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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Deidre Budahl of Casey Petersen and Associates recently presented Moorcroft's council with the annual audit (July 2021/June 2022) that the town is obligated to complete due to receiving federal funding for the wastewater treatment plant project. General Fund This year's audit overview began with Moorcroft's general fund, from which everything but the enterprise accounts (water, sewer, solid waste) are paid and revenues from service fees as well as state and county distributions collected each...
Pine Haven's deer population is showing signs of illness this winter with the discovery of a yearling that had lain down and could no longer rise due to as as-yet unconfirmed malady. This forced Game Warden Mitchell Kern to put the animal out of its misery. A young buck in the same circumstances was later found by Public Works Director Sunny Schell. In a recent report given to council, Schell said, "[Kern] said to keep an eye out for dead deer around town for the next couple of months." With...
Faces changed with newly elected council members Heidi Humpal and Robert Stewart swearing their fidelity to the office at the first meeting of the year for the governing body in Moorcroft last Wednesday night. The two got their feet wet, as it were, with a public meeting regarding the MTC earlier in the evening and both were active and eloquent. The swearing in of the entire body was the first order of business before the meeting of the council was convened as the entire ruling body had been...
Is this the final meeting to determine the future of the Moorcroft Town Center (MTC)? After a series of public meetings and surveys throughout the last few years and discussions from as far back as 2013, Moorcroft's council has still been hesitant to take decisive action regarding the municipal building on the east end of town due to two opposing views. On the one side are those who would like to see the entire building torn down, saving the town an ever-rising subsidizing cost. On the other...
Moorcroft Mayor Ben Glenn appointed his committee liaisons at last Wednesday’s meeting of the council. Dale Petersen has been appointed Mayor Pro-Tem as well liaison for finance, personnel, water and wastewater; Austin Smith will be linking with finance, personnel, water, wastewater, sanitation, landfill, streets, alleys and buildings. Heidi Humpal will connect with street, alleys, buildings, police and emergency services, park, recreation and cemetery; and Bob Stewart, sanitation, landfill, police, emergency services, park, recreation and c...
Pine Haven is planning a new park and, to match a 50/50 grant for which the recreation board is hoping to apply soon, Sharon Coleman purchased a couple electric scooters and a Mongoose bicycle in both adult and child sizes to be raffled off. All proceeds will be going to the grant match needed to build this new park. There are three separate raffles available, allowing people to buy tickets for the specific item they desire, and the drawing will take place on Easter, after the egg hunt in...
Rob Norton and Suzette Edwards officially voted on matters of Pine Haven town business at their first meeting last Tuesday night after participating in the monthly workshop and a training overview the preceding week. The two hold seats previously occupied by John Henly and Don Lancaster. Henly served the town for eight years before deciding not to run again. He was applauded as he officially left his chair. Lancaster, too, was recognized with loud applause as he stepped down. He had been a...
Pine Haven’s council has not forgotten Boe Drive’s need of fire hydrants and the town’s need of that redundancy in the system. After the state declined to fund the endeavor through the last round of ARPA grants, the town is planning to reapply. HDR Engineering’s Heath Turbiville discussed each question of the ARPA application and corresponding rules with the council at last week’s workshop as the group sought to provide answers that will better establish the town in the point system that now governs funding opportunities from the federal m...
Pine Haven Mayor Karla Brandenburg informally delegated committee liaisons at last Tuesday’s workshop, ensuring any concerns or potential problems could be mitigated and the position explained before formalizing the arrangements at Tuesday night’s meeting. Rob Norton was asked and later accepted the liaison with public affairs, fire, EMS, legal and finance; Suzette Edwards will link with the community center and senior committees; Kristy Speed will continue with the recreation board; and mayor pro-tem Emily Smith will cooperate with pla...
An old adage goes something like this: “The only constant in life is change”. After several years of the smiles and laughter of Barb Hardy and Marilyn Jensen, the Pine Haven Clerk’s Office starts 2023 with new faces and names, but the same quality of care for town residents. Tammie McGovern, a resident of Pine Haven for the last six years, has been hired for the clerk/treasurer position. McGovern’s former career was in Gillette as the service office supervisor for Wyoming Machinery Mining Division. McGovern said of when she and her husband...
Impact Youth Mentorship out of Gillette’s Youth Emergency Services, Inc. is expanding services into Weston and Crook Counties. The mentorship program has been building and growing into the surrounding areas and is looking forward to offering youth, families and volunteers different opportunities and preventative services in this area. Impact Youth Mentorship’s commitment is providing positivity, opportunity and quality mentoring to local communities; striving to offer invaluable life skills, lifelong friendships and positive personal dev...
At approximately 1 p.m. on Friday, December 23, a call came into the 911 dispatch about a structure fire in Pine Haven. Pine Haven's volunteer firefighters responded and, realizing the scope of the blaze, Pine Haven Fire Chief TJ Gideon requested assistance from Moorcroft, who immediately deployed to help. Along with assistance from Sundance and accompanied by EMS from each community, the fire was curtailed from reaching any other structure. The mobile home was totally consumed, but the two...
Over the last couple of years, a number of surveys and discussions have been brought about by the Moorcroft Town Council regarding the future of the Moorcroft Town Center (MTC). With that said, the council has requested that the community assemble again for a public meeting for further input in the library of the MTC, on Wednesday, January 11, at 6 p.m., immediately followed by the regular meeting at 7. With no ARPA funding on the table right now and no decisions yet made by the council as to the future of the building, the group is again...
The Pine Haven Volunteer Fire Department has been vigorously updating and upgrading their personal protective gear and vehicles as well as bringing in more volunteers over the last couple of years. This endeavor is expensive and the department is always moving forward with protecting those protecting the community. To this end, the department again sought permission from council to seek grant funding from the Wyoming State Forestry. This grant provided many of the needed bunker gear for the firefighters last year and Chief TJ Gideon was able,...
At the Pine Haven Council meeting, a possible ordinance that allows chickens in town was raised again by a couple of concerned citizens. According to town Clerk/Treasurer Barb Hardy, however, there is no such municipal law at this time. Town resident Larry Glenn spoke from the floor, saying that he was there because, “I was told last month that this [meeting] was going to be about that so I showed up tonight.” He explained that, while he wanted to discuss details of the proposed law, “I’m going to wait to get an official stance on it.” An...
The turn into Pine Haven proper from Highway 113 (Old Sundance Road) has always been without illumination after dark and community leaders have been considering ways to correct this problem. "It's so dark," Councilwoman Emily Smith voiced at a recent workshop, "And very concerning out there...It is a priority...if there's nothing holding us back, we should do that." The state refuses to allow any signage or lights on their right-of-way, leaving the town's benefactor, Keyhole Ranch owners Vince...
Without having been able to secure an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant last month, Pine Haven's council has been discussing installing the most-needed hydrants on Boe Drive and another location before they reapply for the rest of the anticipated 15 throughout town. Mayor Karla Brandenburg informed her council at Tuesday morning's workshop of her concern about timing, though, saying, "We'll probably have to wait until spring to do these fire hydrants... but, we need to install the hydrants...
Pine Haven's 'dump' trailer was stolen Thanksgiving week. According to Mayor Karla Brandenburg, "It was stolen somewhere between Wednesday night and Friday afternoon." This trailer was used to haul sand in the winter and the town's skid-steer, among other necessities. On Tuesday, Public Works Director Sunny Schell explained how she came to realize the theft, saying, "I have to go up there every day [and] I noticed the cord...I had to step over it." The trailer had been plugged into the exterior...
Moorcroft has received federal funding to perform a feasibility study of the community's pathways and, along with the public meeting December 14, at 6 p.m., has set up a website for residents who, for one reason or another, will not make it to the meeting; it can be found at moorcroftpathways.com. This study will be looking at improving the sidewalk system along North Big Horn Avenue where the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramps should be installed as well as improvements and connections...
The unanticipated bill from Crook County Medical Services District (CCMSD) that was pulled from the bill list at the November meeting of Moorcroft’s council has been examined and found to be a legitimate and not-unprecedented invoice for a requested interception to ensure safe transport of a patient in possible need of services exceeding the capabilities of the Moorcroft ambulance crew, according to town Clerk Cheryl Schneider. The invoice will appear again on the December bill list....
Plans for the Moorcroft Town Center have not yet been put in motion regarding an answer to whether the Town Hall will move to the building or even what parts of it will remain standing, despite a number of public meetings, feasibility studies, surveys and more. Moorcroft Mayor Ben Glenn expressed his frustration at last Wednesday night’s meeting of the council. “It seems like everybody keeps pushing this thing down the road; I really would like to have a decision to try to get up there and make it feasible to move Town Hall up there,” he said....
Pine Haven burned the slash pile south of the maintenance shop Sunday with five firemen on site to ensure a clean and safe burn of the approximately 14-foot high, 25-30-foot wide and nearly 60-foot long mound. The blaze was set at 9:15 a.m. and, after the flames settled, the pile continued to smolder through Tuesday. Pine Haven Assistant Volunteer Fire Chief Don Lancaster said of the entire endeavor, "We got a nice clean burn and the pile was burned down to where there was mostly just ash left...
Fencing of the new periphery of the cemetery is anticipated to be completed by December or January by FenceTech, of Sundance, according to Public Works Director Cory Allison, taking into account the weather. However, Allison recently spoke to a previously unrealized issue with topography, saying, “When we mowed the new phase of the cemetery, there’s a pretty deep drainage that goes right down the middle of it.” The director explained how the draw will be filled: the hill east of the established grave sites will be knocked into the ravin...
Pam Johnson stopped by the Moorcroft Senior Center before traffic began arriving for the food distribution last Thursday, for which she volunteers, to show off a few of her creations. Johnson sews and embroiders with a craft/sewing machine, creating a plethora of seasonal and day-to-day practical items. "I've been doing it for about five years," she smiles in reminiscence. "I was looking for a hobby to do in the house, especially during the winter and my boyfriend's mom has been embroidering...
Saturday afternoon saw the 15th annual Harvest Feastival, sponsored by the Moorcroft Area Chamber of Commerce (MACC), celebrated at the MTC with 250-275 guests partaking. The MHS National Honor Society served 19 different soups to guests and judges throughout the evening. Everyone was allowed to vote on their favorite for Peoples' Choice, which was the zuppa, made by Dane Car. Then, the judges voted separately for Jacilyn Schosser's bacon cheeseburger. The famous baking contest returned this...
