WHEATLAND – Platte County Commissioners met with representatives from the Wyoming Department of Transportation to touch base with projects in the county and across the state.
Mark Ayen, District Engineer for WYDOT’s district two gave an overview of the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) purpose, goals and plans for the next five years. In Platte County, there is one more project scheduled, to overlay 12 miles of state highway 320, north of Wheatland; and the 16th Street reconstruction project is scheduled to go out to bid in September with construction starting in 2025. Next year, six bridge replacements are planned for I-25, and a replacement of one of the last timber bridges in the state of Wyoming (on state highway 312 near Ferguson Road). The current bridge will be replaced with a double or triple barrel culvert system.
The WYDOT representatives highlighted the fact Wyoming is the only state in the nation that receives more federal funding for their infrastructure (which includes 6,700 miles of roadway, 2,000 bridges, airport runways, etc.) than state funding. From a total budget of $362,470,085 for construction slated for 2025 (not including bridges or EV), 73 percent is from federal funding, and 27 percent from the state.
The amount of federal funds does limit the “when” and “how” of the projects undertaken by WYDOT, Ayen said.
For more information on WYDOT, or to provide feedback on projects or upcoming developments, visit their online STIP page at www.dot.state.wy.us/STIP.
In other business during their meeting last Tuesday, the commissioners voted to approve an agreement with the Wyoming Office of Guardian Ad Lidems to provide court-appointed representation for juveniles involved in court cases.
A discussion with County Maintenance Supervisor, Jim DeWitt, on the progress of preparations of the fairgrounds for the county fair highlighted the need for garbage cans. DeWitt said there will be 20 more trash cans than last year set around the grounds, many of which are provided in cooperation with the Town of Wheatland, and they will be emptied daily. His crew is also working on logistics to fix cement issues in a pod at the detention center, and other maintenance on county property around Wheatland.

County Treasurer, Kristi Reitz, reported the final payment was officially made for the optional use sales tax, and letters have been sent to the county’s municipalities letting them know the country treasurer will hold their money until next July.
Reitz also reported there were 46 properties sold in the property auction, a dozen less than last year. The auction is held for properties in arears on paying their property taxes. “We tried to make sure everybody who could, got their property taxes paid up to date (so their property didn’t have to be sold),” Reitz said.
Road and Bridge Superintendent, Chris Bookout, reported the estimate of the county’s reclaimer by a CAT equipment representative came to a healthy $70,000 value, especially since it has so few miles on it. Bookout added, there are two counties interested in purchasing the machine, and he asked the commissioner’s guidance on the way they wanted to proceed with pricing and method of sale. The commissioners agreed on the price and potential sale of the reclaimer the county has rarely used in the many years they have owned it.
A project to chipseal Tank Road south of Guernsey is scheduled to begin August 3, and there is still a question as to whether the county will help the Town of Guernsey with chip sealing a half-mile stretch of the town-owned road between the cattle guard and road, adjacent to the golf course. At a meeting attended by Guernsey Mayor, Ed Delgado, and Public Works Supervisor, Mike Fronapfel, earlier this summer, the commissioners were requested to assist the town with that portion of road while they were in the area doing chip sealing on the county roads.
At the time, Bookout said it could be simple enough to continue the project an extra half-mile, if all parties were in agreement.
“We cleaned the dirt road for them, but I’m not getting the warmest of fuzzies from them. For example, I asked if we could use some of their water, and they said, maybe, but they’d charge us for it,” Bookout said. “We just have to reach a decision of if we are going to do that half-mile stretch. We’ve already cleaned up [issues with] the dirt road for them.”
Bookout said he was able to obtain water from another source, but not being able to use Guernsey’s water will impact the chip seal further. In related discussion, the county is seeking options for an agreement for use of a parking bay for a truck and blade in the Guernsey vicinity for road maintenance in the area. “Do we want to pursue a different avenue for the bay parking with somebody more agreeable and easier to work with?” Bookout asked.
No decision was made at the meeting on the issue, but there was discussion as to possibly asking Guernsey Rural Fire Department about parking a truck and blade in one of their buildings, in lieu of asking Guernsey for permission to do the same on the town’s property.
As Camp Guernsey’s Operation Commander, Robby Cain gave a report on behalf of Camp Guernsey. He said there would be 500 people training over the weekend in addition to Air Force Schools. Asked by commissioner Kayla Mantle about the full-time fire staff, Cain said there are currently 15 full-time staff, and federal funding for seasonal firefighters that was previously approved were exhausted before the national guard camp received them, so until other grants or further funding is obtained, there won’t be any added.
Technically, Cain said, with the acreage covered by the guard camp, among other considerations, there should be 30 full-time firefighters. He added there are various avenues of funding currently being sought to reach that goal.
Commissioners discussed the limited options for servicing elevators at the courthouse and library, making the observation, it seems like a monopoly for one company, as “other elevator service companies can’t service the parts sold by TK Elevator Corp.” They did make sure to mention the company has technicians in Casper, Laramie, and Cheyenne, and they are quick to respond when called.
In the end, though they said it seemed an expensive quote, the commissioners voted to approve an elevator service agreement with TK Elevator Corp. for $545 per month.
The next meeting of the county commissioners will be 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 6 in the meeting room at the county courthouse.