Town council applies for bike trail funding

A wide range of non-voting agenda items and presentations marked the April 14 meeting of the Lovell Town Council last week.

The regular meeting was preceded by a council work meeting during which citizen Dylan Banks spoke to the council about modifications he would like to see to the existing town code regarding restrictions on parking trailers on town streets, which currently prohibit parking from September through May.

Banks has appeared before the council in the past and also brought a petition to the council a few months ago. He would like to see the trailer prohibition season reduced as well as amended to allow “one small, non-commercial, personal-use trailer” to be parked on a “public street abutting the owner’s residential dwelling, including a marked school zone” provided that a number of conditions are met, some of which are already in the code or would be difficult to enforce fairly, town administrator Jed Nebel said.

The town, in part, enacted the trailer ordinance for safety and ease of snow removal, with proponents stating that, especially in school zones, children can dart out from behind a camper into traffic, and parked trailers make snow plowing difficult after a storm.

Banks argued that prohibiting trailers places a burden on people who don’t have access to land for parking a trailer off the street or have the budget to rent a storage space.

Speaking to Banks during the work meeting, Nebel and Mayor Tom Newman said the town is considering reducing the trailer prohibition “season” from September-May to November-May. Nebel also noted an ordinance to come before the council later in the evening to better define semi-trucks.

Not being able to vote in a work meeting, the council took Banks’ recommendations under advisement.

Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce manager Linda Morrison also addressed the council during the meeting to suggest that the wild mustang statue commemorating the establishment of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range be moved from its current longtime location on East Main Street to the chamber office building at Main and Oregon.

Morrison made the argument that the wild horses are of increasing interest to the traveling public and more people would see the statue at the chamber office building, adding that the idea is to get travelers to stop and stay an extra day in the Lovell area.

The mayor, council and administrator said such a move could be assessed in the near future, with Mayor Newman noting, “It’s certainly something we can look at unless it’s cost prohibitive or unmovable.”

Main meeting

Kicking off the regular meeting at 7 p.m., Mayor Newman honored nurses in the community by issuing a proclamation designating May 6-12 as Nurses Week in Wyoming and Lovell, as declared by the Wyoming Nurses Association with the theme “The Power of Nurses.”

The proclamation cites nurses’ “unparalleled impact and their contributions to health care” and urges citizens to join the mayor in “honoring nurses who care for us and celebrating their accomplishments during this week and at every opportunity throughout the year.”

Attending the meeting to present the proclamation were local nurses MarKay McIntosh and Rita Unruh.

Todd Bray, president of the Downrange Warriors veterans and first responders support organization, also addressed the council to provide an update on the group’s work in North Big Horn County. He noted how Downrange Warriors responded immediately in the wake of the Byron shootings a year ago February but also stayed in contact and held trauma healing classes in the months that followed the event.

Bray noted that, while Lovell representative Josh Foster is no longer with the organization, Downrange Warriors is committed to the Lovell area in support of first responders and combat veterans.

Downrange Warriors is a three-legged stool, Bray said. First, it is faith based but not denominational. Second, it provides those in need a community of friends, with members of a class becoming “your squad.” Third, a volunteer must have credentials in order to work for Downrange Warriors in a particular area. For instance, only a combat veteran would be assigned to talk to a combat veteran in need.

“We are not counselors,” Bray stressed. “Our forte is coming alongside and getting them to open up, then direct them to counselors.”

Subdivision

Nebel provided an update on the Don Davis subdivision just west of town, noting that the town would need to sign a waiver of conflict of interest in order to work with the Northwest Rural Water District since both entities are represented by the law firm Copenhaver, Kitchen & Kolpitcke, LLC.

With the town being asked to provide water to the subdivision, the subdivision would need to be removed from the rural water district, and that process would involve the law firm that represents both the town and the rural water district. The council voted to sign the waiver of conflict of interest.

Cottonwood Canyon bike trail

Nebel also brought the council up to date on the Cottonwood Canyon mountain bike trail project. He said while the legislature declined to fund the project, he would like to proceed with the National Environmental Policy Act survey process so that the project could be shovel ready if funding for construction can be found.

He said the new Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Tourism and Trust Fund will not fund environmental studies, so he suggested using the old Community Development Block Grant fund the town has access to, noting that the NEPA study would fit state guidelines for that fund.

“I’m not opposed to using that money (CDBG) if it’s just sitting there,” Newman said.

Nebel said the town can still tap into the trust fund, but there isn’t enough money in the still growing fund to pay for construction.

Nebel said the town did apply for trust fund money, though it is unlikely to award the entire budgeted amount of the fund ($2 million) to the Lovell project.

Ordinances

Under new business, the council started the 2026-27 fiscal year budget approval process by passing on first reading the ordinance establishing the annual tax levy (Ordinance 1033) and the annual appropriation ordinance (1034) on first reading.

The council also passed on first reading Ordinance 1035, which amends the current trailer ordinance to add semi-trailers and semi-trucks to the list of vehicles prohibited to be parked on town streets from September through May. A new section prohibits certain vehicles to be left idling if the vehicle creates excessive noise and exhaust. 

Ordinance 1036 adds commercial trailer and semi-trailer to the list of definitions for vehicles in the town code.

In other action April 14:

• The council approved renewing a contract with Madison Hunder for cleaning restrooms in the town parks.

• The council approved a concession stand agreement with Big Horn County Little League to run the concession stand at the Northeast Little League Baseball complex.

• Mayor Newman proclaimed May 6 as Arbor Day in Lovell for the annual tree planting event by Lovell fifth graders under the Tree City USA program.

• After a proposal by town clerk/treasurer Colleen Tippetts, the council voted to approve April 15 through May 29 as the spring cleanup time in Lovell.

• The council approved sending certain uncollected water and sewer accounts to a collection company.

• After hearing the good news that there will be no increase in premiums this year, the council approved renewing the town’s participation in the Wyoming Educators Benefit Trust medical insurance program.