MINUTES OF THE REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING TOWN OF LUSK
February 4, 2025, 5:00 P.M.
The Town Council of the Town of Lusk met in regular session at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of Town Hall on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.
Council Members Present: Mayor Douglas Lytle, Council Members Thomas Dooper, Ronson Pfister, Chantry Filener, and Ty Thompson
Also Present: Attorney Dennis Meier; Todd Skrukrud, Public Works Director; Desirae Matthews-LeLeux, Clerk/Treasurer; Jacob Gordon, Police Chief; Taylor Willis, Deputy Clerk/Treasurer; Mike Mayville, EMS Director; Sheila Boldon, Lodging Tax Board; Brandie Collins, Lusk Herald
Lorn Frye led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.
MAYOR LYTLE called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
COUNCIL MEMBER DOOPER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER FILENER, to approve a consent agenda for item numbers three (3) through six (6). Items on consent agenda: Agenda, Bills, Payroll, Treasurer’s Report, Minutes. MOTION CARRIED. 5-0
VOUCHERS FOR PAYMENT
14 County Tire- Vehicle Repair $838.96; Aflac- Payroll Deduction $721.54; Agroecopower LLC- Airport Equipment Repair $2,900.00; Allbright’s True Value- Supplies $314.60; ALSCO- Mat Rental $100.64; AT&T Mobility- PD Phones/Tablets $446.00; Boldon Welding & Repair LLC- Snow Removal $168.90; Border State Industries Inc.- Electric Line Upgrade $900.00; Carrot-Top Industries Inc- Fire Dept Supplies $457.93; Caselle Inc.- Office Support & Maintenance $1,360.00; Century Link- Phone Services $1,307.99; CNA Surety- Insurance Bond- Willis $350.00; Connecting Point- Copier Lease $100.00; Doyle J. Davies- Municipal Judge $1,000.00; Decker’s Food Center- Supplies $71.72; Delta Dental- Employee Dental Insurance $1,087.60; Energy Laboratories, Inc- Water Samples/ Well Monitoring $76.00; Farwest Line Specialties- Electric Safety Equipment $807.00; Franks Parts Company- Parts/ Supplies/ Repairs/ Fuel/Oil $1,719.91; Grainger- Water Maintenance/ Repairs $159.29; Great American Financial Services- Copier Lease/ Copier Buyout PD $887.01; HDR, Inc- Consultant Fees $2,187.22; Ideal Linen/ Bluffs- Parts/ Supplies $118.99; Jergenson, Doug- Monthly Wage Animal Control $1,609.17; KERM-FM- Public Relations $180.00; Lumen- Phone, Long Distance $19.52; Lusk Fire Dept- Retirement/ IRA $11,675.00; Lusk Herald- Legal Advertising/ Advertising $1,146.57; Lusk Lodging Tax Board- Lodging Tax Distribution $1,310.09; Lytle, Doug- WAM Fuel Reimbursement $37.09; Marc- Ambulance Supplies $203.91; Matheson Tri-Gas Inc- Ambulance Oxygen $220.71; Mayville, Mike- Reimburse Hotel $209.82 Meier Building- Rent $800.00; Meier Law Office- Monthly Retainer $3,000.00; Newman Traffic Signs- New Equip $210.75; Niobrara Chamber of Commerce- Promotion $187.50; Niobrara County Library- Internet Service $250.00; Niobrara County Treasurer- Communication Contract $6,301.50; Niobrara Electric Association- Utilities $46.00; Northwest Pipe Fittings, Inc Scottsbluff- Maintenance/ Repairs $86.00; One Stop Safety Wyoming- Drug Testing Consortium 2025 $2,178.00; One-Call of Wyoming- Dig Tickets $8.25; Orr Alignment & Lube- PD Vehicle Repair $157.50; Pitney Bowes Purchase Power- Postage $51.60; Quill LLC- Supplies $145.56; RDO Equipment Co.- Streets Snow Removal/ Equip Repair $13,797.54; TDS Trash Collection Serv.- Tipping Fees $3,666.47; Underground Enterprises- Transfer Station Fees $2,625.00; Visa 0681- Subscriptions/ Supplies/ Conference/ Snow Removal $6,690.23; Visa 0715- Ambulance Emergency Coverage/ Maint/ Fuel/ Oil/ Transportation $1,025.57; Visa 1267- Investigation/ Transport/ Subscriptions/ Support/ Dues $221.39; Visionary Broadband- Internet Service $562.80; W.M.P.A.- Power Purchase $99,139.51; WEX Bank- Fuel $5,404.06; Wy Dep Fire Prevention & Elect Safety- Ambulance Supplies $82.82; WY Assn of Municipalities- Conference Registration $500.00; Wyoming Dept of Revenue- Sales Tax $6,987.26; WY Dept. of Workforce Services- Worker’s Compensation $1,940.51; WY Educators Benefit Trust- Employee Insurance $34,298.50; Wy First Aid & Safety Supply- Supplies $759.35; Wyoming Machinery Corp- Snow Removal $148.00. Total Vouchers $225,964.85.
Manual Checks, January 2025
Circuit Court of Niobrara County- Writ of Wages, Garnishment $363.51; Circuit Court of Niobrara County- Writ of Wages, Garnishment $606.95; Wyoming Child Support- Writ of Wages, Garnishment $307.84; Postmaster- Utility Bill Mailings $327.12; Circuit Court of Niobrara County- Writ of Wages, Garnishment $403.47; Circuit Court of Niobrara County- Writ of Wages, Garnishment $566.31; Lytle, Doug- Per Diem/ Conference $176.00; Matthews-LeLeux, Desirae- Per Diem/ Mileage Conference $373.40; Norberg, Rory- Per Diem/ Water Samples $24.00; Pfister, Ronson- Per Diem/ Mileage Conference $373.40; Norberg, Rory- Per Diem/ Parts Pickup $24.00; Aarow Manufacturing, Inc- New Ambulance $398,390.00; Owren, Jay- Per Diem/ DFS Transfer $108.00; Oftedal Construction Inc- Contractor Payment $235,925.00; AVI PC Engineering Inc- Engineering Fees $111,229.26. Total $749,198.26.
ACH - January 2025
Lusk State Bank- Health Savings Account $6,416.74; Elevon- Office Credit Card Fees $475.75; Wyoming Retirement System- Government Contribution $17,807.84; Xpress Bill Pay- Online Bill Pay Fees $131.00; Verizon Wireless- Ambulance Phones $89.74; Black Hills Energy- Shop Gas Utilities $481.17; Black Hills Energy- Warehouse Gas Utilities $538.84; Black Hills Energy- PD Gas Utilities $130.91; Black Hills Energy- Ambulance Gas Utilities $454.57; Lusk State Bank- Stop Payment Fee $25.00; 941 Employers Federal Tax- Payroll FICA/FWT $11,776.59; Empower Trust- WRS 457 Retirement $100.00; 941 Employers Federal Tax- Payroll FICA/FWT $11,794.79; Empower Trust- WRS 457 Retirement $100.00; 941 Employers Federal Tax- Payroll FICA/FWT $2,254.13; 941 Employers Federal Tax- Payroll FICA/FWT $85.07. Total $52,662.14.
Visitors:
Richard Murry was present to answer any question for the Niobrara Country Club Golf Tournament Requests. Discussion was during new business.
Department Updates:
Mayville reported statistics for the month of January for the ambulance department. He reported that two EMT’s are still in the process of completing the A-class. He retrieved the new ambulance last week. They are waiting for the radios to be installed, and Ryan Meng will be building the bumper. Mayville will be scheduling the state inspection once everything is installed, then the rig can be placed in service. He will begin the teardown of old MS-55, and they may use it in a joint training with the Fire Department. Mayville completed the Level 1 Instructor course in Riverton and will look at holding an EMT class in the future.
Chief Gordon reported statistics for the month of January for the police department. He reported that they are in the process of moving their cellphone service to the T-Mobile Zero-Dollar Heros five-year plan.
LeLeux reported that she, council member Pfister, and Mayor Lytle attended the WAM conference in Cheyene. She stated there are multiple bills that will affect tax revenues. 1099s and W2s have been sent out. They are wrapping up the Cyber Security Grant. The internet will be moved and installed at the transfer station tomorrow. She reported that they are moving into budget season. Mayor Lytle shared that while at WAM there are several bills with tax deductions that will affect budgets. He explained that property taxes go directly to the counties and special districts will be affected. He also shared that there is a bill that eliminates sales tax on electricity that did pass committee.
Skrukrud reported waiting on DC Drilling to assess well #9. The motor grader went down during the last storm, was down for a few weeks but is back up with costly repairs. On the project- Insituform will clean sewer lines on February 24th, then sewer lining will be done on March 10th. There has been no word from Oftedal on when they will start back up. He and Desi met with HDR and went over 90% plans on the safe pathways grant. They will be working with HDR on where to design next. James Santistevan has received his commercial applicator license through the state. Skrukrud has been contacted by someone interested in purchasing a lot at the business park. They are waiting on estimated costs on the water main transmission line in Phase 3 from engineering. Mayor Lytle explained that the town received additional ARPA grant funds for the infrastructure project. He shared that they originally asked for $7 million but only received $6.2 million. They were recently awarded an additional $1.6 million. This additional money can help with changing out that water main, once they receive confirmation from the state.
Old Business:
No old business
New Business:
Mayor Lytle requested to appoint Ronson Pfister to the Lodging Tax Board. COUNCIL MEMBER DOOPER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER THOMPSON to approve the Mayor’s request. Council Member Pfister abstained. MOTION CARRIED. 4-0
Mayor Lytle requested to appoint Patrick Turner to the Lodging Tax Board. COUNCIL MEMBER DOOPER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER THOMPSON to approve the Mayor’s request. MOTION CARRIED. 5-0
COUNCIL MEMBER FILENER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER DOOPER, to approve the livestock permit renewal for Robyn Jefcoat- Chickens. MOTION CARRIED. 5-0
There was much discussion on the 2025 Golf Tournament requests. Richard Murray stated they would only need the course closed on Saturday for the Mark Lohr Memorial Tournament, not both days. Murray responded no, when asked if the Mark Lohr tournament was for scholarship. He further requested reduced green fees for all tournaments and a closed course for all tournaments except the NCC championship tournament. Murray expressed multiple reasons as to why they should allow reduced fees. He thanked the council for hiring Trevor and Coe to run the golf course and stated it is a pleasure to play. Council member Dooper expressed his concern over having tournaments on weekends because it takes days away from those who purchase golf memberships. It was noted that there were seven Saturday tournaments last year. Mayor Lytle shared his opinion that tournaments bring in more revenue compared to a regular day. He also mentioned that he supports offering reduced green fees for scholarship tournaments. COUNCIL MEMBER DOOPER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER FILENER, to approve the requested tournament dates for the Niobrara Country Club and the Employees of the NEA Scholarship Fund as follows: Friday, June 6th- Wood Eye (closed course); Friday & Saturday, August 1st & 2nd- Mark Lohr Memorial (closed course Saturday only); Saturday & Sunday, August 16th & 17th- NCC Championship; Saturday, June 14th – Employees of the NEA Scholarship Fund (closed course); course closures until 5:00pm; and approval moving forward with no conflicting dates, reduced green fees of $15 for 18 holes for tournaments on weekdays (Monday- Friday) only. MOTION CARRIED. 4-1
COUNCIL MEMBER PFISTER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER DOOPER, to move into executive session at 5:20pm for personnel and contracts. MOTION CARRIED. 5-0
The council reconvened into regular session at 6:20 pm.
The next regular council meeting will be on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.
There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 6:21 p.m.
Douglas E. Lytle, Mayor
ATTEST:
Desirae Matthews-LeLeux, Clerk/Treasurer
Public Notice No. 6200 published in The Lusk Herald on February 19, 2025.
