Hunt given approval to move ahead with projects

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Despite concerns about future maintenance and congestion near the Weston County Public Health building, the Newcastle City Council granted approval for former council member Linda Hunt, who has been a long time proponent of community beautification, to move forward with projects at Greenwood Cemetery and near the public health office. 
On June 17, councilman Michael Alexander reported that the parks committee recently had a meeting with Hunt to discuss projects in the community that she had proposed, one to place statues on Stampede Street and the other to create a walking trail through the cemetery. 
“We did decide ultimately that we are in favor of these projects, but it is worth mentioning for the consideration that we did have concerns about the maintenance of the proposed trail,” Alexander said. “Linda assured us that she would be in charge of that and that the city would not have to worry about it.”
City Engineer Mike Moore said that the organization listed will be the city and not Hunt. He said that Hunt may not always be there to maintain the trail. 
“My concern about projects like this is the statues are low maintenance, but the cemetery trail will have ongoing maintenance,” Moore said. 
Councilwoman Ann McColley said that she would vote no if the projects would require a lot of work from city employees. 
According to Hunt, she plans to use the Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp to maintain and construct the trail, which she said will not need much maintenance. She said that foot traffic will help maintain the path, although “weed eating” may be needed before any increased foot traffic. 
The plan for the path is to run through the cemetery. The path is proposed to be constructed of natural materials, or dirt and gravel, and will require little maintenance according to Hunt. 
“I will do it as long as I can walk, and you can discontinue it (the path) then if you want,” Hunt said. 
If the city is not responsible for grooming and keeping the trail in good shape, Mayor Deb Piana said, then Hunt should be allowed to put in a trail. 
City Attorney Jim Peck said that approval from the council would still be necessary because the trail will be on city property. 
“If it is on city property and if she wants to do it and maintain it, that is fine with me,” Piana said. “If something happens, we are not obligated to maintain it.” 
Piana asked why the trail was an issue if the city would not be obligated to maintain it. 
“I didn’t want the city to feel like they had to maintain anything,” McColley said. “I wanted that to be clear. I think we are fine, though.” 
The council approved the trail, specifying that Moore must approve the plans and be included in the process. 
Hunt also proposed putting a statue of a cow and a statue of a horse and rider near the Weston County Public Health office. 
Moore said that the parks committee agreed during discussion that the statues were appropriate but that the committee was unsure of the location. 
Hunt said that the location is important because the statues show the history of Stampede Street. Her plan is to add the statues to the butterflies and benches that are already there.
“I want to add on by doing the history of Stampede Street and how the trail went on through there,” Hunt said. 
She said that she has done research with local ranchers to make sure the cow is the same type that was run through the area and about the old stampedes that occurred on the road. 
“When trailing the cattle in, a dog would see the cattle and race at them. The kids would get to whooping and hollering, and there would literally be a stampede of cattle,” Hunt said. “That is how the road got its name. It is a historical location and an addition to the interpretive site in that location.” 
Alexander said the committee was concerned about the cluttered and random nature of the artwork. He suggested moving the butterflies to Centennial Park in favor of putting the cow and horse on Stampede Street.
“That defeats the purpose of my plan for that area,” Hunt said. 
The city will have no monetary requirements for the statue project, Hunt said, and she will be raising the funds through grants and donations, as well as her own funds. 
 “My gut feeling when I looked at it is I didn’t like it. In my opinion, it is congested there and everything in that area is too much,” McColley said. 
“I am not trying to fight with you, but that is a lot of stuff right there,” McColley said to Hunt. 
Piana said that the new statues would not fit the current theme of the area. 
Both McColley and Piana said they would like to see the butterflies relocated. 
“If you think you have to, okay, but that defeats my whole purpose of how I would originally build that area,” Hunt said. “You would also have to put them somewhere the sprinklers won’t hit them.” 
After the discussion, Alexander moved to allow Hunt to do the project as presented and the council passed the motion.