The old Town Shop is coming down.

The Pinedale Town Council awarded a bid to Mountain West Electrical Services, LLC —a local company — to tear down the building at 67 S. Lincoln Ave. that previously housed Public Works and Animal Control.

Town Engineer Eugene Ninnie said the town would always prefer to give jobs to local companies like Mountain West, whose offices are located on the southeast side of Pinedale. However, they were also the lowest bidder for the project, said Ninnie, which is why they were awarded the job.

The bid from Mountain West was for $63,800 and Ninnie said the amount was lower than other bidders because most of the materials, except concrete, will be recycled and reused in future construction.

The council also approved a resolution about fees for paper copies of town public documents and the time of Town Hall employees it takes to make those copies available to the public.

The resolution states the first 20 minutes of a Town Hall employee searching for documents and the first 10 pages of copied documents are free. Every copy after that will be 10 cents for single-sided pages and 15 cents for doubled-sided pages.

The resolution was discussed at the last council meeting on Oct. 12 but council members wanted to add the claim that a person could challenge any fee they were charged for obtaining public documents. Councilman David Smith was most adamant about making sure citizens knew they were welcome to address the council if they ever felt they are overcharged.

The council also gave the Pinedale High School senior class conditional approval for their “Haunted Woods” fundraiser in the town park. Mayor Stephen Smith said the seniors could go forward with the event if the Sublette County Sheriff’s and Fire departments were on board as well. The council also said the park must be cleared by 11:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Besides that, the council had no problem with the high school fundraiser and even said they enjoyed the event last Halloween.

“It was way fun last year,” said Councilman Smith.

“It was pretty neat,” added the mayor.

Also at the meeting —

— The council welcomed its newest member, Jr. Councilman Casey Terrell — a Pinedale High School senior student. The position is the town’s latest effort to link Pinedale youth to town affairs. For more on this new council member, turn to page three.

— Animal Control Officer Julie Early announced she plans to continue her after school educational programs throughout the winter. Early recently did programs for Pinedale students grades kindergarten thought fifth as well as a local church youth group.

Early said she teaches youth about animal care responsibilities, but said she will talk about whatever is requested of her.

— Josh Wilson from Public Works said all the town parks had been winterized and the sprinkler systems “blown out.”

Wilson also asked for the council’s approval for Public Works to purchase a hydraulic press from Car Quest.

Councilman Smith asked Wilson if Public Works had money allotted in its budget for the machine and because they do, the council approved the purchase.

— Planning and Zoning Administrator Kate Grimes announced the town is having a photo contest for the new town Web site currently under construction. Images that capture Pinedale’s beauty, history, events, etc. are welcomed. Submissions will be taken in digital format through the end of November.

The next town council meeting is scheduled for Nov. 9 at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

For the complete article see the 10-30-2009 issue.

Click here to purchase an electronic version of the 10-30-2009 paper.