Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

WORLAND – Washakie County Commissioners met Tuesday, to hear a variety of county concerns from reporting agencies including on fire and sewer.

Randy Chenoweth, with Washakie Road and Bridge, along with Worland Fire Protection District Chief and Washakie County Fire Warden Chris Kocher, addressed the need for new and renewed fire markers for rural residences in the county. Currently, 289 signs are in disrepair or missing in the Worland area, with at least 400 more missing across the county, at a total cost of $10,880 for replacement.

The signs, located at property lines along county roads and lanes, indicate the number of homes along each entry point (private roads or drives). Currently, the County Assessor’s office catalogs the locations and numbering of homes, distributes the signs, and shares the information with Washakie County Dispatch for location purposes in the case of medical emergency or fire.

As explained by Chenoweth and Kocher, the lack of appropriate signs at the road and home level can cause confusion, especially during a time of medical emergency, when minutes are precious.

The commission suggested forming a working group of county agencies to address the situation, and ultimately educate the public that while it is the county’s responsibility to mark the public access for easy recognition, it is the resident’s responsibility to identify their personal homes, in the case of an emergency, especially on lanes and roads with several residences.

Public Lands committee

At the Tuesday meeting, the commissioners formally appoint a formal Wyoming Public Lands Initiative (WPLI) advisory committee for Washakie County.

The goal of the WPLI group is to reach a consensus as to the use of Wilderness Study Areas (WSA) in the county, through public input. The primary areas of concentration in Washakie County include the Honeycombs (located between Ten Sleep and Worland), Cedar Mountain (south of Winchester and shared with Hot Springs County) and Bobcat Draw (in the northwest corner of the county, shared with Big Horn County). Once committee recommendations have been formalized and approved by the county commission, the final recommendations of the WPLI will be sent to a federal delegation for introduction in the U.S. House and Senate in 2018.

On Tuesday, the commission appointed applicants Dan Rice, Shawn Christenson, Justin Smith, Bradley Lee, Richard Kroger, Dru Bower, Dwight Maryland, and Karen Fenton to the committee, with Ron Harvey, Aaron Anderson, Stan Wostenberg, Kaylea Matlock, and Chris Grimes as committee alternates.

The commission will work with Big Horn and Hot Springs counties to develop working groups to address shared areas, and meeting dates will be

assigned at the first March commission meeting.

A Washakie County Courthouse maintenance briefing by Tom Schmeltzer examined current sewage problems on the property, which has resulted in a temporary loss of bathroom facilities. According to Schmeltzer, a sewer blockage or rupture under 10th Street has caused drainage problems. The commission recommended examining the city ordinance to see who holds jurisdiction over the problem area, and explore the line with a camera to determine the cause of the problem.

Homeland Security Director Jeff Schweighart briefed the commission on the recent bomb threat at Worland High School and the resulting action by local and state first responders. Schweighart addressed the Worland High School student body this week, and stressed the seriousness of the situation, which, in this case, resulted from a prank by a student.