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.

Mayor Delgado said there is an ordinance regarding residents’ trees and shrubs, and the town could add a section to the existing ordinance requiring people trim trees around the electric lines.
Councilman Joe Michaels told Fronapfel he’s impressed with the work Fronapfel’s crew has done to quickly restore power when outages occur – even in poor weather conditions.
Fire Department Report
Guernsey fire chief Jeff Thomas reported, he has been busy this month. “Our guys and gals performed above and beyond [the call of duty].
The council voiced their appreciation for the dedication and skill of the firefighters in battling the Pleasant Valley Fire that burned nearly 29,000 acres and called for the evacuation of Hartville on two separate days.
Asked if there was anything needed for the department, Thomas said there was a need for more funds for maintenance in next year’s budget. It was agreed he would put together information to present to the council in the future.
Public Comments
During public comments, Jeremiah Fields brought to the council’s attention, he has noticed too many vehicles don’t stop at the stop signs at Burlington and Wyoming Streets (near the school) and wondered if there was something the town could do to make the signs more obvious to drivers. “I noticed the signs are at an extra high level and there is not adequate reflection at night. Can we install solar-powered flashers? I think people just don’t see the signs,” he said.
Mayor Ed Delgado told Fields to discuss the concerns with public works director Mike Fronapfel, who will arrange for any changes needed to be made to the visibility of the signs.
U.S. senate candidate Reid Rasner introduced himself to the council and offered prayers for the surrounding community after dealing with major fires the previous week. “I’m keeping you in my prayers and am praying for rain,” he said.
Whether or not Rasner’s plea worked, it did begin raining last Wednesday and Thursday, dropping approximately one-half to three-quarters of an inch of moisture in 72 hours, according to NOAA’s National Weather Service.
Council Reports
Councilman Michaels reported a Wyoming Municipal Power Agency (WMPA) meeting to discuss electric utilities will take place later this month, and he anticipates an update from Basin Electric on anticipated future rate changes for electricity.
Councilman Augustyn said, “A big shout-out for the community – you did an awesome job (with the fire and volunteer response). Pass that along to the guard camp.”
Augustyn also said he would be attending a meeting with Guernsey Rural Fire Department and lead volunteers from the community to discuss the fire response efforts and ways they can do better.
He added, there are so many people that jumped in to help, he couldn’t list everyone. Augustyn emphasized his appreciation for the way people pulled together to provide not just snacks, but full meals and supplies for those on the front lines of the fire so they could focus on the task at hand.
Councilman Dale Harris expressed his agreement with Augustyn’s comments.
Councilwoman Penny Wells added, Twister’s had a lot of vlunteers that showed up too. She said she heard several compliments from other Platte County and Goshen County fire departments who collaborated in the fire response. “It’s a good testament to our community,” she said.
Augustyn added, an account was set up at First State Bank in Guensey for donations to the fire departments.

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.