Ball fields become majority of capital projects.
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Despite cutting everything
except “essential” items, the town of Pinedale’s
2020-2021 fiscal year’s preliminary budget
general fund increased by $80,551 over the
current year.
During May 13 and May 27 special
meetings, the council approved on first and
second readings a budget that is most certain
to change while cash reserves for the current
year are solidified with more than a month to
go. The town’s fiscal year runs July 1 through
June 30.
All five council members including
Mayor Matt Murdock, Dean Loftus, Tyler
Swafford, Nylla Kunard and Judi Boyce were
in attendance at both meetings, sprawled 10
feet apart to maintain social distancing as the
meeting was viewed online by the public.
Pinedale Town Clerk Maureen Rudnick
projected revenues would be down from both
the past two years to $1.9 million and from the
current year’s $2.6 million. She said she was
being conservative with items such as sales
and use taxes.
Some funds are lower as projects were
completed that the town had received grant
funds for reimbursement. However, Rudnick
projected declining revenues from motor
vehicle taxes, sales and use taxes, cigarette
taxes, fuel taxes and the 8-mil levies received
from property taxes. The only anticipated
increases are for animal fees and building
permits, but the $2,000 in those revenue items
didn’t dent the $1.3 million in declines from
other sources.
The items cut were street repairs and
curb and gutter repairs. While Public Works
Supervisor Abram Pearce successfully
By Holly Dabb
hdabb@pinedaleroundup.com
negotiated to add more money to the fund so
staff could prioritize and fix some of the worst
streets, the mere $25,000 added won’t go far,
he predicted.
One item that remains incomplete is the
funds for services – not because the council
cut them, but the nonprofit agencies didn’t
apply. Last year, 14 agencies applied for
service contracts. To date, only the Children’s
Learning Center, MESA Therapeutic Riding
Program, Pinedale Preschool, SAFV Task
Force, the Discovery Center and LOBA have
applied. The council agreed to extend the
application deadline rather than cut the other
eight agencies out of the budget.
Once discretionary projects were removed
from the budget, the total budget was about
$88,000 higher than anticipated revenues
with that balanced from reserves set aside for
capital projects.
Outside the general budget, the council
budgeted $5.5 million in capital projects with
the bulk being the ball fields; $350,000 was
budgeted to pave Wilson Street. Of the money
for the ball fields, $2.7 million will be paid
to the town with equal contributions from
Sublette County and the Sublette County
Rural Health Care District buying the existing
Dudley Key Ball Fields for the proposed
critical access hospital.
Rudnick warned of amendments to the
budget in third reading as incoming bills
reduce reserves. The third reading is scheduled
for the June 8 meeting. The time is moved to
1 p.m. as the town faces interviewing and
selecting a new fixed base operator for the
airport as well as a final budget reading.
One item that increased is health
insurance. The council approved renewing the
employees’ health insurance plan at a projected 4.9-percent increase over last year. The council
also verbally agreed to change the town’s insurance so employees become eligible the first day
of the month after being hired. The provision removed a 90-day waiting period.
Council members were told Judge Ruth Neely is retiring June 30. Murdock said he had
already spoken with Sam Bixler, magistrate for Marbleton and LaBarge. He estimated the
position takes about 20 hours a month and he budgeted $900 per month.
To start the May 13 meeting, the council went into a closed executive session for litigation.
While no action was taken following the session, Murdock referred to a $140,000 line item
for legal expenses in the town’s water funds, saying the line item resulted from the executive
session discussion.
In other actions taken at the previous regular meeting:
• Two council members, Murdock and Boyce, met with Wyoming Department of
Transportation representatives May 19 to look at a potential grant for an underpass under
Wyoming Highway 191 to connect existing paths to new ball fields. They will also review the
South Tyler Avenue pathway project. The council will have to choose because the town can
only have one transportation grant at a time. The council agreed at the May 27 special meeting
to set aside funding for a feasibility study.
• Council referred planning and zoning rules to the Planning and Zoning Board for potential
revisions. Spencer Hartman, the town’s liaison for planning and zoning, said he is getting
requests for larger garages. But the town’s rules limit ancillary buildings to 30 percent of the
size of the main residence.
He said in the past, building permits were issued without regard to the restriction so residents
wonder why they can’t build what other neighbors have.
Council member Swafford agreed that many Planning and Zoning rules written in 1977 no
longer support current lifestyles such as “larger toys and more of them.”
Murdock asked Hartman to have the rules reviewed by planning and zoning and any others
that are outdated could be updated at one time.
Murdock said, “It’s a bad law and we need to fix it. We need rules that are enforceable and
not just look past the law.”
• The council went into a closed executive session to discuss personnel. No action was taken
following the session.