Basin council votes on library request for help with cost of utilities

The first regular Basin Town Council meeting of the month was March 12.  The town will not help the Big Horn County Library pay for its utilities.  

At the council’s Feb 26 meeting, County Library Director Tina Ely approached the council for help to pay the utilities. The town is the utility provider for the library. Ely said the library’s budget had been cut by $70,000. She also estimated that at least 1,000 people come through the library doors monthly. The library is important to Basin and the surrounding communities, she said.

Basin resident Kevin Curtin addressed the council about the request from the library during public comments at this meeting. Curtin said he did some research and learned the town already pays a tax stipend to have the county seat library in town. This is on top of the regular tax. 

He also did “basic statistics” from census data. He gave information on the number of children aged 0-9 in the entire county, which is 1,482. Children that age in Basin is 130. Children 10-19 years of age in Basin is 78. “That is only 26% of the population of Big Horn County. The Basin library is six times the size of the Greybull library. Greybull has a population of 1,715 approximately. They are only open four days a week.”

Curtin said Lovell is only open three times a week with a population of 2300. Basin’s population is 1,290. With only 268 residents under the age of 19, he finds it hard to believe there are “1,000 kids using the library every week.” 

Curtin also took statistics from the Wyoming State Library. “As of 6-30-23, there is a total of 17 staff at that library, totalling $223,000 in salary and $16,300 in benefits.” He said he would provide the stats to anyone who wanted them. 

His position is given that the town is also experiencing a shortfall, he would much rather see town resources go to fixing roads, sewer, etc. not to a county building. He suggested that perhaps the Basin library should be open less days. 

Councilman Brent Godfrey stated that since the request was made, he has spoken to various people about the library. He learned that the director makes over $40,000 a year to drive to and from the libraries. “She cut all the employees but said she was not going to take a cut in her own wages to help out anything. I do not believe the town of Basin should be encumbering our older citizens with a county building and a county problem.”  

Councilwoman Linda Weeks added she doesn’t believe it is right to add the cost to town residents. She agrees with Curtin. Councilman Mike Dellos agreed as well, that doing so would open a can of worms. 

An official motion was made to deny the request to use city funds in this way. 

DEPARTMENT REPORTS 

Tony Harrison provided the public works update. He explained that the lagoon had turned reddish. He has been working with town engineer Jesse Frisbee of Eagle Engineering to correct it. Public works staffer Ben Shelley passed the water distribution and lagoon tests. Harrison noted he is laying the groundwork for a future grant from the State Revolving Fund for a Lead Service Line Report for the DEQ. 

The electric report was submitted in writing to the council.  Town Administrator Deaun Tiger provided the administrative report. She has been working on the budget. Tigner also noted that animal licenses are coming in at a good pace.   

Chief Kyle McClure provided the Basin Police Department report. 

DOLLAR GENERAL DISCUSSION 

During public comments, town resident Roxanne Brewer expressed her concerns about the potential of a Dollar General store in Basin. She said, “I would like to voice my opposition to the Dollar General coming to town.” She continued that dollar store chains do not support community events, causes, schools, etc. They won’t even allow for flyers for fundraisers, youth events and activities to be posted. If a business is coming and willing to take money from residents, then they should also be willing to support those residents. 

Brewer continued that she has heard people say that the store won’t hurt current local stores like Wheelers’ Basin’s Market. She disagrees. Brewer herself went to buy a lightbulb at the Dollar General in Greybull because she couldn’t find that type of bulb anywhere else. While she was there, she saw cans of tomatoes with big signs saying they were on sale there. She picked up a couple. Turned out they were more expensive than what she could have purchased at Wheelers. “People are in there buying pop and chips and (thinking) while I’m here, I’ll pick up this and that.” 

Mayor CJ Duncan responded, “I think you have to be very careful when stopping private enterprise from happening as a council. You personally can choose to never go in there. But as a council I think it goes against everything that America stands for, that we would vote down private industry. Because we all have that right to start a business. The choice happens personally. When government starts to control what business can and should be in town you open the door for a serious problem.” 

Brewer pointed out that at one time an “adult” store was planning to open in Greybull. The town people said no, so town voted no. The discussion continued about what happens if most of the people in the town don’t want a business in town. Since the officials are elected to be the voice of the people what might happen. 

Duncan replied that if two-thirds of the voting population in Basin said they didn’t want a certain business in town, he doesn’t believe the council would have a choice but to do what the majority wants. He said something similar happened in the 1980’s in Basin when a cable company wanted to add the MTV and HBO channels. “The majority of Basin came to the council meetings and said we don’t want it. We didn’t get it (the channels).  When the populace speaks, we represent them, then we should listen. If there is that much opposition out there we would love to hear from them.” He would like to see the meeting room filled with members of the public all the time listening to and taking part in the discussions. 

He added that the sale of the property of the proposed location is not final. There is preliminary work being done. A design has been submitted but no building permit has been issued nor have other permits. He believes the company does not want to purchase the property prior to having all the permits. 

Town Deputy Clerk Josh Fischer told the council that he lived in a small town in Colorado about the size of Basin. In 2013 a Dollar General came. It was the first “outside business” to come to town. By 2015 there was a Love’s Truck Stop and Fairfield Inn. “Those businesses employed people and it gave tourists a reason to stay.” He thinks having the store here would be a great thing. 

OTHER BUSINESS 

• The council voted to approve the renewal of Big Horn Co-op’s liquor license 3 to 1. Prior to the vote Tim Metro spoke to the council about his desire to purchase the license from the Co-op after it is renewed.  Metro stated he does not have immediate plans to open a brick-and-mortar site for the license. However, he wants to make sure the license stays available in Basin and is compliant with the Wyoming Liquor Division. Weeks was the dissenting vote. She was worried about the license not generating income for the town for an undetermined amount of time.  

• An updated building permit was approved for a sign for Cabin Brew. 

• An executive session was held for personnel, potential litigation, and contract negotiations.  

• Town Resident Robin Marich asked when the town clean-up day would be this spring. She was told the town was instead providing vouchers for town residents. The vouchers are good for one trailer/pick up load to the South Big Horn Landfill. 

• In-town burning is tentatively set for April 10 – May 9, 2026.  It is subject to change depending on if the raw water is in the system, permission from DEQ and the weather conditions. 

• Frisbee said he is continuing to work on the lagoon design. 

• An update regarding Lilac Days (June 5 & 6) was given. 

•Budget workshop days were confirmed for March 17, 5 p.m. April 7, 5 p.m. and April 21, 5 p.m. 

• Don Russell, CPA, told the council that the budget from last year is working well.  

• The Budget Amendment Resolution 2026-1A to move monies from the Community Center Fund back to the Street Project Fund passed. 

• Mayor Duncan told the council that MEAN (town’s electrical provider) sent out a projection of a 6% increase to the usage fee. The projected increase from Big Horn Regional Water is .30-50 cents per EDU.