Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
WORLAND – After a brief discussion to introduce the topic at Tuesday night’s regular meeting, the Worland City Council will discuss at Monday’s work session what types of hearings to allow for municipal court and if city hall is the best location for those hearings.
City Attorney Kent Richins said he prefers to follow the rules of the Wyoming Supreme Court, although the municipal court does not fall under their guidance. The state court has ruled to postpone most hearings until October.
“We have certain cases that have constitutional issues [such as right to a speedy trial] and we are going to try to take care of those cases,” Richins said.
He said he has three to four trials scheduled for Tuesday for the first time since in-person hearings were suspended due to COVID-19.
Richins added that they will also have a few order to show cause hearings.
The discussion for Monday is whether to proceed with the at least 40 arraignments that have been on hold.
Council member Mandy Horath said since the city does not fall under the state court’s guidance she would prefer getting back to doing business.
Richins said, “Whatever we do we want to do it right.”
Clerk/Treasurer Tracy Glanz said there is concern about exposure to the staff with all of the hearings and said one option to discuss Monday would be either telephone hearings and/or Zoom meetings.
Richins said the town of Basin has continued proceedings throughout the COVID pandemic with telephone hearings and they have worked well.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business Tuesday night, the city council:
•Approved moving forward with the sale of the lot at 1429 Coburn that the city demolished due to safety concerns. The city was deeded the property prior to demolition. The property has been appraised at $25,000 and the minimum bid will be $25,000.
According to the Washakie County Assessor’s Office via the county online mapserver, the lot is .2 acres and has a market value of $23,000.
•Approved a bid from McClellan & MacQueen for $129,912.60 for the five locations for the 2020 double gutters, curb and gutter and sidewalk project.
Engineering representative Mike Donnell said the bid was slightly over the estimate of $125,912.60. He said another bid came in about an hour late with that day’s mail.
Council member Mandy Horath asked about rejecting the bid because of the post office and Donnell said the bidder has had issues in the past with getting bids on time. This year the bid was sent to his office address and was designated for a Saturday delivery when the office is not open. The bid should have been sent to the post office box.
She also wondered about a morning bid opening, when many bids are due at 5 p.m. and opened the following day. Donnell said with the council meetings on Tuesday he has bid openings on Monday mornings to have enough time to review the bids and make a recommendation to the council.
In other projects, Donnell reported that milling for the Culbertson project will begin today (Thursday) east of the railroad tracks.
•Pastor Larry Ramsfield of New Life Christian Center said they are partnering with Convoy of Hope to bring the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers to Families Food Box program to Washakie County and the Big Horn Basin.
He said Admiral Transport is providing a refrigerator truck for the project that will run from 2-6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 14, providing about 1,100 20-pound boxes of frozen meat to anyone who could use it.
“It’s not just for those with a great hardship. It’s for any and all. What a blessing this will be for every freezer that receives it. We want to get it to as many people as possible,” he said.
•Meg Stark of the Washakie Hospital Auxiliary asked and received permission to have a vendor booth set up at Pioneer Square by the bell tower to sell items from the hospital gift shop. The gift shop has been closed since April due to COVID-19 and the shop raises funds for the auxiliary to purchase items for the hospital, such as television sets and at the present time they use $3,000 to $4,000 annually for mammogram pads.
The booth will be set up on Aug. 15 during the same hours as the Washakie Farmers Market.
•Donnie Bjorhus of Sagebrush Sports, the company operating Green Hills Golf Course reported that things are going well this summer.
There were 1,330 daily rounds played in the month of July. Green Hills hosted the first of three Big Horn Basin Cup matches on July 12. The Green Hills team sits in second place after the first event, one point behind the team from Olive Glenn Country Club.
Green Hills co-hosted the Big Horn Basin Shootout this past weekend with Thermopolis Golf Course. This is the second year of the event and numbers nearly doubled from last year. There were 22 teams in this year’s tournament compared to 12 last year.
“It was another great opportunity to showcase our facility to players from out of town,” he said.
In addition to several other tournaments this month, the Worland City Championship will be Aug. 15-16.
The maintenance staff plans to aerate and top-dress the greens after Labor Day weekend. This maintenance procedure will greatly increase the overall health of the greens going into 2021 by getting sand into the ground to allow water and nutrients to get into the soil where it can be more beneficial. This procedure will also eliminate a good amount of thatch that inhibits growth and turf health, Bjorhus said.
He and Public Works Superintendent Brian Burky said that the new restroom is nearly complete with the aid of many golfing and non-golfing volunteers.
•The council approved on first reading Ordinance 856 to change the permit for unattached business trailers to a calendar year, Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. City Attorney Kent Richins said following calendar year is easier for bookkeeping and law enforcement.
•The council approved allowing up to 60 banners for fall sports be placed on downtown light poles this fall.
•The council approved a contract with the Wyoming Department of Health to test the city’s wastewater at least once a week. The project is fully funded through the state. The sampling will track COVID-19. Burky said Jackson and Cody have been doing testing on their own.
The council moved their next regular meeting from election day, Tuesday, Aug. 18, to 6 p.m., Monday, Aug. 17.