During the Washakie County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 20, the commissioners interviewed six applicants for the vacant position of building maintenance manager.

The position was previously held by Ryan Casad, who left the position at the end of January 2023. Previous manager Tom Schmeltzer has been temporarily filling the position.

According to Washakie County Clerk Lily Rakness Parra, the commissioners selected Breck Buer for the position.

Buer has been the owner of Buer Electric, and said he now hopes to be an asset to the county and its residents.

“After being self-employed for roughly 25 years, I thought it would be a good use of my skills to help Washakie County,” said Buer.

MAINTENANCE

Ambulance center project manager Schmeltzer reported that construction on the building is progressing well, and that the sprinkler system is currently being installed.

For county maintenance, Schmeltzer said they have been trying to take care of requests at the fairgrounds. Issues include addressing an odor in one of the buildings and repairing sheds located on the north side of the grounds.

SHERIFF

Washakie County Sheriff Austin Brookwell said he was recently notified that the wiring for televisions in the jail is incompatible with current services provided.

Brookwell said, “The TVs in the jail are all starting to go down because Bresnan [Communications] is not supporting the old wiring that is in there.” Two televisions have not been working for at least two months, and the others could stop working at any time, said Brookwell.

According to Brookwell, Bresnan Communications said they could raise the county’s monthly cost for services and replace the current wiring, or the county can pay for the cost of the wiring up front and pay the current monthly amount.

Commissioner Chairman Aaron Anderson said that Brookwell should investigate various options to get quotes and choose the lowest quote that will resolve the issues in a timely manner.

PREVENTION

COALITION

Washakie Prevention Coalition (WPC) representatives Sheri Gunderson and Katie Kirby attended the commissioner meeting to discuss ongoing activities.

According to Kirby, herself and Washakie Prevention Coalition’s Lila Jolley recently returned from their trip to Washington, D.C. with Worland High School students in W Club.

“[The students] represented Worland extremely well,” said Kirby. The students had the chance to interact with numerous representatives and senators, and did plenty of sightseeing, said Kirby.

Kirby said that she is now focusing on enhancing the youth coalition to provide students with leadership opportunities and chances for involvement. Kirby said she specifically wants to offer involvement to all students, and not just students who are already involved in activities.

The commissioners supported the WPC’s efforts to enhance student involvement and suggested that the students get the chance to interact with their local government, including the county level.

“I think a lot of the time, kids don’t really have any realization of local government,” said Anderson.

Anderson went on to say that county and city boards oftentimes struggle to keep positions filled, and having student-level positions could be a potential, even if they are ex-officio type positions.

“It might be an outside opportunity to have some influence in the community and help build some future leaders,” said Anderson.

OTHER BUSINESS

The commissioner meeting started with a public hearing regarding a Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) grant. There was a proposed increase in funding for the 2023-24 fiscal year in the amount of $2,394.50 in the form of a grant. There were no public comments and the motion to make the changes passed.

The commissioner meeting went into executive session/closed once for personnel.