A look back at the year in Hot Springs County

January

Jan. 4 - There were some changes in leadership during the Hot Springs County Commissioners meeting Tuesday. John Lumley stepped down and Tom Ryan was newly elected the chair of the Hot Springs County Commission going into 2018 with Phillip Scheel as the new vice chair. Ryan was not in attendance at the meeting, so Scheel chaired it.

Jan. 11 - Numbers were recently released by the State of Wyoming on the costs of maintaining county governments throughout the state, including Hot Springs County.

The report is broken down by county, showing the expenses incurred as well as the revenue and their sources, finally showing what running the government actually costs each taxpayer in each county.

The largest expense Hot Springs County has is administration costs, which came in at $1,268,359 for the year.

Jan. 18 - After August's spectacular solar eclipse with the moon passing between the Earth and the sun, its time to return the moon's favor with a total lunar eclipse on Jan. 31. Again, Wyoming is blessed to be a prime viewing area and in Thermopolis we'll just have to get up a little earlier than normal to appreciate it.

The eclipse is unusual, this type not actually seen for 35 years, as it falls in line with the Blue Moon phase (a second full moon in a month) as well as the Supermoon phase where the moon is 15 percent larger and 30 percent brighter due to its closer proximity to the Earth.

This eclipse is also known as a Blood Moon since it will not completely go dark, but instead, will take on a red hue. The amount of color will be determined by the amount of dust in the air and other atmospheric conditions.

Jan. 25 - Last week, Dr. Howard Willson was honored as Wyoming's 2018 Physician of the Year by the Wyoming Medical Society. Willson was recognized during a ceremony in Jackson.

According to a tribute from Senator John Barrasso in the Congressional Record on Jan. 11, Willson worked tirelessly during his medical career to improve healthcare in Wyoming. His contributions in medical education, quality improvement and public health touched countless patients. Outside medicine, he served Wyoming as a member of the University of Wyoming's board of trustees and as an officer in the United States Air Force.

February

Feb. 1 - During the Tuesday night meeting of the Hot Springs County Memorial Board of Trustees, Board Chair, Bill Williams, and hospital CEO, Margie Molitor, spoke about their recent trip to Cheyenne to visit with the SLIB board.

The hospital's SLIB application for $1.5 million was not recommended for funding, Molitor said, and there were two main reasons. There were $11.6 million worth of requests for SLIB grants, and they only have about $4 million to give. "At this point in the game with the biennium funding," Molitor said, "large projects like ours usually don't fair so well."

The grant request was for the hospital addition and renovation, to supplement the project due to unforeseen expenses regarding asbestos abatement, the need for deep foundations and inflation factors.

Feb. 8 - The National Weather Service in Riverton, Wyoming recognized Hot Springs State Park as StormReady® on Tuesday, February 6.

"Through a partnership between the National Weather Service and emergency management community, the StormReady® program encourages communities to take a proactive approach to improving local hazardous weather operations and public awareness," said Tim Troutman, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service Riverton, Wyoming forecast office.

Troutman presented Hot Springs State Park Superintendent, Kevin Skates, and Assitant Superintendent, John Fish, with a recognition letter and a special StormReady® sign during a ceremony at the Superintendent's office Tuesday.

Feb. 15 - Last Thursday, the Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce voted for the Citizen, Business and Nonprofit of the Year. Joining the regular board was chamber past president, Reg Filkey, who was named the first Citizen of the Year in 1968.

The award winners will be announced during the 97th annual Chamber Banquet, March 24 at the fair building.

Feb. 22 - The Hot Springs County Commissioners got some new estimates on repair or replacement of the roof on the multi-purpose building at the fairgrounds during their afternoon meeting on Tuesday.

Thane Magelky with GDA Associates said the new estimates were calculated based on contractor's estimates for the job and the cost has come down considerably.

According to Magelky, full removal and replacement of the metal roof should run $192,812, much lower than the original $300,000 estimate.

Foam insulation will cost around $187,000 or the commissioners could have the same batting insulation and scrim with a vinyl cover as was initially installed, for about $168,000.

Total replacement, including tear-off of the existing roof, installation of a new metal roof and insulation should be somewhere in the neighborhood of $360,000 to $380,000.

March

March 1 - "This is huge," State Representative Nathan Winters said Tuesday morning. "This is the biggest thing Hot Springs County has faced."

Winters is referring to the privatization bill, SF112, that would have allowed an outside company to come in and take over the Wyoming Pioneer Home and the Wyoming Retirement Center in Basin.

According to Winters, there was no doubt in anyone's mind the bill was going to pass.

"It was going to go through," he said. "There was a lot of pressure to pass it. We are amazed it went down."

Winters and his Senate companion, Wyatt Agar, spent long hours not only trying to kill SF112 but getting continued funding for the home for the next two years. They actually got the funding before the bill passed.

"I got down on one knee beside every desk," Winter said, "and I talked with the legislators, one on one. They needed help understanding what this really meant."

The pair managed to get another bill pulled from the budget that would have called for yet another study into the privatization issue.

March 8 - Hot Springs County Emergency Management is kicking of a County River and Stream Awareness program this week.

Emergency Management director Bill Gordon felt keeping the public informed about the water levels in the Big Horn River and surrounding streams could help mitigate any potential emergency rescues from the river as well as help farmers and ranchers in the area to know when waters may rise near their pastures.

Using a simple signage system and a series of colors, Gordon can release information on what the conditions are via an ad you will find on the back page of the Independent Record, via the county's website and at various businesses around town.

March 15 - Friday evening, law enforcement and emergency personnel responded to a one-vehicle accident in Hot Springs State Park, at the three-way stop intersection of Park and Buffalo.

Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Regina Schulmeister reported a white van belonging to the Set Free Church and driven by John Welch was travelling eastbound in the westbound lane. While travelling across the bridge leading into the state park, it struck the barrier between the street and sidewalk.

The vehicle continued to travel into the park, doing at least 60 miles per hour, Schulmeister said. Welch did not hit the brakes and blew trough the stop sign, striking the retaining wall at the intersection. Airbags did deploy, she noted, and Welch was wearing his seatbelt.

Welch was arrested for alleged reckless driving and driving while impaired. Schulmeister said the impairment was due to inhalants from a can of compressed air.

March 22 - The current school security project is to restructure the front entrance to each building so that during the school day, all visitors must enter and be "buzzed" in through the front entrance only. This entry system will allow school staff more control over who is in the school buildings during the school day. For activities or events held outside of the regular school day, the doors will be open. The experience will be similar to drive through banking communication with the exception of a screen and not a window. Our maintenance and technology departments have been working together to complete these projects with a tentative completion timeframe of this spring. We will be holding staff and student training as well as sharing additional communication to the community once the installation and construction are complete.

March 29 - On March 22, Joe Doak of Thermopolis was honored by the Wyoming Chapter of the National Football Foundation with the Ox Zellner Football Official Career Achievement Award.

Doak, who is in his 41st year officiating football and basketball in Wyoming, said he was nominated by Kermit Sweeney of Worland and Heath Hayes of Douglas, and being named an award recipient was a very humbling experience.

Doak began his officiating career in 1977, when he became a Wyoming High Activities Association member and a member of the Wyoming High School Officials Association. He was recently recognized by the two organizations with their Distinguished Service Award for 40 years of service in football and basketball.

April

April 5 - Although the official cause of the fire last Friday morning at the Hot Springs County Museum and Cultural Center has not been released by fire authorities, the commissioners heard some of the details of the fire from maintenance supervisor Anthony Fruciano.

Fruciano said the fire department's initial assumption is that it was a chemical fire that started under the sink in the breakroom just to the right of the building's entrance.

What combination of chemicals was under the sink is still to be determined, but it is possible the fire itself actually started through spontaneous combustion of steel wool that was stored there.

They do know it started at 6:12 a.m. thanks to security camera footage that pinpointed the exact time it began.

April 12 - Last Wednesday, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Steve Kravitsky, director of the Wyoming Veterans Commission, and Franz Fuchs, the policy analyst for the Wyoming Department of Health, held a meeting at the Wyoming Pioneer Home to gather public input regarding a skilled nursing facility in Wyoming.

Kravitsky emphasized this would be a state veterans home, not a VA run facility. "This is a marathon," he said, with regard to the development of the facility. "It's not a sprint. The Wyoming Veterans Commission has been working this concept for about 10 years and we haven't had a whole lot of success within the Legislature."

In this last session, he noted, the commission was given authority to proceed with a Level 1 and Level 2 study.

April 19 - For several months there has been ongoing discussion regarding water quality and availability among various county water users.

On Tuesday, the commissioners signed a joint powers agreement with South Thermopolis Water and Sewer District, Lucerne Water and Sewer District, the Town of East Thermopolis and the Owl Creek Water District in order to form a joint powers board to ascertain and identify viable options for the areas in question.

The board will look into water source development, drinking water infrastructure, explore ways to support and enhance the water supply, connecting to the Big Horn Regional Water System and work on other projects mutually beneficial to all involved.

April 26 - Thermopolis FFA was named the reserve champion in the Agriculture Issues Forum at the 91st annual State Convention in Cheyenne April 18-21.

Team members include Mary Ryan, Jeffery VanAntwerp, Josi Thurgood, Lauren Reed, Tyne Vilapando, Kaitlyn Schmuck and Hannah Hurley. In a fun pre-session game, VanAntwerp was crowned Mr. FFA.

Regarding the chapter's title in the Agriculture Issues Forum, VanAntwerp said the team worked hard to prepare for the event, going over the script day and their talking points day in and day out. Among those points were how families would be affected by the Harvest Box, how it could be integrated with current systems and how it would be dispersed to families.

May

May 3 - Tuesday evening at the Thermopolis Town Council meeting, Travel and Tourism Director Amanda Moeller presented a report on how Hot Springs County did in 2017. The county saw 88,000 overnight visitors, which was a bit down from the 97,000 the previous year, Moeller said, a surprise considering the eclipse. Moeller said the same company does the report every year, and the method is the same.

The county did bring in $24.7 million through direct Travel and Tourism expenditures from travel last year. That supports 280 jobs and contributed about a half million dollars in sales tax collections. If there were no travel and tourism in Hot Springs County, Moeller explained, it would cost every household an added $658 in property taxes to make up for what tourists bring in. Unemployment, she said, would be at 15 percent rather than five.

May 10 - The body of 66-year-old David E. Cathey was found at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, May 3 in the Sand Draw area around Gebo. According to information from the Hot Springs County Sheriff's Office, Cathey's body appeared to have been there about five to seven days before it was discovered, and an autopsy showed the cause of death was exposure.

According to the report, James Mischke and Holden Hergert were heading through the area to do some target shooting when they discovered the body, which had black skin due to the time it had been laying. The two did not disturb the body, notified authorities and directed them to where the body was.

A member of Cathey's family said he had some dementia and liked to walk in the area.

May 17 - The personal records just keep coming for our Thermopolis High School Track and Field Team, with the girls team seeing 14 at the 3A East Regional competition at Douglas last Friday and Saturday and the boys making seven.

Coach Ernie Mecca noted some of the personal records came during the preliminary races on Friday night and others were on Saturday. He added with the weather as terrible as it was, it was good to see the tracksters really dig in when they're cold and wet and come away with 21 PR's.

May 24 - One of the things we hear most often regarding Thermopolis and Hot Springs County is there are too many homes and businesses for sale creating the illusion that we are a shrinking community with little to offer folks thinking about moving here.

Actually, the number of homes for sale has changed very little over the past couple of years and the prices have remained steady as well.

The median listing price is currently around $169,000 with fixer-uppers starting around $30,000.

Of course, there are the high-end homes, many with acreage attached, that run anywhere from just over $300,000 to $675,000.

If none of the current homes on the market are appealing, there are over 60 lots available to build your dream home on. You can find acreage from $20,000 to over $300,000, depending on how much room to roam you would like.

May 31 - Hot Springs County Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Gordon reports the release from Boysen Reservoir was increased back to 3,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) between Sunday night and Monday morning.

While things are flowing well here, the issue is actually in the Miles City, Mont. area, 320 miles from Wind River Canyon.

The Yellowstone River is causing flooding in that area, so drainages up river from Miles City have been asked to cut back their flows to give the Yellowstone time to calm down a bit.

Gordon said this is absolutely not because of anything coming from the mountains in our area, but because of record snows this last winter in the Billings, Mont. area.

June

June 7 - The Hot Springs County Commissioners are going to spend the next couple of months reviewing information before making a decision on whether or not Bird's Eye Pass is a county road.

According to research done by Ray Shaffer, a stage stop was established there in 1906 along with several roads in the county. Of course, there was no funding available to improve the road at that time.

The train arrived in Wind River Canyon in 1913 and the road went through in 1944, basically eliminating the need for the Bird's Eye Pass road, however, no records can be found that it was abandoned as a county road at that time.

In fact, map surveys done at that time showed it as a county road, but another survey in 1982 did not include it in the county road designation.

Currently, the road is blocked on both ends by private landowners. Shaffer said he understands private property rights, but still believes it is a bona fide county road.

June 14 - Thermopolis has been selected by Expedia as one of the most beautiful towns in America in their second annual list. Although beauty is subjective, the company looked at destinations with downtowns oozing with character, sparkling waves under the glow of a sunset, wide-open ranges void of human handprints, and much more.

Thermopolis is sixth on the list of 30, beating out locations such as Grand Canyon, Ariz., Haleiwa, Hawaii and Grand Lake, Colo. for its spot in the top ten. According to Chloe Mulliner, who composed the list, "There's no denying the natural wonders of Wyoming, and Thermopolis is the perfect example of what makes this region shine. Surrounded by mountains in every direction, from the Absaroka Range to the Bridger Mountains and beyond, this rustic town showcases Mother Nature's allure. Between the world's largest mineral hot spring and access to the spectacular Wind River Canyon, Thermopolis easily earned a spot on our list of beautiful towns and cities across the nation.

June 21 - Following a brief public hearing during which there was no comment, the Thermopolis Town Council - with Mayor Mike Mortimore absent - approved the budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year on third reading, as well as Resolution 543 to officially adopt it.

According to the numbers, the upcoming fiscal year's revenues include: $3,754,918 in the General Fund, including $1,091,820 cash carryover; $4,507,641 in the Enterprise Fund; $3,084,500 in Enterprise Fund-Depreciation Reserve for transfers, loan, grant and cash carryover; $575,600 in Insurance Trust Fund; $5,500 in the Nicholson Trust Fund, including a $4,650 cash carryover; and $400 in the Revolving Loan Fund.

Budget expenditures include: $3,754,918 in the General Fund, including a cash reserve of $100,000; $2,955,530 in Enterprise Fund – 100 percent depreciation; $3,084,500 in Enterprise Fund – Capital Outlay; $575,600 in Insurance Trust Fund; $5,500 in the Nicholson Trust Fund; and $400 in the Revolving Loan Fund.

June 28 - The final numbers regarding the valuation for Hot Springs County have been released from the Hot Springs County Assessors Office, showing an 18.212 percent increase in value from 2017 to 2018. An itemized list shows locally assessed values at just over $50.7 million, state assessed (utilities) valued at a little more than $7.3 million.

Railroads in the county have been assessed at $4.2 million and hard minerals come in at $2.8 million.

Oil production for 2017 was just over $78.5 million, while gas production was just $143,050.

The total valuation for Hot Springs County is $143,779,630 for 2018, compared to $121,628,379 for 2017.

The second half of the 2018 year in review will appear in the Jan. 3 edition of the Thermopolis Independent Record.