TORRINGTON – The Goshen County Commissioners met early Tuesday morning at the courthouse for anticipated discussions of several important local topics.
Chairman of the commission, Michael McNamee, was present along with fellow commissioners Aaron P. Walsh and Justin Burkart.
Chairman McNamee opened the meeting while addressing all in attendance with a bit of warm-weather humor to start things off.
“For the first meeting of April, commissioner Walsh is going to sing the National Anthem,” McNamee joked. “Just a brief welcome for everyone, we have a full slate here. I always try to come up with something for the opening, and all I have today is welcome springtime.”
Chairman McNamee made a valid notion reminding all in the county with warm weather and spring fast approaching, it would be wise to communicate with county officials while ensuing certain types of work such as ditch-digging or weed burning.
“I’m sure my fellow commissioners would agree as we enter spring, with your spring work be careful” McNamee continued. “Call in if you are going to do certain type of work on the farm. I’m sure everyone is well aware of what happened in Texas, so be careful with what you do headed into spring.”
One significant topic discussed during public comment were valid concerns by Yoder resident, Greggory Whalen.
Whalen spoke before the commission in regard to ongoing growth and business by Dietzler Construction Corporation and Western Proponents LLC near the town of Yoder. Whalen noted although good and steady business within the county is always a good thing, excessive amount of dust and very loud noise has become a possible serious health hazard for elderly citizens such as Whalen who reside in Yoder.
“There is constant silica dust, and the noise level has increased to the sound of a jet engine running full throttle,” Whalen said. “This occurs throughout all hours of the day and night. This is very concerning with the vibration shaking our home, and many others in the north end. Also, the truck traffic has caused an increase in danger from school crossing. There really is not an excuse for this. Along with the interstate route, this has become extremely dangerous. We are not able to enjoy the sanctity of our homes and have a full night’s rest. Dust is everywhere, therefore it’s not possible to sit outside due to the dust in our eyes. We cannot live in peace. We are asking the commissioners to look into these problems, and help us find solutions to contain the problems.”
All three commissioners nodded in acknowledgment of Whalen, with Chairman McNamee speaking on behalf of all three in response.
“I don’t want residents of Yoder who are impacted by this to think these concerns fall on deaf ears,” McNamee stated. “We as commissioners feel it’s something new to Goshen County and its residents. I think probably the best thing we can do to move forward is facilitate some of those conversations. We need to involve the mayor of Yoder and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Anytime we’ve reached out regarding different issues, they always have been willing to have those conversations with us. It’s reaching a level of frustration where something has got to be done. So often we have issues that come before us as commissioners; ‘help us help you’ types of situations. Not that it should be the sole responsibility of the people, but I do like the idea of having more conversations together to come up with something. What does that look like? How do we come together as commissioners? City Council? Yoder? Concerned citizens? Everyone needs to be brought together to have this conversation to help. WYDOT needs to be involved also.”
“There are a lot of good things to take into consideration,” McNamee continued. “I think making Western Proponents aware would be wise, and I think they are going to work in the spirit of being partners with Yoder and Goshen County. But I think there does have to be direction given to the situation which leads to some resolve. A lot of people have gone all the way to the top, even to Senator Barasso in DC. What do we do about it? From our standpoint I will speak for my fellow commissioners and say we will try to arrange a sit-down conversation. This will include us as commissioners, City Council in Yoder, and we will reach out to DEQ. We are in contact with them on other issues. I don’t know if we have them on speed dial, but they will recognize the number when we call it. I will make that commitment, grease the gears and put this in motion. The liability that continues to mount has to be addressed. We need to put the word in for everyone to come out and be part of the solution.”
The meeting moved forward with an awaited discussion of the fair report, courteously provided by Goshen County Fairgrounds General Manager, Stephanie Bumguardner.
Bumguardner noted with warm spring weather quickly approaching, now would be a great time to begin appropriate fair week preparations.
“As far as the fair schedule, we had a great board meeting last Tuesday,” Bumguardner said. “The left-hand portion is the youth schedule, which doesn’t change much. As for the events scheduled this year, when they said the fair starts on July 27 they really mean it. There are many activities on the schedule. We will pick the fair off with a sanctioned ranch rodeo, and the second annual Western Royal Truck and Car show will kick off Saturday the 27.”
Bumguardner mentioned further before the commission the possibility of taking a different schedule approach involving fair activities this year. According to the fairgrounds general manager, it would be more beneficial for county residents if additional activities were made available in evenings and weekends to maximize community participation.
“For Fridays, we have always called it Family Friday,” Bumguardner said. “This year we are taking most of the activities where there’s lots of family action on Friday evening, and we want to get all the action in one spot where we’ve made room for bull riding. Pinnacle Bank has stepped up as our first sponsor for bull riding. We have lots of new exciting things more desirable for the public to see in the evenings and weekends.”
Shortly before the adjournment of the meeting, Goshen County Public Health Nurse Manager, Kara Palfy, was firm in encouraging residents to be vigilant when it came to an unanticipated rise in measles across the country.
According to Palfy, measles should be taken extremely serious especially with the health and wellbeing of young children.
“There are 58 cases in the country, and it’s going up,” Palfy stated. “I was curious where Goshen County stands on their MMR vaccine. The last report I had is we ranked 23 out of 23 counties. We might be in the hotbed if that ever were to come to Wyoming. Covid muddied everything in the vaccine world. The measles vaccines are 99% effective. Measles doesn’t effect adults like children, and it really does hit kids hard. It’s unfortunate that we’ve got a whole population of people who are anti-vax now because of Covid.”
The meeting adjourned promptly at 10:58 a.m., and will reconvene at the Goshen County Courthouse on April 2 at 9 a.m.
