Diamondville Council discusses junk cars, Miner’s Park monument

Theresa Davis, Gazette Editor
Posted 6/21/17

Diamondville Council Meeting June 19, 2017

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Diamondville Council discusses junk cars, Miner’s Park monument

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The Diamondville Town Council held a meeting on Monday, June 19 at Diamondville Town Hall.

The Council announced that there is still an opening for a seat on the Joint Powers Board. Those interested in the position should visit Diamondville Town Hall or Kemmerer City Hall to fill out the necessary paperwork.

Gary Hutchinson of the Kemmerer Diamondville Joint Powers Board addressed the council about a service line on Emerald Street in Kemmerer that needs repairs.

The Joint Powers board submitted a Emergency Mineral Royalty Grant application for the project to the State Loan and Investment Board meeting on June 15.

“We could’ve gotten 100 percent of the money we needed with that grant, but SLIB didn’t feel it qualified,” Hutchinson said. “But they moved our application into another funding area, and we got a grant that will give us 50 percent of the money needed to complete the project.”

Hutchinson said the estimated project cost is $430,000, and the Joint Powers Board received $215,000. He said the Board wanted to “keep the council aware” that they were in the process of securing the remainder of the funds needed.

“It was just old and worn out,” Hutchinson said. “It’s a line that’s been in service since the late 60s.”

The Diamondville town council granted the Diamondville Museum Committee permission to install a monument in Miner’s Park.The granite monument will be at least six feet tall.

A black granite diamond will sit atop the monument, and the front and back of the monument will have a history of the town of Diamondville.

The person completing the monument is based out of Riverton, and is the same builder who created the soldier statue for the veterans’ memorial at the Kemmerer Cemetery.

Representatives of the Museum Committee said they will be able to complete the project with funds they already have.

The town council passed on second reading Ordinances 463 and 464, concerning junk cars and abandoned property.

A few meeting attendees voiced concerns about the ordinance, saying that it may target citizens working on project cars that they are unable to insure and license the vehicles because they are still in progress.

Diamondville Mayor Eric Backman assured these citizens that the council had considered the possibility of a hobby permit for citizens working on their cars.

Backman also explained that in the language of the new ordinance, a car would be considered junk only if it was in public view, could not move under its own power, and was not licensed (with proper state-issued registration stickers visible).

Diamondville Police Chief Mike Thompson addressed the council and reminded citizens that the new ordinance was first created because the old law’s wording wasn’t strong enough to allow the Police Department to cite citizens whose junk cars were eyesores and a town nuisance.

The council passed the ordinances on second reading, but decided to look at including a hobby permit separate from the ordinance.

Council members suggested that the permit should be limited to only two cars, and that a small fee should be attached to the permit to prevent citizens from attempting to secure a permit on several junk cars without actually fixing them.