Harris said, “I was born and raised here. Weed & Pest is in my blood."”

 Long time Platte County Weed & Pest employee Caitlyn Harris decided to put her name in the hat to fill a vacant but unexpired term on the Platte County Weed & Pest Board. When asked why she was interested in the board position, Harris said, “I was born and raised here. Weed & Pest is in my blood. I have worked with them the past nine years and my mom worked with them in the 1980s.” Harris expressed her passion in taking care of the county. “I want to keep this county beautiful, and I just feel like it’s time to give back and help how I can; this board is the best fit for me.”

Commissioner chairman Steve Shockley confirmed that the required 10 signatures from area landowners had been acquired. “Yes. I turned in the signatures about three weeks ago.” The area Harris will focus on is south of Wheatland down state highway 34 to the Albany County line (west of I25) but does not include Chugwater. 

Harris was formerly a sprayer in Glendo, then transitioned to become the Glendo crew boss. “After that I worked in the office for three summers, then worked for contractors; primarily fall work with prairie dog control, but also helped in the shop doing whatever needed to be done,” Harris explained.

The vacant, unexpired term on the Weed & Pest board was previously occupied by Harris’ mother and would run through the end of 2024.

While board members do not typically communicate directly with Weed & Pest crew members, Harris will continue communication with Pat Bookout, Platte County Weed & Pest supervisor. “There is a chain of command,” Harris said. “If the board has a complaint, they bring it to the board chairman, John Watson, who then brings the issue to Pat Bookout, and the crew discusses from there.”

When asked if there were specific issues or problems the board or Weed & Pest were pursuing Bookout said prairie dogs and grasshoppers would be a focus in the pest category. “We are keeping a close eye on about 20,000 acres or so where we expect grasshoppers. Wherever they show up:  we’ll hit them.”

Commissioner Kayla Mantle noted that Harris possessed more than adequate qualifications for the position. “It is great to see younger people getting involved in the community in these ways.” The appointment of Harris to the Platte County Weed & Pest Board Area 4 was approved.

County Clerk Malcolm Ervin suggested maintaining the current election districts in the county. “The districts were adjusted in 2022 and I think they should remain the same. We had significant realigning in 2022. All the precincts follow fire district boundaries, and doing this has helped greatly reduce election costs,” Ervin said.  Following some requests to have a special ballot made for residents with a “preferred” election area, Ervin explained how creating one unique ballot that represented one household was not only not cost effective, but increased risk of voter identification exposure. “The danger is that if you then have a one unique ballot style, their vote could potentially become known, and we don’t want that.” The Platte County website features a map that depicts election boundaries in the county. It was decided that the election precincts would remain unchanged.

Platte County Economic Development director Tracy de Ryk continues to communicate with key members of the Wyoming Intertie group regarding potential grant projects. A representative of the organization is currently renting office space at the Wanderer on Gilchrist according to de Ryk, and should be occupying the space by May 1. “They will have a presence here in Wheatland, and I am speaking with them about grant amounts and will soon be discussing the new grant cycle.” de Ryk is hoping to gather more specific dollar amounts as she will travel to Laramie at the end of the month for meetings.