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Commissioners approve Painted Hills and Lost Creek subdivisions amid irrigation and dust concerns
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Summary
The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners approved several subdivision files as part of the consent agenda, including Painted Hills (File 102 MA 23) and Lost Creek Meadows (File 106 MA 23). During subsequent discussion residents and irrigation officials raised concerns about sewer/lagoon systems, irrigation infrastructure and dust mitigation.
Chairman Hansen presided as the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners on July 5, 2023, when the board approved multiple subdivision files, including File 102 MA 23 (Painted Hills Subdivision) and File 106 MA 23 (Lost Creek Meadows Subdivision), as part of the consent agenda.
Robert Davis, the county planning director, presented staff recommendations and answered commissioners’ questions about both projects. For Painted Hills, surveyor Marlowe Scherbel and Ryan Erickson of Sunrise Engineering described the proposed plat and addressed a Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (Wyoming DEQ) plat-warning and the lagoon/sewer design; commissioners requested that the DEQ-recommended notes be added to the final plat prior to signature.
Lost Creek Meadows was approved in the same consent motion with modified conditions: Wyoming DEQ notes were added to Condition #10, a new Condition #11 was added to require dust abatement during construction of Ross Loop, and Condition #9 language was changed from Lost Creek Irrigation District to Lost Creek Irrigation Company. During the later discussion William Cassidy, president of Lost Creek Irrigation Company, asked that the developer be required to install engineered irrigation lines and valves in advance for the subdivision’s 25 lots so that lot owners would not be left with piecemeal or inadequate irrigation infrastructure. Cassidy’s request was described to the board as a condition the commission could require of the developer.
Resident JJ Jackson raised health concerns he attributes to development-related dust and asked the board to address dust mitigation; he additionally expressed broader concerns about developer accountability and suggested a moratorium on building and development in the county. Planning staff (Robert Davis) and surveyor Marlowe Scherbel answered commissioners’ questions on enforcement of fines, construction timing and the planned construction of Ross Loop this fall. Chairman Hansen commented that he was “leaning toward this project being tabled” during the discussion, though the transcript shows the approvals on the consent agenda were adopted earlier in the meeting.
The discussion recorded technical clarifications rather than new formal actions: staff reiterated that the board had approved the cited conditions and that added plat notes from Wyoming DEQ and the dust‑abatement condition were part of the approval package. No vote reversal or additional formal motion on the projects appears in the transcript; the initial motions to approve were recorded as adopted.
What happens next: the development agreements and final plats will be signed per the approvals, subject to the added conditions and plat notes; staff will follow up on implementation questions raised by Cassidy and public commenters.