Ten Sleep swears in council members

TEN SLEEP – The Ten Sleep Town Council swore-in three members on Tuesday night, to continue their roles on the council, during the town’s regular June meeting.

After a special election in Ten Sleep on May 8, Ten Sleep Council members Constance Sweeney and Ernie Beckley will return for four-year terms on the council, while Amy Truman will retain her seat for two years. All candidates ran unopposed.

In council business, Worland Fire Protection District Chief Chris Kocher addressed the council and requested that the town sign the annual operating agreement for the fire district, so that the town’s ambulance service could be included in the plan.

Kocher explained that adding the town as a signatory allows the district to submit the appropriate reports and paperwork to the state when the ambulance is used in conjunction with the fire district for nearby fires and emergencies.

Kocher explained that the issue first came up when the ambulance joined the district at the 2017 Hatchery Fire, and that was a way to streamline incident reporting.

The council voted to sign the agreement, and thanked the district for their cooperation.

Lee Lockhart, representing the county’s One-cent Sales Tax Education Committee, gave the town an update on committee organization to date, and outlined steps moving forward to educate voters on the sales tax distribution and vote, slated for Nov. 7.

On Jan. 16, the commission originally facilitated a meeting with entities currently covered under Joint Resolution 315, which splits one-cent sales tax funds, along with new parties interested in becoming sales tax recipients, in light of the state’s waning budget.

Voters most recently supported the general purpose optional one-cent tax in 2014 with 64 percent of Washakie County voters in favor. The current tax will be collected through June 30, 2019.

Currently, the majority of the tax goes to the city of Worland, followed by the Worland Community Center Complex, town of Ten Sleep and then Worland and Ten Sleep senior citizen centers and Crisis Response and Prevention Center.

Voters in November will decide if the one-cent general purpose tax is continued. A resolution from the county and the Worland and Ten Sleep councils must be approved in August to get the tax question on the ballot.

Lockhart encouraged the council to finalize Ten Sleep’s portion of a resolution that will be presented to voters, explaining where the distributions will be spent.

The council reworded a previous paragraph in the 2014 resolution and voted to include the wording in the new resolution, for Lockhart to present to the committee.

In other business, the council approved budget amendment 107, which adds to the annual budget unanticipated income from grant money awarded to the Nowoodstock music festival and a change to the sales tax distribution.

As indicated in the amendment, miscellaneous revenue would increase from $7,000 to $16,798.12 due to the Nowoodstock grant money, while the one cent revenue would increase from $205,000 to $293,000.

Councilperson Sweeney reported that the town has applied for a placemaking grant through the Wyoming Main Street Project, which could grant the town up to $2,500 for park benches and picnic tables.

In permitting, the Big Horn Bar and Big Horn Mountain Stage Company were both granted special malt beverage permits for upcoming summer events.