Improved road accepted; valves make water shut-offs less dry

Preston Harer reviewed the original plan to improve the existing trail to his property with the council Monday evening at the Pine Bluffs council meeting. Town administrator Caryn Miller said after council members physically looked at the property and reviewed the plats, Harer did encroach back on public property. Harer apologized for any miscommunication, but said he followed the specifications the town had for the trail.

Councilman Mike Ragsdale said he wished the council had more communication on the work being done.

Councilman Alan Curtis said he was “concerned as anybody,”

Mayor Bill Shain said after looking over the plats and information on the town property, the trail actually ended at the ninth green of the golf course.

“Anyone who has been accessing that area has been trespassing,” Shain said. “For years and years, people have been using this trail, and they were on private property unless they hiked up there.”

Councilman Mark Fornstrom moved to accept the improved trail Harer worked on in the spirit of the original plans. The motion passed, but Curtis said he even though he understood there was no way to replace the native grasses, he would appreciate Harer looking after the trees. Harer said he was very interested in keeping the bluffs intact and recognizes opportunity for growth for the town with the bluffs.

Through the work Harer had done to improve his sites, Shain said he would like to have a franchise agreement with High West Energy, Inc. for future building in the town when it is financially and geographically inconvenient for the town to offer electric poles and power. The council agreed and Miller will work with attorney Alex Davison on the agreement. Moving on, Shain said Chris Lidstone had called to talk about placing water shut-off valves on the east side of town.

“The water project has a larger scope than first anticipated, and valves would give the ability to greatly isolate the affected area of a water shut-off,” explained Shain. “It would be great to do the same thing on the west side, so I would expect a change order coming our way for that. The contractor has been told the length of shut-offs is not acceptable and we have seen great improvement on that with the scheduled six hour shut-off Saturday only lasting two hours. And that is what we expect going forward.”

In other business, Miller said the town needed a community assessment completed so she could apply for Wyoming Department of Transportation funds.

“Much has been done to the downtown area with the day care and the business building,” Miller said. “The town needs to have a community assessment done every five years and the last one was completed in 2005. Wyoming Business Council and Cheyenne LEADS have offered to help with the assessment.”

The community is invited to give their input May 30, at the Pine Bluffs Community Center from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.

Miller presented the pay request for cement work at the airport hanger and apron project.

“This is for the good cement work,” explained Miller. “The contractor hasn’t finished replacing the cement that is bad.”

The council adjourned to executive session for personnel matters. The next meeting will be Monday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m.