The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
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With the end of the municipal landfill, the Moorcroft Area Chamber of Commerce (MACC)-sponsored Spring Cleanup Day, which usually transpires in May, has been cancelled. Elaine Buckmiller attended last week’s council meeting to inform the governing body of the decision. She was surprised when Mayor Ben Glenn and Public Works Director Cory Allison objected to the end of the town clean up day as so many look forward to that time to clean up their lot for the season. The mayor said to her, “I think we can still do it.” Allison agreed, “If you wan...
Assistant District Forester for the State of Wyoming Jeremy Dedic introduced a class to residents and property owners of Pine Haven and Pine Ridge last week in an effort to protect the lives of firefighters as they work to protect the interests of the community. The Pine Haven Volunteer Fire Department hosted this presentation for residents to have a better idea of what firefighters see upon arrival at the property; what they can reasonably do in the time they have before the fire gets too...
Sondii Boggess has faced her first month as Pine Haven’s deputy clerk, finishing the new look of the clerk’s office at town hall. Boggess has lived in the Pine Haven area since 2016 and recently began seeking a job closer to her home, east of town. She smiles, “I wasn’t necessarily looking for this avenue, but it came up and it’s something different so I applied and here I am.” The deputy clerk does not as yet feel the fit of the position as she has not previously worked a great deal in an office setting, having worked predominant...
A number of bills were temporarily pulled for explanation at last Wednesday’s regular meeting of Moorcroft’s council, requiring clarification from department heads. Among others discussed, Councilman Bob Stewart had concerns about the February fuel invoice from the Public Works Department; he addressed the question to department director Cory Allison. “Why are we spending so much on gas, especially on one vehicle?” Stewart asked Allison directly. “I can see on some of them, the reason [is] because of the snow use and everything, but, Cory, on...
Moorcroft Volunteer Fire Chief Dan Swaney and associates have refused to allow the post prom party to be held in the Moorcroft Fire Station this year. His spokesperson, Kelly Donahue explained to Mayor Ben Glenn's enquiry last week, "We made the decision to say 'No'. We feel that there are enough public buildings in town and the MTC. We need to utilize the building and keep our trucks...in the building and not spread out all over town. Sure, we've never had a fire on prom night, but it only...
Moorcroft’s boys’ basketball team, the smallest 3A school in the state, fought in the Regionals last week with determination and grit. Coach Nick Redden had two goals for this year’s Regionals: “To have people gain respect for Moorcroft Basketball and to leave a mark; everything past that was going to be above and beyond”. The Wolves took on Torrington on Thursday and while they lost this first game, Redden spoke of the team’s fortitude, saying, “Going up against a difficult team like that we definitely held our own.” The coach speaks to the r...
The ARPA grant Pine Haven had sought for the installation of 12 fire hydrants throughout town has been approved in the amount of $1,083,000 with a match of $326,000 from the town. The three hydrants immediately needed for Boe Drive will be bought by the town, adding to the number of hydrants replaced or added to the infrastructure to 15. Those on Boe Drive will assist in the completion of loops within the waterlines that are presently set in dead ends on the short cul-de-sacs along the road. These three and the associated valves, etc are...
Vince Waters of the Keyhole Ranch had hoped to meet with Pine Haven’s council at this week’s workshop to move forward with the plans for the future business park and fire station on the south end of town with the closure of probate on his father, Skip Waters’, will. However, the probate is not final as of this report so the rancher has postponed the conversation until next month. Mayor Karla Brandenburg addressed the timing issue this delay will create, saying, “It’s going to put our grant through the Business Council into the [fall applicati...
The West Texas Trails Museum (WTTM) has purchased the two lots north of the museum building. According to WTTM director Cindy Mosteller, this grassy area is to eventually become the summer home of an outdoor museum with a working blacksmith shop, tepee and pavilion for events sponsored by both the museum and the Moorcroft area Chamber of Commerce (MACC), including the popular Chuckwagon Breakfast and Rib Rally. Mosteller, who is also the president of the chamber, hopes to buy the house and lot...
Moorcroft's public works director Cory Allison, operating the town's backhoe, and crewmen Dave Elliott and Cody Amende, running the skid steer and loader respectively, worked with Fuller Construction equipment operators to clean up approximately 2400 tons of snow along the downtown area streets last week. The department had hired Fuller for the first day to assist with the removal of 120 large loads to the Westview baseball park west of town. The construction company brought two side dump...
At this month’s meeting of Moorcroft’s council, the decision was finally reached to move Town Hall into the Moorcroft Town Center (MTC) if the town receives the grant needed to facilitate the preparation of the space. From the audience, Nancy Feehan and Kari Peterson advocated such a move with three individuals who had written their affirmative vote counted in the poll before the governing body voted. The conditional grant was later found not to have been awarded to Moorcroft and Clerk/Treasurer Cheryl Schneider stated: “The move won’t happen...
Moorcroft Wolf Rebecca Anderson has taken the Wyoming women's wrestling championship in the 106 lb class in the first year that the sport has been sanctioned. Anderson is no novice to wrestling; she joined the sport several years ago, when she was eight years old, with her father's encouragement. "My dad wrestled in high school and started my brother wrestling with the USA team here when my brother was really young... and he encouraged me and my three sisters to wrestle," she says. The...
The Moorcroft Wolves boys' basketball team have made it to Regionals this year and will play against Torrington or Rawlins in the three-seed bracket. As of the time of this report, these two remaining teams had not played due to inclement weather and neither had forfeited. According to Coach Nick Redden, this third position is good. "We would have to play some of our best basketball against [number one teams] Douglas or Buffalo; we've held very well with Buffalo before, but it's a mind-set...
At a busy meeting on Tuesday, the Pine Haven Town Council heard that it will soon be able to ascertain whether the added matching funds put forth for the ARPA grant will put the town "in the cut", according to mayor Karla Brandenburg. The meetings in Cheyenne will be February 27 and 28, 8 a.m. until noon and the information will subsequently be available the next week. "Hopefully, our extra money will help," Brandenburg advised residents attending Tuesday night's meeting. "There is a...
A "KARE" contract is an agreement between an ambulance service, including EMTs and other emergency medical personnel, and an entity such as, in this instance, the Town of Moorcroft for financial compensation. Brad and Lexi McKee introduced the possibility of this type of agreement to Moorcroft's council at last Wednesday's meeting. This contract can be modified to the degree necessary for both parties to an extent, but the overall picture includes changing the volunteer position into that of an...
Barb Hardy shared a heartfelt goodbye as the Clerk/Treasurer for Pine Haven. She has been the first face of Pine Haven for 14 years and is retiring at the end of February. As the clerk reminisces about her first days and weeks at a recent meeting, she finds the humor in her original concept of the job definition: "I thought to myself, this will be easy, it's such a small office, I can handle this." Of course, this was before she was informed of the clerk's obligation to take accurate minutes of...
The subject of urban chickens entered into conversation at Pine Haven’s monthly workshop at the request of a municipal resident. While no decisions were made at last Tuesday’s discussion, “We need to decide, as a council,” Mayor Karla Brandenburg directed the group, “how we’re going to handle the chicken issue and where are we going to go forward with it.” The governing body did not go into any details about the possibility of raising chickens within town limits. Rather, the suggestion of a public meeting to get a better idea of the wishes of...
With the anticipated release of the Keyhole Ranch assets from probate after the death of owner Skip Waters, son Vince will soon be able to move forward with a plan that his father had already begun to implement alongside the Town of Pine Haven. The intent of this plan is to provide space that will allow for a business park north of Paradise Foods on the south end of town, on the east side of Pine Haven Road. Now, it's just a case of waiting for the details to be formalized. According to Mayor Karla Brandenburg, “[Waters] has to get the o...
Eight years ago, Jordan Ann Thurston Miller and husband Chancy decided to start a mobile clothing boutique called Criss Cross Chaos. "I was student teaching at the time. I had gone to a local clothing store and was so excited with what I'd bought; I went to work and three other people walking down the hall had the exact same thing on," she says. She later said to her husband, "I think I'm going to try this..." Jordan had a plan and Chancy was on board. So, with a goal of following trade shows...
HDR Engineering has been contracted by the Town of Moorcroft to specifically pursue proper permitting closure of the now-defunct landfill. Engineer Heath Turbiville reported the most recent findings last week, as HDR begins that process. The construction and debris (C&D) pit currently available to the public is bringing in approximately 20 tons a month; however, according to Turbiville, the tonnage required to “break even” is 200 ton monthly. Turbiville judges the annual intake the new cell would generate could be approximately $17,000 with the...
After Pine Haven's council finished their main work shop Tuesday morning the room began to fill with North East Wyoming Walleye Association (NEWWA) members who wanted to directly address Mayor Karla Brandenburg about a couple of rumors that have been creating havoc on social media and among area residents. The rumors concern an alleged statement made by the mayor at a previous meeting regarding taking over the auspices of the private NEWWA club Fish Fry summer picnic due to uncouth behavior by...
After Ice fishing Wyoming Lakes ceased their winter ice fishing event a few years ago, 35-year-old Gillette resident Doug DeBoer Jr picked up the reins, saying, "We have to do something for the fishing community, it needs to be done." Making arrangements with Wyoming Game and Fish in January of last year, DeBoer was permitted for 50 guest fishermen and allowed to have the event take place on Keyhole Reservoir. This year, DeBoer again hosted the now-named Just Slayin' Outdoors Icefest on January...
After three generations of Mankes serving the Moorcroft area at Quality Hardware, the big quonset building on the west end of town, Ted and Rhonda Manke have sold the property and plan to retire within the next couple of months. The business is not traveling into hands unfamiliar to residents, though; CJ Sandquist, Danya Schutt and Shannon Sandquist of CDS Supplies Inc have been supplying components for the local oil field industry since 2013 and were seeking an opportunity to expand their...
As the council discussed the upcoming decisions regarding the MTC at Monday’s workshop, members were disappointed to hear there had been no more input from the public since the last meeting of the governing body. With that said, the federally funded American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant has been adjusted for this round of applications to include the possibility of receiving funds to work on projects, under particular criteria, like the MTC. Consequently, Moorcroft has chosen to apply in the amount of $450,000 “for the implementation of a com...
Town attorney Pat Carpenter changed hats for an hour at Monday night's workshop to teach Heidi Humpal and Bob Stewart, neither of whom has held public office, their responsibilities as part of the standing council under the Wyoming Public Meetings Act. This training also refreshes the understanding of the law governing this facet of transparency and confidentiality for longer-standing members. Carpenter provided written copies of said Act so the group, as a whole, could read and implement this...
