Clearmont Town Council Meets with Wyoming Business Council Members

June 13, 2025

News – Sheridan Media

Finding new ways to bring growth to Clearmont was the topic of the meeting on Monday, June 9, with between Clearmont Town Council members, school board members and four members of the Wyoming Business Council.

Brandi Harlow, NE Wyoming Regional Director; Connor Christensen and Vinicius (Vinny) Bueno, Economic Policy and research advisors, and Heather Tupper, Regional Offices Director, heard the council’s concerns for the town.

Mayor Chris Schock said that one of his concerns was the legislature wanted to do away with property taxes, and raise the sales tax. He said that Clearmont will struggle with funding if the state ends property taxes.

Town Clerk Kirstie Auzqui talked about some of the infrastructure problems the town faces, such as old water and sewer lines, and how difficult it was to find funding for the projects. She said that to replace water lines on two blocks of Meade Avenue and under the railroad tracks would be 1.2 million dollars. She has applied for a grant to help with the cost.

She added that according to EPA, Clearmont has to inventory the water system and make some major changes by 2027. She said that the system was also leaking somewhere and that needs fixed. “If we don’t change, that means grow, we will not be able to sustain our budget,” Auzqui said.

One problem the town also has are vacant houses, which bring in no income to the town via water and sewer bills and are not available for sale or for rent.

She mentioned that the Clear Creek Stop closed up, and that was last store-front business that Clearmont had. Schock said that closing the convenience store meant the town no longer received funds from the nicotine tax, alcohol tax, sales tax and the lottery. The Clear Creek Stop was the only gas station within 28 miles.

Now, with the store closing, Auzqui and Schock explained some of the other problems that created.

Before the store closed, gas was nearly $1.00 higher per gallon than the price in Sheridan or Buffalo.

Auzqui added about the workforce in Clearmont, saying most of the residents are retired, and that there were few people to make up a workforce.

Tim Rowe, Town Councilman and teacher at Clearmont School, said that the school is implementing a workplace learning program to help train graduating students for careers. Although the school offers some housing, many teachers commute due to the lack of other rentals. Board member Deb Guyer said that 79% of staff commutes from other towns.

With the decrease of small family ranches, there is a decrease in youngsters attending the school. Some suggestions included finding a buyer for Clear Creek Stop, maybe as a satellite station for a business in Sheridan or Buffalo, and possibly a public campground where travelers could spend the night.

Retired entrepreneurs Julie and Tom Weber joined the conversation, talking about their experiences and challenges of making a living in a small town. Brandi talked about what the Wyoming Business Council’s role is for small communities,

Julie Weber said that she has lived here most of her life. Her mother, Addie Cook and her husband ran the Pay and Save Grocery Store for many years, and Julie and Tom continued to run it for several more. She mentioned some factors that contributed to the towns decline.

Tom was raised in Billings, Montana and moved to Clearmont, where he started and ran Tri-County Gas for many years before retiring.

The group then joined Superintendent Chase Christensen and some board members at Clearmont School to discuss the schools needs as well.

Connor said they have seven pilot communities,

He said that one way to bring in growth to keep graduates in Wyoming was to bring in more industry for the graduates to work in. Kelly Little, school board trustee, mentioned that Clearmont is ‘land locked’ with little place to expand to grow.

There was a question about hiring teachers and staff, and Chase said that they don’t have as hard a time hiring as some districts, although housing for staff is a problem. There are five houses that the school rents to staff. Schock said that one resident has vacant houses, but they are very selective about who they rent to.

They asked about class sizes, and Chase said that classes vary from two students who will be enrolled in kindergarten this fall, and the graduating class is expected to be 10. This past year they graduated nine seniors.

Connor and Chase had this exchange about the school.

One idea that was mentioned by the WBC members was to promote Clearmont as a bedroom community, with workers commuting to the larger towns in the area. Clearmont lies in the middle of Sheridan, 37 miles; Buffalo, 28 miles and Gillette, 69 miles, so there are job opportunities with an hour’s drive from the town.