County river and stream awareness program approved

The Hot Springs County Commissioners gave the nod of approval to Emergency Management to begin a county river and stream awareness program to start on March 1.

Emergency Management director Bill Gordon, presented the plan to the commissioners that will include changeable signage at the various boat docks along the river and in Hot Springs State Park that will be color coded from green to red to indicate the safety of the river.

In addition, each week the Independent Record will run a color coded warning as well. An Internet link will be included that will allow residents or visitors to see what warnings are in effect not just for the river, but for streams and tributaries throughout the county.

With the issues we’ve had over the past few years with everything from high water to ice jams, Gordon is hoping this will be just one more item in the arsenal of water safety for the county.

Airport FBO Nate Messenger reported there were 82 total operations at the airport for the month of January – and one mountain lion.

Messenger said the mountain lion took a journey around all the buildings at the facility before heading on down the road, but he was able to catch it’s trip on the cameras at the airport.

When the National Guard Black Hawk helicopters landed, they fueled up at the airport. However, we’re not set up to accept military credit cards as they are different from civilian cards, so Messenger presented a couple of alternatives for the commissioners to consider for the future.

One would be to order a special swiping system just for military cards, while the other option would be an online system connected directly with US Bank. The commissioners felt the web based system would work the best as the cost is minimal.

Messenger also informed the commissioners a flying group out of Colorado is planning a trip to Thermopolis in June and he is working with the chamber to figure out logistics to get the folks from the airport into town and possibly some kinds of tours.

Redd Roofing has completed installation of the membrane roof on the Senior Center, leaving just the metal flashing and gutter work to be completed.

Anthony Fruciano, county maintenance supervisor, said the remaining items will be finished once the weather gets a little warmer.

All of the electrical conduit that was buried in the insulation of the old roof has been moved and they did find the exhaust fans for the bathrooms needed replaced, so are waiting on a price for replacement.

At the courthouse and LEC, one of the air handlers was found to be defective and was replaced by LONG Building Technologies. They also rebuilt a circulating heat pump in the boiler room, with both repairs coming out of the repair and maintenance budget.