the town’s water and sewer and will be asking for a letter of commitment from the town. Steve informed the council that they wanted to give the town this information about the development so that they could keep taking the necessary steps with the Town of Thayne. The development is a 113-acre project with the houses being owned by the individuals and the outside areas being owned by the association. Council discussed the possibility of having a way to annex the project into the town, which would help with revenue to the town. John Woodward will check into the deeds for the highway to see if there is a bridge with the deeds that we could use for annexation.

Strawberry Hills LLC and David and Ruth Burnett submitted a request to the Town of Thayne for a zoning change. They requested 5.32 acres from residential to commercial. Their land is located east of Elaine Dana’s home. The Town of Thayne will follow the necessary steps for rezoning and have the hearing April 9^th at 6:30 P.M.

Robert Hood and Jason Linford represented Sunrise Engineering. They explained that with all the work that is being done in our area that they felt that it would be to the advantage of the town and the developers to retain Sunrise Engineering as the town’s official engineers. This would enable them to be able to answer questions to the developers when they are contacted. Council discussed the pros and cons of having retained engineers. Councilman Bartleson made the comment that he would like to see some references before the council made that decision. Sunrise Engineering will get that information to the council for them to review.

Ryan Hurd represented Castle Rock Subdivision. He talked to the council about the studies that we needed to get started before he could go any further with his subdivision. The first thing that needs to happen is a sewer facility capacity study. Mayor Aullman suggested to the council that we needed to be careful so that we didn’t change our discharge permit for the sewer. Councilwoman Spencer commented that the council needed to take a stand on having an engineering firm that would work for us like Sunrise Engineering was talking about tonight so that we could get these studies started. Councilwoman Spencer proposed at this time that we hire Sunrise Engineering pending references and get started with these different studies. Councilman Woolley suggested that the town was selling themselves short by not having an engineering firm working with them. Mayor Aullman suggested that maybe we hire them as our engineering firm for the “Castle Rock” and “Hokanson Ranch” developments and the developer will help foot the bill for the studies. Steve Sletner who was still in attendance expressed his opinion that it was a good thing to have a common source with an engineer. Steve is an engineer and he explained to those in attendance that he would never know the entire water and sewer system like the engineers who lived in this area. He could do a lot of research but it would not be as worthy a study as those who were familiar with the system. In order to do the will serve letters with the town, the developers need to have a common engineer that they can work with. Councilman Bartleson suggested that we hire an engineer firm on a case-by-case basis until we have time to evaluate their credentials. Neil Clark expressed his opinion that when he was on the Bedford Water and Sewer Board it was helpful to have the engineering firm handle all the questions about the system. It helped them keep continuity about the system. Council discussed advertising for engineering firms that were interested in working for the town. Councilman Woolley stated that he liked the idea of shopping at home. He felt that we needed a firm that would look out for our best interests. Councilman Bartleson made the motion that we hire Sunrise Engineering to take care of the developers that are working on the “Castle Rock” and Hokanson Ranch” developments. Councilman Woolley seconded the motion.

Robert Aullman informed the council that we are having problems with our sewer tests. Our BOD’s have been too high. Robert explained that he thought that the problem was that one of the airlines had frozen when the electricity was off. It is working now. Council also discussed having the lagoons cleaned this summer. Robert stated that the values have risen a lot in the last few years. He suggested that we not take any septic tank dumps until it is working better.

Dan Dockstader visited with the council regarding the joint appropriations money that was awarded to the town during the last legislation.

The bills were reviewed for payment. Councilman Spencer made the motion to pay the bills. Councilman Woolley seconded the motion.