TORRINGTON – Members of the Pine Ridge Owners Association addressed the Goshen County Commissioners Tuesday to ask for clarification on the future of County Road 100, which runs through the Pine Ridge Subdivision about six mile north of Fort Laramie.
During the final meeting in February, a few landowners near the subdivision but not in the subdivision addressed the commissioners to voice their opposition to the county abandoning CR 100, fearing that such a move would leave them landlocked with no legal access to their property. The commissioners assured the group that no one had petitioned the county to abandon the road and that they had never had any discussion about abandoning the road.
Goshen County Assistant County Attorney Dana Lent was on hand during the February meeting to assure property owners that Wyoming had statutes protecting landowner for becoming landlocked if access or easement arrangements changed.
On Tuesday, the members of the PROA did not tell the commissioners they wanted the road abandoned, but they were concerned about trespassing issues during the August 28 Solar Eclipse event that many in the county think could bring thousands of visitors to the county for a few days during the eclipse.
The commissioners told the PROA members that no petition to abandon the road had been filed and, if one were filed, the formal process could take more than a year. If a formal request to abandon the road is filed and if there is opposition to it being abandoned, Lent told the members that, according to fairly recent statutes, district court would decide the future of the road. She added that it was in everybody’s best interest to resolve any issues concerning CR 100 outside of the court, because once the court is involved the issue is out of the property owners hands.
Commission Chairman Carl Rupp also added that he wasn’t really sure, after discussions with the two different groups, what the actual problem was regarding the road. Along with the support of the other commissioners, he suggest the two groups get together and determine what the problem was, or if a problem actually existed.
In other business:
• Gary Childs, Goshen County planner, informed the commissioners that FEMA would be coming to Goshen County to do a review of the county’s rules and policies to make sure they comply with those of FEMA. Childs said he was in the process of reviewing them himself, because if they did not copy with FEMA it would mean county landowners could not get
flood insurance.
• Shelly Kirchhefer, the county’s emergency management coordinator, told the commissioners that the eclipse committee is meeting regularly to plan for an influx of visitors during August’s solar eclipse. She said that possible issues were many and varied, including access to viewing areas, traffic control, emergency services and even shortages of amenities like groceries and gas. But she assured the commissioners the committee is working hard to try to meet any contingency brought on by the event.
