LINGLE – Town of Lingle Mayor, Micah Foster, called the regular town council meeting, to conduct Lingle town business, to order at 6 p.m. In attendance were council members Tabitha Lambert, Kathy Wilhelm and Jeff Jerome were present. Council member Shelly Duncan appeared absent. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, a motion was made to table agenda item 9, a resolution to adopt behind the meter generation policy. 

The new agenda, with item 9 tabled, was then approved by the council and they moved on to approving of meeting minutes from March 19 regular minutes also. A motion was then quickly made to approve the bills for the month of March, which carried and was approved by the council. 

Under public comment, the tree board spoke to the council. 

“We have a list. Are you ready? We have our Arbor Day celebration, which we hope everybody can attend. Logan is helping us with it so he’ll be there and Jeremy [Jackson] on Monday, April 28 at 1:45 p.m. at the old cemetery. We bought our trees out of our tree board money $850, I believe it was. Those are at Pleasant Valley. You could see them on the highway if you drive by. She got them out by the fence so and those will, I guess, they’ll pick them up the week before,” a member of the tree board reported. 

“The fourth graders will be helping that day,” another board member chimed in. 

“We don’t really know how to approach this. We’re going to ask questions regarding our budget, if we were able to use money to buy items for the geodome. Like hoses and items that they don’t necessarily have yet,” the board representative said.

“Things other than just trees or Arbor Day supplies,” another explained.

“Stuff that we’re going to use to help make the town green or help get the things moving,” the board explained as they asked how much their budget was.

The council explained to the tree board they had a budget of $2,000 and could spend the money how they saw fit to improve the town. The tree board also discussed plans to help combat the West Nile Virus by placing mosquito traps in the town park. They also mentioned if town residents needed a trap they could reach out to the board.

“We just want people to be proactive because if they can prevent mosquitoes early, because there are mosquitoes out already,” the board explained to the council.

The tree board further mention they were going to start a “Yard of the week” contest in the town.

“If you’ve driven through Morrill, you’ve seen the signs for a yard of the week. It’s basically, the community comes together and votes for a yard and they get a sign that celebrates them for a week. So, we are looking at doing that, if you guys are up for that,” the board said.

The board plans then to do an end of the year drawing where every winning yard has the opportunity to win a drawing at the end of the summer. It was also noted flowerpots had been donated to the board and are appearing around town. Flowers will be planted at a later date.

The board also explained the all-school reunion to the council, noting it would be Saturday, June 28.

A bit more discussion ensured with the tree board before the council moved on to department report where Lingle Chief of Police, Endra Andrews, spoke to the council. 

“I participated in eighth grade YOLO Day, which is where we get all of the eighth graders in Goshen County and take them up to district court and introduce them to law enforcement, the attorneys, DFS, the judge. We go through a little mock trial concerning juvenile issues and then we answer questions about each of our roles, explain to them our roles so they get a little grasp on the judicial system,” Andrews said.

Andrews further reported it has been business as usual in the town. 

Anna Barnes, town legal counsel, noted Wyrulec has signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) and Barnes will present it to Foster for signature. Barnes provided more information on an MOU between the Town of Lingle and Goshen County for information technology support and services, which is an item to be heard under new business. 

“Basically, the money that the town provides to the county is to contribute for the cost of equipment, materials and labor that’s provided under the MOU and that’s $7,500,” Barnes explained. “Then they provide 24-hour support for mission critical support and service for non-mission critical infrastructure, depending on how things are operated.”

It was noted the agreement was good for a one-year period and it was the same agreement the town had sign previously and after a brief discussion, a motion to approve the MOU was made which carried by vote.

Logan Dailey, town maintenance supervisor, spoke to the council on a variety of topics. Dailey noted the backhoe tires had arrived and the maintenance department is very pleased. Dailey explained he and Jackson were tearing into pool filter systems and a major clean out took place. 

“We’ve been working on getting everything ready as far as sprinklers and everything. We’re waiting for it to warm up just a little bit more before we get it all turned on,” Dailey said.

A motion was made to hire an applicant for the seasonal maintenance assistant position, which carried by vote and after a bit more discussion, the Lingle Volunteer Fire Department report was provided to the council. 

The fire department mentioned their annual Easter egg hunt will take place Saturday, April 12 at 1 p.m. 

Ritch Reyes, clerk/treasurer for the town, reported to the council explaining reports had been completed and submitted.

With no further business to attend to, Foster adjourned the meeting at 6:27 p.m.