Lovell, Wyoming 82431
Price 75¢
Rocky Mountain Pow-
er has requested the Wyo-
ming Public Service Com-
mission's permission to
increase its electricity
prices in the state by an
overall average of about
17.3 percent. According
to a RMP press release
issued Nov. 23, the pro-
posed price increase is
necessary to serve Wyo-
ming customers' growing
electricity needs and to
comply with environmen-
tal requirements.
If approved as re-
quested, price changes to
customers would take ef-
fect 10 months from now,
on Sept. 22, 2011. The
size of a customer's price
increase would vary based
on their customer class
and electricity use. For
a typical household that
uses 825 kilowatt-hours of
electricity per month, the
requested residential price
change would amount to
an average increase of
about 50 cents per day, ac-
cording to RMP.
"We've been provid-
ing electricity for nearly a
century and our prices in
Wyoming continue to be
among the lowest in the
nation and in the world,"
said Rocky Mountain
Power president Richard
Walje. "Despite our best
efforts to control expens-
es, the energy landscape
is changing and the cost
of providing electricity is
increasing.
"We are investing bil-
lions of dollars in our sys-
See 'POWER,' page 6
~o
BY DAVID PECK
Local school choirs
and bands have been prac-
ticing hard in preparation
for winter concerts that
will be presented over the
next three weeks.
The concert season
begins tonight (Thurs-
day) with a Lovell High
School Choir and Swing
Choir concert and con-
cludes with a Lovell mid-
dle school band concert on
Monday, Dec. 20. The con-
cert was moved from its
original date of Tuesday,
Nov. 30, due to a conflict
with other activities.
Here's the concert
schedule for the month of
December:
Thursday, Dec. 2 -
LHS choirs, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 7 -
RMMS band and choir
and LMS choirs, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 9 -
LMS musical, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 10- LHS
bands, 7 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 13 -
RMHS band and choir, 7
p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 14-
RMES music, 6:30 p.m.
and Lovell K-3 concert at
the Hyart Theatre, 7 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 20 -
LMS bands, 7 p.m.
BOB RODRIGUEZ
Esther and Sam Alexander of Deaver celebrated their 65 anniversary last
week. Here, the couple is pictured after enjoying Thanksgiving Dinner at the
Lovell Senior Center Thursday, Nov. 25.
|m •
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
Friends of Bighorn
Lake member Bob Croft
said many Wyoming peo-
ple have felt like they've
been getting the short end
of the stick lately when it
comes to water in the Big-
horn River System.
The system was oper-
ating smoothly until Sep-
tember, Croft said, when
the Bureau of Reclamation
let out more water than
intended and lowered Big
Horn Lake about five feet
in one day. The September
drop plus pressure from
Montana special inter-
est groups for more water
flowing through the Big
Horn River have caused
changes to current man-
agement practices and
could have a disastrous
impact on the lake this
summer, Croft said.
Current lake eleva-
tion is at about 3,614 feet,
six feet below the Nation-
al Park Service's mandat-
ed low lake level of 3,620.
Croft said ideal lake lev-
el for this time of year is
3,634 feet. With no water
for storage currently in
the lake, Croft said sum-
Bos CROFT
Ice is beginning to form at Horseshoe Bend, but
winter park visitors are urged to use caution and
make sure the ice is safe before venturing out.
mer elevation depends
largely on snowpack.
Croft said Horseshoe
Bend would be filled with
mud instead of water in
the summer if the lake is
at 3,610 feet. Full pool is
3,640 feet, Croft said.
The Montana special
interest groups insist that
the fishery needs 2,500 cu-
bic feet per second of wa-
ter to function properly,
and as the BOR increas-
es releases to come clos-
er to Montana's desired
amount, Big Horn Lake is
dwindling.
Croft said there hasn't
been much water beyond
the south narrows of the
lake in the past couple
months because of the low
elevation. Less water also
hurt the waterfowl hunt-
ing season this year, Croft
See 'WATER,' page 6
Changing seasons at Big Horn Lake
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
As the cold weath-
er rolls in and freezes the
summer fun in Big Horn
County, there is a differ-
ent set of activities that
local residents are begin-
ning to pick up again. Hik-
ing, snowshoeing, wild-
life watching, sightseeing,
cross country skiing and ice
fishing are some of the pop-
ular winter activities at the
Bighorn Canyon National
Recreation Area outside of
Lovell.
With a few inches of ice
beginning to form on the
surface of Big Horn Lake, a
few people have tested the
surface by walking a few
feet away from the shore,
but the National Park Ser-
vice advises people to wait
and make sure the ice is
thick and strong enough to
support their weight.
NPS Ranger Pete Saw-
tell said people should use
common sense when going
out on the ice and go with
someone who is experi-
enced to determine a safe
thickness.
The ice at Horseshoe
Bend is currently around 4
inches thick near the shore,
Sawtell said, and added
that he would not consider
that a safe thickness yet.
No vehicles are allowed
to drive on frozen bodies of
water in Big Horn County,
he said.
While enjoying the
park this winter, Sawtell
said people should always
tell someone where they're
going and how long they
plan on being gone. He said
it is also not a bad idea to
carry emergency gear like
a rope throw or ice rescue
picks that can help a per-
son crawl out from a col-
lapsed ice sheet.
While walking on the
ice, people should wear ice
cleats and check the thick-
ness with an ice auger or
other device every 100 feet
or so to be safe, Sawtell
said. Staying hydrated and
avoiding alcoholic bever-
ages also greatly reduces
cold-weather related inju-
ries, Sawtell said.
Though the park may
seem cold to us humans,
the low elevations are
warmer than the high al-
titude areas animals like
wild horses and Big Horn
Sheep are used to, so the
winter can be a great time
to view wildlife in the park
as they come down to seek
out warmer areas. Wild-
life tracks in the snow can
also help give the locations
of animals away, Sawtell
said.
Restrooms throughout
the park will be kept open
and heated throughout the
winter.
During the winter
months, it is not guaran-
teed that roads will be
plowed in the park, Saw-
tell said. He urges motor-
ists to drive carefully and
be prepared for unplowed
roads.
The National Park
Service Website will be up-
dated with ice conditions at
Big Horn Lake as the win-
ter season progresses.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Volume 105, Number 25
BY DAVID PECK
The Town of Lovell is considering a number of staged
improvements at Constitution Park, including the pos-
sible upgrade and expansion of the skate park and a va-
riety of future projects.
Lovell Administrative Assistant Scott Campbell pre-
sented a number of ideas to the Lovell Town Council dur-
ing a special noon hour meeting Monday at Town Hall.
Campbell led the council through a PowerPoint pre-
sentation Monday that included a number of ideas for im-
proving the park, and he gave the council some prelimi-
nary cost estimates.
As of right now, the park is but partially developed,
Campbell said, with recent additions including horseshoe
pits, basketball courts, the skate park and sand volley-
ball courts.
Campbell's ideas include landscaping the area in the
northeast corner of the park near the skate park with
grass and trees, expanding and rehabilitating the skate
park, beginning a walking path around the park, putting
in new playground equipment next to the skate park, up-
grading lighting at the softball park, putting in a new
storage and mechanical building, building a concessions
station, finishing and enhancing the basketball and vol-
leyball courts with court markings and landscaping,
building new restrooms, putting in electrical hookups for
vendors, adding parking and constructing a band shell.
Obviously, not everything can be done all at once,
Campbell said, but through partnerships with Lovell
Recreation and others, and by seeking additional grant
money, several of the items on2 the list could be accom-
plished in the relatively near future.
Campbell said the town saved money that would
have been spent on badly needed playground equipment
at Great Western Park when Lovell Rec elected to fund
the equipment. He proposed putting that money into
playground equipment in the northeast corner of Consti-
tution Park, but he said some of the council members ex-
pressed other priorities.
It was a chance to get a deal on some playground
eqmpment that led Campbell to include the park on
Monday's special meeting a~genda, but the council w~mt-
ed to prioritize the various projects and didn't consider
playground equipment to be high on the list, Campbell
said.
One of the benefits of landscaping the southeast
portion of the park would be a chance to install soccer
fields, and Campbell's plan includes marking out a field
for 6-7-year-olds, a field for 8-year-olds and a field for
9-year-olds.
Fully developing the park would provide economic
development for the community, Campbell said, by at-
tracting more community gatherings, softball tourna-
ments, horseshoe tournaments, three-on-three basket-
ball tournaments, band shell performances and more.
As for funding, Campbell said the town already has
$7,500 in the budget dedicated to the skate park, plus
another $620 raised by skateboarders, and he said he
is looking into Daniels Fund grant money for the skate
park and soccer field development.
Campbell said the town might have to move the
town's water service system in the southeast corner of
the park because it doesn't fit the recreational mandate
spelled out in a prior Land and Water Conservation
Fund grant. The land housing the water station could
be swapped for land in another part of town to be added
to recreation land.
The council agreed to discuss the park and develop-
ment priorities at the Dec. 13 council meeting.
PROJECT CLOSEOUTS
In other action Monday, the council voted to autho-
rize Mayor Bruce Morrison to sign documents necessary
to close out the Southwest/Transmission Line water
and sewer project and the Safe Routes to School project,
which were both completed this fall and are in the final
stages of inspection.
Councilman Brian Dickson said a recent tour of the
projects went very well and an official inspection and
walkthrough involving the USDA Rural Utilities Service
and the Wyoming Water Development Commission will
take place on the afternoon of Dec. 7. Wilson Brothers
Construction is working its way through the punch list.
Councilman-elect Kevin Jones asked about asphalt
on part of the project that appears to be too high on one
side of the street, but project engineer Frank Page of
DOWL/HKM Engineering said overlapping asphalt typ-
ically breaks off and can be cleaned off next spring. Mor-
rison made the point that the paving is under warranty
for a year, also.
The council voted to authorize Morrison to sign the
tentative certificate of substantial completion for the
water and sewer project phase, the final/definitive cer-
tificate of completion after the punch list is completed
and the certificate of completion and acceptance when
the project is ready for final payment and to publish the
notice of final payment in the Lovell Chronicle.
The same motion was made for the Safe Routes to
School project on Seventh Street.
The December meeting of the council has been
moved to Monday, Dec. 13, due to the Lovell Elementa-
ry School K-3 Christmas concert on the regular council
night - Tuesday, Dec. 14.
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