Buffalo Wyoming City Council Meeting Minutes 01/02/07
Jan 5, 2007
Author: Julie Silbernagel

CITY OF BUFFALO
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
January 2, 2007
The Buffalo City Council met in Regular Session in the Council Chambers of City Hall. Present were Mayor Hepp, Councilwoman Holt, Councilman Hancock and Councilman Anderson. Councilman Johnson was absent. Mayor Hepp called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Councilwoman Holt made a motion to approve the December 19, 2006 Council minutes. Councilman Hancock seconded the motion and all Council members present voted aye.
Mayor Hepp thanked the City Council, Department Heads and all employees for their hard work and dedication during his term as Mayor. He then turned the meeting over to Mary Hupy, Municipal Court Judge, for the swearing in of Mayor-elect Gary Anderson, and Council-elects Kate Holt and Russ Humphrey.
Mayor Gary Anderson thanked former Mayor Hepp for his years of dedicated hard work and presented a plaque honoring Mayor Hepp for his accomplishments as Mayor. Mayor Anderson then presented his list of Mayor’s Appointments for Council approval. Mayor Anderson explained his intentions to begin the search for a Police Chief as Chief Dahmer will be retiring within two years. Councilman Hancock made a motion to approve the Mayor’s Appointments as follows:
Mayor’s Appointments:
Vice-Mayor – Skip Hancock
City Attorney – Ben Kirven
Clerk/Treasurer – Julie Silbernagel
Municipal Judge – Mary Hupy
Alternate Judge – Chris Wages
Fire Chief – Clarence J. Gammon III
Safety Director – Kenn Durfee
Building Inspector – Chris Spencer
Councilwoman Holt seconded the motion and all Council members present voted aye. Dennis Kirven, District Court Commissioner, performed the swearing in of Municipal Judge, Mary Hupy and Judge Hupy performed the swearing in of all other appointees.
Ordinance No. 1269– An Ordinance Providing for the Annexation of the “Hatch Addition” to the Town of the City of Buffalo, Wyoming was presented for third and final reading. Jeremy Grimm, Planning Director, described the annexation area and explained the subdivision process. Councilman Hancock made a motion to accept the third and final reading of Ordinance No. 1269 and Councilwoman Holt seconded the motion. All Council members present voted aye.
Mayor Anderson announced that the Lyle Award, an Employee of the Month Award, had been awarded to Bill Day, Sr. from the Public Works Department.
Mayor Anderson also announced his regular office hours at City Hall would be Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Thursday mornings and other times as needed.
Councilman Humphrey made a motion to change the Council meeting times to 5:00 p.m. beginning in February for a three month trial period. City Attorney, Dennis Kirven, gave the history of Council Meeting times for the City of Buffalo and explained compensation procedures for Department Heads that are exempt from overtime. Councilwoman Holt expressed her concern with requiring employees exempt from overtime to attend evening meetings. Councilman Hancock stated that business owners tend to make the necessary arrangements to attend the 4:00 p.m. meetings for issues concerning them. The motion died for lack of a second. City Council meetings will remain at 4:00 p.m. the first and third Tuesdays of each month.
Mayor Anderson acknowledged two new employees of the City of Buffalo, Harvey Saxbury and Travis Holland, and thanked these employees for their commitment to serve the public.
Councilman Humphrey requested a preliminary Council Meeting Agenda by 5:00 p.m. the Friday before each Council Meeting.
Mayor Anderson presented his list of Council Board Representation and Board Appointments as follows:
Council Board Representation
R.C. & D – Skip Hancock
YMCA – Mike Johnson
Safety Committee – Skip Hancock
CJC Joint Powers Board – Kate Holt/Gary Anderson
Charitable Foundation – Russ Humphrey/Gary Anderson
Solid Waste District Board – Skip Hancock
Sr. Center – Russ Humphrey
Board Appointments
Animal Control Board: 2 yr terms – Mike Johnson/John Miller
Clear Creek Commission: 4 year term – Kate Holt
Housing Authority: 5 year term – Bill Michaelis
Pool Board: 2 year term – Dan Barent
Tree Board: 2 year term – Paul Wright
Johnson County Solid Waste District Board: 3 year term – Richard Branaman
Mountain Plains Heritage Park Joint Powers Board: 2 year term – Dean Bjerke
Councilman Hancock made a motion to approve the Mayor’s Appointments and Councilman Humphrey seconded the motion. All Council members present voted aye.
Councilwoman Holt made a motion to designate the Buffalo Bulletin as the City’s official newspaper. The motion was seconded by Councilman Hancock with all Council members present voting aye.
Councilwoman Holt made a motion to designate the Bank of Buffalo, 1st National Bank of Buffalo, 1st Interstate Bank of Commerce, and American National Bank as the official depositories for the City of Buffalo. Motion was seconded by Councilman Humphrey and all Council members present voted aye.
Mayor Anderson reminded all Council members to complete and sign the Financial Disclosure letters and return them to the City Clerk.
Dennis Kirven, City Attorney, introduced the new City Attorney, Ben Kirven to the Council.
Les Hook, Public Works Director, addressed questions from Council regarding the fence at the Spray Park and the street signs concerning parking on Main Street.
Mike Dahmer, Police Chief, answered questions from Council and presented his monthly report.
Planning Director, Jeremy Grimm, listed the following projects that the Planning Department would be working on in 2007: Tank/Pipeline, Water Treatment Plant Bidding and Construction, Waste Water Treatment Plant design, Sidewalks to Schools, Northridge Drainage, Swede Johnson property drainage problem, Gateway Sign to Buffalo project with Wyoming Department of Transportation, Main Street Community Development Block Grant, Code Book Revision, Landfill Monitoring, Level 1 Water Study, Spray Park Fence and 1% Request.
Councilman Hancock recommended to Council that care of the Skating Pond be overseen by the City since there is no interest in Board membership at this time.
Mayor Anderson gave an update on Councilman Johnson’s status after his recent surgery and announced that the WAM Winter Workshop is being held in Cheyenne January 17-19, 2007.
The following bills were audited and approved for payment: Betz, Linda, service – 398.50; BlueCross/BlueShield, insurance – 33,100.66; Buffalo Senior Center, agreement – 2,536.84; Hall, Nancy, service – 225.00; Jo. Co. Solid Waste District, service – 11,697.50; Johnson County Weed & Pest, supply – 7,999.61; Joint Powers Fuel Facility, supply – 2,053.90; Mike Ihnat Construction, contract – 5,673.67; St. Francis Animal Shelter, agreement – 1,200.00; Visa, Supply – 1,651.13; Walmart, supply – 238.83; WY Ass’n Municipalities, supply – 610.00; WY Educators’ Benefit Trust, insurance – 330.75, WY Retirement System, retirement – 19,215.26; WY State Treasurer, supply – 50.00.
There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

Mayor
ATTEST:

City Clerk