Council starts year with reports on deer cull, water agreement

While the majority of January's regular meeting was focused on the administration required at the beginning of the year, a few timely issues were brought before the Sundance City Council on Tuesday.

This year's deer cull has now come to an end with the expiration of the latest Wyoming Game & Fish permit. The council heard that 22 deer have been taken and the meat is being distributed to residents upon request.

However, each of the culled deer is to be tested for chronic wasting disease (CWD) and Rusty Speidel reported that only one of the results has so far been returned. This result was negative for the fatal disease.

The number of deer and length of time available to cull were both increased this year at the suggestion of Game Warden Nate Holst, in an effort to get ahead of the possibility that CWD rates are increasing in the Sundance area.

City Attorney Mark Hughes informed the council that he has looked over the agreement that would allow out-of-town residents to obtain water from the city and found no issues.

However, he asked the council to consider the wording within that agreement that allows for a pre-annexation agreement with the subdivision or landowner in question.

This type of agreement has never before been used to annex a property and, to the best of Hughes' knowledge, has not been tested in court, he said, asking the council if it wants to continue including the wording.

Council Member Callie Hilty commented that the wording helps to prevent an awkward future situation in which the city wants to expand past a subdivision and cannot do so. A motion was passed to approve the agreement as it stood.

In departmental reports, Public Works Director Mac Erickson told the council that work is now underway to fix the roof of City Hall, which was damaged by hail.

Fire Chief Gari Gill stated that 2023 was a relatively quiet year, saying, "Our total calls last year were about half a normal year." LifeFlight assists took the biggest share of these calls, he said, followed by motor accidents, including four extrications.

Gill reported that he was able to secure a grant from the Volunteer Firefighters Association that will be used for needs including new hose and retractable air hose reels. He is also working with a cadet who will turn 18 in July, assigning him nonhazard work in the fire hall.

Ryan Christensen of Trihydro reported that the design process is now at around 60% for the 3rd Street project to fix a leaking waterline.

He also told the council that he made a site visit to look at the failing bridge, for which the council was twice unable to secure funding through a popular WYDOT program.

Christensen said of the replacement for which the city is still looking for a grant, "I can see it's much needed," and that he will begin putting a package together to allow the council to submit for funding through the State Loans and Investments Board.

Regarding the issue of running water during storms on High Mile Road, Christensen said he has some ideas to intercept the water and has been able to see where it comes over the curb thanks to the red dirt that collects. His ideas would direct the water down the street, and he will continue working with Erickson on proposed fixes.

Clerk-Treasurer Theresa Curren reported that she is working on an application for a variance to change zoning. Mayor Brooks commented that it will be handy to be able to hand someone a packet containing what's needed when a request is made.

The remainder of the meeting saw admin tasks completed such as to once again designate Sundance State Bank as the city's official repository and to make appointments for the year ahead, all of which remained the same.

The mayor was granted permission to sign the financial statements and contract renewals with Trihydro as the city engineer and with Omega Computers. Holidays were set for the year, mimicking the county's chosen dates, and the 2024 IRS mileage rate allowance of 67 cents was adopted.

The next regular meeting of the council is scheduled for February 6.