The Jackson Town Council on Monday evening voted unanimously to resume the 44th annual World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb after a one-year, coronavirus-related hiatus, though the approval came with some caveats.
At their regular meeting Monday night, the council voted unanimously to approve Councilor Jim Rooks motion to allow the event to move forward with 1,000 spectators. However, included in Rooks amended motion was a mechanism that allows for Jackson Police Chief Michelle Weber to decrease the allowed attendance based on how people are behaving and other health and safety factors. Weber will debrief daily with officials from the Jackson Hole Snow Devils, who organize the event, and Jackson Mayor Hailey Morton Levinson. In the past, there was only one debriefing following the event s end.
Jackson Mayor Hailey Morton Levinson delivered her first âState of the Townâ address Tuesday, offering her reflections on the past coronavirus-addled year and a candid look at the coming year, including budgetary and revenue challenges the town faces.
Morton Levinson began by recalling a mid-February 2020 trip to Cheyenne with other local elected officials at a time âwhen the term âCOVID-19â was something we were just starting to say and think about.â
âJust weeks later the world as we knew it shifted in dramatic ways; to be filled with Zoom rooms, hand sanitizer, masking, intense amounts of time with our immediate families and little time in person with anyone else,â she said.
During a two-day retreat last week, Jackson Town councilors began to set priorities for the coming fiscal year, learned about personality styles and how to communicate and interact effectively, and heard from department heads, most of whom said that operations were at full capacity with very little capability to take on additional work.
The bulk of Day 1 was spent working with Sam Haas of Emergenetics, contracted by the town to compile personality profiles of each of the five town councilors as well as Town Manager Larry Pardee. Susan Scarlata, the Town of Jacksonâs community engagement specialist, said Emergenetics had been working with the council and staff since before Thanksgiving.
Michelle Weber was sworn in Tuesday as Jacksonâs new police chief.
Because of the pandemic she had to take her oath virtually, which she admitted was strange, but also great because it allowed her mom, sister, husband, kids and friends to tune in for the historic moment from all over the country.
Weber was all smiles as Municipal Judge Melissa Owens conducted the swearing-in ceremony in front of town employees, councilors and Mayor Hailey Morton Levinson.
âI am humbled to work for such a great police department,â Weber told the News&Guide.
Weber is enthusiastic about the âawesome responsibilityâ that sheâs been given, and wants to emphasize her commitment to involving the community more in the day-to-day operations of the Jackson Police Department.