LUSK - Lusk Town Council has assumed control of how the Lodging Tax Board will function from now on. During the Town Council meeting held on November 5, two ordinances formally establishing the Lusk Lodging Tax Board were read. The board will consist of five members and will be appointed by the mayor and council. Board members must be qualified electors of the Town of Lusk and the majority must be from the travel and tour industry. The ordinances were approved and will be amended. There will be two more special meetings for a second and third reading of the ordinance.  

Mayor Doug Lytle told the council that he would like to appoint Dean Nelson to fill the seat of former councilman Bo Krein, who departed last month. There was a first motions. However, there was no second motion made and the appointment failed. The council and mayor will look at filling the empty council seat in December. The mayor made a suggestion for appointments to fill the empty council seat and it is the decision of the council whether or not the suggestion for appointments will be accepted.

The council approved the amendments of employee drug and alcohol testing. This included a stipulation that the town has the right to conduct random drug and alcohol testing on employees.

There were several bids for a new ambulance submitted to the Town of Lusk. There were eight bids that came back from various companies. The mayor suggested that the Council refuse all bids and put out the call for new bids. A motion was made to refuse all bids and initiate new bids. This was seconded and the new bids will be written specific to the Lusk-Niobrara Ambulance service.

Mayor Lytle spoke to the council about the Wyoming Community Gas Project Designation for 2026 in the amount of $5,930.67. He told the council that this is something to think about for any upcoming projects for improvements in the town of Lusk. A decision will have to made by December.

During the department updates, Trevor Barner, Golf Course Superintendent, reported that the grasses have gone dormant. Barner said they would water as weather permits. The golf course’s John Deer Tractor has been having some electrical issues and will need to have some maintenance at a later date.

Royce Thompson reported the FFA has ordered a new snowplow, which will be delivered at a later date.

Parks Manager James Santistevan told the council that he has shut down the parks and winterized all of the sprinkles for the winter months. Santistevan and his staff have been doing fall clean up at the cemetery.

Lusk Police Chief Jacob Gordan said that the month of October had been busy. Last year’s incidents were 263 and this year was up at 283. Chief Gordon thanked Barner for helping with the first Cops and Goblins that was held in October. He went on to thank Niobrara Chamber Director Morgan Nolan for her help with Cops and Goblins. Chief Gordon told the council that the event was successful to justify the Lusk Police Department hosting another Cops and Goblins next year. He added that the kids were excited to hear that. The PD got new computers and Tablets and the PD is working on updates. The PD will be escorting the Lady Tigers Volleyball team out of town next week as they travel to compete at the State level.

Lusk-Niobrara Ambulance Director Mike Mayville gave an update of 36 patient contacts and one transport. Mayville told the council that the Ambulance had received a small grant from OneOk. He will be purchasing new coveralls and PPE for the EMTs. The new coveralls will be extremely useful if the EMTs are called to the scene of a fire. EMTs will be afforded with more protection than just simple street clothes. Mayville said that one of the ambulances will need to have an alignment done and he has already scheduled this procedure for this month in Torrington.

Town Clerk Desi LeLeux reported that the town was not awarded two grants. Leleux will be attending training with WAMPA in December. The training will be concerned with understanding rates. The town will have a scheduled power outage on November 17.

Director of Public Works Todd Skrukrud said the Ranger alley is complete. Before the weather turns, Oftedal will be finishing some streets and curbs.

The council approved an amount of $350 for employee bonuses.

The next Town of Lusk meeting will be held on December 3 at 5 p.m. at town hall.