GOSHEN COUNTY – The first October meeting of the Goshen County Commissioners was called to order by Michael McNamee, chairman. Present were Mary Feagler, clerk, Justin Burkart, vice chairman, and Aaron P. Walsh, commissioner. McNamee led those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance and then he gave a few opening comments regarding the agenda. 

“Welcome everybody to the first of October,” McNamee said. “Where have the first nine months of the year gone? It sure seems to fly by. [I] want to alert you before we go any further with the agenda here, we need to remove the ‘grant writer report’ as well as the ‘emergency manager report.’ Neither Tom (Bozeman) or Hannah (Fullmer) are going to be able to be here.”

McNamee encouraged everyone to take care of themselves and stay healthy. He also added Debbie Surrant, Goshen County Assessor, who had a tax reduction due to a house fire, for the commissioners. McNamee added an assessor’s report to the end of the department reports on the agenda.

A motion was made by Burkart to approve the revised agenda which was then seconded by Walsh. The agenda was approved. 

With no questions or concerns, the commission moved to approve the meeting minutes from the previous meeting. 

In the chairman’s opening address, McNamee explained he, Walsh, and other local elected officials attended the WACO Conference in Rock Springs last week. 

“As with most of those conferences, I think we sit in on some sessions that we sit there and think, ‘Well, there’s probably not much we’re going to gain from this.’ Then as you sit in on it, you listen to the conversations, you find out you were not alone in a lot of the challenges and struggles that we go through. So, it is always good to, I think, collaborate with the other elected officials around the state,” McNamee said. 

McNamee mentioned the town of Rock Springs did a great job of hosting the conference. 

McNamee also mentioned the first meeting in November for the commission would be held on Wednesday, November 6 to avoid issues with the general election.

Moving on to departmental reports, the commission heard from the clerk of court, Brandi Correa, who announced next month, the courthouse moves forward with e-filing. 

“It’s finally our turn. After we go live next week, any attorney it will be mandatory to e-file,” Correa said. “Pro se litigants can still file the traditional way. But again, come next Monday, we are going to e-filing and attorneys have six months to work that out. So, we will see an increase in our email filing,” Correa said.

A motion was made by Burkart to accept the clerk’s report as well as the earnings report which was then seconded by Walsh. The commission voted to approve the reports.

The commission skipped over the grant writer’s report and there was no sheriff’s report.

The road and bridge department presented their report to the commission. Members of the department expressed they were well aware of the washboards on many of the county roads however, lack of precipitation was making the roads more difficult to maintain. The department also noted their new website was up and running but the department is consulting the IT department for further assistance. The department also discussed a couple of feedlots in the county and their DEQ qualifications and requirements. The department also relayed they are working on winter road closure information in coordination with WDOT. 

“When they (WYDOT) close certain roads, rerouting starts through Goshen County and it leads to not good places for us,” Bob Taylor, engineer, said. “That sort of thing was happening all over the state and WYDOT came up with the idea to help us out.”

Taylor explained it is a little more challenging to determine the “what ifs” of winter roads. 

“[What if] (US Highway) 85 closes from Cheyenne to Torrington, what roads do you close in that case? If 85 closes from Lingle to Lusk, what roads do you close in that case?” Taylor asked. “What if I-25 closes what roads to we close in that case, etc., etc.”

Taylor discussed there were some roads through Goshen County that were pretty isolated and should be closed so travelers don’t reroute on dangerous roads during winter conditions.

“So, are you saying, if I-25 closes, we’ve got a chain of events that happens automatically in Goshen County?” Burkart asked. 

“Yes, based on the report and the map work that we present today,” Taylor explained. “If I-25 closes right now, the only road we have closed in that case is road 55, west of La Grange and that’s really the only cross-connection we get out of Laramie County.”

“Do you feel like maybe it is, in a way, a moot point, given the fact that, I mean, the absence of compliance from people when I-25 is closed? When 85 is closed to Lusk, people will still take off and try these back roads go to Van Tassel and whatever,” McNamee said to Taylor.

“There will be that problem; however, there will be now, with the additional documentation available fines and punishment for violating those road closures, they can keep that for the sheriff’s department.”

Discussion about GPS systems reporting the closures will help too. 

“Another thing we need to discuss is flashing lights for stop signs,” Walsh said. “We had an accident on the south of the Lingle/Veteran Road, and we were wondering if we could get a flashing light to indicate a stop ahead.”

The department noted it might take some time to justify putting the light up.

“I did go out yesterday afternoon and I looked to make sure that the signage was up at the Linge/Veteran and (Wyoming State Highway) 154 intersections and it is,” the department said. “I don’t know what the circumstances were surrounding that accident but I can tell you that there is plenty of signage there. The rumble strips are all the way across the lane. As I said, I don’t know what the circumstances were of that accident, but it does not meet the appearance of an ‘unsafe intersection.’”

There was a brief discussion on the park in south Torrington where Walsh stated there was a relationship with the conservation district.

“No one in the conservation district understands or knows why that partnership dissolved,” Walsh said. “I was going to see if I could go to the next conservation district meeting and see if we couldn’t rejoin another partnership to where we have a joint maintenance venture with that.”

Walsh made a motion to approve the road and bridge report which was seconded by Burkart. The commission voted to approve the report. 

Next, the commissioners accepted the county treasurer’s report, including October’s payroll. 

Feaglar expressed she had just returned from the WACO conference and there were two main subjects in her meetings, the election and e-titling. 

“There are lots of states that do e-titling. Wyoming is just doing the beginning stage. They’ve done a study and they’re going to have a joint agreement between dealerships and counties and the treasurers to where when a person goes to find a vehicle at a dealership and then finance it, then a title is just like the e-title rather than the actual paper title you mentioned,” Feagler said. “They are shooting for 2027, so we have been quiet for a while.”

Feagler also mentioned the e-fling was mainly for vehicles with leans her office is looking forward to the election being over. 

“Then, as far as the election goes, we are just finishing up doing our testing of our machines and everything has gone really well in our office,” Feagler said. “We’re looking forward to the November election being over with.”

Feaglar explained, through her conversations with Surratt regarding the south Torrington parks, it was discovered a street which had never been vacated. 

A motion was made by Walsh to accept the county clerk’s report consisting of the warrant report and earnings report which was seconded by Burkart.

Skipping over the emergency manager and fire warden report due to illness and the library report due to no report available, the commission moved on to the maintenance supervisor report. 

Maintenance supervisor, Kevin Flock, advised the commission the county is having some issues with the control panel of the heating and cooling system. Flock noted the problem about a month to a month in a half ago. Flock contacted a local company to diagnose the issues, but they were unsuccessful. Flock then contacted a company in Casper, and they had a technician come do an evaluation on the panel. The suggestion was made to update the panel. Flock stated even though other repairs were needed, the more important one was the panel. A discussion was conducted about replacing the unit as suggested and the commission welcomed a bid at the next meeting. Flock also asked about the truck requested for the snowplow.

“I’ll be honest with you, that got tabled and we haven’t had a chance to visit about it since then,” McNamee said. “The pickup that had come from road and bridge that ended up at the fairgrounds, is that the one you had been using? 

“No, the one we got from road and bridge out in the parking lot out here,” Flock said. “We got it two years ago. Shortly after I had come back to work for the county. We did a little bit of work to it and thought he could make it work for a snowplow.”

Flock explained he took the truck in to be aligned and discovered it that they thought the steering box was bad. They found about $4,000 worth of repairs, according to Flock. 

McNamee explained the commission would look into what vehicles might be available for Flock to use for snow removal. 

A motion was made by Walsh to accept the maintenance supervisor report which was seconded by Burkart who also added the importance of getting the sump pump repaired. The report was accepted. 

Next, the commission heard from Surratt who had reduction paperwork for at least one residence consumed by fire. She noted there were reports of others, but she hadn’t received the paperwork. Surratt spoke to the commissions about the five tax exemptions which passed and how they affected Goshen County. 

The commission approved the assessor’s report and took a short break. After the break, they entered into executive session and then adjourned thereafter.