City Council meeting a municipality medley

Jurn Wagner visited the Worland City Council during their Tuesday, April 18 meeting to discuss a noise complaint – made on himself.

“I was told by a couple of people that there was a call-in of a blower being run that was pretty loud, and it might have been me,” Wagner laughed. The call to the Worland Police Department at 5:58 a.m., published in Northern Wyoming News, led Wagner to explore the city ordinances, where he found that current noise limits are 50-70 decibels.

Wagner asked the council to re-examine their ordinances, as the current one is 40 years old, to be updated for higher-powered and louder technology. Police Chief Gabe Elliott noted that while the ordinance is dated, Wagner and other Worlandites are free from noise restrictions on snow and lawn equipment between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

The council received bids for new and used sewer cleaners, with the intention of saving funds by becoming self-sufficient at sewer maintenance rather than hiring the job out. Bids ranged between $196,500 and $589,235 for four different systems, and with many factors to consider in the purchase, the decision was tabled pending a recommendation from Superintendent of Public Works Nick Kruger.

Mayor Jim Gill proclaimed April of 2023 Child Abuse and Awareness Prevention Month. “Whereas children are our

future, no child should suffer abuse and neglect,” Gill said.

“We particularly compliment our law enforcement, our folks that work in mental health and the many others that take care of the kids in our community.”

Ordinance 869 to rezone 110 South Fifth Street from light industrial to general business passed its second reading in favor of Sumida Properties opening a hair salon at the location.

During Department Head reports, Kruger gave notice that Lower Hanover Canal will be burned through city limits, from Washakie to 15th Street on Thursday, April 20. In the event that weather conditions do not allow for the burning, it will be rescheduled for the next day.

For the next two weeks, city workers will be installing a new water line to the terminal, Bureau of Land Management and accessory buildings at Worland Municipal Airport. Most city park bathrooms are now running, with minor issues to repair. City sprinklers will be turned on beginning this week.

An irrigation project started at the ball fields will allow them to be watered with canal water in the next two months. Concrete diamonds will be poured around valve boxes and sewer manholes on city streets in preparation for upcoming projects.

Fifteenth Street patching will continue. “We’re putting about 2,000 pounds of patch a day in potholes,” Kruger said. “This is by far the most we’ve ever done.”

City Attorney Kent Richins reported that Washakie County School District No. 1 approved the city’s proposed amendments to the dissolution agreement for the Worland Aquatic Center Joint Powers Board. The third member of the board, Washakie County, has yet to take action on the dissolution.

Police Chief Gabe Elliott said that the Worland Police Department recently programmed their new radios, and now has the ability to communicate with the school district. “After years of trying to get some communication with the school as far as radio traffic, the school district has received their radio equipment and it is getting programmed now… That’s key to us getting there quickly if anything ever does happen.”

City Engineering Representative Mike Donnell of Eagle Engineering informed the council that the city’s Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant had been filed, with WYDOT field inspections anticipated in late April or early May. The grant would allow for updates to lighted street signage.

Paperwork for McMac LLC’s Richins Addition storm drain extension and street upgrade project has been received, but High Country Construction’s paperwork for sewer main repairs on South Sixth Street and Block Three of the Evans Addition was sent to the wrong address and has delayed progress.

Airport Manager Lynn Murdoch reported that the airport fence is now 96% done, with only the power supply to the gate in the works.