City Council Study Session - November 24, 2025: Surplus Equipment Sale, Judge Contract, Subdivision Plat, and Liquor License Renewals
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City Council Study Session – November 24, 2025
A study session of the Sheridan City Council was held on Monday, November 24, 2025, beginning at 5:30 PM and adjourning at 6:07 PM. The agenda included a surplus equipment sale, a professional services agreement for the municipal court judge, a final plat for a new subdivision, renewal of liquor licenses, and general administrative updates. No formal votes were taken; the session served as discussion and information gathering.
Discussion Items
1. Transfer/Sale of Hydraulic Extrication Equipment to Claremont Fire District ($5,000) Fire Chief Gary Harnish presented a proposal to sell a surplus set of 2008 Hurst hydraulic rescue tools (valued at approximately $5,000) to the Claremont Fire District. The tools were replaced this year with a new battery-powered set costing nearly $50,000. Chief Harnish explained that the city is authorized under Wyoming Statute §15-1-112(b) to sell surplus equipment to another political entity after a public hearing and council approval. Council members expressed support for keeping the equipment in Sheridan County, praised the fire department’s maintenance program that kept the 17-year-old tools in good condition, and noted the safety advantages of the new battery-operated tools. No public hearing was held during the session; the item is expected to be brought forward for a public hearing and approval at a future regular meeting.
2. Professional Services Agreement with Primary Municipal Court Judge Jeremy Kisling City Attorney Brad presented a proposed two-year contract (December 1, 2025 – November 30, 2027) for Judge Jeremy Kisling at a flat monthly fee of $3,250, replacing the current hourly rate of $250/hour. Judge Kisling has served as acting primary municipal judge since March 2025. His average monthly invoice from March to October 2025 was $2,835, but after moving to a two-times-per-week court schedule in July, the average for September and October was $3,312. The contract includes a deduction provision: if the judge is absent for two or more consecutive scheduled days, $325 per day will be withheld. Council members asked whether the fee could increase if additional hours are required; the attorney confirmed the flat fee covers all duties except extraordinary travel (e.g., to Cheyenne). Judge Kevin Kestner will continue as the alternate judge. No concerns were raised.
3. Final Plat – PL-25-30 / Resolution 30-25 – Ilmwood Estates City Planner Kelly Schroeder presented the final plat for Elmwood Estates, a 31.85-acre property off East Fifth Street. The property was recently rezoned from R1 to B1 (business district) to allow multifamily and future commercial development. The plat creates four lots: three developable lots and one remainder lot for future use. Two internal roads are proposed: Zaid Road (60-foot right-of-way, 39-foot road width, hammerhead termination) and Hisham Drive (also 60-foot right-of-way but with three variance requests: a reduced right-of-way width where it crosses a Wyoming Department of Transportation triangle area, a hammerhead termination instead of a cul-de-sac due to steep grades, and a reduced horizontal curve radius of 150 feet instead of 300 feet). A preliminary traffic study estimated 233 multifamily units. The first phase of development (on Lot 2, Block 2) will be a 100-unit, four-story apartment building (market rate), with a potential second phase of another 100 units on Lot 1, Block 2. Developer Mark Christianson (AVI, Cheyenne) confirmed the timeline: once permits are obtained, construction takes approximately 18 months. Council members asked about road alignment with Sibley Circle and the WYDOT triangle; Public Works Director Hansen explained that WYDOT is transferring right-of-way to the city via quitclaim deeds (expected around February 2026). Staff recommended approval pending the planning commission’s recommendation. No public concerns were received.
4. Renewal of Liquor Licenses for 2026 Term City Clerk Ashley Foster reported that all 55 liquor license renewals for the 2026 year are complete and submitted to the Wyoming Liquor Division. The city is at maximum capacity for retail liquor licenses. One license (New Dragon Wall, currently under construction) will be renewed as non-operational, with activation pending a new certificate of occupancy and food permit. Three liquor license citations were issued in 2024, all successfully resolved. All licensees are current with the Secretary of State. The council will formally approve renewals at a December meeting.
5. General Discussion and Future Agenda Items City Administrator Stuart McRae provided updates: (a) General Excise Purpose Tax (GPED) applications from nonprofits are due November 30 by 5:00 PM; (b) A vacancy on the Board of Appeals / Board of Adjustments has been advertised through December 19, with two applications received so far; the mayor will conduct interviews and bring a nominee to council. Mayor and council members expressed appreciation for staff and wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; all items are scheduled for further action at upcoming regular meetings.
- Staff will prepare a public hearing notice for the sale of hydraulic extrication equipment to Claremont Fire District.
- The proposed contract with Judge Jeremy Kisling (flat monthly fee of $3,250) will be placed on a future consent agenda for approval.
- The final plat for Elmwood Estates, including the three variance requests, will go to the Planning Commission for a recommendation and then return to the City Council for a final decision.
- Liquor license renewals will be formally approved in December.
- GPED applications will be reviewed by a committee before presentation to the council.
- The board vacancy will be filled after the application deadline.
Meeting Transcript
Can we stand for clouds, please? And to the republic automation, good evening everyone, and welcome to the City Council November 24th, 2025 study session. It's starting at 5 30. Pretty light agenda tonight, so we'll just get rolling on it. Item number one is discussion of transfer sale of hydraulic extrication equipment to Claremont Fire District any amount of $5,000. And with this is our fire chief Gary Harnish to let us know more. Good evening, Mayor Council. This year has been an incredible success. We have 53 candidates that started the process. 39 of those candidates have both completed the process and scored high enough to be considered for further testing. Our testing process again governed by civil service. We're allowed to take up to 24 candidates forward now through the rest of the process. So at this time we do have our our top 24 scores are confirmed to arrive in Sheridan for a testing weekend, December 5th through 7th. At that time they'll go through our candidate physical ability testing, passing that they'll move on to oral boards and complete the weekend, and after that we'll take scores to civil service, get that list confirmed, and be ready to hire. Along with the hiring, we're we're looking at a pretty large hiring this spring. If you all remember back last year, fire department was approved for 21 FTEs on the line firefighter side last year. 18 of those were existing positions with three new ones through retirements and resignations moving on to other things throughout this year. We're currently working with 16 of those 21, and we have a pending attire retirement coming up sometime before the first of July. So we'll likely be looking at hiring six when the academy comes on to complete uh the FTEs that were approved in last year's budget. Questions on that before I move on to the next. Just for clarity for the public. So last year the council uh approved what three additional positions for firefighters. Mayor Council, yes. Right. And now I believe through the uh study that the fire department conducted, there was a request for more down the road, but those have not been approved yet. Correct. Yeah, we're we're strictly working with the FY26 budget at this point. Thank you. Absolutely. Yeah, so basically three new hires, uh new new hires, and then three for these people that are going to be leaving the agency. Take it away, Chief. All right, for the exciting part tonight. Uh bringing forward the potential sale of surplus extrication tools. So Sheridan Fire Rescue has a surplus set of 2008 Hearst Hydraulic Rescue Tools. Uh, for those listening that can't see the pictures, think jaws of life. Uh our tool set that that we have as surplus was replaced this year uh with a 2025 Hamatro battery-powered rescue tools. So the picture you can see uh, these are a hydraulic tools. So the proposal uh we talked to our vendor, hey, what do you do with this stuff? And they're like, well, the best thing you can do is check auction sites, try and find a value, either auction off yourself or find somebody in your community. Uh I take that to mean Sheridan County fire departments that may need them and may be willing to purchase these. We we check several different auction sites and we came up with a value of the surplus set of tools at approximately $5,000. Solicited interest from around the Sheridan County Fire Departments and Claremont Fire Department has our Claremont to Fire District has expressed interest in purchasing these tools. So statute 15112B allows the city to do a sale of these tools to another political entity with a public hearing and approval of the council. On this, I have a list of all the equipment included. There's a Honda gasoline-powered hydraulic pump, uh, one cutter, one spreader, and two different rams and a hydraulic hose set. So again, the key points of this, the Claredwater Fire District which is wishes to purchase the surplus extrication tools valued at 5,000 with 1511 B allows for such a sale with a public hearing and approval by council, and we'll request after that public hearing to have the council approve that sale. Okay, any questions for the chief on this? Go ahead. So I'm happy to see it stay in Sheridan County. Mayor Council, we we've actually been successful with this type of thing several times over the last few years.
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