C.C. Commissioners Unapproved Minutes...

C.C. Commissioners

Unapproved Minutes...

Unapproved Minutes, Board of Commissioners of 

Converse County, March 3 and 4, 2026

The regular meeting was called to order at 8:05 a.m. on March 3, 2026. Present in person were Commission Chairman, Jim Willox; Commission Vice-Chairman Rick Grant; Commissioners Robert Short, Trent Kaufman and Donald Blackburn; and County Clerk, Karen Rimmer. The Commissioners reviewed all warrants and documentation presented for the meeting. No action was taken. Mr. Chris Caskey, Technical Services Director, and Mr. Nate Hughes, Technical Services Administrator, provided departmental updates. The Commissioners authorized the market value/sale of 1 new crated 2008 CAT C9 400HP Engine and 1 Mohawk TP-15 two post floor hoist. Mr. Mike Jennings, Relic Services LLC, provided updates on the Shooting Range Complex Improvements Project. Mr. Blackburn moved to approve the contract between Converse County and Henry Bros LLC for installation of a storm drainage system, surface restoration, and testing as presented in the amount of $730,000 as recommended by Relic Services, LLC; Mr. Grant seconded. Mr. Short stated for the record that he does not have any professional or financial affiliation or connection with Relic Services and therefore has no conflict with voting on this contract. No further discussion and motion carried. The Commissioners directed Mr. Jennings to develop bid specifications for buildings/other site improvements with the understanding the County Clerk will administer the process, accept and open bids, and field questions which will be shared will all interested bidders. Relic Services will also be eligible to bid on projects, which will be disclosed at the onset of any bid process. The meeting recessed at 12:00 p.m. and reconvened at 1:00 p.m. Mr. Russ Dalgarn, Emergency Management Director, provided departmental updates; no action was taken. Mr. Todd Mattson and Mr. Kenny Sission, HDR Engineering, Inc., provided updates on the Jenne Trail Road Reconstruction Project Phase 3. Mr. Blackburn moved to recess into Executive Session pursuant to W.S. 16-4-405(a)(vii) to consider the selection of a site or the purchase of real estate when the publicity regarding the consideration would cause a likelihood of an increase in price. Mr. Short seconded; motion carried. The regular meeting recessed at 2:10 p.m. and reconvened at 2:33 p.m.; no action was taken. Mr. Short moved to approve the construction contract between Converse County and Croell, Inc. for the Jenne Trail Road Phase 3 and Ross Road Reconstruction Project in the amount of $18,774,070 with substantial completion no later than Oct. 15, 2027, or 250 working days, whichever comes first, contingent upon review by HDR Engineering; Mr. Blackburn seconded; motion carried. Mr. Kaufman moved to approve the Short Term and Long-Term Right of Way Applications for Ross Road/Jenne Trail Phase 3 as follows: WYWY106775891 for a construction area and WYWY 106696373 for construction of the roadway to improve safety and reduce maintenance of the current gravel roadway as presented; Mr. Grant seconded; motion carried. Other departmental updates were provided; no further action was taken. Mr. Kenny Sission, HDR Engineering, Inc., representing the LaPrele Irrigation District (LID), provided updates on the LaPrele Dam project. Mr. Short moved to approve the State of WY Surface Lessee Notification and Comment Form for submittal to the Office of State Lands and Investments upon completion and further authorized any Commissioner to sign the form upon legal review by the County Attorney; Mr. Kaufman seconded; motion carried. Mr. Blackburn moved to approve the Temporary Construction Easement between LaPrele Irrigation District and Converse County for a temporary easement within the NW1/4NW1/4 of Section 21, T32N, R73W, of the 6th P.M. for $10.00 and other good and valuable consideration contingent upon inclusion of agreed-upon amendments and legal review by the County Attorney; Mr. Kaufman seconded; motion carried. The regular meeting recessed at 4:33 p.m. and reconvened at 8:36 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. The minutes of the Feb. 3 and 4, 2026, regular meeting were approved and ordered filed. Mr. Grant moved to approve February 2026 Accounts Payable in the amount of $6,301,648.02: 307 Services $175.00 Svcs; 307 Signs&More $84.00 Printing; 5 ACES Printing $2,480.50 Printing; A Diamond Trucking $15,300.00 Road Maint; AT&T Mobility $2,493.30 Utilities; Advanced Geotechnical $18,670.00 Road Maint; Airgas $59.37 Svcs; ALSCO $2,209.75 Svcs; Amazon Capital $2,638.09 Supplies; Anadarko E&P Onshore $845.00 Svcs; Arete Design Group $17,570.33 Contract; Atlas Office Products $3,646.62 Supplies; Atlas Premier Service $1,395.46 Lease; Atlas Reproduction/PEAC $344.70 Lease; B&B Leasing $1,285.97 Lease; B&B Aggregates $446,250.00 Road Maint; Barnes Law $737.20 Legal; Big Horn Services $3,346.22 Svcs; Bison Pump&Supply $650.86 Supplies; Black Hills Energy $21,077.00 Utilities; Blackburn Cattle Co $28,200.00 Road Maint; Blackburn, Donald $461.73 Tech Reimb; Bliss, Mary $174.00 Reimb; Bloedorn Lumber $508.71 Supplies; Blue Collar Logistics $34,200.00 Road Maint; Bob Barker Company $443.80 Supplies; Bob Ruwart Motors $549.69 Svcs; The Body Shop $190.00 Wellness; Bomgaars $617.25 Supplies; Bonanza Earth Relocators $40,800.00 Road Maint; Boys & Girls Club of Douglas $7,375.00 Allocation; Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Wyoming $6,818.18 Allocation; Bryan C Cropper $380.00 Inmate Med; Buckley Powder $89,088.28 Svcs; Butch’s Propane $827.27 Utilities; Carquest Douglas $3,156.62 Supplies; Casteel, Robert $1,680.00 Legal; CDI $916.91 Svcs; CDW Government $93,889.21 Equip; Centric Elevator Corp $990.00 Svcs; CenturyLink $3,155.29 Utilities; CIGNA $355,393.81 Insurance; City of Douglas $2,749.91 Insurance; CleverPath IT $4,680.69 Svcs; Coca Cola Bottling $39.00 Supplies; Converse County Firewise $3,200.00 Allocation; Converse County Library $722,115.50 Allocation; Converse County Search&Rescue Unit $450.00 Retirement; Cowboy Chemical $111.60 Supplies; Cowboy Supply House $2,280.93 Supplies; Decker Auto Glass $1,077.97 Svcs; Defense Technology $750.00 Svcs Delta Dental  $16,498.40 Insurance; Dilts, Jerry J $2,265.00 Rent; Dotson, Hunter $150.00 Reimb; Douglas Business Center $68.25 Supplies; Douglas FR & Embroidery $60.00 Svcs; Douglas Grocery $47.64 Supplies; Douglas Hardware $326.51 Supplies; Douglas Med Spa $60.00 Wellness; Douglas Tire Center $4,969.30 Svcs; Doyle, Kellynne $675.97 Reimb; DRU Consulting $4,963.98 Consult; E Benefits $177.50 Insurance; WY Earth Work Solutions $340,378.65 Road Maint; Eastern WY College $2,695.00 Contract; Elevate Glenrock $32,280.20 Utilities; The Enterprise $24,434.88 Allocation; EnviroTech $7,756.88 Equip; Fastenal Co $239.41 Svcs; FDL Architecture $4,930.92 Svcs; First American Title  $1,699,794.54 Insurance; Gillette Community College District $2,486.75 Svcs; Glenrock Hardware Hank $175.97 Supplies; Glenrock Health Center $2,400.00 Rent; Glenrock Housing Authority $2,167.00 Reimb; Glenrock Independent $52.00 Printing; Gorman Funeral Homes $3,380.00 Allocation; Grainger $4,298.11 Supplies; Granite Telecommunications $1,894.73 Utilities; Grant, Richard C $113.10 Reimb; GreatAmerica Financial $711.06 Lease; Greiner Ford of Casper $1,307.84 Svcs; gWorks $2,977.00 Allocation; H&J Trucking $34,125.00 Road Maint; HDR Engineering $171,616.21 Road Maint; Health Merch $170.00 Supplies; Heintz Surveying and Engineering $2,130.00 Svcs; Henson, Tiffany $36.25 Reimb; High Country Behavioral Health $5,416.66 Allocation; Hilltop National Bank $331.00 Insurance; Homax Oil Sales $68,145.64 Svcs; Huxtable, Dixie $4,741.13 Reimb; I D Checking Guide $33.95 Svcs; Igo Oil Field Service $47,700.00 Road Maint; IMA $7,916.66 Consult; Inner Strength Therapeutic Massage $120.00 Wellness; Interstate Batteries $529.85 Supplies; Jerry s Welding-Steel Fab $2,820.91 Parts/Svcs; Justin Miller Trucking $45,200.00 Road Maint; Kaufman, Trent $188.50 Reimb; KCK $13,200.00 Road Maint; Kelly’s Alignment&Brake $535.00 Svcs; Kone $1,503.54 Svcs; Laboratory Corp of America $752.08 Svcs; Laramie Peak Humane Society $2,083.33 Allocation; Laramie Range Water Treatment&Plumbing $2,004.50 Supplies; Lavine, Randi $36.25 Reimb; Legend Services $21,300.00 Road Maint; Lexisnexis Matthew Bender $1,916.00 Svcs; Loco Luna $15,600.00 Road Maint; Loenbro $1,950.79 Svcs; Lopez, Jaqueline $36.25 Reimb; Massage Therapy by Silke Hodges $300.00 Wellness; The Master’s Touch $412.45 Svcs; McKesson Medical $1,045.68 Svcs; McKillip Trucking $12,600.00 Road Maint; Memorial Hospital of CC $320,331.13 Allocation; Menards $729.97 Supplies; Mittleider, M Stacey $90.24 Reimb; Moore’s Heavy Equipment $3,647.40 Equip; Motor Power Equipment $330.80 Equip; Motorola Solutions $174,295.51 Svcs; Mountain Retreat Massage $60.00 Wellness; Mountain West Technologies $104.95 Utilities; Nelico $964.57 Svcs; Newman Signs $360.03 Parts; Niobrara Electric $96.75 Utilities; NMS Labs $681.00 Svcs; Norco $679.65 Supplies; O Reilly Automotive $81.90 Supplies; ODP Business $323.74 Supplies; OffenderWatch $200.36 Svcs; Office of the State Public Defender $117,836.54 Allocation; Olsen, Christie $14,700.00 Road Maint; Palen Law $1,884.00 Legal; PartsOne $697.68 Parts; Peak Fitness $475.00 Wellness; Pitney Bowes $216.12 Supplies; Plainsman Printing $3,685.94Printing; Pope Construction $225,122.45 Contract; Porter, Muirhead, Cornia&Howard $25,000.00 Contract; Price Trucking $17,512.50 Road Maint; Principal Life $3,563.91 Insurance; Pure Raine Salon $710.00 Wellness; Quill Corporation $703.00 Supplies; R & R Rest Stops of Casper $313.50 Svcs; Range $1,539.52 Supplies; Reaper Logistics $42,900.00 Road Maint; Richardson Construction $122,926.26 Contract; Ricoh $8.88 Supplies; Roc Doc Mobile Windshield Repair $45.00 Svcs; Rocky Mountain Power $21,466.02 Utilities; Rocky Mountain Wash $86.00 Svcs; Ron s Supply $475.84 Supplies; Sam s Club $1,004.54 Supplies; Sanofi Pasteur $3,115.58 Supplies; Schell, Joel $477.05 Reimb; Secretary of State $120.00 Svcs; Shatto s Frontier Drug $3,354.85 Allocation; Short Powerline $6,936.00 Svcs; Short, Robert $2,860.40 Tech Reimb; ShredAmerica $782.28 Svcs; Shuler Kristy $72.50 Reimb Si Senor $1,200.00 Svcs; Smiley Face Logistics $15,600.00 Road Maint; Sovos Compliance $137.76 Allocation; State of Wyoming $146.37 Svcs; Stop Stick Ltd $1,676.00 Supplies; Strode Forensics  $2,220.00 Svcs; Summit Food $20,523.28 Svcs; Texas Refinery Corp $608.00 Parts; TGOB Material $47,852.12 Road Maint; Thalken, Twyla $637.50 Svcs; Top Office Products $821.23 Lease; Town of Glenrock $1,040.62 Rent; Trane US $2,208.34 Parts/Svcs; Tyler Technologies $5,300.59 Svcs; U S Postmaster $386.00 Supplies; Univ Of Wyoming $7,083.00 Reimb; UW 4-H in Converse County $166.10 Reimb; Verizon Wireless $717.90 Utilities; Visa $8,743.88 Supplies/Equip; Visionary Communications $1,354.49 Utilities; Voice Products $4,046.74 Allocation; Vyve Broadband $211.56 Utilities; Wagner, Allegra $29.51 Reimb; Watson, Kristin $185.60 Reimb; Western Dakota Energy Assoc $100.00 Svcs; Western Skies Technology $9,181.00 Svcs; Western States & Tribal Nations $5,000.00 Allocation; Wild West Mobile Repair $810.00 Allocation; Willox Jim $861.40 Reimb; WLC Engineering&Surveying $5,416.51 Contract; Wright, Triston $150.00 Reimb; WY Behavioral Institute $10,556.00 Svcs; Wy Dept of Health-Public Health Nursing $25,155.60 Allocation; WY First Aid&Safety $112.31 Supplies; WY Local Government Liability Pool $399.05 Allocation; WY Machinery $392,315.55 Parts/Svcs; WY Public Health Lab $531.00 Svcs; WY Rigging&Industrial $4,322.05 Supplies/Equip; WY T2/LTAP Center $2,720.00 Svcs; Wyoming Law Enforcement Acedemy $1,350.00 Svcs; Wyoming Safety Supply $150.00 Supplies; Youth Development Services $4,166.66 Allocation; Z Lazy Y Trucking $12,000.00 Road Maint; Zen Spa $120.00 Wellness; February monthly reports Clerk $46,100.96; Clerk of District Court $5,251.76; Road & Bridge $59,695.70; NOVC 2025-0631 Chesapeake Operating $145.45; NOVC 2026-0134 Continental Resources $115,179.95; NOVC 2026-0035 Wold Energy Partners $2727.66 & $379.22 & $7.62; Mr. Short seconded; Commissioners abstained from voting on warrants pertaining to themselves; motion carried. Mr. Kaufman moved to approve the transfer of $1,699,794.54 from Fund 173 MAVSF (Monthly Ad Valorum Stabilization Fund) to Fund 150 Capital Construction Misc for the purchase of lands adjacent to Ayres Natural Bridge Park from B.K. Killion LLC; Mr. Blackburn seconded. It was stated for the record that these funds are all mineral production taxes and not any other type of tax; motion carried. Mr. Short moved to approve Amendment No. 4 to Notice of Additional Services with FDL Services, LLC for the redesign of water main line location and coordination of the electrical vault location for additional fees of $7,750 for a total new cost of $583,477; Mr. Blackburn seconded; motion carried. Mr. Grant moved to accept the proposal and approve the contract from Inberg-Miller Engineering, Inc. for third-party testing services at the EWC Construction Technology Addition based upon the Schedule of Fees and Available Services as presented and as recommended by Arete Design and further authorized the Chairman to sign upon legal review by the County Attorney; Mr. Short seconded; motion carried. Mr. Short moved to purchase additional half-page ads with the Douglas Budget/Glenrock Independent magazines to promote the County in all six magazines at the bundled cost of $2,040; Mr. Kaufman seconded; motion carried. A County-wide business review took place with multiple departments and elected officials; no action was taken. Mr. Willox opened a public hearing at 10:03 a.m. to consider and obtain public comment on a subdivision application to vacate Lots 1 and 4 of the H4U Subdivision and replat the same into Lot 1 as DeGraw Subdivision, containing approximately 36.68 acres and being a portion of the SE1/4SE1/4 of Section 13, and the N1/2NE1/4 of Section 24, T31N, R70W, 6th P.M., Converse County, Wyoming, addressed as 19 and 24 Freedom Way. Ms. Tory Walsh, Special Projects Coordinator, provided an overview of the application and answered questions from the Commissioners, including the sequence of ownership related to the vacate and replat. The Planning & Zoning Commissioner recommended approval at their regular meeting on January 20, 2026. The applicant, Ms. Nikki DeGraw, was not present, and there were no public or written comments received in favor or opposition of the application. The public hearing closed at 10:16 a.m. Following further discussion, Mr. Short moved to approve the DeGraw Subdivision subject to the following revisions: that H4U Inc./Mr. Charles Heglund be removed as a signer from the plat, and all parties must execute and record a deed from H4U, Inc. to Ms. Nikki Walker for Lot 1 of H4U Subdivision prior to the recording of the plat related to this application; Mr. Blackburn seconded; motion carried. Mr. Willox opened a public hearing at 10:30 a.m. to consider and obtain public comment on an application to create Phipps Minor Subdivision No. 2, situated in the SE1/4NE1/4 of Section 10, and the SW1/4NW1/4 of Section 11, T33N, R75W of the 6th P.M., Converse County, Wyoming, addressed as 10 Sage Court. Ms. Tory Walsh, Special Projects Coordinator, provided an overview and history of the application beginning in April 2025, and answered questions from the Commissioners. This application was requested by the County as voluntary compliance following a legal opinion from the County Attorney pertaining to ownership as deeds had been recorded resulting in the discovery of this being an illegal subdivision. The application has been reviewed, revised, and presented to and recommended for approval with technical changes by the P&Z Commission at their regular meeting on December 16, 2025, which have been incorporated. It was also approved by the Town of Glenrock on Nov. 13, 2025. The applicant, Ms. Debbie Phipps, was not present, and there were public comments received in favor or opposition of the application. The public hearing closed at 10:36 a.m. Mr.  Short moved to approve the Phipps Minor Subdivision No. 2 as presented with no modifications. Mr. Kaufman seconded; motion carried. Mr. Kristin Watson, HR Director, provided an overview of potential revisions to the Converse County Personnel Policy; following discussion, the Commissioners provided direction for additional revisions. No action was taken. The meeting recessed for lunch at 12:10 p.m. and reconvened at 1:30 p.m. Ms. Jessie Dykehouse, FDL Consulting, LLC, (remotely) provided updates on major construction projects including Courthouse Level 1 and 2 Studies; Glenrock Office project; and the Animal Shelter Expansion Project. Mr. Grant moved to authorize Commissioner Trent Kaufman to approve and sign any subsequent Change Order Requests for this project, which will be presented to the entire body as part of a Change Order for approval, and become the Commission lead on this project; Mr. Blackburn seconded; motion carried. A regular meeting of this Board will be held on Tuesday March 17, 2026, at 8:00 a.m., unless otherwise posted, at the Converse County Courthouse within Commission Chambers, located at 107 N. 5th Street, Douglas, Wyoming. The public is invited to attend. To get on the agenda, call the Clerk’s Office by the Thursday before the meeting. Per W.S. §18-3-516(f), access to county information can be obtained at www.conversecountywy.gov or by calling the County Clerk’s Office at (307) 358-2244.    

/s/ Karen Rimmer, County Clerk /s/ James H. Willox, Chairman

Publish: March 11, 2026 3387