EVANSTON — During the Tuesday, April 1, Uinta County Commission meeting, Skylar Peterson of Fort Bridger appealed a previously-denied request for access from Kelli Way off Highway 229 for a home he is currently building.

“I’m just trying to get some road access,” he said. “I would like to access off that already-established county easement.” 

Peterson was previously told he could access either through the north or the south, “but as soon as I want to go anywhere else, they push snow down that road,” he said.

Uinta County Road and Bridge Foreman Dustin Henstra explained to the commissioners that plowing the snow to clear Peterson’s desired access point would cause roadway blockages and require significantly more removal work for the county.

“It would cause more havoc for me,” Henstra said.

Peterson asserted that, as he builds up his property, it’ll create “natural wind breaks,” and that he has the plowing equipment necessary to personally clear the access point. The commissioners requested Uinta County Planner Kent Williams’ input.

“It’s a platted access, so there is protected access to the property ... [and] there is no stipulation of where to access off of Kelli Way,” he explained. “Either way, he would be largely responsible for his own snow removal.”

The commissioners approved the appeal.

Henstra, speaking on behalf of Road and Bridge secretary Saralee Gross, returned to the podium to request approval of two Dustbusters Inc. contracts. The first was to the tune of $276,048 and includes a 20% county match to apply dust suppressant on county roads using Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) improvement grant funding.

Henstra explained that the figure allows for the use of 2,272 tons of dust suppressant, which will cover 57.75 miles of county roads at $121.50 per ton.

“Prices did go up quite significantly this year,” he said. 

The second request was for an identical contract amount of $276,048 from the County Road Fund (CRF) to Dustbusters. The outfit provided the only bids for both requests, which were subsequently approved by the commission.

Uinta County Clerk Amanda Hutchinson was seeking approval of an application for American International Group (AIG) Companies for a government crime insurance policy. Commissioner Brent Hatch inquired as to whether the policy lowered insurance costs.

“No, I don’t think so. Not having claims helps,” said Hutchinson.

The commissioners approved the policy.

Hutchinson was further seeking agreement approval with Leadership Wyoming to provide management training for varying levels of positions within the county. According to Hutchinson, the training costs $375 for the initial small group and $500 per participant for larger groups.

“We felt if we wanted our leaders to go through [the training] ... these commissioners need to step it up to set the example by going first,” Hatch said.

Commission Chair Mark Anderson said, “One thing we have committed to as a commission is to try to retain the good staff that we have. This is kind of reinvesting into those people and giving them the tools to help them be successful in their jobs. I do think this is a really good value to the county overall.”

Hutchinson further highlighted the cost efficiency of bringing the program to the county versus paying for travel expenses at a distance. The commission agreed to the Leadership Wyoming training agreement.

Hutchinson’s final request was regarding a five-year Fort Bridger Airport hangar lease. A current tenant wished to downsize from the #1 hangar to the #6 hangar. The costs associated with the lease include: $480 per quarter for the first year, with an annual $20 per quarter increase culminating to a $560 per quarter lease fee for the fifth and final year of the agreement. The commissioners approved the request.

Uinta County Public Health Nurse Manager ReaAnna Peltier presented the commissioners with a preparedness grant amendment between the county and the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH). The amendment requires Public Health Emergency and Preparedness (PHEP) employee Michael Whisenant to adopt changes from the operational readiness review manual to Center for Disease Control (CDC) capabilities. There is no change of funding with the grant. The motion passed.

Finally, Williams again took to the podium seeking two subdivision requests, the first of which is the Melody #2 subdivision. He requested a map amendment and rezoning from agricultural/resource/development (ARD) to residential for the subdivision.

The second of Williams’ proposals is the Breezy Meadows #2 subdivision without a map amendment. Surveying Manager Fred Coles with Wasatch Surveying spoke in favor of both proposals and there was no opposition during either public hearing. The commissioners approved both subdivisions.