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The Sweetwater County commissioners decided to take out a $10-million loan to help pay for the construction of two new facilities, which will be located near the detention center. At an August meeting, the Sweetwater County commissioners reviewed plans for the construction of two facilities on 36 Lagoon Road off of Highway 191 South. These buildings would house Sweetwater County Road and Bridge and the Sweetwater County Fire Department. Sweetwater County Treasurer Robb Slaughter was asked to...
Despite a signed petition with about 60 signatures and a few residents voicing opposition to Love’s Truck Stop locating in Jamestown, the Sweetwater County commissioners approved a request for the truck stop. In a unanimous vote Tuesday morning, the Commission approved a conditional use permit for a travel center/truck stop with a convenience store, automotive fuel pumps, fast-food restaurant and tire shop. While the permit doesn’t specifically name Love’s as the truck stop, Kym Van Dyke, a Lov...
While almost every written comment submitted to the Sweetwater County Planning and Zoning Commission was against placement of a Love's Travel Stop near Jamestown, people commenting at their meeting last week were more split on the issue. While some focused on issues like increased litter and traffic, others focused on what the truck stop could do for nearby development. Kael Jasperson, vice chairman of the Jamestown-Rio Vista Water and Sewer District said the district isn't advocating for the...
An overdue kayaker was rescued after not showing up to a meeting spot with his traveling companion Saturday. According to a release form the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, emergency responders were notified after the kayaker, later identified as Wayne Belcher, 57, Herderson, Nev., did not make his scheduled rendezvous with friend Dan Bjugstad Saturday evening. Belcher launched form Expedition Island at 8 a.m., Saturday morning and expected to meet Bjugstad at Firehole Campground at 2:30 p.m. After waiting for more than a few hours after t...
With project requests totaling more than $230 million for the sixth-penny tax initiative, the Sweetwater County commissioners fear a tax request that big could turn off voters. During the Sweetwater County commissioners meeting Tuesday morning, Commissioner Lauren Schoenfeld updated the other commissioners on what was discussed at a recent sixth-penny tax meeting. Schoenfeld said requests have come in from each town, city and agency requesting money, including Bairoil with $4.5 million, Granger...
A fire burning east of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir has burned hundreds of acres since it was reported Sunday afternoon. The fire at Currant Creek Ridge has been heavily attacked by firefighters from the Rock Springs Bureau of Land Management, Ashley National Forest and Sweetwater County Fire Department, as well as federal air resources, according to Mike Bournazian, Sweetwater County Fire Warden. “We had a hard time getting to that fire itself,” Bournazian said. The fire was initially reported at about 1:30 p.m., Sunday. The fire, ide...
A meeting Tuesday night amongst community leaders regarding a potential sixth-penny improvements tax revealed the tentative list of projects seeking funding is valued at approximately $230 million. That amount would take more than 12 years to pay off at current sales-tax receipt rates, though it is unlikely a ballot initiative for the full amount would make it on the 2020 ballot. The Sweetwater County commissioners, who ultimately decide if a tax will appear on the ballot, may decide to request...
Even though the Sweetwater County Commission decided to send out requests for proposals on the construction of two buildings, they aren’t sure if they will move forward or not. After more than an hour of discussion at last week’s meeting, the Sweetwater County Commission voted unanimously to approve an RFP for the construction of a building for Road and Bridge and the Sweetwater County Fire Department on Lagoon Drive, which is located off of Highway 191 South. Under the proposal submitted by...
Celebrating five years in Sweetwater County, the Sweetwater Regional Cancer Center invited residents to tour the facility and celebrate with them Thursday evening. The center is a partnership between Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County and the Huntsman Cancer Institute. In its five years of existence, the radiation oncology department has had 434 patients, administering 8,599 treatments, utilizing 1,143 treatment devices and hosting 1,701 on-treatment visits and 623 follow up visits. Amongst...
Wyoming State Treasurer Curtis Meier says the state has millions in unclaimed property available to residents. Speaking to members of the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce earlier this month, Meier said the backlog of unclaimed property amounts to $85 million. Residents can search the Wyoming.findyourunclaimedproperty.com website to see if they have unclaimed property listed. For people who don’t want to look online, Meier said they could call his office. “It’s your money,” Meier said. Propert...
The Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport will receive funding for commercial terminal upgrades. During the Sweetwater County commissioners meeting Tuesday morning, airport director Devon Brubaker said he had received confirmation from the Federal Aviation Administration that the airport’s project will receive funding. According to Brubaker, the airport will be given about $9 million in federal funding, $3.4 million from the Wyoming Department of Transportation Aeronautics and $3 million from t...
The future of ambulance service within Sweetwater County is unclear. With both Castle Rock Ambulance Service of Green River and Sweetwater Medics of Rock Springs losing money, a committee consisting of local representatives from both organizations, Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County representatives and Sweetwater County Commissioner Jeffrey Smith have met twice to try and to determine how to address the problem. In an interview, Smith said Castle Rock is losing $35,000 a month, while...
With Sweetwater communities already talking about the need for a sixth-penny tax to complete projects within the county, a discussion took place on how the process to obtain tax approval works. At the Sweetwater County Commission meeting Tuesday, the commissioners asked Sweetwater Deputy County Attorney John Deleon to go over the process with them. Deleon said in order for the sixth-penny tax, also known as the specific-purpose tax, to come before the commission, it must have a two-thirds vote...
A meeting last week initially intended to be a simple gathering of the county’s mayors to discuss the sixth-penny tax process became a special Rock Springs City Council meeting to discuss specific needs, according to Green River Mayor Pete Rust. The meeting took place Tuesday and featured presentations from some groups and cities about specific needs and dollar amounts they would like to request. Rust believes the problem came down to a miscommunication, saying the meeting he wanted to call w...
Tackling alcohol-related issues the county faces is something members of the Sweetwater County Prevention Team are ready to do. With an action plan in hand, the team consisting of prevention specialists Danielle Deters, Megan Weston and Laura Schmid-Pizzato, manager of Recovery Services, recently gave a quick presentation to the Sweetwater County commissioners. Along with this information, startling statics about alcohol misuse in the county was listed. Schmid-Pizzato said the Wyoming...
The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office released bodycam footage following a pursuit on Interstate 80 Saturday morning. The office also seeks help in the ongoing investigation of the incident. At approximately 9:15 a.m., Saturday, sheriff’s deputies responded to the area of Elk Street and Yellowstone Road to aid in seeking a vehicle that had failed to stop for an attempted traffic stop and was possibly fleeing from police. The vehicle, a Chevy Impala, was located minutes later driving at a high rate of speed on Elk. According to a release fro...
The Sweetwater County Land Use Office was forced to postpone the Planning and Zoning Commission’s hearing regarding a proposed Love’s Travel Stop near Jamestown. The hearing was canceled because a legal publication was not published on time in the Rock Springs Rocket Miner, the county’s newspaper of record. This came after the newspaper shifted from daily publication to a twice-a-week schedule. The missed legal notice was intended to be published prior to the shift, but the notice was unint...
The Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport will continue to pursue Federal Administration Aviation funding to complete the commercial terminal upgrades. During the Sweetwater County Commission meeting Tuesday morning, the Commissioners unanimously approved a motion supporting the commercial terminal project and the roughly $172,000 needed to match funding the airport may receive from the FAA. Airport Manager Devon Brubaker said the FAA gave the airport a list of items it can do to place itself in a...
A agreement to fund the Sweetwater Economic Development Coalition between Green River, Sweetwater County and Rock Springs was approved by the Green River City Council Tuesday evening, committing the city to pay $30,000 into the organization. The coalition aims to bring businesses to the county, creating more jobs and revenue for the three entities. While the initiative was approved, it wasn’t done so unanimously. Councilman Robert Berg voted against the agreement. “I’m all for economic devel...
A conflict between the city of Rock Springs Mayor Tim Kaumo and the Sweetwater County Events Complex Executive Director Larry Lloyd has been patched over and a memorandum of understanding between the city and complex board is anticipated to be completed soon, but the issue could have threatened the future of the National High School Finals Rodeo being at the events complex. The root of the argument involves the RV campground at the events complex. A portion of the campground was built on land...
Improving the lighting system and taxiways are just a couple of projects a multi-million dollar grant will allow the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport to complete. According to a letter from Airport Director Devon Brubaker addressed to the Sweetwater County Commission, the project will take about three years to complete and numerous items are on the list for improvements, including rehabilitating taxiway A, lowering sections of Taxiway A to meet Federal Aviation Administration design...
The Sweetwater County Commissioners have selected three residents to serve on the Sweetwater Economic Development Coalition. Those three are newly-appointed Commissioner Lauren Schoenfeld, Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport Director Devon Brubaker and Sweetwater County Land Use Director Eric Bingham. The alternate will be Marty Carollo of All West Communications. They will join two board members from Rock Springs and two from Green River. This board will oversee the operations of the SEDC....
While fire fuels haven’t dried enough to be a concern, residents are still being asked to be careful during the upcoming July 4 holiday. According to Sweetwater County Fire Warden Mike Bournazian, the long, wet spring the county experienced has contributed to additional grass growth. “What this means for us, is that in areas where we do not normally have a lot of grasses, we may start to see more grass on the ground that allows fire to spread much more easily and rapidly as grass burns very fas...
A lodging study commissioned by the Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism reveals leisure visitation increased by 5 percent. According to a media release from the organization, the study measures if visitors to the area come for work or vacation. Leisure visitation has increased from 24 percent in 2016 to 29 percent in 2018. According to the release, the boost in leisure occupancy has helped offset fluctuation in occupancy from the energy sector. At the Green River Chamber of Commerce, the...
