Lincoln County Commissioner Mel Shumway stepped into the SVI Radio studio on Monday, February 23 for the commission’s monthly report. Commissioner Shumway touched on legislation being watched by the county during the legislative budget session, a proposal by Star Valley Health to create a new tax district to fund EMS and ongoing discussions and action towards providing a public video stream of commission meetings.

(0:00) Gives me a reason to wake up and listen. (0:02) They’re always fun. (0:02) Duke, Dell, and Dan.

(0:04) It’s funny. (0:05) It’s funny without being annoying. (0:06) I really love you guys.

(0:07) I listen. (0:08) It’s funny. (0:09) On the SVI Radio Network.

(0:11) They’re great. (0:12) I think they’re really, really great. (0:14) 834 This Morning, live on SVI Radio, Swift 98 and The Spur, heading into our first guest (0:19) interview of the hour, and Lincoln County Commissioner Mel Shumway in studio for the (0:23) monthly report from the County Commission.

(0:25) Commissioner Shumway, good morning. (0:26) How are you today? (0:27) Doing great. (0:27) Good morning, Duke.

(0:28) I appreciate your time, as always, and thanks for swinging by the studio today. (0:32) I think maybe we start with the legislative session we had Representative Byron on earlier (0:38) this morning, and I know the commissioners always keep a close eye on what’s being talked (0:43) about in Cheyenne. (0:44) Anything specific that you guys are watching this year? (0:46) There’s a lot of stuff going on in Cheyenne, and I don’t know where to begin on that.

(0:52) So I guess the point I’d like to make is I’m just a little confused on why the legislation (0:59) is so bent on cutting budget when we really don’t need to cut a budget. (1:04) I mean, the state’s doing well. (1:06) Locally, we need help.

(1:08) And I just find it ironic that, you know, the treasurer saw him a couple of weeks ago (1:13) in Cheyenne, and he says, we put $1.84 billion in interest off of income in Wyoming last (1:20) year. (1:20) $1.84 billion in interest that they earned. (1:24) They put $484 million into reserves.

(1:31) And I’m going, that’s fantastic, Wyoming. (1:33) Way to go. (1:35) Let’s not cut so sharp that it starts to hurt our communities and especially our districts.

(1:40) And that’s kind of my concern coming out of Cheyenne. (1:43) I don’t have a lot of specifics that I want to go into this morning, but they’re doing (1:48) a good job. (1:49) Those that are down there working hard, it’s a give-and-take process for sure.

(1:54) And I sure appreciate our local representatives, especially out of Star Valley, helping us (1:59) out and keeping us in mind. (2:00) You know, I know that some of the groups being discussed with those cuts, the Wyoming Business (2:04) Council being one, was on the commission agenda recently and gave a presentation to the commission. (2:10) And so there’s been some outreach there as well, right? (2:12) Correct, yes.

(2:13) And I think the Business Council, yeah, do they need a little more sideboards and guardrails? (2:17) Probably. (2:17) But to just flat cut them out of the picture for Wyoming, it would really hurt our infrastructure (2:23) progress. (2:24) We have such aging infrastructure in Wyoming.

(2:27) We really need help to keep some of these things improved, redo, remodel, and new stuff (2:33) so we have growth and we can have some businesses come in. (2:37) The Wyoming Business Council’s been generous helping out communities and helping out counties. (2:42) And I’d like to see that moving forward with maybe a little more guidance, which I think (2:46) we can do.

(2:46) Commissioner Mel Shumway in studio this morning. (2:49) One of the big topics recently in county commission meetings has been Star Valley Health approached (2:54) the commission with a proposal to create a new district to fund EMS services. (2:59) And so maybe summarize that proposal for us, if you would.

(3:02) I’ll try to. (3:03) We’ll try to keep it brief, but it’s a really neat process. (3:06) This process has been in the works for several months, kind of going back to last summer.

(3:11) The community group, it’s consisting of Star Valley Health personnel, current EMS personnel, (3:16) and municipalities around the county. (3:19) They’ve kind of been forming this working group to come forward, and they came down in our (3:24) commission meeting and asking for, let me get my wording here, February 4th, the commissioner (3:30) meeting, we allowed this committee to move forward for the formation of an EMS district. (3:34) What this means is that the group will submit a proposed district boundary, and that must (3:40) be approved by the county assessor and the state revenue, the Department of Revenue.

(3:47) So they’re looking for any conflict gap or overlaps. (3:50) It’s been easy because there is no EMS district up here. (3:53) So it was pretty easy and straightforward.

(3:55) That’s been approved. (3:56) So that is ticked the box and we’ll move on. (3:59) The next is that public notifications will be published on March 4th and 11th.

(4:05) And it should be on the county website already. (4:08) And then March 17th will be the public hearing for public input. (4:13) And for the signing, oh, and then after that public hearing, it will go to a 60-day period.

(4:20) And that’s by state statute. (4:22) So after 60 days, it will come back to the commission and the commission for signing (4:28) the resolution to form the district. (4:31) And then the committee will bring forward names for board members.

(4:35) No more than three, excuse me, no less than three, and no more than nine. (4:40) So there’s some steps in this process that’s got to take place. (4:47) Okay.

(4:48) Once the board of directors has been set and approved, then the board of directors come (4:54) up with what mill levy they want to present to the public for the ballot initiative in (5:00) November. (5:01) So the public will vote for the mill levy set by the newly formed EMS district board. (5:07) And it can be from one to four mills, and that will be funded.

(5:12) And it must be approved by a majority of votes there on and the district providing the emergency (5:17) medical services. (5:19) So there’s quite a process to do this, but it’s really a community effort. (5:24) And I applaud the community board or the members, that community group that’s been doing that (5:29) with the Star Valley Health, the EMS group municipalities.

(5:33) So it’s been an interesting process, but we’re getting to where it’s going to get finalized (5:38) and it will go to the people for approval. (5:41) So keep in mind that we need an ambulance service. (5:44) We desperately want to keep one so it will be in your hands communities.

(5:49) Well, and those are two things I wanted to bring up. (5:51) The first being this isn’t the commission saying, yes, let’s create this district and (5:56) tax it. (5:57) This is the commission saying, yes, let’s go through the process to see if the voting (6:01) public would like this to happen, correct? (6:03) That’s correct.

(6:04) And I’m going to steal a little analogy from Mr. Ordinia. (6:07) He said, commissioners, we’re in the car, we’re ready to go to work. (6:10) You’re just going to give us the keys to start this car so that we can go to work.

(6:14) And that’s a good point, Duke, that this is not commission driven. (6:19) This is community driven. (6:20) But we have to give the approval to form this district and it has to go through the legal (6:25) process.

(6:26) But it is voted on by the people for the meals. (6:28) We’re not imposing a tax. (6:30) It will come from the people.

(6:31) So I like that. (6:33) I’m very comfortable with that. (6:35) I was not comfortable at all with putting a tax on anything.

(6:38) So let’s make sure that we understand that we are in charge as a community now moving (6:43) forward. (6:44) EMS statewide has been a big topic of discussion and especially in Lincoln County, because (6:51) it’s not classified as an essential service by the state, correct? (6:55) And so the state doesn’t actually provide any funding like it would maybe for some other (6:59) emergency services, correct? (7:01) That’s true. (7:02) So rural health care in general in Wyoming is tough, let alone ambulance service.

(7:12) There’s a lot of ambulance services in Wyoming going through this process with this community (7:17) group and seeing some of the numbers. (7:20) We just don’t have the population base. (7:22) And so it’s really hard to keep somebody profitable in an ambulance service.

(7:26) So forming a district is kind of the first thing that’s going to help. (7:31) It gives recognition, it gives a little clout. (7:34) There’s money coming in from the federal that districts can tap into, but they’ve got to (7:39) be a district to do that.

(7:40) So I think it’s the way to do it. (7:44) But district ambulance service in Wyoming in general has been tough to keep and maintain. (7:49) Thank you, County Commissioner Mel Shumway in studio.

(7:52) So again, give us some of those dates you mentioned of the public hearing has been scheduled (7:56) after it’s been posted for a couple weeks, right? (7:59) Yes, yes. (8:00) So it will be noticed in the public paper for March 4 and March 11. (8:04) And it should be, as I mentioned, on the website already.

(8:07) And then March 17 will be the public hearing for public input. (8:11) And then by state statute, it moves forward for 60 days before it comes back to the commission (8:17) for signing the resolution at the commission meeting. (8:20) And then if we approve that resolution and form the district, then the committee will (8:26) bring forward names for board members.

(8:28) And then we will appoint the board and then the board will vote on the mill levy and start (8:34) that process. (8:35) Okay. (8:36) So whether you are in favor or opposed of the creation of this district, make your voice (8:43) heard at that public hearing then, right? (8:45) Yes.

(8:46) And that might be leading into our next topic of streaming. (8:51) So streaming, we’re still moving forward with streaming. (8:54) Keep in mind, we have the annex here in Afton and we have the courthouse in Kimmer.

(9:00) We’re one of the only counties in the state that has that luxury to have two locations. (9:04) So in the public hearing, you can come to Afton and be part of that process and not have to (9:10) drive clear to Kimmer. (9:12) So where this is a North Lincoln district, it’s important that you have access to that.

(9:19) So that’s part of our annex and that’s part of the process. (9:23) So we’re, as I said, we’re moving forward with the streaming. (9:27) We’ve hired a group to help us assess what current AV equipment we have right now and (9:32) what we can utilize moving forward.

(9:35) Keep in mind, we got to incorporate the streaming service in three locations, the current boardroom (9:40) in the courthouse on the third floor, the Afton annex, and the old district chambers, (9:48) the old district courthouse in Kimmer. (9:50) That’s moving out to the new justice center. (9:53) And so we’re going to probably go in and fill that with some new commission.

(9:58) So it’ll be a bigger seating. (10:01) We can put more people in there. (10:03) But they’re taking all that equipment with them to the new justice center.

(10:06) So we’ve got to get new equipment in there. (10:07) So we’re incorporating these three locations to see what equipment we would need. (10:14) So the anticipated timeframe, this AV consulting group, they’ll meet with us within 60 days.

(10:22) And actually, it’s probably gonna be earlier than that. (10:24) And the initial walkthrough and the proposal of the service, that’s been accepted. (10:29) And then we’ll see what equipment that they recommend.

(10:33) We’ll see what kind of budget there is. (10:34) And we anticipate about 10 to 20 days after that, we can start incorporating some of this stuff. (10:42) And then this group says it’ll take about three to six weeks to incorporate that into the three locations.

(10:49) And integration, they said, generally takes four to five days per room once it’s scheduled. (10:54) We don’t have a huge IT department in our county. (10:57) We’ve got some really great people, but they’re spread pretty thin.

(11:01) If we task them to do that, everything else would be put on hold. (11:06) So we’ve kind of got to bring outside help in to get this done timely and efficiently (11:11) without putting a lot of undue labor on the three or four IT people we have in the whole county. (11:18) So it’s a process, but we’re excited.

(11:21) We’re looking forward to it. (11:23) Hopefully, we can get some things streamlined and moving, and change is coming. (11:28) All right, so it’s on the way.

(11:29) Commissioner Mel Shumway this morning. (11:30) Anything we missed, Commissioner, you’d like to mention today? (11:33) No, no, you mentioned the Olympics, and it was really fun the last two weeks to watch the Olympics. (11:38) And I really enjoyed that.

(11:39) I mean, Team USA Hockey, women’s and men’s, fantastic, so exciting. (11:45) I was really impressed last night at the closing ceremonies. (11:48) They said they had 18,000 volunteers helping at the Olympics, 18,000 volunteers.

(11:55) Wow, that’s a big group. (11:56) It just got me thinking about Lincoln County and our volunteer groups in Lincoln County, (12:01) our nonprofits, our volunteer groups, and what good work they do around the county. (12:05) If you’re inclined and have the time, reach out to some of these groups and see if you could help out.

(12:10) We always need people to help out in the county. (12:13) I’ve been so impressed with volunteer organizations in the county from food banks to animal shelters (12:19) to youth groups to youth sports, things like that. (12:23) So thank you for your help in the county.

(12:25) And if you’re thinking of jumping in and helping somewhere, I’m sure there’s a need for you. (12:30) Other than that, it’s a beautiful day out. (12:33) Let’s enjoy a couple of nice days of weather before we get some more winter coming.

(12:36) Absolutely, well said. (12:37) That’s Lincoln County Commissioner Mel Shumway this morning. (12:39) It’s all part of the weekday wake up on SVI Radio.