Kemmerer City Council discusses trail improvements, weed violations

Theresa Davis, Gazette Editor
Posted 6/29/17

City Council discusses trail improvements, weed violations

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Kemmerer City Council discusses trail improvements, weed violations

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At the Kemmerer City Council meeting on Monday, June 26, the City agreed to rent the concessions stand at the Archie Neil Park and Outdoor Pool to the KJSHS 8th grade class for the summer, who will use profits from selling concessions to raise money for their class trip to Washington, D.C.

Kathy Tomassi, the Kemmerer Rotary Club president, addressed the council about the club’s application for a WYDOT TAP (Transportation Alternatives Program) grant to redo the trail around the Fossil Island Golf Club.

“We pick a project every year to focus on,” Tomassi said. “A couple of years ago it was the dog park. Now it’s the walking trail around the golf course.”

“At this point, if it’s granted, there will be very little cost to the city,” Tomassi said.

“The Lions Club is on board, and so is the Kemmerer Community Foundation.”

Amy Butler, Lincoln County Engineer, addressed the council about the county’s efforts to collaborate with the communities of Kemmerer and Diamondville to create a plan for trails.

Butler said WYDOT wants all communities to have plans before they are granted funding, and she is working on writing that grant.

“We’re looking for Kemmerer and Diamondville connectivity with these trails,” Butler said. “The county is in the process of hiring a consultant to extend the Lions Club trail and the Frontier area trails. All of these trails crossover between city and county jurisdiction.”

Chad Nielson, Public Works Director for the City of Kemmerer, expressed his approval of these proposed improvements.

“The city trail system gets a lot of use,” Nielson said. “Next to snow removal, trails are what I hear the most about from people.”

City Administrator Andrew Nelson encouraged the council to support these improvement projects, reminding the public that the funds for these projects were already included in the FY 2017-2018 budget.

“This is a good opportunity to expand,” Nelson said. “With what we’ve talked about tonight, with one construction grant and one planning grant, we will be maintaining what we have and looking to the future,” Nelson said.

The Council passed on first reading Ordinance 2017-855, which amends parts of Section 14 and Section 16 of the Kemmerer Municipal Code regarding weeds and nuisances.

The proposed ordinance decreases the abatement period of weed violations from 20 days to seven days, with increased fines for repeated violations.

The current city codes that describe what constitutes weeds and nuisances is available on the city’s website at kemmerer.org.

Under the new ordinance, beginning seven days after an officer issues a weed citation, if the property owner has not removed the weeds, they receive a $150 fine each day until they take care of the problem or the first citation is settled in court.

The ordinance states that “each day the problem remains is a separate violation of the city ordinance.” However, a judge has the right to reduce the fines if the property owner chooses to go to court instead of paying the fine.

“The city is cleaning up weeds on city property, because we do have to take care of our own first,” said Mayor Anthony Tomassi. “If we’re going to approve the appearance of this town, we need to get it done in a timely way.”

Kemmerer Police Chief Mike Kahre told the council that the police have issued 111 weed violations since May 22, with over 60 percent of those violations having been taken care of.

“We definitely make efforts to contact the property owner, especially in a case of property where the owner lives somewhere else and doesn’t know that their property has weeds,” Chief Kahre said.

The second reading of the weeds and nuisance ordinance will be discussed at the next city council meeting on Monday, July 10.

The council also considered and passed a revised fee structure for the South Lincoln Training and Events Center.

Current fees will stay the same, but if a client wants Events Center staff to assist with setting up for their event or dismantling what they set up, they will be charged an extra $30 an hour per employee. An exception is certain equipment that SLTEC staff must help with.

According to the revised fee structure, state and federal government agencies have been added to the list for discounted rates.

The Events Center will also now offer an incentive for organizations that rent multiple times a year.

If an individual or organization rents the events center five times in a fiscal year, the sixth time is free and every booking after is discounted at a 50 percent rate.

“We really need to make people aware of the good buys that we have at the events center,” Mayor Tomassi said.

Councilman Robert Reetz suggested the addition of a clause that the fees will expire in June 1, 2018, giving the council a chance to reassess and see how the events center is doing before implementing another long-term fee plan.