BY BOB RODRIGUEZ
With Mayor Heidi Bright-
ly voting against the motion, By-
ron council members took a step
Tuesday night, Sept: 8, to curb
any mayor's one sided authori-
ty so that appointments and dis-
missals of department heads and
various commissions and commit-
tees must be approved by a ma-
jority vote of the council.
On a motion by Council-
or Alan Bair with a second by
Councilor Sydney Hessenthaler
to amend a portion of Ordinance
5.05.030 the vote was 3-1 (Coun-
cilor Walter Roman had an ex-
cused absence) to approve chang-
es on first reading although there
will be two more readings before
final adoption. Public comments,
noted Bair, can thus be made
about the proposed changes and
there likely will be further revi-
sions. The council's action in the
Town Hall before a full house of
nearly 40 citizens is linked to a
controversy regarding the town's
Recreation Department (see re-
lated story).
Brightly expressed unhappi-
ness with the proposed revision,
saying, "As mayor I'm having a
hard time with this." She said
that she feels the current word-
ing "is sufficient; it works" and
then added, "I am the problem as
voiced to me by the council, so this
is a move to limit my power." Bair
said that he would check with
Joey Darrah, the town's attorney,
"to see that we're not in violation"
of related state statutes.
On first reading the proposed
ordinance changes read in part: "
... The clerk, treasurer, attorney,
municipal judge and the depart-
ment heads of the Police Depart-
ment and Recreation Department
shall be nominated by the mayor
or a councilman and shall be ap-
pointed by a majority vote of the
governing body (the council). The
removal of an officer of the Town
of Byron or a department head
shall be upon the recommenda-
tion of the mayor or a councilman
followed by a majority vote of the
governing body in support of the
recommendation."
In support of Brightly sever-
al persons in the audience ques-
tioned the revisions, stating that
they don't see the need. Bair, Hes-
senthaler and Councilor Gary Pet-
rich expressed their reasoning.
"We've had issues," said the lat-
ter, adding that there has been "a
division" and that "majority vote
has been kiboshed. There needs
to be a vote by the whole council;
not one person." Bair commented,
"I do not think the mayor ought
to be the sole determining nom-
inator for positions and the sole
terminator." As a two-term for-
mer mayor he observed, 'We've
always used consensus" for ap-
pointments or dismissals.
Brightly .supporters wanted
to speak further on the ordinance,
but Bair said, "I don't want to
talk about this any more." Deb-
ra Wilder took issue with that
and Bair explained that, "It's a
process" and that there will be
two more readings and that Citi-
zens can comment in person or by
mail. He then caged for the ques-
tion, thereby ending further com-
ment. After thewote, the mayor
stated, "I think that the public
has the right'to talk as long as
they want to and we have the ob-
ligation to listen." Also taking is-
sue with discussion being cut off
was Todd Wilder, who remarked
SEE 'BYRON POWER' page 3
PATTI CARPENTER
The sugar beet harvest began a few days earlier than usual on Sept. 4 and the first beet pile
is already growing in size at the west end of property adjacent to the Western Sugar plant
in Lovell.
BY PATTI CARPENTER
Fully loaded beet trucks
rolling into town and the famil-
iar sight of steam billowing from
the chimneys at the sugar plant
on the edge of town marked the
beginning of this year's sugar
beet campaign at the Western
Sugar plant in Lovell. Trucks be-
gan rolling through the gate a
few days earlier than normal at
the Lovell operation on Friday,
Sept. 4.
According to Western Sug-
ar Cooperative's senior agricul-
turalist Randall Jobman, har-
vest conditions are excellent
right now and the entire process
from digging in the fields, trans-
porting the bountiful harvest to
the factory and the 24/7 process-
ing operation is going well in the
first week of the campaign. He
added that it is much too early
to report on the tonnage per acre
or the sugar content of the beets
that are currently being dug
from local fields.
He said farmers located
throughout the Big Horn Ba-
sin are harvesting on a rotating
schedule, with plant operations
allowing for only three or four
days of storage behind processing
time until cooler temperatures
prevail. Jobman said he expects
the full-blown sugar campaign
to began on Oct. 2, when cooler
temperatures allow for longer
storage. Safe storage of the beets
is highly dependent on weather
conditions, with extreme heat be-
ing the largest threat.
Though too early to predict,
he said farmers are optimistic
expecting another record beet
harvest, along with sweet profits
for their efforts.
The first beet pile is already
growing in size at the west end
of property adjacent to the plant
and the 24/7 operation of process-
ing them into sugar is in motion.
As always, the operation con-
tinues to recruit workers for the
campaign, which provides sea-
sonal employment for up to five
months. The plant employs up to
125 local workers during the pro-
cessing season.
The sugar beet crop is a
primary source of income for
many farmers in the area. Ac-
cording to information provid-
ed by Western Sugar Cooper-
ative, one acre will normally
produce 25.7 tons of sugar beets.
Some farmers hope to yield as
much as 30 tons per acre this
year. A ton of beets yields about
285 pounds of sugar or 2.8 tons
of sugar. That is 1,150 five-pound
bags of sugar that would make a
line of bags 810 feet long if laid
end to end. The bags are loaded
on to railroad cars throughout
the campaign and transported to
destinations across the country.
BY PATTI CARPENTER
Following several months of
turmoil the Lovell Police Depart-
ment has a new chief of police.
Jason Beal, a lifetime Lovell res-
ident, was appointed to the posi-
tion by Mayor Angel Montanez,
with the unanimous approval of
the town council at their regular
meeting of the Lovell Town Coun-
cil on Tuesday night. The ap-
pointment was made with little or
no discussion during the meeting.
Montanez and the town council
interviewed Beal during a previ-
ous closed-door session on Mon-
day, Aug. 24.
The LPD has been without a
chief since the departure of Nick
Lewis as of June 1. Lewis was
fired, then unfired and then not
reappointed when the mayor took
office at the beginning of the year.
Montanez said in a previous in-
terview with the Chronicle that
he wanted to take his time find-
ing the right candidate for the
position.
Beal has been a deputy with
the Big Horn County Sheriffs De-
partment since 2008. He is cur-
rently Emergency Management
Coordinator for Big Horn County,
a position he has held since June
of 2013.
Beal has lived in Lovell most
of his life and is well known to
most of the current LPD staff and
the community. He said he hopes
that this will contribute to an easy
transition in his new position.
Beal has a master's degree
in pubiic administration from
II a mystery to
BY PATrl CARPENTER
A report of three gunshots
and a voice calling for help on
Saturday evening prompted Big
Horn County Sheriffs Deputies
and Search and Rescue teams
from the north and south ends
of the county to search a rugged
area of the Big Horn Mountains
to no avail.
According to Big Horn Coun-
ty Sheriff Ken Blackburn, a call
came in to dispatch at around
7 p.m. reporting a possible
life-threatening emergency in a
remote mountain area located
between the Porcupine Ranger
Station and Bucking Mule Falls.
The caller reported hearing what
is commonly known as an inter-
national distress signal of three
gunshots and a male voice call-
ing for help, following what ap-
peared to be a fairly brief but se-
vere weather event in the area
that took place between 6 and
6:30 p.m.
Two sheriffs deputies were
the first to arrive at the scene
an hour or so later. According to
Blackburn, the deputies heard re-
ports from eyewitnesses of a pos-
sible microburst in the area, tak-
ing place shortly before the shots
were heard. The witnesses said
sudden and extremely high winds
and a downpour of rain and hail
typical of a microburst toppled
trees and sent them running
for cover. Deputies observed at
least one camper surrounded by
downed trees. More than one wit-
ness reported hearing the gun-
shots, but only the reporting par-
ty heard the voice crying for help.
SAR incident commander
Dennis Woodward said his crew
received a call from the sheriffs
department at around 8:30 p.m.
He said a crew of six responders
from the north end of the coun-
ty, 10 from the south and two
additional deputies on horse-
back searched the area for sever-
al hours until weather conditions
put responders at risk. He said
two responders spent the night at
the site and the remaining crew
returned at about 9:30 a.m., con-
tinuing their search until early
afternoon.
::::!: : :: i : : ii:i¸ :
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JASON BEAL
the University of Wyoming and a
Bachelor's degree from Montana
State University in secondary
education. He taught school in
Lovell for three years and grad-
uated from Lovell High School
with the class of 1998. He is the
son of Tracy and Valerie Beal of
Lovell.
Beal said he plans to give for-
mal notice to his current employ-
er immediately and hopes to tran-
sition into his new position over
the next few weeks.
a cry
responders
He said numerous archery
hunters and others recreating in
the area were found safe during
the search.
"Once we felt we had searched
the area completely, we could
only assume that the individu-
al got out of the area OK," said
Woodward, who called off the
search at about 1:30 p.m.
Meteorologist Chris Jones of
the National Weather Service in
Riverton said he could not con-
firm that the storm experienced
was a microburst but added that
type of weather event is fair-
ly common in that area. He said
tracking stations in the area de-
tected severe weather conditions
in the general area starting at
6:05 p.m. and ending at around
6:20 p.m. He said nearby weather
stations keep track of wind speed
and precipitation on an hourly
basis, which makes it very diffi-
cult to establish the speed of the
winds and the amount of rain
during such a brief time period.
Woodward said though the
aftermath of the event appeared
to have the classic signs of a mi-
croburst, it was not nearly the
magnitude of the microburst that
took place in a nearby area on
July 28. He said though a bit rat-
tled, no injuries were reported as
a result of the weather event. He•
said since the individual making
the distress call was not found,
it may forever remain a mys-
tery as to what prompted his cry
for help.
"We can only assume he
was able to get out safe," said
Woodward. "There were quite
a few people in the area look-
ing and we came up pretty much
empty-handed."
Jones noted that the weath-
er can be changeable and very
unpredictable in the Big Horn
Mountains, oftentimes creating
life-threatening situations for
those who are unprepared.
"There are always inherent
risks whenever we are outdoors
in Wyoming," said Jones. "All it
takes is a strong wind combined
with other factors to create dan-
gerous conditions for anyone rec-
reating in the mountains."
III IIIIIIIIIlUlIIIIIIIII 2
U. 892.5581111
The Lovell Chronicle, 234 E. Main, Lovell, WY 82431. Contact us at: 548-2217. www.lovellchronicle.com
