Public Notice No. 1843

Posted

January 21, 2020
Town of Guernsey
Regular Meeting
Platte County, Wyoming

Present: Mayor Paustian, CM Kelley, CM Whitworth, CM Harris, CM Augustyn
Staff: K. Farmer, Judge Conner, Sergeant Clevenger, Officer Holt, M. Allred, M. Perkins, Attorney Lent. M. Fronapfel
Guests: Marion Rotz, Christopher Martinez, Mistina Smith, Aliyah Smith, Sue Fronapfel, Anne Olsen, Dwight McGuire, Mark Borders, Anthony Martinez, Cherycl Quick, Elizabeth Pallow, Jim Pallow, Pat Russell, Christa Bartel, Shawna Reichert, Matt Anderson, Magda  Estrada, JD Lewis, Shane Clevenger, Ada Pulos, Anna Glover, Dave Cole, Shawn Stroud
Mayor Paustian called the meeting to order at 6:04 pm. The assembly joined in the Pledge of Allegiance and was welcomed to the meeting.

Agenda: CM Kelley moved to approve the agenda as written, seconded by CM Harris. A vote was taken, and the motion carried with 5 ayes.
Minutes: CM Augustyn moved to approve the regular minutes for January 7, 2020 and special minutes for January 14, 2020, seconded by CM Kelley. A vote was taken, and the motion carried with 5 ayes.
Consideration of Claims: Mayor Paustian presented the vouchers for approval. CM Whitworth moved to approve the Considerations of Claims for $69,148.94, seconded by CM Augustyn. A vote was taken, and the motion carried with 5 ayes. Vouchers follow in entirety: Able Equipment – 1770.32, Absolute Solutions – 2047.92, Black Hills Energy – 1251.50, Bluffs Sanitary Supply – 68.95, Bob Ruwart Motors – 119.68, Border State Industries – 628.49, Brines – 96.00, Capital Business Systems – 424.02, CNA Surety – 100.00, Energy Laboratories – 1752.00, Guernsey Gazette – 2668.46, Holtz – 110.00, Howshar Hardware – 28.55, IIMC – 135.00, LL Johnson Distributing – 291.10, Lent – 750.00, Mindieta – 73.50, Mobius Communications – 360.00, Montgomery, A. – 850.00, One-Call of Wyoming – 30.25, Platte Co Chamber of Commerce – 2927.50, Public Health Division – 56.00, R & R Products – 670.55, Ron’s Equipment – 4558.25, Rothenbuehler – 168.00, Sam’s Club – 1011.76, Sterling Codifiers – 1166.00, Syncb/Amazon – 879.76, Thomson Reuters- West – 147.00, Verizon Wireless – 390.74, Vistabeam – 417.55, Wheatland Automotive – 349.03, Wright Express – 1678.91, WWQ & PCA – 180.00, WY Dept. of Agriculture – 25.00, Wyoming Secretary of State – 30.00, Wyrulec – 1003.34, Payroll – 31012.46, Taxes & Benefits – 8032.50, Total Vouchers – $69,148.94.
Chief of Police Appointment: CM Whitworth moved to accept the appointment Christopher Dwight McGuire as Police Chief for the Guernsey Police Department, seconded by CM Augustyn. Vote taken and motion carried with 5 ayes.
Public Comment: Pat Russell handed out the year end report for the Guernsey Community Food Pantry. They serve an average of 39 children, 26 seniors, and 81 adults per month as well as 86 bags of food per month. She would also like to address the Facebook posts and she said thanks the council their service to the community. We voted you as our leadership and the council has her upmost respect and these posts have not changed her mind. Putting that type of information on social media is appalling. We should use the council meetings as the forum to discuss this information. She felt it very interesting how the resignation letter got posted. It doesn’t make any sense and future employers can see that. There are accusations with no backing, and she doesn’t believe them. She has the upmost respect for the leadership of the community. She has faith that they will do the best for our community regarding all town relations. Dave Cole had items stolen from his shop and he called at 10:45 pm and didn’t have any police response until 5 pm the next day. He had a tv stolen and acetylene bottle taken out of his truck. He hopes that we can get this taken care of and do better than this in the future. Magda Estrada said she respects the council and talks to them often. She has a few questions regarding the police issues on Facebook. How many officers do we have right now? Mayor Paustian said 2. Her biggest concerns are the petty crimes and has anyone thought about property values going down? One of the concerns when buying a home people look at crime in the area. Mayor Paustian said we have 2 police officers currently; one is on light duty right now and our other officer is doing the best he can and being diligent. The new police chief will be here in roughly 3 to 4 weeks. We will be opening applications for additional officers and want to have a full department. He has checked with other departments around the state and per capita we are no worse off than any other community. We will always have petty crimes but hope to have a full force to get things taken care of. CM Augustyn said we have contacted the Platte County Sheriffs Department to help with times where we are short staffed.
Department Reports: Matt Allred said he has been working on phase 2 of the rail spur for a month now. The run going to the east is fine except for not having a head rail. Which would not allow for both rails to be in use at the same time. Right now, there is an opportunity to use the spur that goes into the rock quarry as the head rail if BNSF would allow that. We want to avoid putting in a diamond crossing as it is very expensive. CM Augustyn said there is a possibility of an interplan switch that would require cars to be moved around while spotting other cars. Matt is going to keep working on other plans to come up with the best design possible. Joe Michaels said coal fired energy has gotten interesting. Tri-states wants to go renewable and they are closing the plant and mine in Craig Colorado. WMPA has always sold additional electricity to Colorado but WMPA is unsure if they will purchase it since it isn’t renewable. Missouri Basin Power Plant has some remodels that will allow it to stay open until 2042 and Dry Forks came on line 4 years ago and will be that last one closed. Fire Chief Thomas reported a few calls for service and 2 gas leaks for January. There was fire school this month and they are restarting fire fighter 1 training at the fire hall. The new fire truck will be delivered in March. Sergeant Clevenger reported an influx of minor crimes. They did have a home invasion attempt over the weekend and the Sheriff and Guernsey PD did respond. The Sheriff has been assisting the department and she is very grateful for their help. She has been working with Sheriff Harris for deputy assist days and he has been very agreeable and helpful.
Mayor and Council Report: Mayor Paustian said we will remain diligent in getting a full police force and he is very confident in the new appointment of Chief McGuire.
Announcements: 2/4 – Council Meeting, 2/17 – Presidents Day, Town Hall Closed, 2/18 – Town Council Meeting
Executive Session – Personnel: CM Augustyn moved to go into executive session after a short recess, seconded by CM Kelley. Vote taken and motion carried with 5 ayes. CM Whitworth moved to come out of executive session with no decisions made seconded by CM Augustyn. Vote taken and motion carried with 5 ayes.
Adjournment: With no further business to come before the Council, Mayor Paustian called for a motion to adjourn. CM Augustyn moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:51 pm, seconded by CM Kelley. A vote was taken, and the motion carried with 5 ayes.

Attest:
Nicholas Paustian, Mayor
Kate Farmer, Clerk/Treasurer

Public Notice No. 1843 published in the Guernsey Gazette, February 11, 2020.