Lingle – Wednesday evening, Lingle Town Council held their second bi-monthly meeting for October. The council began their meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by approval of the …
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Lingle – Wednesday evening, Lingle Town Council held their second bi-monthly meeting for October. The council began their meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by approval of the day’s agenda, and the approval of meeting minutes for October 9. All were approved by the council.
The council heard reports, beginning with Lingle Police Chief Andrews. Andrews reported how not much has changed. She still has open department of family service cases, she has worked with traffic, stop signs and dogs. Nakisha Garner added how they had a call from out of state, sharing how they were pulled over by chief Andrews and they believed she represented the town well and they were pleased by the traffic things.
Town attorney Anna Barnes was not present, so they moved on to Lingle Town Maintenance Supervisor, Logan Dailey’s report. He reported how they have been working on winterization of parks and other winterization efforts. He also reported a pre-bid meeting at the landfill Tuesday regarding contracting. Dailey reported the contracted suggested it may cost more to go to Lingle than will to do what they require of them. The bid opens next Wednesday at 2 p.m. at town hall.
Dailey also reported they have both of their trailers, and the trailers have proved to be useful. They have used both, three or four times now, for things such as tree branches. The department is also working on a contract with the city of Torrington to bring things to their landfill from Lingle. He has not had a response yet, so he also plans to keep the council updated on the status of the contract.
Dailey reported a visit from rural water to speak on the idea of water meters. Rural water wants the Town of Lingle to get onto the Intended Use Plan for the next year to consider installing water meters. Although not a popular idea with the town of Lingle, it is required in order to receive grants. They are looking for proof of Lingle working to stay above board with water projects. Another valuable part of implementing water meters, according to Rural Water, is it helps detect leaks.
Dailey explained the town tracks water usage, just as a whole rather than individually. He brought it up to the council for the sake of discussion. Rural water is only wanting water usage, although water is typically billed by gallons used, the Town of Lingle is not required to do so even when implementing meters. The reason they find the measurement of water usage so valuable, is because it also helps them track waste.
If Lingle gets onto the Intended Use Plan, they should be able to receive grants for the new meters. The Town of Lingle cannot receive any water grants if they do not enact this plan. The meters would be commercial, residential and city owned. Lingle already has water meters applied to each of their wellhouses, and a continuous pressure monitor at the storage tank. However, this is not helpful to rural water as they are more interested in individual usage.
Tabitha Lambert, council member, stated if it can be funded by grant, it cannot do more harm than good. If the town possibly ever reaches a point where they need to bill for water, the town would not have to rush to get meters in order for this to happen. She also mentioned the importance of ensuring they continue to receive water grants.
For the Intended Use Plan, it would be a project. First step being, the water meters and then potentially water pits, which is something not very common in Lingle. After those, they can look at system upgrades and new water lines as they would already be set up for grants.
The council agreed it cannot harm anything to look into the idea. Lingle is one of three towns in Wyoming not using water meters. Besides the benefits, the only other big deciding factor is if they are wanting to make the update or not. They have two different meters available; It is their choice. They plan on discussing the topic further and including rural water in the discussion.
Next to report was Lingle Volunteer Fire Department’s Fire Chief Kasey Bangerter. He reported the usage of eight ambulances and one fire truck for last month. He also reported having a fire truck on the Elk Fire for the last couple weeks, the truck has since returned to Lingle.
Bangerter also reported their haunted house will run from October 30 to November 1.
Dailey added how councilman Lambert and himself are now basic life support, first aid CPR instructors. They finished their class last Friday and plan to host community CPR classes, certify town employees and teach a class at the senior center as soon as they receive their credentials. Dailey also added they have gotten their truck, which needed repairs, back and it will be ready to be back in action soon. It did not take a very long period of time for these repairs.
Last to report was town clerk/ treasurer Richard Reyes. He reported how they have an upcoming grant to submit for reimbursement. He is hoping to have invoices to submit as well. He received an invoice today from a repair shop in the amount of $9,340. The invoice has been submitted. He also received two proposals from Benchmark to snake and clean the sewer systems, one proposal being twice the amount of the other. It has been recommended to go with the pace contract.
Councilman Shelly Duncan expressed her concern for the unclarity of what the prices may look like. She is concerned they may not have the funds. They still have the funds until the end of the month. She then expressed her concern on whether the project would also have to be completed by the end of the month in order to still be funded and reimbursable. The answer to this was unsure and requires some more discussion. Councilman Duncan was not comfortable voting in favor for this expenditure until the financials are more properly in order. The council agreed with this statement.
They had no unfinished business, ordinances, or resolutions so they moved into new business.
The only thing under new business was the USDA Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program, which is the financial extension of the sewer situation. Reyes shared the information he had on the sewer project. He has been unable to find out rather it is a loan or a grant without applying. He stated they make it sound like it may be a combination of both. This is very important to the council because it decides if they will be spending money on the sewers or if it will be funded.
Mayor Micah Foster stated he believes it is simply an application and cannot be legally binding. They approved Reyes to submit an application.
Duncan shared how she would like the council to remain mindful of the newly elected legislature as there will be cuts across the state. She wants to ensure the council is cautious when making spending decisions as their funds may end up cut as well. She explained how this is the purpose of her concerns with the sewer project. She is concerned for the town. She also shared how she heard they are already cutting transportation committee funds by 40%.
Councilman Kathy Wilhelm also wanted to thank supervisor Dailey for his prompt and positive response to an issue she had shared with him about the park.
No other council members had comments and the meeting was then adjourned. The next meeting will be November 6 at 7 p.m.