Council discusses future chip-sealing project

The Lovell Town Council last week heard a report on the condition of the town streets in anticipation of a chip-sealing project during the regular meeting of September 9.

Steve Welling of Pryor Mountain Engineering presented the findings of a study Pryor Mountain performed recently.

“We surveyed all of the streets and rated their condition based on cracking, oil and oxidation,” Welling said, adding that Lovell streets are generally in good shape, with probably the worst stretch being on McKinley Avenue.

A chip-sealing project would extend the life of the streets considerably, Welling added.

The project would probably cost $1.6 million over 10 years, and the town may look into a mineral royalty grant, which Welling said would allow the town to do the project “ASAP,” which he recommends, with a focus on high traffic streets.

“We’ve scored the road conditions,” Welling said. “Basically, we’re ready to do everything in our power to turn this into a grant application.”

Town administrator Jed Nebel said there was very little time left before applications would be due for the next round of mineral royalty funding, September 18, with the next round coming up in about four months. He said the grant could be discussed during a work meeting on September 17.

“I’ll get a comprehensive report in front of you before the 17^th,” Nebel told the council, and Welling added, “The heavy lifting is about 90 percent done.”

The meeting was conducted by councilwoman Carol Miller, with Mayor Tom Newman absent. The meeting began with public comments regarding the renewal of liquor licenses issued by the town. There were no comments, and the council voted later in the meeting to approve the renewal of the licenses.

The council passed on third reading Ordinance 1024, which supports the posting of certain signs in town, especially in parks, such as “no smoking” or “no trespassing” by giving the stated prohibition “some teeth so we have something to enforce them with (in the form of a citation),” as town administrator Nebel put it at the July meeting.

Fall cleanup

The council set the annual fall cleanup period for October 1 through November 29. Citizens can obtain vouchers for taking items to the landfill.

“I like it,” councilman Dan Anderson said, and added Mayor Pro-Tem Miller, “It helps a lot of people.”

After review, the council voted to approve a no-contest annexation agreement with Kenneth and Angelyn Mayes for the extension of municipal water services to a property on East Second Street just outside the town limits. The no-contest agreement states that, if the town decides to annex the property at a future date, the landowners agree to not contest the annexation.

Under administration reports, Nebel said he has been working with Chief of Police Roger Haney and town counselor Alexa Rolin to prepare some sample ordinances governing scooters on town streets, which has been a frequent discussion item lately.

Councilman Bob Mangus brought up the current condition of the vegetative waste site on the north side of town, which he said is being overwhelmed by large trees and logs, likely from area tree removal contractors.

“We’re going to run out of room in four or five years,” Mangus said, saying the material is green and too large to bury.

“We definitely need to keep an eye on it,” Nebel said, adding that repairs have been performed at the animal control shelter.

In other action September 9:

• After removing from the table a decision on whether to allow the purchase of Clay Housing Lot 2 on Richardson Drive, which has a land drain running through the middle of it -- an item tabled at the August meeting -- the council once again voted to table the agenda until further discussion can be conducted.

• The council briefly discussed options presented by town clerk/treasurer Colleen Tippetts on the town’s portion of the mineral royalty grant for the remodel of town hall such as pulling the match from reserves of seeking a low interest loan. The council took the matter into consideration but took no action.

• The council voted to write a letter of support for an application the North Big Horn Hospital District is submitting to the State Loan and Investment Board for a mineral royalty grant.