Worland City Council begins 2023 work

WORLAND - The Worland City Council pulled up their chairs to hear Mayor Jim Gill’s State of the City New Year’s Address at their first meeting of 2023 on Jan. 3.

Gill stood proud and addressed his department heads and council members, including new elects and re-elected Barbara Brookwell, Pete Calderon, Rebecca George, Kreg Lombard, Mike Neufer and Adam Martinez. He raised his voice to read aloud Worland’s proudest moments of the past year:

“We can take pride in the fact that our recent audit of our city’s finances was noted as one of the best in the Big Horn Basin with its debt-free status.

“Our constituency continued their support of our Street Improvement Initiative with the passage of another four years of the one percent money.

“Our banking community remains steadfast… How many cities our size in Wyoming have five major banks? Not many, folks.

“The city upgraded our lagoon system with new pumps and other components this past year… its design still allows for plenty of growth in the years to come.

“Worland is the safest city in Wyoming to live in. We are proud of our police department and sheriff’s department for all they do to keep our residents safe. Our fire department does a great job as well.”

Gill thanked his council members for their service, they thanked him for his. But with 2022 behind them, the council began its work for the new year.

MARCH FOR LIFE

The first order of business was hearing Dave Mischke, who represented the Knights of Columbus and St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church. Mischke asked the council for use of Pioneer Square for a March for Life to be held on Jan. 21, starting at 11 a.m. The organizations involved intend to use the event to fundraise for Elevation Women’s Healthcare’s ultrasound van to visit Worland.

“We had about 75 attend last year, and we could, because of the way we’re going to do it this year, get more. I hope so,” said Mischke.

The mayor voiced his support for the March for Life, and council member Kreg Lombard put forth the motion to approve it, to which no contest was heard.

MAYOR’S ACTION ITEMS

As part of the mayor’s action items, Public Works Superintendent Nick Kruger was reappointed Golf Course Liaison and Bighorn Regional Joint Powers Board Representative by the council. ADA 504 Coordinator Randy Adams was also reappointed to that position.

Pinnacle Bank, the ANB Bank, Big Horn Federal Savings, Security State Bank, U.S. Bank, and Wyoming Government Investment Fund were voted the city’s official depository banks.

The City Council designated Worland’s official legal newspaper as Northern Wyoming News. KWOR-AM and KKLX-FM were named the official radio stations.

Wendy Fredricks was nominated by William Worley for President of the Council and elected with full support. Worley, in turn, was voted Acting President of the Council.

Ordinance number 866, to raise the salary for newly elected City Council members from $75 to $100 a meeting, and from $1,200 to $1,500 for the next mayor, was read for the second time and approved, with one more reading scheduled for the next meeting.

WORLAND AQUATIC CENTER JOINT

POWERS BOARD

The council also discussed the Worland Aquatic Center Joint Powers Board. As it stands, the board consists of Washakie County, the City of Worland and the Washakie County School District No. 1. If it were dissolved, as has been considered, full possession of the pool would go to the school.

“My first concern would be to the public. We voted for a pool open to the public. If you give it to the school, no matter what’s said or done, I don’t think there’s anything that could guarantee it would stay open to the general public. As a resident, I want to know if the public is going to maintain access to what they voted for,” Fredricks said.

Lombard suggested the public have a say in the vote to dissolve or not. The City Council determined that it needed more information to form an opinion on the matter.

DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS

During Department Head Reports, Clerk Treasurer Tracy Glanz explained to the council that one of the 20-year-old boilers in the basement recently broke. She estimated the cost to fix the boiler would be $10,650, or $15,750 for a new boiler. With only roughly $15,000 in the budget to replace it, additional funds from the general fund would be needed to support the purchase. The council approved the purchase of a new boiler with no contest.

Police Chief Gabe Elliot reported, “Our bars and liquor establishments are doing a great job getting designated drivers, we didn’t have a single DUI (driving under the influence) on New Year’s Eve, and only one over the weekend. I appreciate it, it helps us.”

Airport Manager Lynn Murdoch gave an update on construction. “The roof on the terminal is, I would say, 95% done,” she said. However, there is still work to be done on the Kodiak room.

“We survived through our cold spell. The community had 14 frozen pipe water leaks, all on the consumer side, the city itself did not have any breaks,” Kruger reported to the council. He also noted that construction is almost complete on the storage building for public works.

Engineering representative Mike Donnell with Eagle Engineering and Surveying said that their fire hydrant project is near complete, with one more line to finish when the weather is warmer.

Donnell reported that the winter months were being utilized mostly for designing, and plans for sewers were in the works as well as crack-sealing for city streets. “We’re trying to get ahead. This is the time to do it,” Donnell said.