GOSHEN COUNTY – Chairman Michael McNamee called the meeting of the Goshen County Commissioners to order at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 15. Commissioner Justin Burkart was absent and attending training. Commissioner Aaron Walsh was present along with county clerk, Mary Feagler. 

After the Pledge of Allegiance, McNamee opened the meeting with the approval of the agenda and the previous meeting’s minutes, followed by a few kind words regarding Carl Rupp.

“So, today, folks it is kind of with a heavy heart that we are going to approach the chairman’s opening comments just a little bit different. We are going to take a second here to remember a former commissioner that passed away, Commissioner Carl Rupp,” McNamee said. “As we look up on the wall there, [he] served as a commissioner from 2012 to 2018. He was the chairman of the board for a time. [He] passed away last week. I want to pass along our condolences to Carl’s family, including his wife Marge, his daughters Cathy, Caren and Carla. We will rather than begin today’s meeting with opening comments, we will pause and offer a moment of silence in memory of Carl, in honor of his service to Goshen County and for his family. We’ll keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”

After a moment of silence, the commissioners moved on to departmental reports where deputy Herb Irons presented the Goshen County Sheriff’s report in absence of Goshen County Sheriff, Kory Fleenor. 

“For our report, for March 2025, we have a net income of $32,312.38. They yearly July through June, we’re currently at $359,690.30 and I believe that’s been provide to you already. But I have a copy if you’d like it as well,” Irons said. 

“Contract housing’s going fairly well. We currently have 38 inmates, five being female 33 being male. Eleven of those are being held for DOC (Department of Corrections) through contract housing. One’s on a split sentence. We have five IOP individuals, which are individuals which are here for a 90-day program, four of those being male, one being female,” Irons said. “We then have one marshal hold for – he’s been here well over a year now but that’s our only marshal hold.”

Irons also provided an update on staffing noting there are deputy spots available and he further reported the department had control clerks in training. 

“We don’t always have – typically, Sheriff Fleenor is who presents at the meeting. So, it’s an opportunity for us to thank you as well as all of the staff, the sheriff’s department, for what you do. I know that unless you’re in a crisis you don’t appreciate what the sheriff’s department can do for you,” McNamee said. “So, most of the people in the county would probably say that because they’ve never had to call on you and they’ve never been in that situation that they couldn’t tell for sure what you guys do on a daily basis,” McNamee explained. “But we understand, we appreciate everything.”

The commissioners remarked Iron’s report was well received. After a bit more discussion related to the department’s budget, a motion was made to accept Iron’s report for the department. The motion was seconded and passed by vote. 

The commissioners next moved on to the county treasurer report.

“End of March report, we have our reserve funds at $10,325,541.92. Our total assets $15,498,524.88, which leaves us with an expendable cash of $5,178,982.88,” Leticia Dominguez reported. 

After a conversation about the replenishing the contingency reserve, McNamee noted the commissioners in the past were fortunate to be able to build the reserve and the current commissioners continue to build the reserve as well.

“I think that everyone to a person is concerned with what our situation looks like moving forward, especially, with the change in revenue from the property tax cuts. So, I would really like to get through the budget process and see what that looks like. That would just be my personal slant on it,” McNamee said. 

Walsh agreed, the budget should be approved first. McNamee thanked the treasurer for having her report ready prior to the meeting and Walsh made a motion to approve the report. The motion carried and the report Dominguez presented as approved. 

Moving on to the county clerk’s report, Feagler also provided the clerk of court’s report which was skipped during the last meeting due to technical issues. Feagler presented a letter for the commissioners to sign supporting the semi-quincentennial committee. Feagler also present the warrant and payroll liabilities reports. Feagler presented a resolution to appoint a special prosecutor passed down from the county attorney’s office. Feagler noted it was time for new bookkeeping system and there were concerns about where to come up with funds for various items. Feagler also mentioned Rupp. 

“He was a friend of my in-laws for a long time before I ever met him and then he was my neighbor. I worked with him as a commissioner and he was – the county’s going to miss out – he was a special guy for this area,” Feagler said. “My heart goes out to his family.”

The commissioners voted to approve the special prosecutor if the need should arise and the resolution was signed. A motion was also made to approve Feagler’s reports.

The commissioners then moved on to the library report where county grant writer Hannah Fullmer joined Cristine Braddy, library director, to present the library’s report to the commissioners. 

“I think I’m going to continue the trend that I just want to mention that Carl was one of our most relied upon volunteers at the Goshen County Library. When I took over the library, it wasn’t in the best shape it’s ever been. Carl was so kind and so helpful and a great listening ear and I know that he will be missed from our organization as well,” Braddy said. “So, we wanted to make sure that we honored his memory today.” 

Braddy noted the library will have 40 different programs over the course of April. She further noted the majority of those were children’s programs however the library’s goal was to even out the number of programs. Braddy also commented the children’s programing was going well. She further added there is an art program going on for teenagers on Fridays, book clubs, writing clubs and even crafting.

“Every one of these programs is a staff-run or volunteer-run program. None of these programs are passive. We do have a couple of passive programs meaning people do them without needing a staff member there. Most of those are for kids,” Braddy said.

After a bit more discussion, Braddy and Fullmer presented the grant resolution to the commissioners for signature. The chairman commented both Fullmer and Braddy for their work to obtain the grant which will be used to make the library handicap accessible for the community. With nothing further to discuss, a motion was made to approve the library’s report which carried by vote. 

Next, the commissioners heard from Amy Smith who presented the UW Extension report. Smith noted she has had a lot of meetings. Smith noted she had met with the members of the fair board and she stated there will be a new direction with new personnel, clarifying roles. Smith also stated the 4H educator would start, full-time, June 2. Smith explained she had done a radio lawn and garden show at KGOS/KERM’s new studio. After a bit more discussion and accolades for Smith’s hard work, a motion was made to accept Smith’s report, which carried by vote. 

Next, the commissioner moved on to the fair report where Stephanie Lofink and Eleno Oliva presented to the board. 

“Good morning. Very simple, we have plenty to do. I would like to say thank you to the department for keeping the supplies out there. We received one compliment from the public again for our arena. We couldn’t have done the work without road and bridge. Thank you very much for letting us use their equipment,” Oliva said. 

The chairman applauded Oliva’s work as he turned the arena into a dog show last weekend. Lofink then provided her updated report to the commission and after a bit of discussion, the commissioners moved to approve the report. 

The commissioners then moved on to new business where they heard from Wyoming Family Development. The center asked the county to match funding for the services provided in the county. 

“We’ve served 140 children last year and 60 of them were actually receiving services through our developmental services,” Deb Grandy, Torrington Learning Center Director said. 

After a bit more discussion, a motion was made to match the funds of $1,500 which was approved by vote. 

The commissioners then recessed until the public hearing on the Lewis Feedlot Confined Feed Operation permit scheduled for 10:30 a.m. After the hearing, the commissioners entered an executive session regarding an IT personnel update and the meeting adjourned thereafter.