MINUTES OF THE REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
TOWN OF LUSK
April 1, 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, April 1, 2025.
Council Members Present: Mayor Douglas Lytle, Council Members Ronson Pfister, Chantry Filener, and Ty Thompson
Council Members Not Present: Thomas Dooper
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; Trevor Barner, Golf Course Superintendent; Brandie Collins, Lusk Herald
Roarke Barner led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.
MAYOR LYTLE called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m.
COUNCIL MEMBER FILENER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER PFISTER, 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. 4-0
VOUCHERS FOR PAYMENT
14 County Tire- Vehicle Repair $3,322.12; ACEK9- PD K-9 Watch Dog Service $168.00; Aflac- Payroll Deduction $721.54; Allbright’s True Value- Supplies $1,362.27; ALSCO- Mat Rental $50.32; Animal Care Equipment & Services- New Equipment $144.94; Axon Enterprise, Inc- PD Dues & Fees $2,565.00; Bloomers, LLC- Funeral Plant $81.95; Boldon Welding & Repair LLC- Sanitation Parts & Supplies $241.95; Border States Industries Inc- Electric Line Upgrade $2,488.76; Bound Tree Medical LLC- Ambulance Supplies $1,089.15; Caselle Inc.- Office Support & Maintenance $1,360.00; CDW Government- Airport New Equipment $826.70; Century Link- Phone Services $1,328.29; Connecting Point- Copier Service Contract/ Overage Fees $1,378.55; Doyle J. Davies- Municipal Judge $1,000.00; Decker’s Food Center- Supplies $68.95; Delta Dental- Employee Dental Insurance $1,087.60; Energy Laboratories, Inc- Water Samples $76.00; Franks Parts Company- Parts/ Supplies/ Repairs/ Fuel/Oil/ Snow Removal $1,115.23; Grainger- Recycling Parts/ Supplies $269.78; Harberts, Michael- IT Services $990.00; Ideal Linen/ Bluffs- Parts/ Supplies $407.86; IRBY- Electric Safety Equipment $313.18; Jergenson, Doug- Monthly Wage Animal Control $1,609.17; KERM-FM- Public Relations Misc $715.00; Lumen- Phone, Long Distance $20.83; Lusk Herald- Legal Advertising/ Advertising $1,705.85; Lusk Lodging Tax Board- Lodging Tax Distribution $2,112.90; Meier Building- Rent $800.00; Meier Law Office- Monthly Retainer $3,000.00; Motorola Solutions, Inc- PD New Equipment $1,108.38; Municipal Emergency SVCS-FD New Equipment $662.38; 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; NTP Small Engine Service- Parts/ Supplies $402.18; One-Call of Wyoming- Dig Tickets/ Group Membership $50.20; Pitney Bowes Global Financial- Leasing Charges $163.53; Pitney Bowes Purchase Power- Postage $541.99; RDO Equipment Co.- Equipment Repair $3,027.14; Ryan's Custom Designs- Ambulance New Equipment $2,600.00; Sinclair, Pine Bluffs- Airport Fuel $4,434.50; TDS Trash Collection Serv.- Tipping Fees $3,629.53; Underground Enterprises- Transfer Station Fees $2,180.00; Visa 0699- Parts/ Supplies/ Training/ Repairs $867.80; Visa 0715- Ambulance Emergency Coverage/ Supplies $398.99; Visionary Broadband- Internet Service $562.80; W.M.P.A.- Power Purchase $112,996.96; WY Dep Fire Prevention & Elec Safety- Ambulance Instructor Materials
$75.77; WY Child and Family Development- 2024- 2025 Service Match Request $1,000.00; WY Dept of Transportation- PD Fuel $994.54; WY Dept. of Workforce Services- Worker’s Compensation $1,848.00; WY Educators Benefit Trust- Employee Insurance $34,303.50; WY Machinery Corp- Equipment Repair $439.59. Total Vouchers $211,494.67.
Manual Checks, March 2025
AVI PC Engineering Inc- Engineering Fees $36,377.12; Oftedal Construction Inc- Contractor Payment $151,138.36; Kruse, Pete- Per Diem/ Safety Meeting $24.00; Lashmett, Justin- Per Diem/ Safety Meeting $24.00; Norberg, Rory- Per Diem/ Water Samples $24.00; Postmaster- Utility Bill Mailings $314.94; Willis, Taylor- Per Diem/Mileage - WCG Forum $206.60; Circuit Court of Niobrara County- Writ of Wages, Garnishment $369.82. Total $188,478.84.
ACH - March 2025
Lusk State Bank- Health Savings Account$ 6,416.74; Elevon- Office Credit Card Fees $570.39; Wyoming Retirement System - Government Contribution $17,627.71; Xpress Bill Pay- Online Bill Pay Fees $119.00; Verizon Wireless- Ambulance Phones $89.74; Black Hills Energy- Shop Gas Utilities $787.72; Black Hills Energy- Warehouse Gas Utilities $797.61; Black Hills Energy- PD Gas Utilities $143.89; Black Hills Energy- Ambulance Gas Utilities $498.72; 941 Employers Federal Tax- Payroll FICA/FWT $11,259.54; Empower Trust- WRS 457 Retirement $100.00; 941 Employers Federal Tax- Payroll FICA/FWT $10,928.82; Empower Trust- WRS 457 Retirement $100.00; 941 Employers Federal Tax- Payroll FICA/FWT $2,284.62. Total $51,724.50.
Visitors:
At 5:03 p.m. Mayor Lylte asked for public comments on the following liquor license renewals: Lusk Municipal Golf Course; Silver Dollar Bar; The Pizza Place; Lusk Elks BPO 1797; The Pub; Lusk Liquor Store & Lounge; Legends Bar and Grill. There was no public comment. Public comment closed at 5:04 p.m.
Morgan Kling with Wyoming Child & Family Development presented the council with a “Thank You canvas.” Kling reported that they are still serving 15 children and are asking for the continued $1,000 match to keep the building open. There will be a screening coming up. Mayor Lytle asked if they were going to re-open and voiced his concern that if the service was to go away, the match requested would be lost. Kling said there is always a hope to re-open and assured him that they would be using the facility for screenings and for those families and children that do not age out of the program. COUNCIL MEMBER FILENER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER THOMPSON to approve, if legally able, the $1,000 match for continued services. MOTION CARRIED. 4-0
Tanner Halligan was not present.
Trevor Barner was present on behalf of Kaylee. He shared regarding the discount package for the ranch rodeo, to look at it as an incentive not a discount. He continued stating that these people are not here to play golf. Tournaments are different. This is more of an advertising or promotion for those that aren’t here to use those facilities but maybe we can get them there. Barner suggested taking $5 off on 18 holes as an option. There was discussion on different ways to get patrons to visit our facilities. Mayor Lytle suggested that an approach of playing a round of golf and getting a discount on the second, could be an option. There will be continued discussion on the topic.
Skrukrud stated that Krag Kraft was not able to be at the meeting, but he provided a written statement of what he is requesting. Mayor Lytle tabled this to look into the request more thoroughly with Skrukrud.
Department Updates:
Barner reported they fired up the hotline. Things are progressing. Still had frost two weeks ago. He reported that the cement patio is coming and will break ground on May 5th after the High school golf tournament that moved to May 2nd. There will be a sidewalk around the building. This will push the driving range out and cut into the putting green. The plan is to take sod off the top, push the driving range and putting green down a grade lower for water drainage away from the building. This will make the driving range bigger. He is not sure what will happen with the putting green. They will pour another pad south of the current driving range toward the road for the driving range mats. They will get sod out of Torrington and sod back the driving range to speed up the process.
Chief Gordon reported statistics for the month of March for the police department. Two radars were donated by Campbell County. Radio updates are happening tomorrow. He is working on several grants including: Hiway Safety Grant; The Cops grant will help fund a new officer; USDA grant will fund a vehicle. They will be completing some trainings next month, and he will be working on the SRO MOU for next year. There was discussion on how to help Mr. Martinez Skills class for their services in building steel targets out at the range. Council member Filener said the Sportsmans club would like to help as well. Gordon stated there currently aren’t ideal steel targets for practice. There is a conex box that was placed at the shooting range by the town, but it is used by other entities. Gordon said he needs to be able to control what is being used by others that belong to the Police Department.
Mayville reported statistics for the month of March for the ambulance department. He submitted all the paperwork to DEQ for the new ambulance grant. They have accepted what was submitted and are processing for payment. Mayville thanked Rural Fire for helping with the process of cutting up the old rig. Mayville did the documentation through his company for scrapping. They will still be doing a joint training with the fire department.
LeLeux reported receiving the check from Wyoming Community Gas. Taylor attending the forum. April 3-23rd is the choice gas period. Lusk State Bank has to change the interest rate on our savings account to 3.95% from 5.2%. LeLeux shared that the current interest rate with WYClass is 4.3% and Lusk State Bank said they could possibly do 4% and work with us in his proposal for the Phase III interim financing loans. She reported that she has not been able to get in touch with our previous Bond Council for interim financing. The current insurance renewals are this month and would like to offer a volunteer vision option through our WEBT insurance as well as their volunteer delta dental option. The current delta dental program is up for renewal, as well. LeLeux received notice from the state that the Phase II DWSRF loan received the 75% forgiveness. They received permission from the Governor to use the ARPA funding for the replacement of the AC line within the Phase III limits. Rosemary from WMPA would like to visit with the council on Friday April 4th to go over the WMPA rate increases. Dawn Hall is the new utility billing clerk in the office. There will be a meeting with Rosemary at 10:30 am to learn more about the rate increase.
Skrukrud reported he worked with departments heads on their budgets. They are working on pothole patching, sweeping, and maybe painting the parking lines on main street earlier as he keeps getting passed on the right. He talked with HDR and they are working on the bid package. The sign at the golf course was lost in the last wind we had. He believes that the lodging tax board paid for the previous one to be placed there and was purchased out of Torrington. Council member Pfister said he would like to see the sign bigger and double sided. Will discuss it with the lodging tax board. Skrukrud will check on the permits for a bigger sign. Regarding the project: sewer is completed in the east blocks of the project. Water is getting done now and all is going smoothly. At the meeting they will discuss moving into the business alleys next. The sewer at the river crossings was bigger than what was in the specs and will have a cost increase of about $56,000 more. That will be an expense to the town if ARPA funds do not cover the upcharge. They took a core for the AC line to establish the thickness and then tap a valve in. He is not sure on the schedule for that.
Old Business:
Mayor Lytle shared that Big D Oil Company dba 1885 Travel Center has provided a letter requesting the renewal of their license and asking for an additional year of being non-operational and changed their renewal application status to non-operational/parked. COUNCIL MEMBER THOMPSON MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER FILENER to approve the renewal application for Big D Oil Company as non-operational/parked. MOTION CARRIED. 4-0
New Business:
COUNCIL MEMBER THOMPSON MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER PFISTER to approve all of the liquor license renewal applications for the following: Town of Lusk dba Lusk Municipal Golf Course; The Silver Dollar Bar of Lusk, LLC dba Silver Dollar Bar; The Pizza Place LLC dba The Pizza Place; Lusk Elks BPO 1797; L & J Halligan dba The Pub; Lusk Liquor Store & Lounge; Legendary Ladies, LLC dba Legends Bar and Grill. Chief Gordon said there were no issues with the list of applicants. MOTION CARRIED. 4-0
COUNCIL MEMBER FILENER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER PFISTER to approve the Creek Side Pro Shop Golf Tournament on Saturday, July 19th, 2025, with course closure. MOTION CARRIED. 4-0
COUNCIL MEMBER THOMPSON MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER PFISTER, to approve the airport hangar lease renewal for Tschacher Farms. MOTION CARRIED. 4-0
COUNCIL MEMBER FILENER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER PFISTER, to approve the Pasture Lease Renewal for C & W Land and Livestock, LLC. Council Member Pfister asked where the location was. Skrukrud explained it is on gun club road and neighbors Clark’s property by his hay barn. There was discussion on the fence being removed after the flood. Skrukrud stated there are no issues. MOTION CARRIED. 4-0
COUNCIL MEMBER FILENER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER THOMPSON, to approve the amendment to Agreement for Engineering Services for HDR Project #10374517- FY 2025 salary adjustment. MOTION CARRIED. 4-0
COUNCIL MEMBER THOMPSON MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER FILENER, to approve the Carver, Florek & James, CPA’s Audit Engagement Agreement – FY 2025 Single Audit for up to $38,000. LeLeux said the amount remains the same as last year’s agreement. Mayor Lytle shared that this is still cheaper than the proposals received years ago. MOTION CARRIED. 4-0
COUNCIL MEMBER PFISTER MOVED, SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER PFISTER, to approve the first reading of the 2025-2026 Budget. Revenues- $21,914,150.00 and Expenditures- $21,842,878.00. Mayor Lytle explained it will balance by third reading. MOTION CARRIED. 4-0
The council discussed and scheduled a budget workshop for April 11th with a starting time of 9:00 a.m.
Skrukrud stated that there are two areas in town that are currently unzones and he would like to see them get zoned. He would also like to re-zone some of the other areas in town and stated since the council is the zoning board, it could be accomplished easily. Attorney Meier walked through the process with advertising, public hearing and then completed with resolution by the council. There were other areas discussed that are also un-zoned and discussion on grandfather properties. Mayor Lytle stated as the zoning board, they will work with Skrukrud and Mr. Meier and can get started on this matter.
The next regular council meeting will be on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, at 5:00 p.m.
There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 5:55 p.m.
Douglas E. Lytle, Mayor
ATTEST: Desirae Matthews-LeLeux, Clerk/Treasurer
Public Notice No. 6227 published in The Lusk Herald on April 16, 2025.
