Discussion continues on water options

Tuesday night at the Thermopolis Town Council meeting, there was lengthy discussion regarding alternative water options. Matt Ryan and Phil Scheel were present as representatives of the Hot Springs County Joint Powers Rural Water Board.

Ryan noted a Level 2 study just finished and they are looking at the possibility of going to the State of Wyoming to request funding for a Level 3 study to drill a test well on Lysite Mountain. He said they were at the meeting to see if the town were interested in joining with the board to get the well drilled.

Scheel said those that have joined the board so far are the county, South Thermopolis Water District, Owl Creek Water District, East Thermopolis and Lucerne Water District. He said if they could get users that include the town, it helps spread the cost across multiple taps.

Scheel also noted the hydrologists’ projections for a well at Lysite are up to 3,000 gallons per minute. If a pipeline were brought down to tie into the Big Horn Regional system, he said, redundancy could be provided to south Big Horn Regional users. Additionally, a line could be tied into the Thermopolis system to provide water to East Thermopolis, South Thermopolis and Owl Creek districts.

It’s not a deal breaker if the town were not ready to do that, Scheel said, but it would make it more appealing. The Water Development Commission (WDC), he said, would pay 67 percent of costs in the construction phase.

Council member Tony Larson asked what the town’s portion of the cost for the test well would be, and Scheel said it was based on tap numbers. A more concrete figure is that the town would be responsible for about $500,000 of the $2 million for the test well. The overall project is estimated to be about $32 million.

Mayor’s Assistant Fred Crosby asked whether the town would still be responsible for paying for cost of the well even if was decided not to use it. Scheel said if the WDC and the joint powers board went forward with drilling the well and it was dry, the commission would still pick up 67 percent of the costs. Town Engineer Anthony Barnett added if viable water was hit but the decision was made not to use it, the board would be liable for the cost of developing the well.

Council member Bill Malloy questioned what the advantage of drilling a new well would be for the town. Scheel said it would mean less expensive and higher quality water, and not having to maintain the water plant.

As for how much cheaper, Ryan said the initial projection was $37 per tap for everyone in the region, assuming the only funding available was the 67 percent from the WDC. Rural Development with the USDA, he noted, indicated interest in both grants and loans to help fund the project and $20 per tap was feasible. Larson noted there were also infrastructure and manpower costs to consider, and about one fourth of water recipients are seniors on fixed income and adding on to their costs would be a hardship, especially with many using the minimum of water.

Ryan said once the infrastructure is developed the costs would be very minimal, and the cost savings in the long run would be substantial. Mayor Mike Mortimore said this could easily double costs to the people of the town.

As for what the county would like to see, Ryan said they want to see water developed in a county-wide project where they can get costs down and water quality up. He noted the county is currently not kicking in anything for the study and is simply a part of the joint powers board.

Scheel said he understands there have been hurt feelings when the town was working with the regional system, and he was asking for a fresh look at a new opportunity that is not using the town’s water treatment plant to provide clean, high quality water at a lower rate and add redundancies to the regional water system.

Asked by Mortimore what the definition of quality is, Scheel said it is not having the total trihalomethenes (TTHM) in the outlying systems. Mortimore said they are not at high levels in town like Scheel was saying, and was upset because the accusation is that town water is not safe. Scheel pointed out the EPA has said Owl Creek water is not safe, but Mortimore said where the water enters the Owl Creek system it is and $20,000 was spent to prove it.

Ryan said by the time it gets to the end of the system there is a good chance it is not safe. The reason Owl Creek and South Thermopolis began looking at other options, he said, is because though the safety of the water at the end of systems is not the town’s issue, it is a problem for those districts, and they could have to treat water a second time at the districts’ cost.

Ryan also raised the issue that the water plant would need upgrading in the future, and this is an opportunity to look at an alternative.

Though no definite answer was provided with regard to the town’s supporting or opposing the well at Lysite, more information is expected at the next council meeting on Aug. 21.

In action at the meeting, council approved providing a letter of approval to allow Thermopolis Liquor to provide liquor for a Ryan Brothers 60th anniversary on Sept 1. The letter will go to the county, which is responsible for approving the permit.

A fourth payment of $77,638.16 was approved for the water line replacement project. A bid of $22,314 from Greiner Ford was recommended, for a 2019 four-door Explorer for the Thermopolis Police Department. The company provided the vehicle at a significant discount and offered the most for trade in on a 2011 Dodge Charger.

The third reading of an ordinance regarding fences was approved, with the ordinance effective Sept. 1. The ordinance states no fence shall be constructed or maintained in a way that blocks vision from a public street or alley to prevent adequate visibility of the street or alley from a private drive or access road.

For an interior lot, front yard fences are restricted to a maximum height of four feet. For corner lots, fences with a woven wire with a minimum of three inch by three inch weave or chain link, or are otherwise capable of being seen through have a maximum height of four feet; fences made of other material have a three-foot maximum height restriction.

Fences with a maximum height of six feet on corner lots are allowed to extend into one front yard on corner lots but not both, as long as they align with building setback requirements on the second front yard and pose no street or alley visibility issues. Property owners can dispute conditions imposed by the town through the codes administrator or town employee designated by the mayor rather than going through the Board of Appeals.

Mayor Mortimore was approved to sign a letter of support for the Big Horn Basin Nature and Discovery Joint Powers Board, for an Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

A recommendation was approved to purchase 10 light poles at a cost of $$2,647 each, and about $8,000 was approved for purchase of a software module and service to allow people to pay utility bills online.

Also during the meeting, Meri Ann Rush with Main Street reported they were awarded two technical assistance grants through the Wyoming Business Council. One will go toward designation signs for the downtown area, the other will go for flowerbeds that could also be used as additional seating where the pine trees used to stand on Broadway.

Rush also noted there is a Community Builders Leadership Institute in Lander Sept. 26 and 28, and she is a firm believer that the more Thermopolis is represented at such conferences, the more ideas come back to the community. Rush also provided information on “placemaking,” provided through the Wyoming Business Council, in which people go into other communities and give feedback on how to use underutilized areas. Main Street is putting on a placemaking workshop at town hall on Sept. 12 from 1-5p.m., Rush noted, and she would like to see council members attend.

In regard to the veterans tree in Bicentennial Park, Rush said there will be discussion on where to dig the bracket to mount the plaque, and the VFW is planning to do a rededication of the tree on Veterans Day. Another topic of discussion has been the Christmas lights, Rush said, and there have been steps to refurbish the wreaths and suggested fundraising for Christmas lights.