Thayne Wyoming Town Government

Thayne Town Council Meeting
February 13^th, 2008.

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

Mayor Aullman called the meeting to order and informed the council that Councilman Bartleson would be a few minutes late.

Councilman Woolley then led the council and those in attendance with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mayor Aullman asked the council if they had the opportunity to look over the minutes of January 9^th and was ready to make a motion. Councilman King stated that he had read the minutes and reviewed his ordinance book to make sure that the business owners were responsible for snow removal of their sidewalks. He informed the council that he could not find the ordinance regarding removal of snow from sidewalks. Councilwoman Spencer showed him where the ordinance was located. Councilman King only had the planning and zoning ordinances and will be given the full set of ordinances. Councilwoman Spencer made the motion to approve the minutes. Councilman Woolley seconded the motion.

The renewal of the Retail Liquor License for Pines Bar was opened for discussion. Mayor Aullman asked Clerk Jensen if she had received any written or oral comments and she informed him that she hadn’t received any. With no further comments, Councilman Woolley made the motion to renew the retail liquor license for Pines Bar. Councilwoman Spencer seconded it.

Sherry Merritt represented the Thayne EMT’s. She thanked the council for letting them have a fundraiser at the Snow Days event. She explained to the council that this was a great event for them to do some “PR” work and let people in the community know who they were and to socialize with the community members. Mayor Aullman expressed his appreciation to the Thayne EMT’s and their efforts in helping the community.

Mayor Aullman informed the council that there was a free training session for all board members March 19^th at the Thayne Senior Center that was being put on by LUAG. He encouraged the council to attend.

Ryan Hurd and Brian Gable represented Castle Rock Development. They explained to the council that they needed a letter of intent or a will serve letter from the town stating that the Town of Thayne would let them hook onto the water and sewer services provided they did the appropriate studies and improvements that the town required. Mayor Aullman asked Sunrise Engineering to review the report that was done last month by Mr. Gable. Sunrise Engineering submitted a letter to the council stating that their findings were consistent with the reports of Mr. Gable. Ryan Hurd explained to the council that they had drafted a letter for the town to sign. Mayor Aullman stated that we would have the city attorney review the letter and the items that needed to be addressed. He explained that the town needed to meet the State of Wyoming requirements as well as the town’s requirements. Mayor Aullman asked Robert Hood from Sunrise Engineering to review his findings with the council. Robert explained to the council that they were doing a valley wide study right now that furnished them with some good data to review these reports. Mr. Gable’s numbers are in line with what Sunrise Engineering had come up with. Robert explained that the DEQ has a requirement that if one of your water sources are down you still need to be able to supply the town with the amount of water that the town uses on an average day. He explained that without another tank or well that the town would not be able to meet that requirement. They discussed the sewer system and what it was designed to handle. Robert Hood informed those in attendance that the sewer lagoon tests have always passed. Council discussed that the addition of 200 more lots would require a significant upgrade to the lagoons. Mr. Hood explained to the council that they do will serve letters on all of the additions that they submit to DEQ for approval. Ryan informed the council that they can’t submit their plans to the county or DEQ without a will serve letter. Mayor Aullman stated that we needed to consider this carefully because there is another entity that has approached the town regarding the same services being provided to their development. Mayor Aullman reported that the other entity is proposing to construct the same number of lots as you are proposing. Mayor Aullman suggested that we needed to have our master plan in place before we entertain any of these proposals so that we protect the residents inside the city limits. Councilman King stated that we don’t have extra services now but this will get us moving towards upgrading our services. Councilman King expressed his opinion that a master plan will be another year or more before it can be started. Councilman King felt that having these engineers from the two different developments work on what we needed to do to upgrade our services would assist the planner with the master plan. The planner would have to hire engineers to do the reviews anyway and this would save the town money towards the master plan. Councilman King felt that this would help the town move faster towards a master plan. Council asked Mr. Hurd how many units he planned on starting with. He informed the council that they planned on eight units in this next building season. Their build out was hopefully three to five years. Their first phase was the smallest phase of the proposed construction. He stated that it just made more sense to use the town sewer than just discharging the sewer into the ground. Councilman King stated his opinion that we needed to do everything that we could to keep our ground water clean. He commented that we already have problems with our rivers and groundwater. Mayor Aullman stated that the first thing that we needed to address was the sewer. The second thing that needed to be addressed was the water. There is only so much water. Mayor Aullman expressed his opinion that he would hate to jeopardize the town’s water system without upgrades being done. The council suggested that the development also look into purchasing water from Bedford. They may say no but this would be another source that they could look into. Councilman King made the comment that a will serve letter is pretty forward and has the conditions listed that we are concerned about. He felt that we should sign the letter and let the studies began as soon as possible. Councilman King made the motion to sign the will serve letter. Councilman Bartleson seconded the motion. Councilman King stated that the town is not going to do anything until they meet the conditions and options. Mayor Aullman stated that our attorney should review the letter and the conditions before he signs the will serve letter.

Ordinance 247 was passed on third reading. This ordinance increases the hook on fees for sewer. The sewer fees will be in accordance with the size of the water connection fees. Councilman Woolley made the motion to approve Ordinance 247 on third reading. Councilman King seconded the motion.

Pederson Planning submitted a proposal for a master plan and encouraged the council to call him if they have any questions. The Town of Thayne will also advertise for other proposals for a master plan. Clerk Jensen will check with WAM for a list of people who do planning. Clerk Jensen will also check on the availability of grant money.

Council reviewed the bills for payment. Councilwoman Spencer made the motion to approve the bills. Councilman Bartleson seconded the motion.

Robert Aullman gave the council a maintenance report. Council discussed with him the problems he is having with the tractor. Council discussed different options regarding purchasing a new or used tractor. Mayor Aullman will check on prices and report at the next meeting.