GUERNSEY – After being hired for the position of Guernsey town planner/code enforcement officer, John Burfeind gave his first report to the town council at their meeting last week. …
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GUERNSEY – After being hired for the position of Guernsey town planner/code enforcement officer, John Burfeind gave his first report to the town council at their meeting last week.
“It’s day two, but it feels like a year,” Burfeind said.
He reported one building permit was filed and one paid. There were inquires for contracts for work, but no applications filed at the time.
For code enforcement, Burfeind said he’s driven around town and looked at records and notes on who’s been contacted for violations of town code. He said he’s visited with some residents to see if they are aware of the violations, and if there is a hardship situation. “I’m also trying to get people to be more neighborly,” he said.
Burfeind has met with the police chief to discuss issues and is moving forward with planning as he settles into his new job.
Public Works
Public works director Mike Fronapfel reported things are moving along with the town’s water tower project, and the sandblasting is nearly done on the tank. Fronapfel, Mayor Delgado and the new town planner attended the Platte County commissioners’ meeting earlier in the day to clear up communication issues between the two government entities.
“There was clearly a lack of communication; somebody told them they couldn’t get water from the Town of Guernsey; It’s all cleared up now.”
At an earlier commissioners meeting, Platte County’s road and bridge superintendent Chris Bookout reported he was told he ‘maybe’ could use the water for the chipseal project the county is preparing to conduct just outside Guernsey city limits, but he ‘might need to pay for the water,’ which prompted him to seek other, less convenient, sources of water for the road project. Guernsey representatives were not at that meeting to address the issue.
At last week’s meeting of the commissioners, Fronapfel firmly stated he didn’t know who told Bookout he couldn’t use water from the town for the project, but “Absolutely, yes! You can use our water.”
The mayor confirmed the statement, and details were discussed pertaining to the county chip sealing the town’s portion of the highway from the bridge to the cattle guard and how the two can cooperate to fix the bump in the road on the north side of the bridge.
At the meeting of Guernsey’s town council, Fronapfel also reported a bid was submitted to repair Nebraska street for approximately $600,000, and he suggested finding funding sources – from the State Loan and Investment Board or other grants to help offset the costs. “I’d much rather do the whole street than ten percent of it,” he reasoned, since the town has limited funds in its budget.
Two of the recent power outages experienced by the town have been as the result of broken tree branches. After an inquiry by councilwoman Penny Wells, Mike suggested an ordinance needed to be created to address the issue.
In other business
The council voted to approve a K9 drug dog to be added to the police force, and an increase in posted wages for Guernsey police officers plus a sign-on bonus. (See related article in this week’s Guernsey Gazette)
The council also voted to approve a request from two individuals to extend the deadline to remove personal belongings from airport hangars until the end of September. The council is allowing planes to be kept in the airport hangars, but not personal belongings.
Mayor Ed Delgado was selected as the voting delegate for the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) quarterly workshop, with councilman Joe Michaels as the alternate.
The mayor announced for future planning for residents of Guernsey, Wyoming Health Fair will be at Camp Guernsey on Oct. 14 from 6:30 to 9 a.m.
The Guernsey town council will meet next at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20.