County assessor announces retirement

There will be a new face in the Hot Springs County Assessor’s office soon as County Assessor Shelley Deromedi put in her retirement notice to the County Commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday.

“It has been an honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Hot Springs County since 1986,” Deromedi said, “and to work with the various Boards of County Commissioners for the betterment of our county. I am extremely proud of the quality of work that we have done during my association with the Assessor’s Office and the projects we have accomplished.”

Deromedi’s retirement will be effective, Dec. 31. That will mean the central committee will have to conduct interviews of possible replacements for Deromedi, then recommend their top choices to the commissioners.

It will be the commissioners' job to pick the interim replacement until election time.

A retirement party is being planned for Dec. 27 from 1 – 3 p.m. at the courthouse.

County Maintenance Supervisor Anthony Fruciano reported a small problem with the generator at the Law Enforcement Center on Sunday evening when the power went out.

Apparently, a loose fuse kept the generator from kicking on when the power failed, and Fruciano said they finally got it going, but he did say it is a bit of a concern since the generator was installed in 1981.

The generator is tested on a set schedule and has always passed the test and runs fine for a few hours at a time, but the question is whether it would run for an extended period of time, say 20 hours, or even a couple of days if there was a major outtage.

Bill Gordon, Emergency Management Coordinator, joined Fruciano in the discussion, and the two suggested having a plug installed at the courthouse like the one recently installed at Search and Rescue in the event the generator fails and they have to bring that generator down to cover the outtage.

The other choice would be bringing the generator down and having to plug a number of extension cords into it to keep things going.

The commissioners approved of the idea of a plug and told Fruciano to start making arrangements to have it done. Gordon said the cost for the plug at Search and Rescue was about $2,300.

Sheriff’s Deputy Jerimie Kraushaar came to the meeting to discuss employment with the sheriff’s office.

According to Kraushaar, the sheriff’s office has been having trouble filling positions due to the wages being paid to deputies. The last three applicants they have had eventually turned the job down, saying the pay was just not enough.

Kraushaar had done his homework prior to the meeting, showing the commissioners the wage gap between what officers at the police department are being paid and wages at the sheriff’s office.

“We have a solid benefits package, but even that isn’t making a difference,” Kraushaar said.

They have made a small change, upping the starting pay to $3,000 per month, which breaks down to $17.50 per hour, but that salary is equivalent to what deputies that have 15 years of experience are paid.

With that change, it is going to put the sheriff’s office right at the edge of their budget.

The commissioners are willing to work with the sheriff’s office and agreed to sit down with them at budget time to see what can be done to close the wage gap.

The commissioners learned recently the Pioneer Home is back on the block again to possibly be closed as a state-run agency and instead sold to a private entity.

“Citizens from all over Wyoming are there,” commission chair John Lumley said. “This isn’t just a Thermopolis problem. The quality of care there is outstanding and the impact to the state is just $3 million a year.”

The commissioners will be sending a letter in support of keeping the Pioneer Home a state-run agency to the governor, Department of Health and local legislators Wyatt Agar and Nathan Winters.

Commissioner Phil Scheel spoke with a fair board member recently and found out they have not started pulling down the insulation from the inside of the multi-purpose building.

According to Scheel, there is currently no fairgrounds manager and even though the removal of the insulation is paramount, there has been nothing done to help get the insulation removed.

Road and Bridge has offered to help by bringing in a truck to haul the saturated insulation away.

The commissioners are concerned about the project as their liability grows with each passing day.