TEN SLEEP – The Ten Sleep Town Council voted Wednesday to amend the town’s current sewer ordinance, ahead of a scheduled upgrade to the municipal sewer system. In 2016, the town voted to raise sewer rates an additional $2 per user, to qualify for a United States Department of Agriculture loan to replace outdated sewer lines and upgrade the town’s lagoon.

According to Ordinance 203-2017, the town revised rates for 2017 and added an index for industrial users. The monthly rates under the ordinance are $25 per residential user, $30 for business users, $93.73 for motels and $111.23 for RV parks and campgrounds. The Ten Sleep School would pay $2,439.57 under the new ordinance. The ordinance, available for review at the Town Hall has two more public readings before going into effect.

A scheduled reading of an ordinance amending the town’s water usage fees and an ordinance amending to town’s liquor law code to meet new state standards were both tabled for further examination and legal review.

Mayor Jack Haggerty announced that Jerry Bornhoft Construction of Riverton is expected to meet with the town next week to go over the work plan for a major upgrade to the town’s sewer system.

The project, originally estimated to cost $1.2 million and paid for in part by a loan and grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, is expected to begin this month, and 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.

With the winning bid from Bornhoft coming in at $557,032 and town engineer Lidstone and Associates setting engineering costs at $219,400, the overall cost of $776,432 is well under the original estimate.

The project will be paid for in part by a $251,000 loan and $349,000 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture.

In adherence with the loan structure, the council voted Wednesday to make an annual payment of $9,584 to the USDA, and create a special account to deposit 10 percent of the annual payment (per USDA requirements), totaling $79.87 per month. The council also voted to amend the budget, on second reading, to include the USDA payment and savings account.

On May 16, NASCAR legend Kyle Petty will stop in Ten Sleep, during his charity motorcycle ride to raise money for his children’s charity. In response, Mayor Jack Haggerty proclaimed May 16 as “Kyle Petty Charity Day” in Ten Sleep, and announced that the council will meet with Petty when he arrives in town.

In other business, Councilperson Connie Sweeney announced a public meeting to be held at 7 p.m., May 10, at the Ten Sleep Senior Center, to address the Aug. 21 solar eclipse, expected to draw as many as 500,000 visitors to the state.

According to the National Weather Service in Riverton, the eclipse will track from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic. The shadow of the moon will begin over Oregon and move east to Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina. An event of this magnitude will not occur again until 2045.