WYDOT presents to Goshen Commissioners

Logan Dailey
Posted 6/23/22

The Goshen County Commissioners convened for its second monthly meeting of June on Tuesday, June 21.

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WYDOT presents to Goshen Commissioners

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TORRINGTON – The Goshen County Commissioners convened for its second monthly meeting of June on Tuesday, June 21. Chairman John Ellis presided over the meeting with Commissioners Cody Cox and Justin Burkart and County Clerk Cindy Kenyon in attendance, along with other county officials, area municipal representatives and candidates for county commissioner, Aaron Walsh and Shane Trompke.

Mark Ayen, Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) District 2 Engineer presented the State Traffic Improvement Plan (STIP), laying out the goals and upcoming projects of the area’s WYDOT district.

“A couple of years ago, as funding began to decrease, they recognized the need to have some rules in place as to how we, as an agency, decide to spend money,” Ayen said. “Basically, every question that comes up about an expenditure; we run through these guiding principles: Does it align with what we are doing? Are we addressing critical life safety issues? Are we prioritizing preservation of our existing assets? Once we’ve done all of that, if we still have money, are we improving some operational issues? Prioritizing negative impacts to the public and addressing mobility through improvements and enhancements.”

Ayen said the main focus of WYDOT engineering is to enhance safety and improvements. 

According to WYDOT Fiscal Year 2019 funding data, WYDOT received approximately $354.3 million in funding. To accomplish all of the goals of WYDOT, they would need an additional $267.02 million. The line items needing additional funding are Construction for Preservation (roads and bridges), Wildlife Crossings, Aeronautics and Electrical Vehicles Funding. 

Ayen said Wyoming’s WYDOT is unique from other states’ department of transportation in that it receives 71% of its funding from the federal government and only 29% is funded by the state. According to Ayen, most states received 30% funding from the federal government and 70% funding from the state. 

“WYDOT is approximately $267.02 million dollars underfunded to provide where we need to be. We are holding steady, slightly decreasing on the surface…just trying to stay afloat,” Ayen explained. “We don’t have as much money as we used to, so we want to address the immediacy safety issues, and we start working the improvements as we work under the money.”

Ayen told the commissioners there are a significant number of bridges throughout the state which need maintenance or replacement, including a few in Goshen County. Fortunately for counties and localities, Ayen said bridges have a zero-match, so counties and localities won’t be required to pay anything for the bridges.

Among the topics of discussion was the matter of electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. 

“The federal government has told the states they need to have EV charging stations,” Ayen said. 

“I just don’t understand this. You can talk to Wyrulec, and they say they don’t have the electricity to produce enough electricity to charge this stuff,” Commissioner Ellis said.

“That’s one of the questions out there – power companies want to say they can meet that demand, but can they?” Ayen replied.

“The thought behind it is Aunt Helen from Oklahoma City wants to go to Yellowstone and all she has is an electric car, and she can’t get there because there is nowhere to charge,” Ayen explained.

The federal government will be sending WYDOT, and every other state’s transportation department, money to create a plan for electric vehicle integration. The states are then required to report how they will disperse the federal money. 

“WYDOT won’t build, own or operate the stations. We are basically acting as a granting agency and helping to decide where the stations will happen,” Ayen explained. “It’s targeted at the interstate routes, so you won’t see we are recommending a station in Torrington.”

The requirements set forth by the federal government is the stations will have to be within 50 miles of the next station and no more than one mile away from the interstate. Despite these requirements, WYDOT intends to apply for waivers to the requirements due to the nature of Wyoming’s roadways and sparsely populated areas.

“We have recommended other routes as well, including Torrington, Riverton, Yellowstone, Thermopolis and Lander,” Ayen explained. “Basically, we said, ‘hey federal government, your proposal doesn’t work for Wyoming, so here is our proposal.’”

Anyone interested in starting a charging station will need to contact WYDOT to determine their eligibility for grants. More information on the WYDOT EV program can be found by visiting dot.state.wy.us.

Goshen County Sheriff Kory Fleenor presented his report for the commissioners, noting the office had received $14,873 for contract housing making a yearly sum of $128,336.

Fleenor made a proposal for the commission to consider the purchase of new body cameras for sheriff’s office personnel. 

“We had one fall in the canal and the current ones are starting to fail,” Fleenor said.

He presented a quote for the acquisition of new body cameras for around $48,000. Fleenor explained the quote included the purchase of new body cameras and a trade-in for new body cameras after the 2.5-year and five-year mark.

The commission approved Fleenor’s report.

Goshen County Treasurer Leticia Dominguez provided the commission with her report. According to Dominguez, the county’s total cash reserves at $3,977,042.84. 

Dominguez told the commissioners the state is experiencing an aluminum shortage and they have been unable to keep up with license plate requests. She said they are short on a couple of plate types and prestige plates are not being produced at this time. 

“You’d think they could recycle some beer cans,” Ellis said with a chuckle.

Dominguez said the county had received the second round of COVID American Rescue Plan dollars, amounting to $1.2 million.

The Goshen County Treasurer’s Office will be closed July 21 for Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) training slated for that day.

Lastly, Dominguez said the county is set to have a tax sale on July 20 at 9 a.m. The Treasurer’s Office will be closed on that day as well.

Dominguez’s report was approved unanimously.

County Assessor Debra Surratt provided the commissioners with her report. Surratt reported the county valuation increased by 12.72%.

Surratt’s report was approved unanimously.

Kenyon provided the commission with her report. She said clerk’s office personnel would be attending the WYDOT training set for July 21, but they would not close the office for the training. Kenyon presented an updated warrant for $55,000. She said the fuel bill for the county had increased from the previous month, amounting to $30,125.15.

The commission approved Kenyon’s report.

The final report presented to the commission was from Larry Curtis, a Goshen County Library Board member. Curtis said the library had kicked-off a summer reading program June 4. The event hosted over 300 people and there are currently 360 children enrolled for the program. The kick-off event featured Mary Fichtner, a Cheyenne children’s author. Fichtner is the author of a series of stories about “Rusty the Ranch Horse.”

Curtis said Points West Community Bank provided lunch and the Blazer boys’ and girls’ basketball teams set up and tore down for the event. During the event, the Blazers interacted with the kids and played games. 

June 8, the library hosted the Torrington Police Department with their regular programs for a series the library is using to promote local heroes engaging with the community’s youth. 

“As of June 15, fully funded through community donations and sponsorships. We had 249 registered readers, 20,000 minutes have been read, 631 badges earned, 591 books read and 71 reviews written,” Curtis said. “So, sounds like a success to me.”

The commissioners accepted Curtis’ report.

Burns Insurance presented a quote to the county for their property insurance as their renewal is set to take place July 1. Derek Jackson, branch manager for the Torrington office, presented the proposal. Jackson reported a slight increase in premiums due to the county’s acquisition of new vehicles and inflation, but fortunately, the amount of coverage increased greater than 7.8% while the rate only went up 5.8%.

The commissioners approved the proposal.

The next meeting of the Goshen County Commission will take place July 5 at 9 a.m. in the commissioner’s meeting room of the Goshen County Courthouse.