LINGLE – Wednesday evening, Lingle Town Council held their first meeting for the month of October.

The council opened the meeting with the pledge of allegiance. They then moved into approval of the agenda and the previous meeting’s minutes. 

Next on the agenda was September’s bills. Councilman Kathy Wilhelm reconciled the month’s bills. Total expenditure was $157,123.56 and total revenue was $125,517.38. The difference was -$31,606.18 due to the chip and sealing of the streets. A motion was made to pay the bills, and the motion passed. 

The council moved to public comment. There was on commenter in attendance. Scott Prusia went before the council to speak about lodging tax. This year there will be a 2% additional lodging tax on the ballot. He came to provide more information on the tax to help promote the tourism of Goshen County. 

“We’ve had this tax for several years and basically what the tax does, there’s a 5% lodging tax statewide. 3% of that goes to the state, 2% comes back to each county,” Prusia stated. “Each county by statute and has the ability for an additional 2% tax. And so most counties in the state of Wyoming have that additional 2%. There’s some counties along the interstate that really don’t need to promote their tourism activities and their lodging facilities as much because they’re getting by default.”

He explained how important the additional 2% is for lodging tax. The additional 2% would bring income up and they use the increase for is to promote tourism and lodging in the county. 

He stated how they received a grant from Wyoming House of Tourism, and they were able to use this money to enhance their website and promotion and it allowed them to start the first three months of the year in great condition. He believes the investment is worth it. 

The tax is paid by people coming through and using our lodging. Locals do not pay the tax. 

Prusia shared how they work with the Homesteader Museum to promote the information welcoming center. He said the previous year’s efforts brought lodging tax receipts up 22.67%. This is not due to increased room rates as those have gone down in Torrington. Occupancy has gone up as they are able to accommodate more people. Due to the work they are doing, more people are staying in Torrington, making prices cheaper. 

The council then moved to reports. 

Police chief Endra Andrews reported she has done a lot of educating in the community about traffic laws such as speed limits, stop signs, and the requirement of current, valid registrations and licenses. She has also been visiting department of family sServices and district court for open juvenile cases. She went to the range for pistol qualifications and to the sheriff’s office for monthly intoxication. She also met some tourists.

She also stated how she had received a call from a community member about a person going around asking for clothing donations, so she recommends proceeding with caution. 

Next, town attorney Anna Barnes gave her report. Barnes reported she has been attending juvenile cases with Andrews. She also reported there has been recent solicitations in the community from third-party companies for different school districts. 

This third party is making up false fundraisers for the schools and making phone calls to get people to contribute. These are not real fundraisers. She is asking for those who receive these calls to ignore them or to hang up and call the school and ensure it is not real. 

She also stated she has not updated her contract with the town since she started in 2019. She put together a letter for the council updating her hourly rate and asking for an increased retainer fee. Her hourly rate is now $200 an hour if they go over the five hours. 

Then, town supervisor Logan Dailey gave his report. He reported they had submitted the lead and copper initial inventory, it was accepted by the state, and they have to send out follow-up notifications to residents who have lead, galvanized, or unknown listed in the system to let them know there are concerns. These notifications will be sent out with bills. They are required to do this once a year. They have been receiving information, and uploading it, and they will have it listed and printed at town hall. 

He also reported the Wyoming Municipal Power Agency (WMPA) is still discussing hiring linemen owned jointly by multiple towns. Guernsey has expressed their disinterest, so it will likely just be Pine Bluffs, Lingle and Fort Laramie. There are still a lot of details to discuss and work out, so a decision is yet to be made. 

He stated they are working on the winterization of the parks and the pool. They are also planning to start sealing cracks in the streets within the next couple of weeks. He wanted people to know there may be some road closures, but they will last maybe an hour. 

Dailey said the landfill project is moving along. They are putting out bids for construction two weeks from now. The state approved the purchase of the two dump trailers, and they will be reimbursed 90%. They will be picking them up this Friday. 

They also ordered a television for the office meeting room at the community center. This was budgeted. There was a sale on electronics online, so they made the purchase. They purchased a 75-inch TV and a portable stand. They also purchased a conference hub and other things to help ensure it runs smoothly. This cost about $1,100, which was within budget. Those things should come in next week so they will start putting it all together. 

Dailey said he would like to start working on investing and advertising to the community the updated conference room business center so they can get some people to host meetings in the community center. 

For the Lingle Volunteer Fire Department report, ambulance and fire vehicles were pretty low this month. They have had fire safety events going on at the schools for the past few days. They split the presentations up this year to spend more time really talking with the kids. The presentations were successful. They want to build on this and are discussing setting up a program where they read to the kids partnered with the schools’ libraries. They will be having their haunted house October 29-31 this year. They are advertising this and they are hoping to make it bigger. They would like to bring more people in. 

They also have the Giving Tree coming up. They are working on advertising. This is where they collect funds and use them to buy presents and meals for families in need at Christmas time. They will have a place to collect these funds and the tree at the town hall. 

Lingle also has some fire vehicles out at the moment. One being at the Buffalo fire, and another being worked on. It was not working properly, and they are almost done repairing it. 

The final report was administrative items from Richard Reyes. He reported having entered some information onto the website. Also, the senior center paid rent. 

The council moved onto new business as there was no unfinished business, ordinances or resolutions. The only thing on the agenda was to approve town attorney Barnes’ updated letter of retainer mentioned above. Her hourly rate increased from $150 to $200 an hour. Attorney Barnes’ job description is to attend one of the two monthly council meetings, typically the first of the two. To be able for consultation with the council as needed. And to attend monthly town court meetings held on Thursday mornings as needed. She offers her services at a retainer of $800 a month for five hours plus cost. Outside of this retainer, her rate is $200 an hour. The council accepted the contract. 

Last was appointments. They appointed David Saul to the Goshen County Tourism Promotion Joint Powers. The motion was approved. 

There were no council items and no need for an executive session so the meeting was adjourned.