LOVELL
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What's Inside ...
TCT sale meeting 2
Powell wrestling tourney 9
School board day change 11
Aavah fundraiser 14
LOVELL, WYOMING • VOLUME 109, NUMBER 27 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2014 • 75¢
PATTI CARPENTER
Nvier Hetland gives Santa a high-five in Byron on Friday night at the Byron
Recreation Center, where he spent some time visiting with local children.
He Sees
You When
You're
Sleeping
Lovell first-grader
Owen Edwards
sings "I've been
good" during the
number "Santa
is the Man" at
Tuesday night's
Lovell Elementary
School Christmas
concert at the Hyart
Theatre.
DAVID PECK
Local churches offer Christmas services
BY DAVID PECK
Local churches will
hold special Christmas
services and programs this
weekend and next week.
The Lovell Bible
Church will present a spe-
cial musical program en-
titled "An Old Fashioned
Christmas" this Sunday,
Dec. 21, at 9 a.m. Direct-
ed by Nancey Blair, the
program will include tra-
ditional music as well as
new arrangements per-
formed by the choir, along
with solos and a children's
nativity with singing.
The Lovell Assembly
of God Church will feature
a "singspiration" service
with special music this
Sunday during the regu-
lax church service at 10:50
a.m., as well as a New
Year's Eve service with
communion at 7 p.m. on
Dec. 31.
The annual Lovell
Stake Christmas Con-
cert presented by the lo-
cal wards of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints will be held this
Sunday at 7 p.m. in the
East Chapel of the stake
Coffee and donuts will center in Lovell. The com-
be offered before the ser- munity is invited to attend
vice at 8:15 a.m., and a the special performance,
brunch will follow the pro- which also includes solos
gram. There will be no and small groups. Linnea
Sunday school this week. Dickson is directing the
The normal evening ser- program.
vice will be held at 6 pim. There will be three
Christmas Eve services in
north Big Horn County on
Wednesday, Dec. 24:
St. Joseph's Catholic
Church will hold a Christ-
mas Eve Mass at 6 p.m.
The Lovell United
Methodist Church will
hold a Christmas Eve ser-
vice Wednesday at 5 p.m.
with the service repeat-
ed at 7 p.m. at the Powell
United Methodist Church.
St. John's Lutheran
Church will hold a Christ-
mas Eve candlelight ser-
vice with children partic-
ipating at 7 p.m. on Dec.
24.
St. John's will also
hold a Christmas Day
communion service at 10
a.m. on Dec. 25 and a New
Year's Eve communion
service on Tuesday, Dec.
31, at 7:30 p.m.
Western Sugar details
safety improvements
BY DAVID PECK
In the wake of fines an-
nounced recently by the
Wyoming Dept. of Work-
force Services Occupation-
al Safety and Health Ad-
ministration in the Jan. 4,
2014 death of Anfesa Marie
Galaktionoff at the West-
ern Sugar factory in Lovell,
the Western Sugar Coop-
erative has emphasized its
commitment to safety at
the factory.
Company spokesman J.
Kent Wimmer and Lovell
Factory Manager Shannon
Ellis said much has been
done at the factory to im-
prove safety in the year
since the workplace acci-
dent took place.
"Western Sugar plac-
es the highest value on the
safety of its employees,"
Wimmer said last week.
"We have a strong commit-
ment to developing a cul-
ture of safety at the Lovell
facility, along with all of
our facilities across the four
states in which we operate.
This commitment is reflect-
ed by both improvements
in safety training and new
equipment that result in a
safer work environment."
Following the an-
nouncement in the first
week of December of the fi-
nal total of $44,500 in fines
issued by Wyoming OSHA
in the death of Galaktionoff
and the subsequent investi-
gation of the accidert, Wim-
mer issued a statement ex-
pressing the company's
commitment to safety.
"Western Sugar has
worked with OSHA and
other regulatory authori-
ties in their review of the
tragic event last January in
our Lovell, Wyoming facil-
ity," Wimmer said. 'TChile
OSHA has now closed its
investigation of the inci-
dent, we continue to im-
prove our safety with addi-
tional training and capital
investments. This year we
have invested approxi-
mately $7 million on cap-
ital and maintenance im-
provements with a focus on
safety and plan to contin-
ue making substantial im-
provements in the coming
year.
'TCestern Sugar has cre-
ated a new company safety
plan along with site specific
safety plans. We have hired
a new Safety Manager and
are currently interview-
ing for two additional safe-
ty positions to support our
safety focus. We will also
be receiving support from
two top safety experts as
we continue to improve our
safety programs.
"Western Sugar takes
our responsibility to pro-
vide a safe work place se-
riously and will stay com-
mitted to building a strong
safety culture."
SAFETY DETAILS
Ellis detailed some of
the work that has been
done at the Lovell factory
during the past year:
"Both our supervisors
and production employees
are trained to report and
stop work if it is unsafe.
"Weekly safety meet-
ings are conducted with
involvement from all em-
ployees. Ideas and recom-
mendations are encour-
aged from everyone. These
ideas are discussed and
prioritized for action. Is-
sues are continuously ad-
dressed, and the status of
completion is posted for
all employees to see the
progress.
"To improve employ-
ee involvement, we are im-
plementing an extensive
safety assessment pro-
gram where both supervi-
sors and employees review
different areas of the fac-
tory using a safety check-
list. These items are also
added to the progress safe-
ty action list for tracking
completion.
"Safety improvement
examples range from en-
suring all equipment is ap-
propriately guarded to im-
proving the dust collection
systems. We included fall
protection with our new
beet unloading process and
have updated the laborato-
ry with new equipment de-
signed to further protect
our employees. There have
been a number of projects
improving our floors, stairs
and handrails.
"Beyond capital invest-
ments, we have updated a
numler of our processes.
For example, we reviewed
all Safety Data Sheets for
materials used at the fac-
tory. These are well or-
ganized and placed in a
convenient location for em-
ployees to access. This will
assist employees in mak-
ing sure they know what
the proper Personal Pro-
tective Equipment is re-
quired for the job.
"We recently pur-
chased new heaters for our
employee locker rooms for
improved comfort."
Ellis said he takes the
safety of the employees at
the Western Sugar factory
in Lovell personally.
"I have lived in this
community all my life and
care deeply about the safe-
ty of the Lovell WSC em-
ployees," Ellis said. "I am
totally committed to im-
proving the safety of this
facility and feel fully sup-
ported by the leadership of
the company."
Byron rules on manufactured homes in
C-G Zone continue to.lead agendas
BY BOB RODRIGUEZ
Manufactured homes
and where they're allowed
in city limits have for many
months been a contentious
topic and again comprised
the bulk of the Byron Town
Council meeting on Tues-
day night, Dec. 9, in the
Town Hall. As well, it ap-
peared that the disputed
situation would continue
during a special meeting on
Tuesday evening, Dec. 16.
However, such was
not the case, as the meet-
ing set a record for brevity:
15 minutes. (A story about
the meeting will be in next
week's issue).
Outgoing Mayor Pam
Hopkinson, defeated in No-
vember by Heidi Brightly,
again had law enforcement
present (one officer) during
the Dec. 16 meeting as she
did for the Dec. 9 gathering.
She explained• that, "The
Lovell Police Dept. has of-
ricers working part-time for
the Town of Byron until a
full-time officer is hired.
I had not heard any rum-
blings about anything 'bad'
happening, just expected
a bigger than usual crowd
and since we were dealing
with Title 11 changes we
felt that having an officer
present would promote civil
dialogue."
A large crowd of more
than 20 persons attended
and there were no problems
of unrulyness. This week's
meeting drew a crowd of 10
and also was peaceful.
She added, "Our town
code (2.05.050) actually
states that the chief of po-
lice is to be present at town
meetings when requested."
Present last week were of-
ricers JeffAngell and Bran-
don Jolley, the latter pres-
ent "as part of his training,"
the mayor said.
Regarding the officers,
in a letter to the mayor
and council, Brightly's com-
ments included, "I am trou-
bled by the presence of the
police, department at the
last meeting, can you please
explain the need to have
them attend the meeting?
A public explanation at the
next scheduled meeting will
be sufficient." A copy of the
letter, which also questions
actions regarding manufac-
tured homes, was given the
"Chronicle" because of her
desire "for transparency."
Brightly's letter was not
addressed during the meet-
ing Tuesday night the 16th.
In a somewhat relat-
ed item, the council last
week approved, 4-0 a reso-
lution related to placement
of a double-wide manufac-
tured home in the Commer-
cial General zone on Main
Street. Approval means
that the home will be con-
sidered a non-conforming
use. Councilor Drew Wilson
abstained with the dom-
ment, "I haven't had time
to read the resolution." The
vote occurred during the
regular meeting of 40 min-
utes although that session
was preceded by a 45-min-
ute work meeting with at-
torney Joey Darrah and
Josh Sanders, chairman
of the Planning & Zoning
Commission. Discussion on
the reach of the group was
included with thoughts that
there will likely be more
talking to resolve some dif-
ferences of opinion.
Darrah drafted the res-
olution, which reads in part
that the town council "has
discovered that a previous
administration allowed a
manufactured home, which
was a non-conforming use,
to be placed in a Commer-
cial General Zone without
a compliance permit or ap-
proval from the Board of
Adjustments." Also that
"the Planning Commis-
sion mistakenly approved
a compliance permit for the
placement of said manufac-
tured home without legal
authority of the Planning
Commission for doing so."
The resolution is direct-
ly linked to Steve Scheel-
er, who in 2012 was able to
place a manufactured home
in the C-G Zone on Main
Street.
SEE 'BYRON COUNCIL
MEETING,' page 3
III[II!I!I!I!III!I!LI!LIIIII,
The Lovell Chronicle, 234 E. Main, Lovell, WY 82431. Contact us at: 548-2217. www.lovellchronicle.com
