Number of permits indicates growth

The number of requests for new septic tanks is one indicator that Big Horn County continues to see growth. At the June 2 county commission meeting, Stephanie May from Land Planning noted that, year to date, 26 requests have come in. There have been 24 requests for new addresses, and there have been seven requests for simple subdivisions so far this year. 

Airport Manager/Land Planner Paul Thur said more are coming in the door.

At this meeting the commissioners approved the Kenney-Johnsey subdivision. 

Thur gave the updates for both airports.  

ROAD/BRIDGE/ENGINEERING

County engineer Willie Bridges presented the department reports for Engineering and Road/Bridge.The majority of the discussion revolved around right-of-way permits and cutting of paved county roads. 

 Jeff Betters from Northwest Water District discussed a right-of-way permit request for Road 11. The permit was for a water line crossing under the road. Bridges explained that there had been attempts to bore under the road for that line. Both attempts failed. Betters was there to ask for permission to cut the paved road instead. The water line would be a one-inch pipe.

Commissioner Bruce Jolley asked why the bores were not working. Betters said they were set up 20 feet inside the property line, adding, “As they were starting to bore, the deepest they could get it to go was four feet. They’re projecting, if they had kept going, it would have popped out in the middle of the road.” 

A second attempt was made at a location 10 feet from the original bore with the same results. Both bores were abandoned. 

There was some discussion about, if the road is cut and patched, who would be responsible for it should a problem arise. Commissioner Jolley was concerned about problems with a flow fill being used in the cut. He noted that there are two places in the county that have had problems with the flow fill expanding and causing heaves. 

Bridges said his suggestion would be to get the flow fill from a different source than the other locations. 

Commissioner Deb Craft expressed similar concerns as Jolley. She asked Bridges what guarantees the county has should they allow for the cut of a paved road.  Bridges replied that the county holds a bond for a year to ensure any problems are fixed. He added that in the case of the cut road near Burlington, the water district committed to maintaining the cut if there were any problems. There was no ending date on the commitment. 

Bridges clarified that, if the county did an overlay on any of the cuts, they would no longer be considered a patch. 

Craft said her main concern is that everyone is treated the same and the county has a process that is followed. 

Commissioner Dave Neves asked how deep the water line will be under the road. He was told seven feet. He also stated that the commission needs to be aware of how they service the people of the county. He wants to make sure that the patch is as good as it should be. 

The commission decided to ask for a letter from Northwest requesting the cut and their commitment to patch the cut properly as well as maintain within the timeline the county requests. 

The commission also discussed a permit for a water line crossing Lane 7 1/2 and Lane 2 1/2 and fiber line crossing from TCT on Lane 8 ½. Both permits were approved. 

Bridges informed the commission about a high risk rural sign project  Wyoming T-Squared grant. 

In other business:

• Two executive sessions were held to discuss potential litigation. 

• Jeremy Pouska gave the facilities maintenance report.