Lovell, Wyoming 82431
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Thursday, January 29, 2009
Volume 103, Number 34
Students seek skate
park improvements
BY DAVID PECK
In a good example of a
private-public partnership,
several young skateboard
enthusiasts are working
with Lovell Chief of Police
Nick Lewis and the Town
of Lovell to plan some im-
provements on the Lovell
Skate Park.
Although the skate
park is less than two years
old, having been installed
in May of 2007, local board-
ers believe there are some
improvements that could
be made, and they'd like to
help.
More than a dozen stu-
dents and a handful of par-
ents and supporters, includ-
ing Chief Lewis, came before
the Lovell Town Council at
the council's regular meet-
ing on Jan. 13.
Using projected bud-
get notes, photographs and
a large project plan, group
spokesmen Nathan Grant
and Ryan Bartling, both
eighth-graders at Lovell
Middle School, presented
a detailed proposal to the
council for needed repairs,
improvements and an ex-
pansion.
BACKGROUND
Chief Lewis explained
that the upgrade and ex-
pansion project came about
after police officers had nu-
merous contacts with skate-
boarders who were using
various places in town to
skateboard including the
fire hall, banks and the
post office, even though the
skate park was in place.
Police were-having to
shoo skateboarders away
from businesses, and kids
thought police officers were
picking on them, Lewis
said, noting, "Real resent-
ment was building."
So rather than contin-
ue in a negative vein, Lewis
decided to sit down with a
few of the students and talk
to them about why they
weren't using the skate park
as much and how he could
help make it better. Lovell
Middle School social work-
er Tina Billman has been
working with Lewis and the
students on the project.
'~e've been plotting
and planning ever since,"
Lewis said, "how to make it
more enjoyable and how to
reach that goal. Now we're
neck deep in a civics lesson
about how to change things
properly.
"We (adults) didn't do
anything except put their
ideas on paper (including
cost estimates). They really
want to not only improve it
but also to keep it nice. They
have a buy-in. It has turned
into a very good project."
THE PROJECT
Grant and Bartling
presented a multi-pronged
project Jan. 13 that includes
repairing the existing facil-
ity, modifying and opening
up the existing design, ex-
panding the park and add-
ing landscaping so the park
is more inviting for specta-
tors.
The key component to
the project is expanding the
skate park concrete by 15
feet to the north and remov-
ing the existing chain-link
fence.
"It's so crammed togeth-
er," Lewis said. "They can't
get the inertia to utilize
some of the equipment the
way they'd like. If we ex-
pand it and take the fence
out it would definitely be
more user friendly.
"The equipment is top
notch. It just needs to have
more openness to it so it can
be used properly." ....
~ Lewis and the students
estimate it will take 18
yards of concrete at $120 a
yard to expand the park to
the north. With additional
materials, including a grav-
el base and concrete forms,
and if donated labor can
be found, that phase of the
project is estimated to cost
$3,000.
Other components of
the project include:
See 'SKATE' page 6
DAvm Pecx
Lovell fourth.grader Jaret Collins shovels
away snow from a West Main Street sidewalk
Sunday afternoon after more than six inches
of the white stuff fell early Sunday morning.
Bitter cold then struck the area Monday and
Tuesday.
Wallboard
plant cuts
20 jobs
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
Signs of an economic
recession are becoming ev-
ident in many industries
worldwide and a Lovell area
employer has cut jobs, re-
sulting in about 20 displaced
workers since late 2008.
The Georgia-Pacific
Lovell gypsum wallboard
plant has cut about 20 jobs,
according to GP spokesper-
son Melodi Ruse at the com-
pany's headquarters in At-
lanta. The jobs lost include
14 hourly plant workers
and five salaried positions
and means the plant will
run three shifts instead of
four.
"Like most businesses
across the country, many of
our customers and consum-
ers have been directly af-
fected by the current condi-
tions and uncertainty in the
economy," Ruse said in an
e-mail message last week.
"Unfortunately, we have
had to adjust our produc-
tion schedules to fit these
changing needs,"
Ruse said G~P plants
across the country are be-
ing evaluated and changes
are being made based on
production neodj and cus-
tomer demands. She said
GP has closed "relatively
few" plants and is instead
cutting back operations
company wide.
"Georgia-Pacific is very
attuned to the economic sit-
uation. We are focused on
our customers and meet-
ing their changing needs,
thinking long-term and re-
ducing costs where possi-
ble/profitable," Ruse said
Georgia-Pacific
in the e-mail. "We are con-
fident that we can weather
the challenges ahead and
emerge stronger and more
competitive."
All construction related
products are being affected,
Ruse said. "The building in-
dustry is in bad shape, like
other industries. There's
relatively nothing being
built."
The slowdown in de-
mand has taken longer to
hit the wallboard industry
possibly because wallboard
is usually used toward the
end of construction for fin-
ish work, Ruse said, add-
ing that places like lumber
and plywood mills were hit
first.
DECEMBER 2008
UNEMPLOYMENT RATES
Lowest:
~Wyoming .................. 3.4 %
North Dakota ............ 3.5 %
South Dakota ........... 3.9 %
Nebraska ..................... 4 %
Utah ......................... 4.3 %
Highest:
Michigan ................. 10.6 %
Rhode Island ............. 10 %
S. Carolina. .............. 9.5 %
California .................. 9.3 %
Nevada ..................... 9.1%
Nationwide ............... 7.2 %
Do we really need. another restaurant? Part 2
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
Many Lovell residents
want a place to get a steak,
a sit-down full-service res-
taurant with an atmo-
sphere and full-time hours
and a nice place to take vis-
iting family members and
celebrate anniversaries,
birthdays, Christmas par-
ties and other events.
These are some of the
views voiced at the Lovell
restaurant meeting, held at
Big Horn Federal Tuesday,
Jan. 20, conducted by Lovell
Inc. Director Sue Taylor.
The second meeting in a
series of meetings meant to
discover the specific needs
for a restaurant in Lovell,
those in attendance gave
opinions on everything from
entertainment to menu
items and alcohol to equip-
ment needs.
The I0 people there
agreed that the restau-
rant should have later
hours than what is current-
ly available in town, but
also be able to justify the
hours with' enough busi-
ness when it is open. Gary
Emmett suggested being
open until 9 p:m. and said
a choice would have to be
made about whether or not
to serve breakfast.
The group discussed
what type of atmosphere
they would like in the res-
taurant. Alvin Emmett com-
mented that many travel-
ers like to get out of a motel
and relax while eating out.
That relaxation requires a
certain ambience, he said.
Gary Emmett added that
outdoor dining adds an am-
bience of its own.
As for menu items,
the group said they want
steaks, seafood and salads.
Some said they would like
the option of having a glass
of wine or beer with dinner.
Entertainment was
discussed. Some people
said they don't like loud
and distracting music dur-
ing dinner and others said
some music can be nice and
wanted to leave the option
open for different occasions.
Most agreed that the facili-
ty should be large enough to
accommodate banquets and
other small gatherings.
Some commented that
the people of Lovell have to
be sure to support the local
restaurant industry; com-
munity members have to
go out to eat in Lovell and
staffers working at restau-
rants have to take pride
and a sense of ownership in
the place they work. Tay-
lor mentioned the possibil-
ity of selling public shares
to fund the project, which is
how the Powell Merc. got off
the ground.
VIABLE EXISTING
RESTAURANTS
Because a goal of the
planning process is to cre-
ate ways to help existing
restaurants in town, a por-
BRAD Dm~REA~
Gary Emmett (left), Alvin Emmett (middle) and Jim Minchow talk about the
state of the restaurant industry in Lovell at the second restaurant meeting held
Tuesday, Jan. 20, at Big Horn Federal.
tion of the meeting was any extra effort after receiv-
spent talking about difficul- ing the raise. He said some
ties in dealing with employ-" ~
emp,oyees that apply to
ees and other factors lim-
iting the success of Lovell
restaurants.
Jim Minchow, the own-
er of Minchow's Food Court,
said the rise in minimum
wage has hurt his business
because the wage raise is
given to all employees, and
many of them don't put in
work at the food court don't
have a great work ethic, and
it is tough to keep the good
workers they have on staff
for an extended period of
time. Minchow said higher
paying government jobs of-
ten steal their best employ-
ees for summer work.
On the other hand, Min-
chow said many current
food court employees are
great workers, but those
quality employees are hard
to find. Lori Scheffier add-
ed that the food court has
been getting more applica-
tions recently, and there is
a pretty good crew now.
Taylor talked about the
possibility of organizing
training for employees and
working with Northwest
College for some opportuni-
ties. She said people-man-
agement training for shift
managers might also help.
At the end of the meet-
ing, Taylor brought up a
few other options including
purchasing and adding on
to Lange's Kitchen (grant
funding would come eas-
ier starting from scratch,
though).
The group discussed the
importance of recommend-
ing :places to eat in Lovell.
Gas station clerks, motel
clerks and people working
at retail establishments can
help restaurants Simply by
letting travelers know they
exist.
"Short of putting those
spikey things in the road,
we need to do a better job of
stopping those people going
through town," Taylor said.
The restaurant meet-
ings aren't being well re-
ceived by everyone in town,
however, and Taylor read a
few e-mails Tuesday from
patrons concerned that
Lovell can't support an-
other restaurant or that a
new establishment would
push existing eateries out
of business.
Taylor said another
meeting would be held in
four to six weeks and ad-
dress specific solutions and
the costs of different options
being considered. Contact
Taylor at 548-6707 for more
information.
~The Lovell Chronicle 234 E. Main, Lovell, WY Contact us at: 548-2217 www.lovellchronicle.com Icnews@tctwest.net
