Dreaming big, TWR

Mountain Planning and Andrew Zook came

to the Pinedale Town Council last fall looking

for an opportunity to build a mountain bike

skills park at what is commonly referred to

as Burzlander Park.

They offered to use the local biking

club’s manpower for the work and donated

materials. At the time, the request was

referred back to Zook and TWR Mountain

Planning to identify liability insurance that

may be available though the bike club.

Zook submitted a letter from Sublette

Insurance confirming a rough annual cost of

$1,000 to $2,000 for a $1-million per incident

policy with a $2-million aggregate.

Pinedale Town Clerk Maureen Rudnick

advised the council that would leave the town

to purchase additional insurance to meet the

town’s $5-million limit.

She added that insurance only applies if

a licensed contractor installs the bike park

and does all the construction. The stipulation

rules out using the offered free manpower.

The initial request was to have bike club

members build the park and do all of the

installation beginning work this fall.

Rudnick said the additional insurance

could come at a cost of $40,000 a year.

Council member Dean Loftus said that

is a large expenditure for insurance and he

wants to see more of the plans for long-term

maintenance.

Council member Isaac Best, who was

seeing the plans for the first time as a council

member, said he was “intrigued” by the

proposal but he supported tabling the issue

until complete plans are revealed.

Action on the item was tabled to a later

meeting.

In other actions:

• Teresa Sanders from the Pinedale

Preschool gave a presentation for contract

for services.

• A plat amendment for the Willow Island

Double Minor Subdivision was approved. The

Sublette County Board of Commissioners

had already approved the subdivision.

However, the property lies within 1 mile of

the town’s borders so the town also had to

approve the subdivision. The one condition

is that the property owners not impede on an

existing easement used for the town’s water

transmission line.

• The Council approved a grant request for

$32,476 funding from the Coronavirus Aid,

Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)

Act. Rudnick said the requests included

additional washing stations and personal

protective equipment for employees to stay

safe. Based on size, population and the

number of cases, the town qualifies for $1.4

million in funding. Mayor Matt Murdock said

like every community, the town is struggling

to find projects that meet the tight parameters

for the funding.

• A bid was accepted from Badger

Daylighting at $178.50 an hour to use a

vacuum truck to clean out storm drains.

Pearce said the town picks a few drains every

year on a rotation basis. The amount was

to not exceed $4,000. Bids from two other

companies came in at higher hourly rates.