GUERNSEY – Citing continued discrepancies between his signed contract with the Town of Guernsey and his paycheck, Guernsey’s number-two police officer tendered his resignation at the council meeting last week.
Sgt. Brian Thomas was hired under contract in July 2023, at which time he bought a home and moved his family to the small town in central Platte County. He said he loved the town and wanted to stay here with his family but was tired of waiting for issues with his pay to be resolved. Thomas said he has accepted a position with another agency in Wyoming and tendered his resignation as of July 21, 2024.
He emphasized at the conclusion of his speech, “Skilled labor isn’t cheap, and cheap labor isn’t skilled.”
Neither the council nor mayor had any comments after the resignation, as they are prohibited by statute from discussing personnel. There was an executive session to discuss personnel issues on the approved agenda prior to Thomas’ resignation.
Police Chief, Jay Harrison, said the town is losing a great asset in Thomas. Between his background of training and experience, and his love for the town, “Sgt. Thomas is irreplaceable,” he said. “He’s done a lot of good in this town.”
Harrison also said the Guernsey Police Department will be working with other law enforcement agencies to ensure the town has adequate coverage for the town’s needs.
Wayne Aston, co-founder of Invictus Sovereign introduced himself and presented a packet with information to the council about an industrial project his company is considering in Guernsey, called “Valley Forge Impact Park.”
“I’m very excited to be here this evening and wanted to come say hello and introduce myself, and answer questions if there are any,” he said.
According to the company’s website, the impact parks are intended to “gather a suite of available and emerging technologies, from cutting-edge green hydrogen production all the way to sophisticated solar power solutions. We believe that these technologies, and many like them, epitomize modern environmental innovation. We are positioning ourselves to be able to convert bio-waste into green hydrogen, redefined solar energy storage, and created sustainable materials that revolutionize infrastructure.”
There were no questions from the council, and the mayor thanked him for coming to the meeting.
The council made a motion to hold off a decision for 120 days on a proposed land swap with the Wyoming Military Department. Councilman Kellie Augustyn was absent from the meeting. The swap would exchange ownership of a 21.8 acres of military land north of the town, directly adjacent to the old landfill, in exchange for the town’s ownership of the airport.

Councilman Joe Michaels said he wanted to hold off on a decision on the deal to do more research into the need, possibility, and costs of bringing the airport up to current standards for use by the public (i.e. fuel was discontinued at the airport several years ago).
“Concerning a lot of things going on lately, and over the years there have been a lot of opinions [about] the airport, but I’m still of the opinion that if we give away an airport, we are never going to get it back. We just had a company come in that wants to do things in town, and I’m inclined to think that that company and our celebrity that lives down the river from us would probably use the airport,” he said.
He also suggested it be considered to buy outright the 21.8 acres the town would like to have for future development, rather than do a trade at all.
The mayor and council asked questions of Col. James Ezell, Wyoming Military Department facilities and construction manager, who said the airport itself is not the subject of the land swap, but the four buildings on the site. When asked about security concerns of using the town’s side of the runway if they were to be using it publicly, Col. Ezell said there were security issues that would need to be looked at.
Public Works Director, Mike Fronapfel, told the council to make sure they did their research to what it would cost to fix the utility systems, and “have a manager for it.”
After the discussion, the council also made a motion to issue notice for all personal property stored in the airport hangars be removed.
The council voted to approve a 2025-001 BRC grant application from the Wyoming Business Council to expand the library and senior center and make improvements that will meet the needs of the community in addition to facilitating various forms of job creation and support.
In order to solve platting issues on a number of existing properties in the town, in which residents own and are paying taxes to the middle of the street, the council voted to give the town a 20-foot easement (the street), which would require signatures by all the landowners (84 of them), who would each pay an even portion of the $12,600 fee charged by the surveyors. It ends up at $130 per landowner for the survey fee.
Town attorney asked the council what their plan would be if one or more of the landowners refused to sign the amended deeds, and after a couple suggestions, the mayor said, “We’ll figure it out.”
Representing the Platte County Lodging Tax Board, Shawna Reichert said there has been an increase in visitors in the last couple years, showing a strong growth and recovery of the economy. She said this year, the lodging tax will be on the ballot again for the voters, and the board decided to request only one percent for the tax, rather than the two percent they could have requested, in order to continue to help the economic recovery. The tax is used to promote tourism and travel to the county, benefitting local business and economy.
The Chamber of Commerce report, presented by Reichert, showed its website was used 15,166 times with 922 click-throughs to other businesses. “The website is generating a lot of traffic, and the number one business was Banner Capital Bank in Guernsey with 256 views,” she said.
As director of the Chamber of Commerce, Reichert met with the economic director of Rawlins to find ways to make the annual ag banquet bigger and offer more scholarship money to students over time. She has also been appointed to a position on the Wyoming Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. “A lot of businesses are needing more of a voice in Cheyenne (at the legislature), and this gives Platte County a louder voice in Cheyenne.”
Reichert was also one of 35 people nationwide chosen to be a part of a national workforce fellowship, where she will receive collaborative training to connect the Chamber of Commerce, which represents member businesses, with workforce placement organizations to connect businesses with qualified workers.
She also said there have been an average 50 visits at the Visitor Center in Wheatland, and there are plans to put in a Chamber-branded product souvenir gift shop. “We will only sell products with our logo so we are not competing with local business, but still getting the brand out.”
Fire Chief, Jeff Thomas, reported, “It’s been a busy month.”
There were two crashes, six fires, four medical calls, one river rescue, mutual aid assistance to a large fire, mutual aid with the coroner, in addition to the monthly training for the volunteer department.
“The fireworks went well, nothing burned down, and the couple fires that needed to be put out seemed to be a case of out-of-staters without access to water,” he said.
Public Works Director, Mike Fronapfel, said there was a 30-minute timeframe one pump was down to be fixed, resulting in a small drop in water pressure. Overall, water use has dropped to 100,000 per day, “so we’re on target,” with water reductions while the town is on a temporary bladder tank, while the town’s tank is cleaned and serviced (beginning this week) before being connected to the new piping system installed over the last few months.
Fronapfel reported the new system has so far passed all tests and is “on the way to being done.” He also said due to a 15 to 24-month wait time, the mixture originally planned for the tank servicing was changed to another kind that is currently available, so “the tank work will go quick once we start on it.”
He also said, after an individual ran into the senior center, his crew patched a hole with green tin, but a more permanent fix will not be able to be done until the insurance company completes its assessment.
The mayor encouraged all councilmembers, and interested citizens, attend a utility rates workshop to be held July 25 at 5 p.m. to discuss increases to water and sewer rates. Fronapfel emphasized, the increases are to “maintain the infrastructure in town.”
The next council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. August 6.