Mayor Gill reflects on 2018, ahead in 2019

WORLAND - Street improvements continue to be the No. 1 priority for the City of Worland, according to Mayor Jim Gill.

Gill sat down with the Northern Wyoming Daily News this week to look back at 2018 and look ahead into 2019, the third year of his four-year term as mayor.

"Our No. 1 issue with the city, that's including the council, the mayor, the management team, has been our street improvement project. And, we're proud of that. We are systematically improving different areas within the City of Worland in regard to the structural integrity of the streets that our citizens drive on," Gill said. "We've got a long ways to go."

He added that the city appreciates the support from the residents of Worland and the county for the one-cent sales tax. The general purpose tax is set aside in Worland for street improvement.

Gill said street improvement will be the No. 1 initiative in 2019. He said they are working with a group to look at a new polymer to use that will prevent water from penetrating the asphalt base, which would increase the longevity.

The city used the product, GSB-88, on 8.5 miles over the last year. Another project anticipated for the fall of 2018, had to be postponed until this spring.

Revitalizing main street is an effort that began late in 2018 through a newly formed Revitalizing Worland committee. "There's definitely a need to revitalize that downtown area. I as a mayor continue to emphasize, and been visiting with businesses since I took office, to be business friendly, not over regulate to the point that we take away from business rather than support."

The council worked throughout the year to update the city ordinance regarding temporary vendors and approved a new ordinance on third and final reading in December.

Gill said the staff at city hall needed "some guidance with where we were at with our vendor ordinance. The thing that has changed is these traveling vendors ... mainly food vendors." He said he understands the traveling vendors do create some conflict with the regular businesses in the city. "I think we've done a good job with this ordinance sorting those things out, but I'm a realist it's probably not totally resolved."

He noted similar ordinances approved in other cities in Wyoming have had to continually be changed as new issues crop up.

The new ordinance sets a $50 permit fee for any temporary vendor (business not connected to city utilities), with some exceptions.

While the council was able to bring the traveling vendor issue to a resolution, it did not have as much luck with the mayor's Grow Worland Initiative.

The city had been looking at annexing property east of the city as part of the initiative in part to ensure that the City of Worland maintains a population of more than 5,000. If the city drops below 5,000 during the next census (2020) then the city will lose Urban Systems funding to help with building new streets. The city has $600,000 saved through the Urban Systems program, and receives about $100,000 annually.

Gill noted that of the 18 cities in Wyoming, Worland, by population, is 18th.

City limit boundaries were set Dec. 31 for the next census. Estimates for the city's population are just under 5,200.

The area that the city attempted to annex in 2018 was the northern portion of Hillcrest Subdivision and the Healy property that is adjacent to the Hillcrest Subdivision but not in the subdivision, approximately 30 residents.

"We spent a lot of time visiting with the outer communities, because we want to show we are maintaining 5,000 or more citizens. That was an interesting process. In the end, the communities we visited with decided not to join the City of Worland. That was disappointing from the fact that Worland was a good partner with them at the time when they wanted our water source and in many cases our sewer was provided by previous mayors and council," Gill said.

Gill said he is not sorry that they attempted the annexation process. "I think I was trying represent the interests of the people of the City of Worland. I think that's something we need to continue to work with these outer areas, come to a place that both they and the city can be happy to work together," he said.

The process throughout 2018 did help open up dialogue with the outer areas, Gill said, noting that the most potential for growth for any development for Worland is to the east.

2019

As 2018 ended, the council approved a contract for new management at Green Hills Golf Course with Propper Golf Management. Gill said he is looking forward to working with them.

The mayor said he was also "tickled and excited" about Bomgaar's choosing to open a new store in Worland. The store plans on an early spring opening.

"I'm proud the city had a part in encouraging them to make the decision to open a business here," Gill said, noting Bomgaar's management members stopped by city hall while the mayor happened to be in his office. He was told that the management liked what they saw in Worland and he was proud and ready to assist them.

This year, Gill said he also plans to work closer with the area legislators, noting Worland is "very dependent on the State of Wyoming and the direct distribution funding.

"I need to work harder as mayor to make them more aware of our needs in Worland. Worland has a municipal cemetery, golf course and airport. It's a challenge to support all of that," Gill said. That's the thing the legislators need a better perspective on, most municipalities don't support all three, he added.

Gill said he is excited about the new year, noting there will be three new council members. Kreg Lombard and Delayne Renner were sworn in along with returning council members Gary Gerber and Christy Schneider Tuesday night, the first council meeting of 2019. Melissa Rivera was absent and will be sworn in at a later date.

Gill also appointed a new municipal court judge, Marcy Argeris. She replaces Ed Luhm, who is the new circuit court judge.