The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming

Council cuts meetings to one a month

Town touts fiscal savings and changes to procedure for making it possible

Beginning in November, Moorcroft will entertain one town council meeting on the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m., this ordinance having passed second reading Monday night.

This, of course, is not the first time the town's business has been curtailed to the one monthly endeavor. In the past, however, according to Councilman Dale Petersen, the time it took to cover the agenda was often prohibitive.

Making Wednesday evening the monthly date of the meeting was not arbitrary either, according to Schneider, who had to arrange with Town Attorney Pat Carpenter to remain after his attendance at municipal court for the council meeting. Carpenter already attends only one council meeting a month, but this further alleviates a cost for his travel time.

Schneider also budgets into her yearly allotment a number of unanticipated meetings, so, with those and the now-defunct second regular monthly gathering, enough funding is in situ for any special or emergency meeting called in the future.

Another change regards procedure; the ability to pass amendments with resolutions is anticipated to help the council to cover the town's agendas at a more efficient pace.

In this and other ways, the town hopes to implement tactics to decrease any superfluous costs to Moorcroft citizens. However, if these options fail, the council is prepared to revisit the one meeting option with the understanding that "if it doesn't work," as Petersen said, "we can always go back to two".