Commissioners hear funding request, address encroachment issue

Kyle Borger, executive director of WYO HELP, came to the Washakie County Commissioners at their meeting June 18 to request a donation for his organization’s activities in Washakie County.

According to its brochure, “WYO HELP is a community action agency managing multiple grants in an effort to provide stabilization services to families in need, training and education for families, and planning support for all communities to improve the health of all families.”

In addition to Worland, the organization has branches in Lusk, Moorcroft, Newcastle, Rawlins and Torrington. Borger spoke of WYO HELP’s desire to develop a family resource center and become more involved in the local community. To this end, his organization has rented a space on Big Horn Avenue.

Borger acknowledged that “most organizations doing good things in the community have already been established.” Even so, he stated that WYO HELP would convene a forum this summer to bring local agencies together. He said he hopes to show local hospitals, public health, schools, food pantries and county agencies why it would be good to collaborate with his organization, and also plans to work with these partners on ways to avoid overlap of services.

Commissioner Chairman Aaron Anderson said that in view of WYO HELP’s proposed $125,000 budget, he struggled with the notion that only $26,000 would be designated for financial assistance with another $6,000 designated for food purchases. The remaining $93,000 would be designated for staffing and administration.

Borger replied that family resource center staff members themselves are a valuable resource, though it can be difficult to find the right person for the job. He stated that WYO HELP staff members can help families to become self-sufficient, teach them new tools and show them new ways to overcome challenges. “They do more than just take applications,” Borger said.

Anderson asked Borger for WYO HELP’s actual budget for last year and said the commissioners would consider his funding request.

OTHER BUSINESS

The commissioners asked County Attorney Tony Barton for his guidance on some complex issues pertaining to maintenance and other responsibilities for a drainage ditch along Lane 12. The ditch receives agricultural runoff from fields, as well as from headwater streams.

Wyoming Department of Transportation initially laid pipe in the ditch and gave responsibility to the City of Worland. The County buried part of the ditch and put a bike path on top. The commissioners asked, if something happens to the pipe, whose responsibility will it be? Barton suggested that if the county buried the ditch, the county may be responsible for it. It may be necessary to consult with canal districts, the City of Worland and adjacent property owners to determine the answer conclusively.

With Barton present to provide his input on a right-of-way (ROW) issue, the commissioners placed a call to Justin Lewton and Ben Swartz of Big Trails Land LLC. Lewton’s property on Road 82 has an existing stockyard that goes right up to the road’s edge. This is in some ways an encroachment on a county ROW. However, this stockyard was developed some decades ago by Lewton’s grandfather, before the county took over responsibility for the road. Anderson suggested that in this particular situation the encroachment could be allowed, but noted that it would be good to have a specific justification for it. Barton said that the main concern with encroachments in general is the potential for adverse possession of county ROW land. If the encroachment were “open and notorious,” as it is stated in legal terms, and the county did nothing about it, the county could potentially run into trouble some years later, in terms of determining ownership of the encroached-upon land.

However, Barton said that in the present context, these concerns could be alleviated simply by making an agreement between the county and the property owners, recognizing the encroachment and clearly spelling out all considerations. Commissioner Terry Wolf made a motion to request that Barton draft an agreement between the county and Big Trails Land LLC, recognizing the stockyard’s encroachment in the county ROW. Anderson seconded the motion, and the two commissioners then voted to approve it.