The Mayor and Council did three proclamations during Tuesday night's meeting. One proclamation was for School Board Appreciation Week, which is February 19 - 23. Pictured from left to right in the back row are Councilmembers Robert Berg, Mike Shutran, Ron Williams, and Gary Killpack. Pictured in front are Board Members David Young, Dan Flom, Steve Core, Mayor Pete Rust, board members Ashley Castillon, Brenda Roosa, and Tom Wilson.
The City Council read a proclamation to recognize Wyoming Professional Water and Wastewater Operator's Week from February 5-11. Pictured in the back from left to right are Councilmembers Berg, Shutran, Williams and Killpack. Pictured in front are Nathaniel Knight, Mayor Rust and Russell Schultz. The council also recognized Random Acts of Kindness Week from Feb. 14-20.
Ice and meltwater drainage concerns, the future of the movie theater building, DCI's investigation of internet crimes against children, and the use of the Recreation Center by pickleball players were all topics of discussion during Tuesday night's City Council meeting.
Citizen concerns
During the citizen requests and communications portion of the meeting, Green River resident Kevin Kinney came to the council to express some of his recent concerns.
First, Kinney asked the council about the sewer and drainage fee that residents pay, which is about $4 a month, questioning "where it ends up" and if it is used for new storm drains or maintenance on existing drains.
Public Works Director Mark Westenskow answered that the fee goes into the general fund and is used to offset expenses for the maintenance and operation of storm drains, culverts, ditches, and similar features.
Kinney pointed out that he lives in an area around Elk Mountain Circle where water from melting snow comes down the street, goes around the corner, and freezes, often covering the road and the sidewalk and creating a safety hazard. He pointed out that part of the problem comes from there being a long stretch of road with no storm drains.
Westenskow explained that the city pursued a stormwater master plan in order to identify areas in town that are lacking in stormwater infrastructure.
"We do recognize that a lot of town was developed without storm drains," Westenskow added.
There are benefits to installing new storm drains, particularly to help with situations like runoff water from melting snow, Westenskow said. However, there are also challenges with installing new drains, such as needing to start at the bottom of a street and work upwards. He expressed his hope to be able to do more work on storm drains in the future in conjunction with infrastructure projects.
Another area of concern Kinney wanted to bring to the council was in regards to potential plans for the future of the old movie theater building on Uinta Drive. He noted that he has had conversations with others who are upset about not only not having a movie theater but also about future plans for the building including alcohol and adult entertainment, which Kinney understood to mean gambling. Kinney questioned if there is an ordinance about how close gambling and alcohol can be to Monroe Elementary School.
"I can not believe that was being condoned," Kinney said.
Mayor Pete Rust agreed that lots of people are upset about the lack of a movie theater, but pointed out that it's a private building and a matter of private business, and that the building has sold and the owners are able to determine what to do with it within zoning regulations.
"That's part of the free market system," Rust said.
Investigation interest
The Green River Police Department will be working with the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) in the future to help in their investigation into internet crimes against children.
One of the council's only action items in Tuesday's meeting was to approve a Memorandum of Understanding between the State of Wyoming, the Office of the Attorney General, DCI, and the City of Green River Police Department.
GRPD Chief of Police Shaun Sturlaugson explained that DCI has established a division to investigate internet crimes against children and has started a taskforce to utilize local law enforcement to help investigate, and they asked GRPD to participate.
"We would greatly like to participate," Chief Sturlaugson said. "We don't currently help investigate those crimes because we don't have the equipment to do it, but they're going to supply that for us to be able to help. They will also pay overtime for any overtime that's incurred, so it's kind of a win-win situation for us."
The position will be filled by Juvenile Detective Martha Holzgrafe. The agreement was approved unanimously by the council.
Pickleball problems
During comments at the end of the meeting, Councilmember Killpack brought up the topic of pickleball players at the Green River Recreation Center. According to Killpack, the pickleball club has been reserving the Rec Center from 9 a.m. to noon on Monday through Friday, for which they should be paying a minimum of $180 a day, but they are doing so without paying fees. Killpack expressed his view that this is wrong and that they should have to pay the same as everyone else.
City Administrator Reed Clevenger answered that the city is working with the pickleball group as they've been seeking to be more established, and they've been working through topics like fees and hours of usage. Clevenger noted a meeting had been held the previous night to discuss some of these topics.
Mayor Rust, who pointed out that he is a pickleball player as well, said that Councilmember Killpack expressed one point of view, but there is another side to the story.
"There's an ongoing desire by everybody to work together so that we can all use the facility," Rust said.
As the conversation went on, the council agreed that it would be best to have further discussion in a workshop setting in the future.
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