Council - Regular Meeting

24th Pine Bluffs Town Council meeting.

Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice First item is approval of the agenda.

I move to approve the agenda.

I'll second it.

Carrying a motion and a second to approve the agenda. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none, motion carries. Next item on the agenda is the public hearing for liquor license applications. We have submitted for retail Naughty Pine Saloon, Pine Bowl, Transwest Development and Bar and Grill, Curry's and Sadie's Cafes and Satellite Distilling. Any comment? Any comment? Any comment? Is there anything more we need to do with that other than solicit comment, Alex?

Nope. No. We can just close the public hearing portion.

Okay. We close the public hearing portion of the council meeting onto the regular meeting. We have the consent agenda.

I move to approve the consent agenda as presented. I second.

Hearing a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Hearing none, motion carries. On to new business and action items. The first item on the agenda is the conditional use permit for 613 Blair Street. and that is they're seeking approval to put an RV on the lot for use.

I have reached out to the property owner. They're snowbirds who live in their RV when they're here. They bought this property with the intent of putting a domicile there when they are finally ready to give up the life on the road. He did state that because of the timing in which they bought it, they're about to head south for the winter. So they won't be putting anything there for the rest of this year. This request would start from them around June of next of 2027. And at that time when they're back, they will begin making their plans to build something there. They just didn't have a plan yet because it is a narrow lot. So they were just trying to figure out what the best thing to put there was, knowing that they would be slowing down in the near future.

This is a really narrow lot and it had a mobile home on it previously. I looked at it. It's going to be difficult to build anything that doesn't look like a mobile home on it in that configuration.

I've met this couple. He's a very handy guy. If someone's going to find something cool to put there, I do have faith that they will. That probably won't be a mobile home. I'm actually fairly certain it won't be. They just needed a little time to figure out what to do with that lot, and as they only live here a few months out of the year, just needed some time.

I don't have a problem with it.

I think one of the suggestions was that we give them a temporary conditional use permit. And I'm not in favor of making this permanent, but if they are planning to build something permanent there, I think I'd be in favor of the suggestion of giving them a 12-month temporary conditional use permit

That was the same direction I was inclined to go with it too, is to put a time limit on it.

I'm fine with putting a timeline on it. I will advocate for this property owner and the instance that they are only here a few months out of the year and they don't even really intend to use it for this year. So I don't know if we could make it run through June 27 to... June of 28 or something, or just give them two years starting today. Um, I do think this is kind of a weird circumstance. I do think they will put something there. Um, so that's why I'm just advocating to give them a reasonable timeframe.

So are they not going to do anything with it at all this year?

No, they will head south soon and they won't, um, they don't foresee putting something there this year. It will remain vacant until they come back next spring.

I wouldn't have an issue with extending that use permit. Um, if you're suggesting maybe we make it a year and a half or start as of June 1st, 2027, you know, go for 12 months. I would not have an issue with that. I just, I just, my concern is we're, we've got some great links to, improve our ordinances and our zoning and I'm just not in favor of allowing a foot in the door so to speak and then having this be a annual condition that we that we have where we have RVs parking on lots that are zoned for permanent structures And I would agree with that

I don't disagree with either of you, but I appreciate you, Ali, going to go talk with them and seeing kind of what their plan is, more information than it was here. And I'm okay with some kind of temporary thing, like you were suggesting, just until I figure out what they're doing. And I think that's what that conditional use permit really kind of is anyhow. It's a temporary, and correct me if I'm wrong, It's not going to change, just like getting some of those, you know, when people are doing construction out there, you know, porta-potties and whatnot, just that temporary. So I would be okay with what was written in here. What did it say it started at?

I've got to go back.

Nope.

Of course, I can't find it when I need it. NB1. Yeah, there we go. Also, since there was a mobile home on it, it being empty or having an RV that's in use, one that must be well taken care of, I'm assuming, because they live in it and travel. Yeah. I would consider it probably an upgrade.

I think so. And they're very meticulous individuals. I think you'll find that it will stay fairly clean for the amount of time that this RV is there. So I guess with that discussion, I will move to approve a conditional use permit for 613 Blair. for one year beginning June 1 of 2027 with the option to renew should they just come into a delay in their build.

Hearing the motion and a second to approve the conditional use permit with the limitation of the time frame Outlined. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Hearing none, motion carries.

Leigh Ann. He did tell me when I talked to him that he forgot to put his phone number on anything that he submitted. But I have that, so if you would like it or if you need me to call him, whatever, we can make that work.

Thank you.

Next item on the agenda is resolution 2026-09, a resolution authorizing the payment of certain claims and expenditures between regularly scheduled meetings of the governing body for the Town of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming subject to ratification.

Mayor and Town Council, this resolution is being requested to ensure that we are covered to pay certain claims. For instance, Wyoming retirement is due to be paid by the 12th of the month on a month where the first council meeting isn't until the 14th of the month. It's difficult for us to make that contribution to retirement in a timely manner. There are some other instances where we get the invoice by the fifth or sixth of the month. For instance, WEBT is another one for insurance purposes. And again, if that first council meeting of the month isn't until the 12th or the 14th, then that puts us in a bind to be sure that we are paying that invoice as we should. And we don't want anybody's retirement contributions to not be made on time because then we have a penalty from the town. So the statement subject to ratification just means that we would present it at the very next council meeting for approval. Okay. Alex, did you have a chance to?

I'm going to be a party pooper.

Because we ran it through our WAM folks, and there are other municipalities.

15-1-1-0-3 says paying bills is the business of the governing body. You can hedge a little bit and say, well, it doesn't say how you're going to pay them. My question, I guess, initially would be, have you contacted the specific obligors, obligees rather, creditors if you will, to see if they're going to get nasty over three days delay? Usually when you get a bill, don't they give you 30 days at least to pay it?

Well, Wyoming Retirement has their own

I mean, have you talked to them about it and said, hey, you know, we can't do this in the time frame that you're talking about? I mean, it just seems like somehow it ought to fall after a council meeting somewhere. So, I mean, maybe it's as simple as making that appropriation in the second meeting of the month before.

Unfortunately, I can't do it that way.

Because they don't tell you what it is, right?

No. Well, with Wyoming retirement, it's based on calculations for the full month of earnings for the prior month. And so August ends September 1st or soon thereafter. We do the calculations based on all of August's wages and hours worked. And then the contributions are due into Wyoming retirement.

So what did they say when you talked to them about it? Did they give you any reason why they can't cut us a break on that?

I haven't asked because generally when I don't make that payment on time, the next day I get an email from them saying that I'm affecting the employee's contributions.

They've kind of proven unwilling to work with you based on that.

Do you care if I call them?

Not at all.

If we did— I mean, I get it, and you kind of told me about this before. But was there—and one of the things we were talking about was— Did you have a conversation with the auditor types on that? Did they have any questions about it or anything or do they even care?

No, we have had conversations about it and the auditors say as long as we have something in place that says that either I or the town clerk are authorized to make those payments, then we're good to go. In some cases, municipalities permit their treasurer and town clerk to make all payments related to payroll or all payments that are within a certain dollar amount up to the treasurer and town clerk to ensure that we meet our deadlines, and then they are ratified at the next council meeting. So it's just in how we determine what our local rules are according to the auditor. So it's a combination of state statute, so a combination of Title 15 and whatever rules local ordinance we put in place here?

Well, it's the same statute that allows us to sue and be sued. And it's a really, really long one, and it has almost everything we do in it. So, you know, the rules of statutory construction sort of collide with the practicality here. And that's what I'm struggling with, because the uniformity of construction would say that if we can do this in Romanette 7, I think it is, then that means we can do it in any one of those things. Some of them are things we absolutely would not want anybody but the governing body doing. So I guess what... What is the WAM thing on this? Are they pushing this?

No, they're not. I mean, they're not necessarily pushing it as a stance, but we have had municipalities who are doing that to avoid late fees and various other penalties. But that's really all that has happened at this point.

Are they doing it by resolution or by ordinance?

By resolution, I believe the resolution that you pulled that from, Kim, is a commonly used resolution amongst the WAMCAT folks, right? Yes.

In our case, Kim, what is the late fee usually when this happens to us? Or is it more just a sternly worded letter? Well, so far.

So when it comes to a retirement contribution, if the contribution isn't made in a timely manner, then it's not invested in a timely manner. So there's a calculation that would happen. It's the same thing with 457 contributions. We have to make those. within 15 days of a payroll date, so generally that isn't an issue because we've got the two weeks in there. However, a 457 contribution is not really something that needs council approval because we're not matching it. So no town funds are being spent. It's the contribution from the employee that's going to the 457 plan. Whereas with regular Wyoming retirement, it's a combination of the employee's contribution and the town's contribution to that program.

So you're saying this is the employee side of the contribution?

No, this is the whole contribution on the Wyoming retirement side. With WEPT, WEPT is our group health insurance, and sometimes that is also... paid prior to. Now I can talk to WEPT and see if they'll give us a different draw date on that, but usually the invoice comes out on the 5th and it's an automatic payment out of our account.

Well, so when's our next payment come due? This coming… In September? Yeah, I mean, we're bearing down on that. This is our last meeting before that, right?

It is, but I have either... Yes, it is.

You've fudged before?

I have either paid just ahead of a meeting or I have paid late in the past. But I just wanted to get something in writing so that I know which way I can go with it.

I would suggest this. Since we have this deadline that's bearing down on us, what would you think about having the resolution authorize that payment until we can dig a little deeper under the carpet if we're going to do it consistently every time? That way all we're doing is just authorizing one early payment and then we'll maybe be in a better position to figure out just how that might be doable. I'm a little concerned doing it with a resolution. I almost think we ought to have an ordinance to do this. That's just a possible escape hatch. That way in the resolution we could designate exactly what it is we're authorizing the retirement payment.

You mean in the ordinance?

Well, in the ordinance also, but I'm talking about to get Kim out of the box on this thing this time, we could... we can maybe authorize by resolution to make that payment when it comes due and then to report back.

If I understood, that may not be the only case where this would come up.

It is not the only case. I can certainly reach out to all other agencies and see if they would be open to changing either our electronic payment or our due date to a later date.

Or does it work better if we just move our meetings to the first and third?

That's probably what they're going to say, too. Maybe that's why everybody does that.

I never thought of that. preparation for those meetings? Does that compromise it?

You know, I think that regardless of when you schedule the meetings, there's always going to be something that's kind of in that odd limbo status. Without looking at a calendar, if we were to have a council meeting, If the first Monday of the month happened to be on the third of the month, then I'm racing on the first of the month to get all the numbers together from the prior month for things like retirement and all that. I'm trying to think of another. I mean, workers' comp is based on the previous month, but you have the full month to get that one in, so that one's not really an issue. I think the biggest ones are Wyoming Retirement and WEPT. And I'm sure there are a few others out there that are kind of... That if we moved it, we'd miss something different. That's just the timing. Absolutely, it's the timing. The nice thing about having the first meeting on the second Monday is we catch a huge... like the majority of our payables in that first meeting. There's just a small handful that if our meeting is late enough that we miss that deadline.

So maybe a list of the ones that have been causing problems and we proceed from there?

We can absolutely do that. I mean, can we maybe put off this resolution and then rewrite the resolution with, an attachment that lists the exact payables that are being considered?

Mary, yeah. For sure, I think we need to specify it. I don't think this resolution quite fits the issue because it's sort of a blanket permissive resolution. Years hence, when we're all doing something else, there will arise a queen who knew not Kim and might go off the reservation writing checks, and I just don't want to see that happen. So I think for sure we ought to nail down what it is we're authorizing.

So if we specify that it's for Wyoming retirement and perhaps one other thing.

Yeah, if we knew what it was.

Then possibly we can nail it down to a tighter, define it a little tighter.

Yeah, and with that, the issue would be if it falls on a date, that precedes the first meeting of the month, then it becomes necessary to pay it. So it's not like it's every single time. It's when it's going to solve a problem. And I think that would probably show anybody who wanted to make a fuss about it that we were doing the right thing and trying to stick to the requirements of the 51-103.

Do you want to write a resolution that you feel would be safer?

Yeah, if you can give me a list of stuff.

Yep, I can do that. I will move to table this resolution to the September 14th meeting of the Pine Bluffs Town Council.

I'll second it.

Hearing a motion and a second to table the resolution 2026-09 until the next meeting.

Yeah, could I ask that it be a motion to postpone it until then?

Tables like trash, isn't it? Yeah. Well, do you want to trash it or postpone it and just put up a different resolution?

Let's postpone it.

Okay.

I'll move to postpone this resolution to the September 14th meeting.

I'll second that.

Hearing a motion to postpone resolution 2026-09 until the next council meeting. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Hearing none, motion carries.

So what you can do... Because we didn't solve the issue and she still has bills due before the 14th.

Pay it late.

It's only going to be a couple of days. I'll have them ready to go.

And in the meantime, Alex is going to call them and see if we can pay it late. The next item on the agenda is resolution 2026-10, a resolution authorizing submission of a federal minerals royalty capital construction account grant application to the state loan and investment board on behalf of the governing body for the town of Pine Bluffs for the purpose of purchasing a pavilion for rear park. This application will exhaust consensus funds for 2013 through 2014 biennium in the amount of $2,713.

Mayor and Council, we have had some countywide consensus funds floating around out there for a while. As you can see, it's from the 2013-2014 biennium. It's just been a matter of us getting out there and just exhausting this last little bit of money before we lose it all together. And so we have put that concrete pad in up by Rare Park for the future purpose of putting in a pavilion. So we thought that we would exhaust those 2013 and 2014 funds. All that remains is $2,713.00. The full cost of a pavilion will be approximately $75,000.

I'll move to adopt resolution 2026-01. Second.

Hearing a motion and a second to adopt resolution 2026-01. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Hearing none, resolution carries. is adopted. Next item on the agenda is resolution 2026-11, a resolution authorizing submission of a federal mineral royalty capital construction account grant application to the state loan and investment board on behalf of the governing body for the town of Pine Bluffs for the purpose of purchasing a pavilion for rear park. This application will exhaust consensus funds for the 2015 through 2016 biennium in the amount of $23,246.43. This is pretty much a repeat of resolution 2026-10 other than it's for the funds that were remaining from 2015-2016 countywide consensus funds.

We'll move to adopt resolution 2026-11. Second.

Hearing a motion and a second to adopt resolution 2026-11. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Hearing none, resolution 2026-11 is adopted. Next item on the agenda is visitor comments. Yes, sir.

Just need to forget the shirt that I'm wearing. I'm on behalf of American Legion post 21 out of Burns. I just wanted to inform the council that we are having a 9-11 ceremony at the Burns Memorial Park on 9-11 in Burns. It will have a 21 gun salute, all the military Salutes, honors that will be present. The one thing that is unique about this one is we actually have a family living in Burns that lost an aunt in the towers when they collapsed. So her father and that family will be attending the meeting and we will be presenting a casket flag to that family in honor of their relative that passed away. It has started at 10 o'clock in the morning on the 11th and it should be done by 11 or 11.30. Just wanted to invite, we have, so far we have Congresswoman Hageman and Governor Gordon that are going to be there. Nice. So I just wanted to let you know so you can come out on a Friday afternoon or Friday morning and see that.

Well, thank you for the invitation. That's very nice. Any other visitor comments? On to department reports.

Nope. I have nothing to report.

I have nothing either.

Nothing for me.

Nothing for me. No, Alex.

I don't have anything except the liquor license stuff. I'll get those printed and start collecting the fees for that, and they should be good to go.

How about you, Kim?

You have anything? I have nothing.

Gosh, yeah, that's slow, man.

Except we still have the chief. Oh, well.

You're good? Good. Sorry, I didn't mean to exclude you. Announcements and meetings?

Our next meeting will be Monday, September 14th at 6 p.m. That will be a regular meeting, no workshops. I'll move to adjourn.

Hearing a motion and a second to adjourn. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Hearing none, motion carries.