City Council - Regular Meeting

for Eric. See if you can get started. Okay. Without legal representation, I think. Okay. You're almost a lawyer, so you could represent, right? I took a parallegal for a second. Yeah, you're good. All right. Let's go ahead and get started with our pre meeting. Uh first on the agenda is our Wyoming business council loan for Hogodon. Um thank you council. Um Director Lopez will make the presentation tonight but as you know um there's been discussion for a number of years about the aged um lift at Hoganon and the need to replace that. And so she will talk to you about a potential approach for doing so.

Evening mayors. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Uh, I'm really excited to be here this evening to provide council with an update and be able to have a discussion and answer any questions that you may have about another very exciting project that's happening in parks and recreation that's gaining some very rapid momentum. Uh, which we hope will translate into significant progress on the project in the next six months, i.e. ordering a lift for uh manufacturer that will hopefully be constructed next summer. Uh so as the city manager indicated uh we have been talking about a new lift at Hogodon for quite a long time. Uh in fact this is a master plan that was completed in July of 2013 that said the lift should be installed in 2014. So uh for over a decade we have been advised by experts in the industry that our lift is outdated and it needs to be replaced. We know that parts are increasing increasingly difficult to find um because that um particular model of Lyft is no longer being manufactured or supported. Uh and so we are here tonight to uh ask for council support uh in providing some uh city funds uh through some alternative funding opportunities uh for the lift that will then be complemented with private funds. Um, and so tonight we have two key person people here that I would like to introduce that are going to help me uh three actually uh that will help me answer any questions that the council might have and that's Drew from Wyoming Business Council, Joanne TR who is one of the leaders in our u private donationf fundraising group and then of course Ryan Butler our superintendent out at Hogodon uh to answer any operational questions that you may have that I may not be able to answer. Uh so again uh we've been talking about this for quite a long time and uh in case you didn't know we feel strongly

that Hogodon is set in the community particularly for our youth. Um in case you weren't aware all fifth grade students in Casper get the opportunity to participate in the fifth grade ski PE program which brings students up to Hogodon to try skiing. Um that's something that's pretty unique to our community. most communities in Wyoming don't get the opportunity for their students to try skiing and develop a passion for an activity that could be lifelong um and transformational for them. Uh in addition to that, we do have a Friday homechool program. These are operated through our ski school. So, we can't take all the credit at Hogadon for that, but um these are just a couple of ways uh that we do serve the youth in our community. Of course, um in case you didn't know, NC girls won state championship this year, which is uh a really great um success story for our skiers here in Casper to beat the Jackson teams. We are excited about that. Um and so the plan uh in essence for the city's portion of funding the new lift is twofold. Uh, one, we are hoping to get council support to submit for a loan application to the Wyoming Business Council. It is part of the business ready community program. Um, the Wyoming Business Council through this program does offer low or no interest loans for qualifying projects if the loan is paid off within 10 years. Um and so we are looking at utilizing the facility fee which you all approved last July um to help service that debt as well as uh salvage that we are able to get from the existing lift. So there are other ski areas uh across the United States that operate a riblelet chairlift and would be interested in purchasing parts off of our riblelet chair lift uh from us. Uh in addition to that uh ski

chairs are quite or ski lift chairs are quite popular uh to people throughout the US throughout the world really um as things that they can put in their homes in their yards uh use for art etc. Uh and so we do anticipate that we can sell uh all 84 of the chairs and and generate um quite a little bit of capital to contribute to the project. Uh and then finally uh we are in the process of uh working with OBG as well as independently working with some potential sponsors who would be interested in putting advertising on each of the lift chairs. Uh and so the revenue generated from that advertising specific to the lift would also be put in the same fund to help service the debt. Um, so with some fairly conservative calculations, we believe that over a 10-year period, we could service the debt for a loan in the amount of Sorry, I want to make sure that I give you the right number um $794,500 over the 10 years. Uh, so I think I would like to stop there and ask if you have any questions that I can answer or that Drew can help me answer about the loan program itself and then we can move on to the second part of my request which is a request to apply for a few loans or excuse me a few grants project.

Question for Zelma on this part. So, will each person kind of lay out dollar amounts uh what the request for the loan through slip to the business council would be, what the fundraising would be, would be counselor, I I think I'm understanding your question. I'm going to attempt to answer it. If I don't I don't get to what you're trying to find out, let me know. Um but yes the the loan application is quite extensive uh and in fact sustainable strategies will be helping me to write that because don't have a lot of capacity right now to do it myself. Um and and of course the loan application does request all of that information that would be exactly what uh the loan amount would be how we would service the debt um over time. it it does request collateral and we're getting clarity on whether the the lift itself could be collateral or if we would have to use some other city asset as collateral. Um so all of those details are still being refined. Um and you know we'll be hashed out before we submit the application in just a few short weeks. However, interestingly, because of how council meetings fell, we felt compelled to come to this meeting and get in front of you and make sure that we at least had um the conceptual permission to apply uh which is required for the loan. But all of those details will be hashed out as part of the loan application. So, as to the loan itself, are we talking 10 million or

$794,500? Okay. Anybody else? Yeah. Thank you, Zimma. Um, so it looks like as far as the city's contribution, that is salvage from the existing lift, the sponsorship and advertising opportunities on the new lift, and then we expect the debt to be otherwise serviced by the facility fee exclusively. Is that accurate?

Okay. Uh, mayor, counselor, the facility fee will be used to service the debt on the loan. and as well as the advertising and the salvage. All of that will ensure that we can pay off the loan in that 10-year period. Does that answer your question or what is your uh it it does. Um so that that that altogether is expected to service the debt. And so I guess I'm a little curious to know more about those pieces. How much do we expect to make in facility fee revenue in salvage and how much do we expect to generate from sponsorships and advertising? Do we have that like makeup?

Uh, mayor, counselor, we do. Uh, it is on my laptop and I'm happy to share that with you. I just don't have it right in front of me. Uh, we did conservatively estimate uh the salvage cost 130 in round numbers about $130,000. the advertising costs uh again very conservative at like $1,200 a year which I actually feel we could really far exceed that um but again trying to have a very conservative approach and then the facility fee was estimated at about 65,000 um annually if I remember correctly um and of course this is not a stellar snow year for us and so we will fall short of that but that is why intention is to add all revenue venue to a fund where it will just hold and then if we have short years we'll still have enough to cover the debt service annually. That makes sense.

Brandy, have you picked the lift yet or is that done your fund raise?

Uh mayor counselor. So we have picked the style of lift and there are currently two manufacturers that could provide that. Um, and so we we have a good idea of what we need and it's essentially a a fixed quad. So four cedar um with some specific components that we would like to um include including uh loading gate and conveyor which will make it much easier for beginner skiers, youth like really young skiers and people with disabilities to utilize the area and access the lift a little bit easier. Um so it's just much more user friendly for those populations. Um, as well as lighting to hang off the towers that would light Dreadnot, which is arguably our most popular one. They'll get the mountain bike option or did you have to cut it?

No. So, the current $3 million price tag, $3.9 excuse me, million dollar price tag includes the lift itself and those critical components that we feel are absolutely necessary. The loading gate and conveyor, the uh lighting, um safety padding for all of the towers, those things that we feel like we absolutely have to have um to operate the area efficiently and safely. The $5.4 $4 million price tag includes a lot of additional improvements to the ski area that will essentially bolster bolster our snow making capacity but would not be required for the lift component. So enhancements and improvements to the area but not necessarily directly touching.

Yeah. So the um the slip board largely gets majority of its money through mineral tax. Is that is that essentially how um the business council works as well since they're essentially you know extensions. Is that where the majority of that money is going to be coming from?

Mayor councelor if I may invite through up to help answer that question. Yes and no. It would just be like if you have a $100 and 65% that's derived from mineral revenue, then you would say the other 35% would be from sales tax, use tax and other entities. So I think that whether it's a grant or a loan and you know discounting rate say it's a 0% it would be discounted by anything that generates statewide tax revenue receives severance. So you can kind of do the internal math but that's kind of the broad brush. Sure. Okay. Okay. Anybody else?

Ready to move on to the second?

Okay. Perfect. Um so the second request of council is your uh permission to apply to grants through the brown brand new um outdoor recreation and tourism trust fund. So at the end of February, they opened uh the grant application period for the very first time for that trust fund. They have $2 million in funding available, as I understand it, to to grant for projects that advance outdoor recreation and tourism in the state. And we believe that this is an excellent fit for that program. So, based on some feedback that we've gotten from some of our contacts at state parks, um, and, uh, if you have a local representative that sits on that trust board, uh, we have, uh, gotten some information about again the funding that's available, the applications themselves, and sort of what the, uh, trust fund is hoping to accomplish uh, through this granting process. And and one of the things that have been identified is that uh you know we really want to be able to point to very specific um projects that were funded through this mechanism um that really add value in communities. And so rather than saying we want $200,000 just for the lift, we've been very intentional at saying the applications that we want to apply for are again for the loading gate and conveyor so that we can say this trust fund funded this component which makes skiing more accessible to everybody in the state of Wyoming. Um and also potentially this grant that we're applying for light dreadnot. uh which you know night skiing has been wildly popular in Casper. It's also very popular uh with our race teams because it allows them to race at night of course and so that can shorten potentially the travel that students

have to make from across the state to race. And so uh we believe that lighting dread the value ad um for our state athletes um as well as all of our local users who just really enjoy night skiing. And again, Dreadnot is arguably one of our most popular runs for intermediate and advanced skiers. So, um, so it is our intention to really focus in on those two amenities for these grant applications. The other guidance that we got is that while grant match is not absolutely required, it is suggested um and it's suggested by location and inna county that match um is 40%. So, uh, in breaking down the cost estimate for those components, we would be looking at $195,000 grant request for, uh, the loading gate and conveyor. And then approximately $150,000 and request for the lighting to light thread knot. So, those would be the two grant requests that we are asking for your support on submitting.

Yeah. Go ahead. So, do you know what the request on each of those total like I'm guessing on outdoor wreck around 400,000? Uh, mayor counselor and you're taxing my math. Um, yeah, pretty close to 400,000 total. Okay. So 45 our match would be at 190,000 on that one approximately.

Approximately yes but the match it is our intention that the match would actually come from the donated dollars. Other questions? Yeah. Go ahead, Kyle.

Thanks, Mayor. I apologize. I guess I had a long day on um the 100 um so we're applying for grants for 195 and 150 and we're s we're hoping to raise a 40% match strictly through private donations. Mayor, counselor. Yes. Plus, uh, we will need private donations to cover much more than the 40% match in order for the project to go. Um, likely half or more, $2 million or more.

Sorry, one more time. I'm super slow. That's okay. So in order to meet the need for the entire project, we are proposing a public private partnership where public dollars cover about half of the cost of the lift, roughly $2 million, and private fundraising would cover half the cost of the lift, roughly $2 million. Okay? And then anything above and beyond that that may be raised would go to those enhancements that would improve our snow making capacity because that benefits the area by allowing us to open sooner and or open additional runs sooner. Go ahead. Sorry, Vice Mayor.

The 2 million city contribution you're talking to that's going back to the selling of scrap and facilities and all that stuff.

Uh mayor counselor. Yes. as well as so I'm calling that public contribution because we do have other potential partners that I don't necessarily want to share details about tonight because I don't want them to feel obligated to something they haven't committed to. Um but potentially Nrona County School District could be a public partner as well as visit Casper or state tourism or you know I mean there are there are other possibilities for public dollars um that we are actively working on um but because those obligations haven't been made and don't feel right about giving hard numbers. Go ahead.

Sorry if anyone else wants to talk. I know I know we only got a couple more minutes. Um, what is the plan if our facility fee, if the 60,000 we're expected to generate annually in facility fee revenues like this year does not come to fruition, how is that being backfilled? If if these projections are based on that number, how do we cover any shortfalls?

Mayor, counselor. So, so again, uh, a fund has been set aside for this facility fee, and that fund would not only house the facility fee, but it would also house all the salvage dollars and all of the advertising dollars. And so when our loan payment is due, we would pay the minimum amortized amount that we need to pay so that those other additional funds could stay in that account and get us through low years. That makes sense.

It does. Is our 10-year payment cycle not based on those projections? A facility like um are the projections not based on minimum payment over the 10 years? It is based on minimum payment, but we anticipate that we can frontload dollars into that fund. Thank you. Yeah, of course. No,

I'm done with questions. Uh the only reason I was asking I really appreciate you and the work of your team. Like I think we're getting really creative with how we go about um improving the amenities up at Hogen. I personally like um I think I think the improvements need to be borne by the users, by grants, um by private donations. Like I would be really really hesitant to see the city invest anything beyond like facility fee uh dollars like capital reserves or anything into Hogan. Just I'm really worried about this bad year that we've had having more bad years. You know, I read all these reports. Uh I was talking in leadership before our meeting about um the reports I read about the greater Yellowstone area and the reduction in expected snowfall they look uh towards experiencing over the next couple decades and Hogodon being at 8,000 feet a lower elevation hill I think is going to get hit harder than other places and so I'm just really worried about our snow pack getting worse and worse over the years. Um, but if private donors and users want to improve the assets up there, I like I think we should get all the power to them. But that's my

So there's other people here to present. Uh, mayor counselor only if you have questions. They they're just here to support and show support for the project and and share what what contributions they're making. if you have specific questions. Any other questions for individuals that are here or Julie? I know we're running short on time.

Yeah. So that if if anybody wants to speak, I I think they should have the opportunity. But my belief is just the opposite of the vice mayor. I believe just like the second sheet of ice where we committed uh 3.2 million um my belief is we should do a proportional part as as our portion whether that's 500,000 a million but that's my belief rather than robbing from Peter to pay Paul to show uh our efforts with the public private partnerships. I'll leave it at that.

Okay. So, it looks like recommendation for tonight is to support the submission uh for the business council um loan application and the two grants. Is that what you need tonight from us? Sir, is council okay with moving forward with that? Okay. Thank you. Uh with about 30 seconds left, does anybody have anything to agenda review from tonight? Any questions?