TORRINGTON – On Tuesday morning, the Goshen County Commissioners held their meeting. This meeting was followed by the Goshen County Library Board meeting. 

The commissioners opened the meeting with the pledge of allegiance. They then approved the last meetings minutes. 

The IT representative was not present, so the IT report was removed from the agenda. Then the agenda was approved. 

Chairman Michael McNamee shared how he, commissioner Aaron Walsh and a few others will be in Rock Springs next week for the Wyoming Association of County Officers Conference (WACO) conference. 

Next on the agenda was to let people know November’s first meeting will be moved to Wednesday the 6th rather than the 5th, due to election day. 

The commissioners moved into department reports. 

The sheriff’s department reported first. Kory Fleenor gave the earnings and commissary report. He shared there were no new applicants, but they are expecting someone to be leaving the jail around the first of the year. The sheriff’s report was accepted. 

Next to report was the road and bridge department. Superintendent Chris Stoddard reported roads have been pretty dry besides Monday’s rain. If the road gets too dry, he will be pulling the blades off the roads as it can cause more damage. If there are roads starting to get bad with washboards, they will address it, but it may make the roads powdery. They are working on trimming trees and bridge rails. They are also working on addressing the erosion in some places and working with weed and pest to address some of those issues. The report was accepted.

Treasurer Leticia Dominguez reported spending first. She discussed reserved funds, assets, and cash flow. Dominguez noted they got their first distribution on sales tax from the Derby Club. Their 2024 taxes were outsourced and will be going out shortly. On the bills, there is a reduction on one, for those who were eligible. The treasurer report was accepted. 

Clerk Mary Feagler reported earnings for the month. She also shared a late voucher for the extension office’s electric bill. Feagler had a payroll for the election judges, an updated warrant report, the updated vendor report, paperwork from the last meetings minutes requiring the chairman’s signature and the payroll liabilities voucher. The report was accepted. 

Chairman McNamee made a comment regarding the Secretaries of the State and election integrity, and he took a moment to thank our election officials. He knows the scrutiny they are under and wanted to show his appreciation as he feels it is a thankless job. 

The library was next to report. Michelle Traher reported the update on their parking lot. It is finished ahead of schedule. She also shared their fall plans, they are planning on a cookbook activity, a craft time for adults, the children’s Friday activities, and their new Thinking Money program. The library staff and the commissioners were very excited about this new program. The last note she made was how they are still working on their outdoor activities and their makerspace. The report was accepted. 

Then, the University of Wyoming extension started off thanking commissioner Burkart for paying the light bill. They shared how their locks are done on one of the computers to make information more secure. They are working on putting the program on another computer. From the ag and natural resources educator, they have received yard calls about trees, fungal, and indoor issues. The representative cohosted the Lawn and Garden radio show and went on tour. Last weekend they held a successful bee college convention. There was a nice variety of people there. On Wednesday, they did an ag expo for the fourth graders, they had a number of back up plans for the sake of weather for this. Chairman McNamee gave the opening speech for this. They are also considering holding a private pesticide education class in the end of October. This is due to some expired licenses and work being done for prairie dog control which can only happen around the end of October. They are also getting ready for the Southeast beef symposium at the fairgrounds in November. They are adding an emergency livestock management piece, due to the number of fires we had this year. The representative thanked a 4H educator for letting 4H students have more time to pick up their projects this year. She shared how they created a September special bulletin instead of the quarterly newsletter. This is because they had a lot going on. They are also getting ready for a new 4H year. Lastly, working on doing something for national 4H week. 

In addition to the extension report, Sensible Nutrition also gave a report. Their representative shared they are busy, they are still taking donations through the extension office, the senior center, Land of Goshen and WYOhelp. They also had a successful summer program at Lincoln Elementary graduating 38 out 45 kids. They also contacted the school district superintendent in order to keep one of their programs, they are waiting to hear back. They also did not have a child safety day this year but are working with Public Health to make this event happen, if not this year they are planning for March. Enrollment numbers are down for CNP, so they are looking for another time to do it. Lastly, they shared they are picking potatoes on Saturday. Both reports were accepted. 

The fair board also had a report for the commissioners. Stephanie Lofink took a moment to share the loss of their vendor chairman Stacia Smith earlier this month. She gave her condolences to Stacia’s family. She then gave her financial report. She commented on their current lighting and sound system situation. They have had some difficulties with these, but they are working on it. Chairman McNamee asked a question about their plan for improvement on the sound system in the rendezvous center. Lofink said she will share this plan with them next month as they are still finalizing things. The issues for this situation came from the conditions within the building. Things like the dust and humidity make it difficult to maintain electrical things but they are doing their best. Lofink added they are working on their new website, and they are working to finish the state audit report. The report was accepted. 

Last to give their report was Public Health. Their representatives reported they have installed a new outdoor message center to better inform the public and it has been successful so far. They also have 28 clients enrolled in their MCH program. Recently, they held an ice cream social at the park for families and as usual, it was enjoyed by many. They have just had two people finish training for their Helping You program which will help many people. They also have a program to help people with cancers traveling burdens. They gave out gift cards for gas they have already given some out. They also still have colon cancer screening kits and other screening options available. There have been quite a few back-to-school immunizations, and they are preparing other immunizations for cold and flu season. There are flu clinics scheduled around the community to reach more people. They did nine total functional needs assessments for July and August. They shared they still offer free or low-priced STD, HIV, hepatitis and pregnancy tests. A member of their team has also completed a few important trainings. This team member then noted a couple things he had learned. The report was accepted. 

The commissioners decided there was no need for a break and continued onto new business. 

Under new business, they had a representative for South Torrington Water and Sewer speak. Elizabeth Moore, Vice President, shared they are having some issues down in South Torrington. Starting in Walters Park, she noted how the commissioners purchased it when it came up for sale as the water and sewer department is unable to own land. Weed and pest were originally maintaining it but are no longer able to due to budget cuts and Walters Park has suffered. As there has been no one to maintain it they had to do a fundraiser to help but they do not have the rights or resources to care for it in the way it currently needs. Moore noted there is a tree growing over the bridge out there and they are concerned it will break the bridge. 

The South Torrington Water and Sewer department is asking for help to maintain and repair the park. Outside of the park, they are also dealing with trees in the road and cracking in the road. The chairman suggested finding an arborist to remove the tree and seeing if they can find anyone to help maintain. They plan to look into some of this further. They will have someone who works on the roads come take a look at the cracks. 

The only other thing under new business was to adopt resolution 2024-13 to authorize Federal Mineral Royalty Capital Construction Account Grant. This is necessary to apply for funding. Goshen County purchased a vacant build in order to renovate it into a county emergency operation center. The grant allows them to finish renovating the building. The commissioners approved the resolution as read. 

The only public comment was a clarification from a previous report. 

There was no unfinished business for this meeting. 

The commissioners then went into an executive session. There were no further actions to be taken after the session and anyone not involved was dismissed. 

Following the County Commissioners meeting was the Goshen County Library Board meeting. 

A board member called the meeting to order. They had no visitors outside of the Telegram and they did not need to have an executive session, so they got into the agenda. 

First up was to approve the agenda. The members approved it. 

The board then moved into old business. The only thing under this section was an update on the parking lot. The parking lot is finished, and they are very happy with the results. The final cost came out to be $5,000 under what was expected, and they will be getting a reimbursement or a progress grant. The library itself came out to be over their expected amount as they had to do some digging in order to stabilize. 

They then moved into new business. Under this section was new library policies. First being an addition based on the new policies from the county. Emergency weather closure, this is so scheduled employees will be paid despite inclement weather at their regular rate of pay. Sick leave base rate has neem updated in order to clarify for employees. There were changes under maximum accrual to not exceed 800 hours. There was also a change under vacation for base rate and monthly accrual. Their action item was to approve these updated policies. They were approved. 

The board then moved into foundation events. 

First thing they discussed was the Halloween Pumpkin Walk. They are partnering with the Episcopal church, and they are looking for staff and board members to volunteer.

They are also doing a Books and Brews event with the Open Barrel on September 26. Tickets will be on sale in the library. They have a pizza bar, salad, and a first pour on the library. 

They have their cocktail party on December 7. 

The week after, they are partnering with GoGoshen to do their cozy Christmas story time. 

In February, they are working on hosting a local author event. 

Lastly, they will have Michael Punke doing a meet and greet/book signing in the library on October 25.

For the director’s report, Cristine Braddy shared how the parking lot is finished. She also noted one of the trucks working on the parking lot did hit the building, so they are working on repairing the stucco on the building. They are working on putting up sheds outdoor to organize their buildings better. They also have plans for decking and shade structure in the event space. They are hoping to have it done by late fall. They are working on the library lighting and electrical inside. It does require some structural things, so they are scheduling time for it. She shared she will be going to a director’s retreat. She lastly shared the library’s schedule and a list of events. This will be available to the public, but she recommends using the website calendar as you can subscribe to it, and it makes attending events much easier. 

Her final note was they have gotten their children’s librarian set up. She is doing well and brings a lot to the library. She is very happy with how the children’s librarian is interacting with their visiting families and kids. 

They had a board member give a report from the morning’s commissioners meeting. The report was all well. It was approved by the commissioners.

A board member noted they are at a hiatus with grants at the moment as they have applied or received all available until the end of the year. 

They discussed their work on updating the furniture in the adult side of the library, after the electrical situation is settled, they will begin the update. They plan to prioritize an accessible table and the other seating around there. From there, they have plans for couches. They want to make the entirety of the library more accessible. 

The final bit of discussion was based around suggestions for the baskets they make for the cocktail party in December. 

They had nothing else to address and the meeting was adjourned.