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TEN SLEEP — The Ten Sleep Town Council met on Tuesday to finalize a set of liquor law changes, an agreement to host the annual Nowoodstock music festival, and begin payment for an ongoing sewer repair project.

Ten Sleep held the last reading of three ordinances pertaining to hours of operation, age restrictions, and licensing fees, and two ordinances dealing with display of license and public notice.

Ordinance 206 amends the current liquor statute to allow longer hours of operation, stating “on all days, a licensee may open the licensed building no earlier than six o’clock (6:00) a.m. and shall close the licensed building and cease the sale of alcoholic and malt beverages no later than two o’clock (2:00) a.m. the following day, and the licensee shall clear the licensed building of all persons other than employees no later than two thirty (2:30) a.m.”

Ten Sleep’s Ordinance 207 states that “If a retail license holder or bar/grill license holder operates a commercial kitchen or leases space for a commercial kitchen to a third party, within the licensed building, persons under the age of twenty-one (21) years may enter or remain in the licensed building until the hour of 10 p.m., so long as they are accompanied by a parent, guardian, or spouse who is twenty-one (21) years of age.”

Ordinance 208 amends the law to define the types of permits and licenses the town is authorized to issue, and associated annual fees. They include, retail license ($750), “special club” license ($300), resort retail license ($700), restaurant liquor license ($500), microbrewery permit ($400), winery permit ($400), special malt beverage for public auditoriums ($1,500), motel hotel minibar ($375) and a bar and grill license ($1,500).

Concerning the annual Nowoodstock festival (Aug. 11-13), the town issued all malt beverage permits, and pledged to continue sponsorship of the event, to help the event gain grant monies from the state.

Mayor Jack Haggerty, in a sit-down interview on Wednesday, noted that the portable toilets used during Nowoodstock will be retained by the town and distributed around town to accommodate increased tourist traffic due to the upcoming eclipse event on Aug. 21.

“We are also encouraging the town council to work with local businesses to make sure they have ample inventory and supplies for the expected crowds in the area,” said Haggerty.

The town council voted to release a pay order of $104,710.49 for an ongoing sewage project, by Bornhoft Construction of Riverton.

The project, paid for in part by a loan and grant from the United States Department of Agriculture will upgrade the original, circa 1930s, sewer lines located in the northern section of town, resurface Fir Street, and provide upgrades to the town’s sewage lagoon.

The project is paid for in part by a loan and grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, totaling $500,000.

In other business, the council heard from the Ten Sleep Senior Center, which recently suffered water damage due to a defective walk-in freezer system.

Working together, the town and Senior Center Board of Directors will remove and replace the system with single freezers, and clear any mold at an estimated cost of $8,000.

“We may have to apply for a [state] grant to help with clean-up,” noted Haggerty.