Kemmerer city council passes two new ordinances August 27

Theresa Davis, Gazette Editor
Posted 8/30/18

WYDOT study, Diers recognition also on agenda

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Kemmerer city council passes two new ordinances August 27

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The Kemmerer City Council held its regular meeting on Monday, August 27, at Kemmerer City Hall. All council members were present except for Mayor Tony Tomassi.

Natasia Diers — the Deputy Clerk and Treasurer for the city of Kemmerer — was recognized at the meeting for 10 years of service to the city.

“Natasia has done a really great job,” said Kemmerer City Administrator Andrew Nelson.

The council adopted on third reading Ordinances 2018-858 and 2018-859, amending Chapters 1 and 15 of the Kemmerer city code.

“These ordinances correct the discrepancies between the city code and the state statute created by a recent Wyoming supreme court decision,” Nelson said. “The ordinance adds criminal trespass, shoplifting and vandalism to the list of jailable offenses, which allows a municipal judge to issue a probation sentence and jail time if the individual violates that probation.”

The city council first examined these new ordinances at the July 23 meeting.

Ordinance 2018-859 amends section 15.45 of the Kemmerer city code.

The ordinance adds shoplifting, criminal trespassing and vandalism to the list of misdemeanors that could face jail time if an individual violates their unsupervised probation. Under current city code, the individual only had to pay a fine for these offenses.

“This ordinance makes our city court align with state statutes and relevant case law,” said Kemmerer city administrator Andrew Nelson at the July 23 meeting. “It gives the judge more tools in his toolbox to judge as he sees fit.”

Ordinance 2018-858 removes section 15.41 from the Kemmerer city code. The passage that will be removed reads: “It shall be unlawful for any person to wear or carry concealed any knife, switchblade, slingshot, gun, dagger, sword, club, tear gas dispenser, mace dispenser or any other dangerous or deadly weapon; provided, however, closed pocketknifes with only manually operated opening mechanisms shall be exempt.”

Another item on the agenda was approving a letter asking for a WYDOT review of on-street parking in downtown Kemmerer.

“This is basically asking WYDOT to come and do an analysis of the road and parking situation from Klondyke Street to Emerald Street in Downtown Kemmerer,” Nelson said. “They will look to see if it’s possible, feasible and safe to change the road striping, remove the left turn lanes, and allow for parking on both sides of Pine Street.”

Nelson said after the letter is submitted, it is unknown when WYDOT will provide their recommendation to the city.

“They may come back after the study and say no, it doesn’t need to change,” Nelson said. “It’s their road.”

The city of Kemmerer also submitted agreements with WYDOT to use some leftover materials from WYDOT road projects in town on city road projects.

“WYDOT is doing a project on Highway 189 from their building to the bridge,” Nelson said. “We will use the leftover mill to create a more permanent parking lot at the golf course. That parking lot gets torn up in the winter, and this way we will save on costs for the city.”

The council also approved an agreement with WYDOT to use leftover asphalt from the Hams Fork Road project to repair a portion of 3rd West Avenue.

“The money that we’ll save by not having to transport the materials more than a few miles is great,” Nelson said.

The next Kemmerer City Council meetings are on Monday, Sept. 10, and Monday, Sept. 24. All meetings are at 7:00 p.m. at Kemmerer City Hall.

As always, the public is invited to attend the meetings and address the council about agenda items or other concerns.