City Council - Regular Meeting

October 21. Um, so we really embraced this as a new team, new exercise, uh, established the, uh, procedure by which we would update our business plans and we presented those to you. So, just as a reminder, in April of 2018, again, long before I was parks and recck director, you all passed a resolution that established the cost recovery goals for six of the existing enterprises. Sports and athletics was not a separate fund back then. sports was wrapped into the rec center and athletics was part of parks in the general fund. Um, and so we only had six enterprises back then and at that time we established the cost recovery goals for those six enterprises and those goals still exist today. It's part of what we're going to talk about. Does it make sense to make some changes? Um, and then in August of 22 through February of 23, it's when we did those operational reviews. We covered the first two bullets uh of the council goals. Then we came back um later on in that year and presented our actual business plans to you which were thumbmed up approved and at that time you gave us approval to create sports and athletics as our seventh enterprise fund. Um and then now of course from now through June of 2026 we will make these updates um present them to you get feedback uh and then start our implementation. So, just a review of of my vision, my team's vision of what five-year business plans really are to us and and probably more importantly what they are not. Um, so what they are are strategic road maps. These are living documents that we intend to use to help guide our rate setting um to help us figure determine appropriate staffing, what our programming should be, what our capital agenda should look like. Um, it's they're going to be used to forecast our fund performance over time. They're going to help us establish our priorities over a 5year horizon. And they're going to help make sure that what we're doing operationally aligns

with your goals and what the community wants to see. Um what they are not are one-time tasks that we will then stow away in a digital or printed format and never look at again. We utilize these frequently to measure our progress to make sure that we're still on track. Um I am not one for doing plans and then setting them on a shelf. review them frequently and refer and that helps guide us into the future. Um what they also are not though are guarantees that all the strategies will be implemented exactly as they are written or that the outcomes will perform exactly as we've predicted. Right? Because these are still well educated informed guesses. They are still guesses. They're predictions of how the impacts of our changes could influence fund performance over time. So, I can't commit that they will perform exactly how we've identified, but we're going to try real hard and all of the information was really rooted in depth in in data from past performance um and fairly conservative estimates of what we think uh growth looks like under all of these scenarios. So, the bottom line is we feel like these plans have to remain relevant. They have to remain realistic and responsive to our current conditions with markets and costs and participation trends, funding availability and community expectations. So they are not set in stone. They are evolving living documents that we will use regularly to help inform how we move forward. Uh so why plans are needed now? I mean generally we establish a fiveyear plan and we're only into it two and a half, three years, right? Um so why now? Why did we choose now? uh probably primarily because last year you said morning grades so we're doing what we're asked to do but also there are some really significant contributing factors that are changing the outlook for us moving forward um and those include inflation and operational costs because um I can

tell you we are feeling the inflation particularly in utilities and a lot of our operations are very utility intensive um and so and that is impacting how we need to look at our business over Um, we have lessons learned from implementing early strategies plus our parks and rec master plan. We completed that in 2024 after our business plans were created. Um, and we've learned some things as we started to implement recommendations from the parks and recck master plan. Of course, that helped to inform what our priorities should look like um, and how we could get the best return on the investments that we need to make. Um, shifts in participation and user um, expectations. We learned through the parks and rec master about some of those. Probably the easiest example I could give you is how historically um in bat sports uh the there were sort of three tiers of fields that people used. You had practice fields. It could be nothing but a backdrop or maybe just a park and people would go out there and toss the ball and practice batting. No big deal. Uh and then you had game quality fields uh that were a little bit better. And then you had your tournament fields. Well, now the expectation among users is that you practice on the fields that you play games on and you play games on the fields that you tournament on. And that's just a trend nationally. Um whether or not we fully embrace that here has yet to be determined. We're actually converting a few of our parks because of the construction that's happening in North Casper and and the loss of some field availability there. We're converting a few of our parks um to practice spaces. And if that is wellreceived because it expands our capacity for practices, we may stay with that model and and continue to offer those spaces for practice at least probably only. Um and then we can reserve good field space for gameplay and tournament uh which again helps to expand capacity for those higher revenue generating activities. Um so that's just one example of uh user expectations that we have to consider as we're updating our

plans. Um and nonprofit partnership contributions. We have um some of the most engaged nonprofit partners and in four years that I've been parks and recck director, they are participating and contributing more than ever before. Um starting with the community recreation foundation. So uh they are better funded than they ever have been thanks to efforts to achieve grants and of course that organization exists to support CASP city of Casper recreation. And so they provide scholarships uh to kids, families, and adults. Sorry. Um and but but they have also started to contribute in other ways such as helping us to purchase equipment that helps us to start new programs. um they have uh given us the funds needed to offer more uh free events to the community which of course attracts people to the facility that may not have otherwise come and then when they see what we have to offer they may be more inclined to join and so u community rep foundation has just been a blossoming partnership uh that we really appreciate under Nick Whips um and his team's leadership um it's just as synergetic as it ever has been greatly uh the Metronic Collective Health Trust. Um through their funding and their support, uh we are now uh offering mental health services uh through our summer camp. Um they are helping to support training for our staff so they are better equipped, better prepared to deal with with young people in crisis. Um since I've been director, at least one instance every summer, we had an incident with a young person that's in crisis, they've sequestered themselves into the bathroom, they're threatening to hurt themselves or others. Um, and we really need our staff to be equipped to

deal with those circumstances. And so, uh, through a grant from the Collective Health Trust, we have, uh, training and people available to help us deal with those things. In addition to that, we are working really hard on third space programming for our youth. And so, that is really going to change how recreation looks for us into the future. And so, talk more about that uh when the rec center provides uh their business plan, but it's a really exciting partnership and and one that's relatively new to us. Um the forecast museum association has always been an active partner. However, they are also starting to contribute in new and exciting ways. Uh especially now with our new museum supervisor bringing so much energy and enthusiasm. I think that's really rallying that team to think differently about Fort Casper as well. um CRLA, our um our league's partner, um just recently contributed money to purchase volleyball stansions. So, all of these groups are now starting to help us um meet our goals and our missions uh in new and different and exciting ways that are really helpful. Um and then of course through friends of Hogon and Casper College, we're talking about big investments right in in ICE and Polodon specifically. uh which will definitely change the way those um those operations function into the future. And then lastly, certainly not least, we have current and upcoming investments uh that will definitely change the outlook of several of our funds. And so, uh you see the chart, it explains that since January 2023, the city has successfully been awarded over $9.4 4 million in grant funding for parks and rent purposes. Um my department has worked really hard to secure these grant funds and we're very very proud of that.

Uh the city cash match is about $3.5 million for a total investments in the community and parks and recck assets of about $12.7 million. But that means that we are able to construct assets at about 28 cents to the dollar. Right? The ones that are highlighted in yellow are impacting the outcomes of funds that we're going to be talking about today. The two darker green ones will impact funds that we'll talk about in June. But because of these major investments, it's really changing the outlook for some of these funds and and made it a good time to talk about what that looks like into the future. Okay. So, here are the goals that we established for our updated plans and it is really rooted in what I believe and my department believes uh is the function of a public parks and rec department. We are here to create places for people to gather, to connect, and to be healthy. And and that is our mission. That's what we're passionate about. And so we want to create those opportunities whether no matter what age, what income level, uh what ability you have, we want to create spaces where people can gather and be healthy. Whether that's physical health, mental health, social health, we want to contribute to that livability and wellbeing in the community. So in that framework though, we know that our updated plans need to improve our cost recovery. They need to increase our long-term sustainability of our operations. Um, while also ensuring accessibility to all, bolstering the quality of life in our community to all supporting that physical, mental, and social health, but also helping to drive tourism in our local economy in the community because we're finding recreation, particularly outdoor wreck,

but all wreck for us is the second industry in Wyoming. Uh and certainly big industry in Casper helps diversify our economy and make us stronger as a community and we have a lot of assets that contribute to that in parks and recreation. So um that is top of mind when we're talking about our business plan moving forward. So this is the new process that we followed this year. Um so first and foremost we have a lot of available resources that help inform that. We've gone through years and years of master planning, feasibility studies, um doing the work to kind of learn what the future should look like for us. And so, uh we have our enterprise master plans and studies. We have our parks and ref master plan. Um and of course, we went through the exercise of priority based budgeting and have those recommendations. So, all of that information uh was distilled and and considered as part of our updates. Um we selected realistic opportunities based on uh that information. We identified logical timelines for implementation. A lot of that rooted in our five-year capital plans. Um you know, I I talked to my team a lot about how our five-year plans and our five-year um business plans should align. They should be in sync. Uh they should reflect the same goals. And so, um there are a few places where things shifted a little bit, but for the most part, you'll see during our budget discussions that they are well aligned. Um we applied forecasts to each of those opportunities and again um utilizing past performance data and conservative growth projections. Uh we applied those forecasts again rooted rooted in data um and and best practices and good business um but still productions nonetheless. And then we reviewed those draft plans with the parks and recreation advisory board. Um the whole board did not participate. It was a subcommittee of

five um that came they reviewed uh with us in great detail like we went line by line for each of the strategies talked about the calculation that we used to to um make our projections. Uh they gave us great feedback, great information. We revised those strategies based on the feedback and so um they really helped us to uh stay up at that strategy level. Um they gave us feedback that helped us balance cost recovery with affordability for the users who they represent, right? Um they we talked about revenue generation versus community access, that affordability piece. Again, uh we we talked a lot about long-term sustainability for each enterprise and they gave us advice on cost recovery targets where we were asking for some feedback to help us uh determine what we thought was appropriate. And then their perspective we found was really beneficial in the impact piece and equity considerations, right? Because each of them has an area that they are leaison to and they spend extra time with supervisors and at facilities based on what area they're assigned to. Um, and so they've gotten to know the supervisors, they've gotten to know the operations pretty well. And so, um, they do represent, I think, people in the community and those user groups that that are utilizing our facilities. And so, the community impact piece was really important. Um the user experience implications were really important. They were able to offer um some of that insight. Uh risk tolerance and priorities like okay if we were to raise rates in this area you know do you think it would there would be so much demand destruction that that it's not realistic and we talked through some of those things. Um and then we talked a lot about return on investment uh particularly when it came to capital investments. And so um really great addition to our process. We appreciate the folks that participated. These were long work sessions. We were together for

about an hour and a half to talk through all of this stuff and they were super engaged um really productive uh workshops and and so we appreciate that. I don't think there's anybody from the board. A couple of them wanted to come and couldn't make tonight work, but um yeah, we we appreciate the efforts of that group and found it extremely helpful. So, I'm going to stop there for just a second. give you an opportunity to ask any questions you have about process that we followed uh any of the history that I covered and then we'll dive into golf and just so that you understand given the extra vetting that happened through the parks and rock advisory board subcommittee I kept this fairly high level if you want to dig into some of the weeds we certainly can um and it is my intention to share this presentation and each of the spreadsheets that you'll will see sort of represented in picture form here uh with the council uh do it as soon as we leave this meeting but for the purpose of the presentation I did keep it

question on you mentioned the I went through that list of grant funing that the department gets um and has worked toward do those so are all of those listed there um award grant awards that have actually been secured

mayor counselor yes so uh the last one on the list is Wyoming state forestry and we were actually notified by state forestry that we were the successful recipients the actual uh grant award agreement is still working through the attorney's office, but we at least have written notice. So, yes, all of these have been awarded or are in the process of being awarded or we have something in writing dedicating the funding to us. There are several that we have submitted applications and are waiting that are not included in this.

Okay. So of those with that $9 million plus you know influx of of funding is that reflected to um and you don't have to dive into specifics right now but it's going to be later but does my question is does that u $9 million impact impact I would imagine it would impact the amount of subsidy that the city has to provide. Mayor, counselor. So, yes, somewhat indirectly, right? We don't factor the capital revenue as part of our operation. Uh, but they enhance the operation to some degree to where we should capture additional revenue. For example, several of these grants are for the Washington Park tennis courts. because we have Washington Park tennis courts, we will be able to add additional tennis programming that should boost revenue. Um, same with pickle ball. So, again, some confusion in the community. We do not own or operate the tennis and pickle ball courts at Highland Park. Those are school district owned and operated facilities. They are open to the public when they're not dedicated to district programming, but they are not ours. And so Washington will really be the only city of Casper owned and operated tennis courts in the community. We had tennis courts at Huber that were converted to pickle ball. So they are currently pickle ball. Um and we have tennis courts in Paradise Valley that are in such disrepair they're really not usable. So these six courts at Washington Park will be the only city-owned and operated tennis courts in the community. Um and Baylor is going to program the heck out of them. So, so just as an example, so um we can look at another example would be again

the NRONA Collective Health Trust. They are helping us with some summer camp programming that hopefully will continue to if not grow summer camp, at least stabilize summer camp because parents are going to feel comfortable that their kids are going to be there and they're going to be in a in a good mentally healthy atmosphere. Sure. So So the capital infusion is not included in the operational analysis but the impact of those enhancements. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks for all this information. Looking for clarification. So that uh 10.4 million in grant awards that's just over the past three years

since January 23. Cool. Very nice. And I notice I don't see any Wyoming cap grants on there. I don't see like bridge. So my guess is this is a curated more refined list. Mayor counselor, excellent observation. So uh these are grants that me and my team were instrumental in writing and obtaining.

Uh I do not take credit for TAP grants that is largely engineering and our flat river trails. Um I do not take credit for the bridge that was Jolene and the river group that led that effort. So generally speaking uh trails are handled through engineering and through the trails trust and then river stuff is handled by Joan and her team. So um yeah this is specific to grants that we have written in my department and

okay municipal golf again Jason Austin is here to help me answer any questions and Randy Norbell forget you that time. Okay so let's start with some priority based budgeting considerations. Um, and there there will be a couple for each of the enterprises. Um, there's a lot of text and I'm not going to wholly read it to you, but I couldn't memorize all of this. So, um, so what we got uh from the consultant was a list of what other um, jurisdictions that have similar operations to ours were doing to help boost revenue or co cut costs. And so, uh, in in several of the programming categories that we identified that we do here in Casper, there were a few suggestions from a couple different communities. And so, these um particularly resonated with us in terms of timing. Um, and so the description is what the recommendation was and then the bullet points are kind of how we're responding to those recommendations. So we um we were it was suggested that we could implement operational efficiencies including proposed automation as an example automated ball dispensing machines to reduce staff time in the golf shop and on the driving range. And then it was stated you know you want to plan your capital improvements to re reduce your long-term maintenance costs. And so um the MUN installed an automated rangefall dispenser in 2024. So it's been functioning for about a season and a half. There has been an increase in ranged revenue from that dispenser, but admittedly no cost savings from staffing because those staff were not reduced. They were just reallocated to other duties to serve uh the golf shop operation. So, um, so not necessarily a cost savings as was suggested, uh, by the other municipalities, but definitely a revenue generator because with that ball dispenser, we're able to have people at the driving range earlier than when the pro shop opens and later than

when the pro shop closes. And so that has boosted our revenue. Um, the five-year plan does include, and you'll see that, exploring autonomous mowing equipment. Um, so the technology still fairly new. we're not ready to implement right away. We want everybody else to work the bugs out and then we'll we'll look at um doing that, but autonomous mowing could certainly yield savings in seasonal labor. And then lastly, the newly implemented facility fee will provide partial funding for our new clubhouse in the future, which we know will address increasing maintenance costs on that agent building. Uh, a second consideration was to launch tiered season passes with premium options, early booking discounts, and partnership programs with local businesses for corporate outings and events. Um, implement dynamic pricing, including fees at peak times while keeping off peak rates affordable. Um, so you may recall that the most recent rate increase introduced dynamic pricing for the first time for the MUN uh with higher weekend green fees than the fees are during the week. And then the business does also include the consideration of partner and tiered season passes. Some of those suggestions that you all made actually when we were reviewing golf course rates. Um and so when we evaluate rates again, we will definitely dive deeper into that and see if that makes sense for us. Tiered passes could include cart and or range access as well as merchandise and instruction add-ons. So we'll be looking at packaging those things together in attractive ways and see if that can help those spread. Okay. So in addition to those, you will see a couple of other ideas. Uh we're still looking to increase sponsorships on the golf course and on our golf carts. So of course when we bought the new golf fleet, uh we introduced a software that will allow us to advertise

on the carts themselves. Um it also allows for GPS and um you know, range, distance, finding to the hole, all all of the great things that golfers want. Um, but we we feel like we're still lagging in the opportunity area of getting advertising for those uh units. We we want to consider expanding the season as weather allows. So, the last couple of years, we have either had nice weather prior to April 1, which is our has been our dedicated start date for quite a long time, or really nice weather after October 30, which has been our dedicated closing date. And now we're going to be more open to if the weather's nice, we should extend the season or open earlier rather than having those just set dates that are not I wouldn't say arbitrary, but certainly don't need to be locked in um winter golf instruction program. So currently we don't really have a good mechanism to offer programming in the winter for golf instruction. And so, uh, we did a swing start with the rec center, which was nice for kids to to kind of have an introduction to, uh, golf, but we think that there's opportunity there, uh, with of all age groups essentially. And so, looking at different partnership opportunities, um, to utilize maybe facilities off-site or make some capital investments to have facilities on site that we can utilize for winter golf instruction. Uh, we need to finalize a new logo so that we can boost merchandise. One of the Anecdotally, we hear when people come to the MUN, they want merchandise that's branded the MUN. Um, and we haven't been able to offer that in a really consistent way. The logo we have now is fine, but it's hard to shrink down onto a golf ball or put on a t-shirt or put on a hat and and look really attractive. So, we need to find uh a balance for merchandise and we think that that will help us boost sales. Um, think when people come to the community like for

CNFR, we see increased traffic and they want that Wyoming specific stuff that we're not able to right now. So, uh we think there is capacity to establish new league offerings. Right now, our um men's league is maxed out. So, should we offer an alternative to the existing men's league? Um and then also maybe some youth league um expansions and some women's league expansions. Right now, our women's league is in the middle of the week during the day and some of us have to work. So, uh that doesn't work so well. So, uh looking at some evening options maybe for women's leagues we think could be beneficial. Um again, as we covered with the priority based budgeting stuff, bolstering that passholder benefit um and then improving customer service through improved hiring and training. Um that is something that maybe uh well it could generate revenue, right? because word of mouth is is important in this community and if you're not treated well at a facility, you might be uh inclined to tell your friends and family that and then they may be less inclined to come and patron uh our facility. And so we we recognize that there's been a little gap in customer service that we need to address. And so we're doing that through better hiring and then better training for our front desk staff. In terms of cost reductions, uh a lot of these are are pretty significant capital investments. Uh we need to replace the outdated links course irrigation system which will reduce water use and waste. We need to look at at dredging the irrigation pond um which will reduce our reliance on city water which we pay for. Um there's some work that needs to be done there. We need to reservey the pond to get an exact uh amount of capacity. Uh the cost estimates that we're getting to do that pond dredging are coming in really really high. And so we are actively seeking grants right now. U to try to help offset that cost for us. Um because it is related to water

resilience and conservation. Uh the least the less we use, the more is available for others to use. Um and so we're we're optimistic that that will help in the future. Uh we need to consider at least the reduction or redesign of sand traps throughout the course. Sand traps are very material and labor intensive. Um and so repositioning just removing altogether um may not change the course experience much or may improve it for those of us who don't like getting in the bunker. Um but it will take some of that maintenance burden off of the staff and save us some dollars there. Again, exploring autonomous mowing to save on staffing and just improving overall staff efficiency and and avoiding overstaffing expenses. Um, so we had a little runaway in staffing in the summer last year that we're trying to kind of re in this year. So, and into the future. So, just just finding that sweet spot of having adequate staff to to serve the customers but not over staffing to where it's waste. Um, so this is the boring slide. This is probably the slide you care about most. Uh this is a a graphic representation of the fund performance based on our implementation um of the cost recovery um strategies and you will see that uh we are projecting growth for the fund um from 27 which is budgeted now uh into 2031 through the five years. Um and as of right now our current cost recovery goal is 110% uh we do proposed to keep it at 110% while we're seeing a higher performance there consistently. We have now implemented that facility fee 5% this year, 5% next year and that will go directly to capital. So we don't want to include that increase in our operational cost recovery goal um because that's

going to be earmarked specifically for for the clubhouse and so uh we want to see how that impacts and performs um and feel comfortable staying at the 110 right now. for operation. Let me stop there at the end of golf and give you guys an opportunity to ask some questions. So, I'm golf carts. How many?

Currently, we have 70. Um, and we are set to replace golf carts. Remind me Jason Randy. 28. two more years. Yeah. Um and so we have been dedicating funds every year to that golf cart replacement. So between the funds that we have saved and the um exchange or the trade in thank you tradein value uh of the existing fleet, we think we can replace the fleet. However, there has been talk that we should probably expand the fleet because there are times when we sell out parts and so we may choose depending on what the condition of the carts are at the time we're ready to buy uh we may choose to hold on to some of those older carts um so that we can expand the fleet a little bit and offer more carts to our customers.

Cart rentals are a big part of our business. Thanks for all that great information. Um, I'm curious, uh, apologies for not noticing this. When you presented the Excel spreadsheet when we did the facility fee implementation and, uh, most recent rate adjustment, uh, I didn't, uh, I'm getting into golfing and so I'm getting familiar with what everyone charges and stuff like that. And going back to that spreadsheet, um, I guess my question is, um, my understanding is right now at least during preeason and postseason for three crowns golf course it's actually slightly more expensive to golf at the mun until you know their season starts May 15th or something like that and so my question is have you seen an impact on revenues in the preseason and um I guess is that something that we feel comfortable with going forward Uh do you I mean I'm happy to address it but I might need you back.

Um so Randy did some evaluation after the question was proposed and we did find that it is that pre-season versus regular season. So we are a more affordable option during the regular you know main season. Um Three Crowns is offering discounted rates in their preseason and postseason. They also bundle differently than we do. Right? You don't have a choice at Three Crowns. You take a cart, right? And we don't mandate that. So, if you elected not to take a cart and walk the course, it is still much more affordable to come to the MUN. Um, so I don't I don't think that we're seeing any impact to our revenues from that, but I don't want to misspeak. So, I'm going to let the experts are a better value in the evening times during the preseason offseason. But if you look at their preseason, I believe that ends May 1st.

Yeah, it's coming. It's a very short It's a very short season. And then I think they go midepptember just off the top of my head or the end of September for the offer of that fall discount. And by then golf's dropped off tremendously across the board. we start seeing a a drop off about for us it's probably more Memorial

Labor Day and then um for a lot of times even private about the third week of August halfway depends on when school starts families take their vacations and you see a significant drop in both I would also just add it's vastly different clientele generally speaking right three crowns is a hard course um a a lot of novice golfers don't love to play there because it's hard and you're going to lose a lot of balls in the future. Uh so, you know, given that we're serving kind of different demographics, I think that's part of the reason we're not really seeing a reduction based on their more affordable preseason rates.

Well, I appreciate the reminder that you can golf without a card, which you know is $21 off the cost and then uh the twilight golfing is not something offered on the race. Okay. Next, we're going to talk about aquatics. Okay. So, let's start with some priority based budgeting considerations. And some of these you're going to see uh because some of the recommendations that we got were sort of recckwide, not just necessarily for one program, um but more kind of holistic. So, and this is one of them. So, so the recommendation was to centralize facility preparation and equipment maintenance into a shared services unit instead of having dedicated staff per program. And so for the last two years, and there's there's a little bit more history here that I I won't bore you with unless you ask the question. Um, but for the last two years, custodial services have been centralized out of buildings and structures, which of course falls under my umbrella as well. felt like uh we could see efficiency and cost savings by centralizing all custodial service out of buildings and structures. Um the unfortunate reality though was that it wasn't really efficient uh and it wasn't very effective. We started seeing increased complaints about the cleanliness at the recck facilities. Uh we started having challenges and some of that is because staff was so spread out throughout the community that it was hard for a single supervisor to quality control the services that were being provided. And so um so starting this year earlier in 2026 four full-time custodial employees are being supervised by Edwin and shared across the three indoor facilities that are connected the aquatic center the rec center and the ice arena. So these four employees will offer the coverage that we need for all three of those facilities in a shared manner that makes it more efficient and cost effective for

each of those individual funds. And they are seeing dramatic savings from what was being built through the work order system through buildings and structures. Um and so this is one way that we have tried to implement that shared service um model uh in a way that is effective. Yeah. So I don't understand. So the four employees are recreat.

No, no, sorry. Just the three indoor facilities that are connected. Aquatic center, not all the pools, just the aquatic center, the rec center, and the ice arena. So they can, you know, kind of move across those three facilities seamlessly. The golf has

they have Jason and we have porties of course to fill some of the gaps two permanent restrooms. Okay. Uh so the next consideration for aquatics was to implement to shared lifeguard staffing pool and centralized aquatic program management across multiple city pools reducing any duplicate supervisory roles. Uh they also suggest that we invest in a scheduling and staffing software system to optimize lifeguard shifts based on real-time attendance. Of course, how many lifeguards we have is directly related to the number of people in the pool, right? Um, and so, uh, being able to get that real-time attendance data and make staffing decisions based on that could be beneficial and then, uh, minimize that over staffing during those low use times. And so, Aquatics has actually always had centralized aquatic program management across all pools. Um, aquatics is a fund that has one full-time employee at uh, so the supervisor oversees the entire function. It used to have a coordinator. We actually gave that coordinator up to have a marketing person because we felt like our department would benefit more from bolstered marketing um and public information than from a coordinator that hopefully we can still see some non-fultime benefits from coordinators in that area particularly during the summer months when we're a little busy. Um but one supervisor supervises all five of the pools during the summer months and then of course we have non-fultime staff that helps to supplement it. We have pool managers which you know oversee shifts at the different pools but um it is a centralized management model out of aquatics. Aquatics also utilizes a

software called Digiquatics um for scheduling and staffing and we will explore the use of real-time attendance and and whether or not Digiquatics actually has that functionality. Um however you will see in the model that we already know when those low use times are um typically right and so we've made some adjustments uh which will reduce the capacity based on the number of lifeguards that we have but the return is worth it when you're when you're talking about maybe we can serve four less patrons but we're saving the cost of one lifeguard um for a shift and then that that becomes a better return. So it does uh include looking at the forest. Uh and then the last one is to implement specialized aquatic fitness fitness classes with healthc care partnerships for example aquatic therapy and core strengthening leveraging programs and with higher profit margins as well as grant grant funded opportunities because there are more of those for health and well-being um type of activities. And so we can market that to seniors and rehab groups attracting grants and sponsorships to reduce the subsidy. And so the five-year plan does include aqua exercise classes to bolster class revenue. Um and staff has been successful, as you saw, in securing grants to assist in capital purchases and to expand programming. And so we will absolutely explore grants to expand health focused um fitness programming for our aquatics. Okay, so those were the three priority based u budgeting recommendations. And in addition to that, uh, you're going to see sponsorships over and over and over again. I think that that is a real growth opportunity for us and we're starting to see the benefits of that. Uh, for the first time ever this year, we finally have um some advertising up at the Patrick Family Aquatic Center. We're seeing some at some of the athletic fields. And so our partnership

with OBG for sponsorships um is is starting to finally develop. And we're getting some interest in the community. And so I think that that's unlocking some benefit for us that that has um been underperforming up until now. Uh partnering with local businesses for events, promoting programs and events through improved website usage and that social media marketing. So again, you're going to see a lot of uh the marketing piece. And now that we have a dedicated person in public engagement to help us with that, uh we're really excited about what that can yield for us. um evaluate and adjusted our admission rates of course and member pricing, review and adjust rental and concession opportunities um across all of the pools. In terms of cost reductions, we believe we can evaluate our operating hours. We'll perform that costbenefit analysis on staffing during those lower use times uh so that we can maximize that staffing efficiency and see where it makes sense to do that. Um and then lastly, we all know we need to reimagine what the aquatic offering at Washington Park looks like. um in order for us to decrease that operating expense to the best of our ability. Okay. So, what I've done here is just graphically represented each individual pool and then we'll look at the fund as a whole. Okay. Um so, in general, this is the Casper Family Aquatic Center. Uh we float between 30% cost recovery and 50% cost recovery. Uh that's kind of the space that we live in. pre- pandemic, we performed a little bit better. We've just never really been able to um reach that pre- pandemic level. Uh and and I think one of the primary drivers of that is that the YMCA opened and they have a pool. And so we were never able to gain back some of that um that market share. Uh and and this seems to be where we consistently are. And and while there are opportunities for some incremental improvement that we'll continue working

at, um this is This is how we project to perform over the next five years. Uh these are a couple of our outdoor pools. So of course you see Mary and Kriner's very low in that 26 27 timeline because we are closed for construction. Uh there are still expenses associated because the splash pad's open and that requires lifeguards to go out and test the chemicals and make sure everything's safe for use. Um but we're not really generating any revenue right now and so that's why that is so low. But after we open for the summer of 28, we feel like uh we'll be able to reach that 30% cost recovery goal. Uh which is fairly consistent across the outdoor pools. Unfortunately, other pools are very expensive to operate. Um they're expensive to staff. And so you're going to see across the board the outdoor pools generally with the exception of Mike Cedar generally are performing right around that 30% mark. Same with PV pool. Um Mike Cedar is is the premier um outdoor facility for aquatics right now. Um and so they're we're consistently about 80% cost recovery. Uh which is great news for us. It helps to bolster the fund overall. Uh and we expect to continue to perform at that level over the next five years despite increasing uh utility costs and maintenance costs as the pool starts to age. right now like Cedar's getting to be um of an age that will require more maintenance as well. And then Washington Park um you know right now performing at that about 30% cost recovery um and you know as we decide what we do through our master planning process. So we did budget money uh in the FY27 budget to do a master plan for Washington Park that will sort of tie all the phases together. We're now into phase four um of improvements to the park that have been able to happen sort of independently of each other, but now it's time to master plan the park, tie all of those pieces

together, and address the aquatic component. Um and so that will include some additional public engagement. Um you know, we'll talk to the community about what they would like to see at this premier park in our community. Um get some feedback and then make some decisions about what that aquatic exchange looks like. Um but we do anticipate that whatever we do in order to control costs within the fund that we're going to have to reduce um for a community our size to have four outdoor pools that function the same at 30% cost recovery um doesn't seem feasible or responsible. So we are looking at at making a change that will ultimately reduce our operating expense. So in Washington that decision come back to council or because it's part of the master plan

mayor counselor. So the master plan is not set in stone. None of these plans are set in stone right they're goals to look towards. they force us to question if what's there is what should always be there, right? But then they're not set in stone. So, it was a recommendation of the master plan that we look at an alternate aqua a aquatic facility. Um, but we don't know what that looks like just yet. And absolutely, I think the final decision will come back to council because we'll be writing grants to construct whatever it is and you'll have to approve those grants. So, and and certainly as part of the public engagement process um you know council will be invited to participate and and share your thoughts on what we should do um for Washington um could you please remind me the cost for covered I mean obviously that pool has the nicest amenities and has the most offerings and stuff but um you know what insight can you share about why that pool is so much more successful and has there been any internal analyses done on you know if we improved one of the other pools to have Mike Cedar like qualities would we be simply cannibalizing revenue at Mike Cedar and you know shuffling people around or like is that an untapped market of outdoor swimmers that can't get into Mike Cedar and aren't interested in the other pools kind of thing

mayor counselor And I'll I'll invite Edwin up to add some color. I'm going to give you a kind of generic. Um so Mike Cedar is more expensive. We charge the highest admission rate at Mike Cedar um to get into the pool and so by default it's going to make a little bit more money especially given the popularity. Um, however, there's often a line and we reach capacity and we try to encourage people to go to different pools, but I think anecdotally we know often they do not. Um, so yes, could we make major investments in PV, which happens to be our second most popular pool. Uh, sure, but aquatic investments are very expensive and we haven't been successful at finding grants that serve that population yet. of course the major improvements that we're making at Mary Kryer almost $2 million and that of course includes the state park and the contract too but um we really expect that to bolster participation um which actually also speaks to the relationship with Washington Park because I think what's happening now is that Mary Kryer's closed and so that we're getting some of the traffic at Washington from Mary and Kryer but when Marian Crryer is open Washington is the least attended and so We expect though when we open Mary and Crryer with a new slide that's much cooler than what they have now, a new building that can better serve uh the community, we're going to start seeing increased attendance there. We will increase the rate to be appropriate for the amenities that are being offered. Obviously, with scholarships offered through our nonprofit partners for affordability for those families who need it. Um but yes, obviously investments will will trigger people to uh frequent those facilities more, but it's it's finding that balance like one, what's the funding source? We have a finite amount of funding. We've been successful at doubling or more that

funding through grants, but where do we invest first? And some of that has been driven by where do the grants qualify us to to be. Hopefully that answers your question and if you want to add anything. I just have one more thing to add. Um before we opened my cedar pool, PB was the pool that everybody went to. It got to capacity every single day. As soon as we opened my Cedar Pool, PB went down to about 30% cost recovery. So it's just the newest pool basically. So fair to say if we built another brand new awesome outdoor pool, we'd see a similar drop at Mike Cedar. people gravitate towards to new. And

then also a scary reality that we grapple with is that youth numbers are declining. Our student numbers are declining. We're closing schools. So as the population of children in our community shrinks, the demand for outdoor swimming is also going to shrink. And so we need to be prepared to adjust to that demand um in a in a way that's appropriate and makes sense for our community. Okay, so this is the aquatics fun as a whole factoring in all five of the pools together. And this is what the aquatics fund looks like in terms of performance uh over the next five years. Um again, you know, CO hurt uh and we never quite recovered. We're are on a positive trajectory. We are able to maintain this. Um but the current cost recovery goal for aquatics right now is 58% and we clearly have not been able to achieve that despite our best efforts over the last few years. And so it is our recommendation supported by the park smart advisory board that we adjust that down to 50% more realistic.

Questions? Keep in mind that NRPA average 50% we're still better than 32% which is the national average cost recovery for air. Any other aquatics questions? Forgot to tell my team as we're done you can if you want welcome to state. So I realize we set recovery but I mean what is currently in the 30% 50% all all we 2 million 500,000.

Uh so look at the bottom line there. So this is projected to end this fiscal year. Uh the investment needed to balance the fund is $772,000. And again that investment comes from one cent just only for aquatics $325,000 a year. Uh and then and then direct distribution and perpetual care.

But you can see what the numbers mean across the board, right? Our total revenue is bouncing between 550 and 800,000 over, you know, this fiveyear projection. But our costs are also and and this is at a 3% rate. Uh the Excel spreadsheet that you get is dynamic. If we change this inflation rate to 2%, it's going to improve the the performance. If you if we increase it to four or 5%, which we've unfortunately experienced, it'll decrease the performance. Um, but you know, we're talking about an investment bouncing between 772 and 863, which is what we're budgeting for next year.

I'll elect myself to ask a question still out. Uh, do you mind explaining the securing sponsorships appear to go down over time as does improve marketing?

Happy to explain that. So the way that the projection works is that it's an increase from the previous year. So, we expect that improved marketing will increase by $5,000 from fiscal year 26 to 27 and then that $5,000 will maintain throughout the next year. Instead of five, it's going to be 10. And so, but if but eventually it gets to a point where we've reached the capacity and it's not going to increase anymore. Yeah. So, it's just a growth year over year. just asked a very illuminating question.

Very illuminating.

All right, the next bond is sports and athletics. And I do want to start out by recognizing Paul Zawada and his team who were the recipients of the Fields of Excellence Award for 2025 for my glancing field. want to come and show the museum. I might not do this justice, so correct me if I'm wrong, but this award is given to jurisdictions who um have exceptional maintenance programs in place for their athletic fields. in particular. Again, this one was for our facility and couldn't be here.

Okay. So, we'll start with some priority based budgeting considerations. Um, so the recommendation was to expand revenue by making capital investments that enhance the player experience and justify increased fees. Enhanced facilities allow agencies to increase facility user fees, attract corporate sponsorships, and create specialized programs and branded events with more success. And so you will see current and planned capital investments in athletic fields largely funded by our grants will support activity earlier in the season and later in the season. Um right now we're really restricted by weather because we have natural turf. Um, converting our fields to artificial turf allows us to get on them sooner, be on them later, and it and it allows us to turn camps faster without worrying about killing natural turf. Um, and so this will increase our play capacity during our peak season. These investments not only expand revenue through increased capacity, but they also elevate the facilities to a condition where higher use fees are flexible. Um, and then secondly, league and tournament fee increases represent a large portion of revenue generating opportunities for this fund. Increasing our athletic field user fees for the first time since 2015 through rescending and replacing resolution number 1511 will reduce how much our subsidy is without significant participate or participant loss. uh leagues and tournament tournament fee increases are supported by extensive local and regional research of what our peers are charging for tournaments and fees. Uh the second consideration for sports and athletics evaluate low impact, high cost, low mandate, low reliance programs. So it's kind of a premise of priority based budgeting and consider replacing lost leaders with revenue drivers. Um and so an example of this men's basketball leagues were identified as a low return on investment program for us and so that program was actually

eliminated in fiscal year 26. Uh we attempted to change it to a lower cost alternative 3v3. Um but that didn't fly. We didn't get enough participants to justify running the program and so that was eliminated. And and while it's never fun for us to eliminate programming, uh we do stand by the decision that we made from a business standpoint. Alternatively, adult volleyball is blowing up in Casper locally. Um and so that definitely warrants further expansion of volleyball leagues and tournament offerings through Casper and sports programming. Um and then regular evaluation of our fees to stay competitive with peer pricing for leagues and tournaments will be important to maintain financial solveny for our sports programs. Um and again it's been one area where we've really lagged because the resolution um 1511 which again was put in place in 2015 really handcuffs what we can charge um because it's based on a per per player fee. Uh for instance the lighting is mandated at $7 an hour. it's it costs way more than that to light a field. And so, uh, we really need to reevaluate that and we're preparing, uh, documents to come to you later on this year to adjust that resolution. And then finally, identify sports development grants to enhance programming at a reduced cost. Uh so the sports and athletic group through Baylor's leadership was awarded um the increasing access to sports for girls and women's grant from the NRPA in fiscal year 26. Um so again that was uh through the National Recreation and Parks Association funded by Nike. Um this grant provided $35,000 to implement sports programming for females. Um and the five-year plan aims to duplicate that in a boys sports discovery camp for

fiscal year 27. So, that is an example of how um those funds unlocked some initial investment that we need to offer some programming that could continue even though we don't have the grant anymore. And so, duplicating that on the boy side and and in other ways um Baylor has uh been really creative and already created a lot of uh new programming for us and I think that that has a lot of growth potential. So for revenue generating strategies, increase those fees for outdoor athletic programming to expand and properly price volleyball leagues and tournaments. Implement those new outdoor leagues and tournaments including raet sports tennis and pickle ball. Um price rentals and leases to reflect our upgraded infrastructure. So those turf fields um add concessions operations at ball fields. Um so last year we had our operator back out at the last minute. Edwin and the aquatics team graciously stepped in so that we could offer concessions and concessions are a revenue generator. Um, and so now we're transitioning to where the staff within sports and athletics will learn the concessions operation and be able to manage that function on their own and generate more revenue for us that way. Enhanced advertising and sponsorships again for our outdoor facilities that have a bunch of fed space to sell. Um, in terms of cost reduction, we're going to upgrade our facilities maintenance. So again, large infrastructure uh improvements, but we're uh continuing to pursue grant opportunities to do that. Um start with Field of Dreams, which is under construction right now. If you drive by a huge mound of dirt, things are happening and we're really excited about it. Um Crossroads Park will be next. And then the North Casper Athletic Complex on the other side of K Street where the softball fields are and tenners will be important to us. So this is the sports and athletics five-year plan and we can go back to

details but this is how it looks uh in the five-year projection. So again, brand new fund created for fiscal year 24. Um the last two, three years counting what we're projecting for fiscal year 26, we're floating right around 30% cost recovery, but we think that with the changes that are coming and those capital um investments that we're making, we can get up to 50%. However, staff said, "Please don't commit us to 50%. we feel way more comfortable with 40% to start. Let's see if these investments really start yielding the benefit that we think they will um before we overcommit ourselves and try to tell them that their job is not tied to reaching these goals each year. But I understand

so a couple of things while Kilds is under construction. How can you raise rates unlike youth baseball?

Great question, Mayor Councelor. So when we bring that resolution to you, the season will already be practically over. So it really applies to next year after improvements are made. that you're renegotiating currently baseball. So I'm a little confused on how that works.

Mayor, counselor, so you are right. The long-term lease with Casper Youth Baseball actually expires next year. Uh that was a 20-year lease primarily because they made significant capital investment in the original construction of that facility. During that duration though, they had exclusive use of that facility unless they granted use to some other group. Um and we didn't have any control over how much they were charging or what they were doing. they were to be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the facility and that hasn't really happened. Now, we're making a significant investment, almost $3 million in improving the Field of Dreams, and it is our intention to not have an exclusive lease with youth baseball so that we can open those fields to other user groups to use um because again, our capacity is going to increase so dramatically with the artificial Turk in fields. And so, so there's a couple of things happening in tandem, right, where we're restructuring our lease agreement. So, youth baseball will still have total access uh for what they need for playing, but when they're not playing, we'll be able to offer those amenities to others at an increased rate because we've adjusted the rates. Does that make sense?

Yeah. I mean, I I haven't So, I didn't know how those things are settled or not.

Mayor, I I do know that Nick and his team have been in conversation with the current president of Caster Youth Baseball. So, not necessarily Mr. or Mr. Ker, but with the leadership for the organization right now. And while admittedly they are not thrilled to lose exclusive right to the facility, um again we are committed to working with them to ensure that their club has what they need for their players, but we are able to offer the facility to others who need it as well.

One last question. So you drive by say 10 There's nobody that mayor counselor. So that is one of the things that we are trying to address because currently our exclusive lease holders reserve the time so that they have it locked in and then if they don't use it, we think they're using it and so we like the fields because people are scheduled to be there and then they're not and so it is wasteful. Um through some of the upgrades that we're doing though we have we're you know investments through Musco and lighting and all the things we'll be able to automate some of that and hopefully save there as well. But that's part of the challenge is we see with these exclusive leases that the users feel inclined to lock in that time so that they know that they have it but then if they don't need it the field sit vacant when other groups would gladly take that time. And so that's what we're trying to, you know, puzzle together in a way that works for everyone.

Is that is that fair? Don't Don't let me miss misspeak if I'm not representing it correctly.

So will there be new lighting as part of this plan? LED which I'm guessing right that's where you lost me. I'm not a field lighting expert so I am going to ask Paul to maybe help unpack that a little bit. With the new complex, there won't be an upgraded lighting. Um, they're currently HID lights. Um, to update those to LED, we're looking at two to $300,000. So, those lighting are still performing their specs of where they need to be and within the week. So, those are still in a good spot. So, they're not anywhere close to being needed to be replaced. They're still under a 25 year warranty. So, parts and labor, which we don't have to anything with. So, it's a very very good deal with our lighting company.

Okay, last one. Hang in there. That's nice. All right. So, here are some of the priority based budgeting considerations. First recommendation, centralized facility preparation. You've seen this one, right? So, that that sort of centralized shared service model and we are doing that with custodial. So, ICE will actually see a very significant reduction in what used to be our internal services fees paid to buildings and structures through this model. Um, so that will that will really help the performance of this fund. Um, the second consideration through priority based budgeting was to expand revenue by increasing class and facility user fees modestly, seeking corporate sponsorships, and creating specialized programs of camps, rentable spaces, and branded events. Um, the 5-year plan incorporates modest fee increases that keep the facility affordable, but aligns with regional ice rental fees. Um, scholarship programs of course will be available through clubs and city nonprofit partners to ensure access to ice sports for all. A new summer hockey camp was actually implemented last year and is already full with a wait list for 2026. Uh, we're at capacity with ICE. Um, but this camp can grow even more with the addition of a second sheet. It's it's very popular. It's been wellreceived. Parents love it. Kids love it. Staff loves it. Um, and so we're really excited about this, but you know, we can't grow it anymore until we get some more ice. Um, and then the construction of the second sheet should provide flexibility for us to offer dry flooror events without eliminating ice availability. So having an indoor space where we can bring other events if it's low ice time, maybe summer, um, gives us great flexibility without completely eliminating ice offering. um because we do have a lot of camps and things that are popular during the summer and increasingly so through P Wyoming and different um different camps that are being offered through uh organizations throughout the region. And so, um, this,

you know, flexibility should really bolster our revenue generating opportunities at the facility because we can keep an eye active all summer long while utilizing under uh, you know, less user um, demand space during the summer in a different way. Uh, and then the last one specific to the ice arena is about skate sharpening. Um, so the recommendation is to introduce prepaid skate sharpening card systems offering bulk purchases, add premium skate services such as blade profiling and precision sharpening at increased rates. Identify grants to help uh purchase equipment and staff training and train multiple staff to pro to provide services um so that we can you know bolster that revenue all times during days and shifts. Um, and so the Casper Ice Arena is the only ice skate sharpening service in Casper. And so we do have a a monopoly on that service and we try to capitalize on that. Um, but enhanced packages for sharpening services could help boost our base revenue without significantly increasing staff time to provide those services. And so that is something that we will look at. Um, staff has been successful in securing grants again. And so we will look at grants to help us purchase um the equipment that would be needed to do those advanced skate sharpening and blade profiling functions and then training staff to do that. So if we can secure a grant that gives us the equipment we need to add premium service and then train our staff to do that, we're all about it. So we will be looking at that opportunity and then you know especially as we continue to have uh junior programs that are successful i.e. Warirds um as well as the Casper Amateur Hockey Club athletes which are performing so well um you know those premier services may become more attractive to those more elite athletes um and so we think there's some opportunity there and then an ice arena

attendant position has been created to expand duties into more mechanical tasks. So we used to have just front desk workers and they were really kind of limited to working the concession stand or managing the front desk. uh we created a new position that would allow more technical duties to happen uh including ice maintenance and blade sharpening. And so again, it gets into that staff training, train multiple staff. Now we have a position that allows multiple people to be trained on how to do that. Um and we are able to to keep up with increased capacity for those services. Uh so in addition to those increase advertising and sponsorships, addressed our rates for sports specific programming like our specialty camps, um expand concessions offerings. We think while it is a cold ice arena, ice cream is always popular among children, so we will be adding it. Uh increase rentable hours and rates primarily through a second sheet. uh expand the programming with the second sheet of ice uh to include more ice hockey leagues for adults, learn to play and skate programs, and reintroducing curling hopefully. Um and then expand those summer youth camps again. In terms of cost reduction, uh we are in the process in 27 of finalizing our glass shielding replacement. So, right now, all of the the well, not all of it because half of it has been replaced, but we're replacing the glass around the rink with acrylic. Um, when a puck hits and shatters glass, it's stop everything clean up. Uh, it's it's a maintenance headache. It stops play. Um, so replacing that with acrylic that doesn't break like that um is is going to be a real maintenance improvement and should yield some good savings for us. uh improve staffing efficiency through cross trainining and floating coverage, optimize and reduce operating hours once the second sheet is online to reduce staffing pressures. So, I mean, right now we tell you all the time, right, we have kids on the ice at 5 and 6:00 a.m.

in the morning until 11 o'clock at night. With the second sheet, we shouldn't have to open quite so early or be closed quite so late. And so, really optimizing that time that we're open will hopefully yield some savings. Um and then explore more efficient ice resurfacer options including electric and maybe even autonomous units. Um as again that autonomous technology um is evolving we may look at opportunities to do that. So this is the five-year business plan and this is what it looks like. So we are seeing a consistent decline. I mean as costs continue to go up in ilities and I mean and ice arenas are are very utility mechanical operations and and so it's intensive that way and so we are just struggling with keeping up with the costs of operating and but because we're at capacity we can't generate any more revenue. Um and so it's really incumbent on the second sheet to help us get back to a place where our cost recovery feels more reasonable. Um, that being said, we're coming back the first meeting in June to give you an update on the project itself. And so, it was not my intention to dive deep into this project necessarily, but to show you the business plan that includes the project because we really think it's going to happen.

So, you guys will be coming back to talk more in depth about that. So on the concessions, will the new second chief have a concession area? Are we talking trying to bolster the current format?

Mayor, council, the current design is shared concessions between the two sheets. Um, so we'll we'll need to expand a little bit. Um but it will share concessions between just to save and then on the skate sharpening where where is that space where Chad would you like to in your office? Yeah, please.

Um, mayor council. Um, there is a room behind skate rental. It's about the size of closet, but it fits a uh sharpening machine perfectly in there. And I'm really excited about this subscription service with skate sharpening. I think uh it'll make it easy for parents and kids to pick up their skates on a monthly basis and they'll renew them like You want to learn how to It's It's an art, I think.

That's it.

All right. I know we asked questions along the way. Does anybody have any followups? So, mayor, I so I I don't want personally I don't want to get hung up on the classroom coverage. These are quality of life issues in across the board whether it's you know baseball field soccer unfortunately major football I don't know what happened there but you know swimming pools indoor the ice parks I just see them critical and I I just we've got to find to have these things to have a community. But that's that's just me. But I just think it's critical. I know there's lots of folks out there that this isn't the role of government. say community and not dead space.

Thank you. Thank you for that. Um, and while I appreciate your comments about not being hung up on a cost recovery, uh, and I think my staff also appreciates that, one thing that a cost recovery goal does do for us is it helps us to shape our budget with a target in mind. Right? So, uh, again, less focus on did did we meet that target 100%. or not. But in terms of budgeting, it helps us to stay mindful of managing our expenses appropriately, thinking about revenue generating opportunities uh to the greatest extent that we can and not getting complacent. Um you know, we want to be good stewards of the dollars that we're given uh while still maintaining that that important livability piece that we feel like we exist for. I absolutely agree with you. We we function to create a community that people want to live, work and visit and and that's what we try to do but we try to do it as financially responsibly as we can and so you know hence the ask to reduce where it feels appropriate to do that um because we've struggled to meet that target and it's not sustainable. Um, and so we appreciate the consideration and the fact that, you know, if we don't meet those targets, we're not going to stand up here and just be brave.

No. And I mayor, I appreciate it. I mean, not to bring a sort of subject up, but we didn't know we So that's brutal.

So you are the oracle. But I mean and thank God we're getting some moisture. That's pretty significant. Hopefully it keeps coming. But so we don't know where water It's going to be this summer. I think taxes, property taxes be a little different this year off depending on how many people put into the 25% people were able to put into the 50%. Um, but I think it would be a little better in my opinion and who knows 50% little bit that does go through. I I appreciate

I'll follow up with what Pat was just saying because I think you know we're looking at the different outcomes of a lot of there's a large body of evidence to show the benefits of recreation in our communities and and you know you're talking about physical mental health, social cohesion, community um economic development, it's a big part of that and then the one that I like the most is the equity disparity especially with low income um uh individuals in the community to be able to do that and um I'll die on that hill when it comes to recreation and the amenities because I've seen it mental health um the access for individuals and so um it's it's an amazing necessary investment that we have. I'll challenge anybody to prove me wrong in data research on that.

Thank you. Yes, you bet. That's kind of like That works too. Kyle, thank you, Mayor. Thanks, Julia, for all this. I don't have any questions about the presentation. I'm just curious uh for Wyoming and Hogon, are you going to touch base on that at some point in the near future?

Great question. Um mayor, counselor, uh we are Hogodon will be included in part two uh because it is a bonafideed rock enterprise. Ford Wyoming center is not considered a wreck enterprise. Uh but certainly we can come and share performance data on the Ford Wyoming Center. Um, and you will get some of it during the budget discussion next month because we'll talk about the net operating loss and um, the investment that we make there. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, recreation staff. You guys are amazing. Thanks guys and your dedication. We appreciate you.

Where's the banner going? Your office? No, that's going in Paul's office or maybe on the field. I don't know where where it'll probably go in the facility. We got certificates, too. So, that's in my

Thanks, gentlemen. Thanks, everyone. is ready to roll. I think all kinds of decisions, right? Make a proposal, Matt.

Oh, sorry. We're just waiting for some people to come back. Chief,

working What is that? Yes.

Yeah. Because the microphone's not working. Fill in that hammer right there. Let's hope you're coming. All right, let's go ahead. Chief, do you want to come on up? Do you have anything you want to short discussion about potential training?

Awesome. Hi, Chief. Good evening, mayor, counselors. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and speak with you this evening and request for your permission to apply for a state homeland security grant in the amount of $10,300. This grant will be utilized to coordinate with our partnering uh counties, Converse and Na County, and we will do large scale exercises together to work together and make sure that we're prepared to respond to any type of large scale events. And with that, I'll take any questions. Question from council.

So, I understand But I don't understand. Yeah. The the state's broken up into regions and so commerce and lab are all of ours. So I'm I'm assuming that doesn't have great deal of companies.

Yeah. I I don't believe that they have the type of resources that we do. So, um as a region, we collectively have different pieces uh for the regional response team. And so, we have the largest amount I believe between the three counties. And so, anytime we can get together and do any coordinated training to make sure that when all of us are together, we're on the same page, it's it's a good advantage for all of us. These funds came up from a 2022 20 23 grant cycle just popped up here recently. One of my company officers saw it and and we want to apply for it and we got to spend it before the end of August. So be a good opportunity for us.

Any other questions for Chief? How's everybody feel about good to go? Thank you very much, Chief. Appreciate it. You guys have a good night. Yeah, you two now. Awesome. Let's move along to our final item, option for gaming restrictions. City manager.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, council, so we are here tonight at the request of council to consider gaming and I believe there was a discussion requested as to whether council might like to consider a pause, if you will, on the expansion of gaming, existing gaming establishments or the establishment of new gaming uh facilities. Just a little background here, gaming and gambling establishments can have a lot of land use considerations that includes they can impact parking demand in the area where they're located. Um hours of operation, uh concentration of other uh gambling establishments in single area can exacerbate all of those uh issues that a single establishment would bring. And then of course the really uh major concern I think oftentimes from a public policym standpoint is whether handling establishments are in fact compatible with other nearby uses. Um these businesses often function as late evening destinations. as you well know, they can generate higher traffic and parking demand. Um, they can have a lot of uh signage that you would not see with other types of businesses. And so, for that reason, uh, the clustering of them in certain parts of town can really shape the character of those districts and possibly limit the opportunity for other types of commercial development to occur in and near a conglomeration of gambling establishments. So, um, your staff over in the community development department conducted a review of the city's zoning framework. And here is what I can tell you. Um, there is in your cover sheet a summary of zoning districts that currently allow gambling

or gaming establishments as a permitted use by right or as potentially a conditional use. Those include C2 where it is permitted by right, C3 where it is conditional use but has to be 300 ft from any school or church. In C4 near your highway business um zone, it is a permitted use. It's a conditional use in M1 and M2 but again has to be 300 ft from any school. and one and two are limited and general industrial and then in the old Yellowstone district it is not currently expressly prohibited under the form based code. So what I can tell you is if council wishes to export changes to the city zoning allowances as I just described uh staff would recommend that you would consider a temporary moratorum. Uh this would be a tool that you could use to maintain the status quo in any where you do not want to see ging um development occur during the moratorium period. Uh we would suggest 180 days. That's really the typical length of a moratorium on development that you see really throughout cities. Uh it allows us some flexibility but also doesn't create a morator so long as to sort of really uh eliminate the possibility of that use. We understand that you may have some interest in talking about certain areas of the community that you may want to apply a moratorum um and that you may not want to apply it unilaterally across all of the city. And so at the bottom of your cover sheet, you'll see you'll see we've outlined some suggested questions for you to ponder this evening and uh through that pondering give some additional direction to city staff on where we go from here. So the first is

should the city a temporary moratorum at this time. Then if you think you should adopt a temporary moratorum, uh then we would like to know what geographic areas or zoning districts you would like that moratorum to apply to. And lastly, does council have any initial direction for us on what a long-term regulatory approach for gambling and gaming uses might look like? And so there are some We can unpack a little bit further, but probably we should address the first couple questions and let you guys work through that, which is whether you are interested in a temporary moratorum to allow staff time to look at longer term regulations on gaming and gambling.

So before we go there, so when you when you say gaming, um I'm curious the difference between what's conceived here between skillbased games which are restricted um to begin with only have four per location versus historic horse racing. Are we just talking historic racing or we talking

Mayor youall may want to jump in but I believe that we are talking about under municipal ordinance any kind of gaming or gambling which would include both of the examples that you just provided and bingo I don't know I would have to look at the bingo got included in the I am clear on that. Maybe

so the moratorum can be framed the way that you want it. If you want to include some of it, you can certainly do that. If you want to exclude other pieces, that's up to council to decide. You have the legal authority to include any or all of this.

Another question before we delve too deeply. I appreciate I would resist skill based games because they're kind of critical to like the clubs and some of those operations in particular historic horse racing. So the next question that comes to mind is if operator for whatever reason has been rele by that's part of fuzzy tacos. Um, so let's say that operator, I'm not sure which one operates that one, but um, gets upset for some reason or thinks there's a federal location and they want to switch locations within city limits. Um, with and they're fully licensed. They they've got so many machines already licensed uh through the state. How would the what would be your interpretation if they move that and that I'm not I'm not picking on fuzzy tacos could be El Marco it will be you know several city but how that work if we do do a citywide I haven't studied that But off the top of my head, I would

think that if you put a temporary on, they're sort of stuck where they are for now. They're still licensed to be there grandfathered in where they are. But I would need to research that more, but that would be my preliminary take is where they are.

Thanks, Mayor. Um, I've been trying to do more research on this. plenty out there to digest. Uh but I I do find it appealing this concept of a 180day moratorum because um as a result of legislation that was passed in the state legislature this most current session, we now have more authority over how many of those games exist in our community, where they're at. And I, you know, I imagine I'm not the only counselor that's heard from constituents about perceived oversaturation uh of that industry in our community and uh, you know, frustration when u places are converted into gaming specific operations. And so I I think it would relieve us to um kind of pause activities right now, analyze how many games we have in town, where they're currently located. I would love uh to hear from our police department uh with, you know, potentially overlaying a heat map of crime and other impacts related to these uh areas so that we can get a sense of what sort of impact they do have. Once we have that baseline data, then I think we need to have conversations about what our tolerance level is for those impacts, whether we should restrict these businesses to, you know, a concept I've read about is quarter based zoning, which you essentially set up several areas around your community where they're allowed. uh sometimes with conditional use permits, sometimes not, but you're essentially establishing these uh gaming districts throughout your community. That helps in one sense because obviously they require public services. Police are responding to them, fire responding to them, and if you have them spread out, dispersed all around

your community, it's much harder, especially when we don't have a fully staffed uh police or fire force to provide high quality service to all those places. So, when you c in several distinct areas. It can make it easier to respond and kind of mitigate those impacts. I hear what you're saying on the skills based gaming. I'd be open to potentially carving them out, but I also know Mayor Hancock in Riverton was having issues. They had a Smith's grocery store that they put Skills Gate and because they were a licensed liquor establishment, they were allowed to. I don't know if they fixed that loophole in the session. I know it was discussed last intro. Okay.

But I'm not. So I would want at least our city attorney's office to review that. See if that loophole or other loopholes exist. Um but yeah, to me there may be a little bit less, you know, I wouldn't want them in the family areas like I would also have issue that we saw them start popping up in our grocery stores. But yeah, I think we just need to really wrap our head around what is the current status of this industry in our area and how would we like to see it grow or not into the future. I think we need to do it with intent and not just kind of take it as they come and hope that we're happy with the outcome.

Yeah, I'm in support of moratorum. I think it's smart. I think it's pragmatic approach to kind of do a study because I think it has expanded very fast. Um, and so I do share some of those concerns to be able to have a longterm plan how we want this to go. I think giving the staff the opportunity to to make some some decisions around that. So that's I'm very supportive of a moratorum. I'll get you.

I would I would support a moratorum as well. Um, I'm unclear I guess just that kind of what uh what games exactly are allowed now and I think I know what skills basically means but check that but I uh I am I am also aware of I mean I learned today I didn't know but they mentioned it when they were here that the county health department actually now has a gambling addiction response team that they have a service to respond to anyone who who may need gambling addiction support which you know I think just not that I'm opposed to it but I I just I think there are inherent um downsides to to so I in favor as much as possible as much as anyone but I would be in favor of more because I I do kind of have that impression. I have heard from constituents as well about feels like it's kind of growing and not necessarily out of control but just expanding. Yeah.

I think they're general concerns, right? I mean the impacts of tax of you know even with like liquor and the liquor license. Sorry.

So on that point on the addiction side. So that's all funded through the gaming companies. There's a percentage of revenue and taxation that goes into that. Then it's up to the counties. Not all counties apply for that commission to put that money back. So, um, so I, um, I'm not sure doing I mean interested in this district thing, but I think quite honestly that should still um, where we now I I guess for expansion we could look districts, but then does it open us up to litigation at this point if we decide to go with districts in particular? Does that open us up to litigation because you know one company bought Suns right next to Seventh Day Adventist Church. I don't know how that'll work quite honestly, but it's certainly not 300 ft away from the back of the church, but but that I'm just wondering future if that does open up the litigation. Well, they're there. I can't

go ahead.

Mayor, it sounds like WH typically let's say down the road the city council does um establish districts or something like mentioned that would allow for grandfather use in existing locations um but not new uses in those locations. really similar. I mean, some people are going to have vested rights based on applying under the law, creating their establishment as it is, and until that use changes, they're going to continue to enjoy those vested rights. Um, the moratorum a few things in real office is agnostic about it. can draft it either way. But there there are some things to think about that I think would be important for you from a policy and a risk standpoint. The first is do need to be shortterm 180 days. You have to move pretty quickly on that. If you don't do anything with it, then you try to do it in the future. There may be a presumption that it's invalid. The second is there's revenue impacts. These are all getting ready to go into budget sessions and I don't know exactly what those revenue impacts would look like to your during the moratorum that they exist. So, it may be worth considering whether that's worth it. And um the other thing would just be if we're going to have to move that quickly that staff would really need clear definitions like Mr. Sweeney was talking about exactly which kind of games you were looking at. um there won't be a lot of time to draft when you're talking about ordinances that require readings and work sessions and other things. So the questions that are in your packet are really important to be able to move the vision or sorry we have up to 180 days but we

could do less 180 days. So we could go up in any of those types of those timelines have been presumptively reasonable with most courts. So guess you could do it quicker.

If you extend it, there probably needs to be a really good reason to extend it. That's that's where it gets pretty great.

Well, Janine made made a good um observation, too. And then we need six weeks to be able to to pass the ordinance. So there's that window as well to go through that thought was a big deal, but now freaked out about how short it is. uh concerns noted. I guess I'm not as worried about it. My, you know, my feeling is that it gives us six months of breathing room to do some leg work to have the conversations even if we don't pass a single ordinance in that time if the writing is on. I don't foresee any developers following our conversation knowing that we plan to introduce ordinances kind of outlining a framework for this and trying to shoehorn in before we're able to pass our three readings. Um I would think we have some degree of authority over even even as it exists without moratorum otherwise we still have some degree of authority over this in the form of you know transfer with the licenses and my understanding is we have again some influence over if a business is well perhaps not. I guess if our zoning maybe some of these I think we should act on sooner than later like zoning uh you know I'm open to uh being flexible on this but my instinct right now is that they should all be conditional use permitting and so um in that case even if we don't pass you know more farreaching policies or ordinances if they need to come to us for a conditional use permit regardless of what the zoning designation is we still have that authority to say no or not. So I think some of these we could

prioritize higher to you know develop that authority.

I would just caution that if you make everything a conditional use permit and all the conditional use permits get denied, then you're going to run into a preeemption or a conflict with state law saying that you are you're trying to preempt state law by circumventing what we have said that they can do. They can be somewhere where in fact granting a license. So you're not going to just be able to eliminate everything. You may an alternative to that maybe to say what are your most important areas of town your o your C3. Do we want to do something with those immediately? Because o right now there's nothing expressly. As long as you have somewhere that they can locate um you probably won't preemption but the conditional use permit for every district.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Um, you brought up, you know, certain like I can tell you as someone who just attended a meeting last night, uh, of all the joint downtown uh, business associations like we should seriously consider uh, OID and DBA districts, making them off limits completely. I know there was a lot of anxiety when there was initial interest in taking over the old concern mall there on Beach Street in second or whatever it is, turning that into a parlor. So, you know, that's that's an issue specifically I think we should try to get at this downtown specifically, but we're looking at wanting from what I'm hearing people are looking at do a citywide moratorium that is that what we're leaning towards since history. Is that what you're thinking about?

Yeah. I mean, my feeling is even if we don't iron out all these kinks in that six months, if we can, you know, restrict downtown, we can talk about conditional use permits and maybe bolstering our authority in that regard. Like, I think there's things we can get done in the next six months that will still be beneficial even if we don't get it all done within that time frame.

Yeah. Um, can you I can you give me some clarification about u what what would be the conditions in a conditional use permit? I'm thinking of like is it things like you know police activity crime increase what are those conditions we're talking about something entirely different?

That that's a really good question. With conditional uses, what the Wyoming courts tend to say is they need to be reasonable based on on what you're doing. Um, they can't be exactions. They can tend to be limited operating hours or other things that you can tie specifically to a really good rational reason for doing something or something else. They don't really give you here's exactly what they are. They just say they need to be reasonable for what you're doing. If you have a rational basis for doing that, it's usually upheld.

So it sounds like that looking at that first question that you know we are okay with the temporary moratorum and then um J kind of guided me here. So looks like we've also had the citywide thing unless somebody wants to push back on citywide. The third question really seems to be a bit more broad um and expansive and I know I just kind of chatted with you for a second on the side here looking at the direction to give staff tonight. What do you think would be the best way for us to move forward with that list? I mean if that makes sense tonight.

Well, I'll say this. Hearing your discussion so far, I feel like those of you that have spoken are asking for a little more data. Um and so I that I want to kind of hedge and say if you know I ask you right now well what kind of spacing requirements do you have in mind I feel like you don't have enough data to even give us any meaningful feedback on that right now and that spacing would be like space from churches and schools things like that or um as the planners suggested um we already touched on permitted versus conditional uses but um characteristics of gaming and do they are they compatible or would they erode the character of certain districts like um I I get a feeling that you have some concern about that, but that's really more of a subjective thing. So, I think data can if you do it, let me backtrack. If you do a citywide moratorum, we don't have to worry about the character of districts and if the that use is compatible. Um we just have a blanket moratorum and we have six months that we can work on this and it's actually going to be about nine months. I wanted to clarify that too. Um because we'll need six weeks or so to the ordinance to establish the moratorum. Then we'll have a 60 a sixmonth pause or 180day pause that we can work on it and then it'll take another six weeks to adopt an ordinance if you so choose. Um, so I've hedged, but um, I feel like asking for too much more feedback right now is probably dangerous because I feel like you need data.

And I and I would just say included in that data would be some definitions of terms like I'm not sure what buffering is that spacing creative landscape and things like that sort of or fencing to sort of off the establishment and make it attractive. noticeable, but yeah, there's a lot you can do there. Parking, do you want on street parking on parking? How much enhanced parking? Uh, Amber had to leave, but she wanted to make sure her opinion uh yes to the moratorium. She wants to see updated PD data

and she would support a districtbased system as a starting point for policy making. Okay, district based versus city I think that's my understanding like Kyle, you probably know more about this than I do.

Yeah. I mean, just I think it's going back to that concept I brought up of the corridor based zoning where you're establishing districts again with the understanding that some of these people are going to be grandfunded because it was legal at the time, but trying to influence people to develop in specific areas of town because I think up to this point it has I can they're all over the place right now in those specific areas. My guess is it makes it hard from a public service probation standpoint to respond to but I want to operate under ahead.

Go ahead. So I'm wondering about cars for skill and bingo because to my knowledge the only bingo operation is troopers. I don't know if the Catholics are doing any of that anymore. We've moved away from bingo. Crime. Are they finding a new one? Do you know anyone that wants to open a bingo facility? We move more towards blackjack.

It's a little more fun. Yeah. So, I'm good with the citywide moratorum and I don't think need to exclude bingo. If you don't know anyone that's trying to join a open up a bingo, then wait a minute. Then we don't have to understand which ones are horse races versus blackjack versus bingo versus whatever that game is. That that was quarters, right? Skill based. Anyways,

so I'm in support of that. I think the most important thing that I feel like I want to know is how many games do we currently have? How many is the max that we should have can have. What is the state? Let's maximize what we're allowed to do while the state currently allows us to do it. Let's so what is the maximum amount that we should have, could have, do have. So we have a full understanding of what we're looking at versus what we're going to look at. And I do like the idea. You don't have to call it a district. Call it whatever you want. Map it out. Let's get them in areas that are similar. Let's establish the important places like schools and churches, which when I see conditional uses, my brain went straight to school and church. What other conditions? My brain didn't even come up with ideas. I just went with school and church, so I would love to know. No, I'm kidding. Let's make sure they're not by those places. What suggestions do other places in this area have that we should be like, "Oh, yes, let's make them have a tall fence." So, I would like to know what places already have these. You might have to do a little expanding since I'm sure nobody else in Wyoming has a ton of rules yet. But let's get some ideas of what other places have done that they find successful. But how many what I want to know is how many do we have? How many do we need? How many do we not need? So the gaming commission has all

so we just need I'm sure they'll be super helpful actually. I'm sure the staff I was just as but sure the staff will be reached out to them exactly just saying we have to give them a hot minute to get on all these things because then we have to have a meeting and then we have to decide okay now we know what we're doing now what do we want to change so I'm going to say we're

um would the council be amable to maybe a small working group that we could bounce off and I want to detail off what excuse me what the counselor said um which is of course this is an area where public policy is pretty well developed about how to regulate gaming so your professional staff will draw upon the experiences of other communities and you don't have to recreate the wheel so to speak um definitely have a contact in Cheyenne that we would love to invite to come and brief you on these different types of games because an expertise or knowledge set that your staff have. So, we would want to defer to the experts on that. Um, but if we could get that person scheduled and getting ready to come in and do a sort of primer on this is gaming in Wyoming. Um, subsequently or simultaneously I should say, we could be working with a little working group to kind of flesh out what areas of interest um you have. And I've heard we want a moratorium citywide, but we'd like first to consider maybe district specific um legislation as a permanent regulatory scheme. So we can start unpacking some of that if a few of you feel like you are interested using as

just one thing I kind of want to point out with the with the election cycle looming that I think my math is right. I think we could potentially have at least maybe not have the ordinance in place but have some pretty substantial decisions about direction or by December but I would be interested in that. So you're saying people that don't want to run again.

Yeah. Just kind of looking at know Michael had volunteered but maybe one or two sitting on that. I'm not looking at you. I've already put you on committees. At least you asked this time. I mean your expertise path too in business things like that have to be pretty flexible. How flexible about lunch hours? All right, fine. I'll do it

because I would would like to still discuss I I do believe more is coming. I mean the last I can't remember if it was MGM or who track going east of China but one of the major major major players in the gaming industry they're tying it together with Colorado propping up a new track in But it's a major was also

Yeah. old guy and he's got a couple also. But so more more will be coming because that's that's the precept on historic racing is the track and getting statewide with historic but I I am want to point out that the fairgrounds proper is in the county um not within the city surrounded by um and also I still believe skill skill based games don't part of the moratorum or partator on skill based games.

Where's council on that? We probably have to make that decision. We're going to do so just so you know the skill skill based games at different skill based can have four by state law in a location tied to a liquor license. 21 year olds are supposed to be in that loophole I believe has been closed because there was actually I can live So, you're gonna go against

I'm gonna go against them on this one. Anybody have any strong feelings? I'll go with Pat on the skills base. Is anybody else about to they do look like a slot machine. Okay. But they're limited. different

the office of kind of like the old pinball machin

I'm the same way Joe I'm just like you know what is it historic racing. That's a slot machine. Yeah. Does anybody have any other support around? Can I make a proposal? Sure. What if we just start with the moratorum and since we can make adjustments to the moratorum as we progress if we learn what these games are and be like, "Oh, you're right. My bad." Just kick them out early. Is that an option

counselor through your mayor? It is an option but remember if you have to impose the moratorum by ordinance then the change to the either here it's either now or never the difference between well let's go ahead now I'll be public health be on your board um yeah I mean I have less heart about the skills gains it does look Senate file 46 did close that grocery store loo was talking about this most recent session. So you know I think people are more concerned about the larger

is there enough support for that tosses. Okay, Michael.

I don't know either, Michael, but I just found it funny that you're like this vision of ring toss

so it sounds like yes exclude. Okay. Um, so wrapping up, council, we did put a draft ordinance in your packet attorney's office that ready to come forward for first reading excluding skill. And then I have council and willing to form a working group to visit with us about some of the elements of what a permanent regulatory framework might look like. Anybody else want to participate?

I don't think has time to be on it just because

how about we start with you three and then have Michael be the alterate. So you guys can use Michael if you guys can't make it. Does that sound okay? I'll just be less flexible. You two guys will be like this. It'll be a good match. We're like the exact fit together really well. We're going to change the world.

The same voice. Awesome. Thank you everyone. Is that all you needed from us? All right. All right, let's do a gender review. I don't know if you have anything for us on the review. I don't actually. I looked earlier and I think what's coming forward is pretty straightforward. So that if you have any questions for me,

anybody have any questions about the All right, let's go ahead and do council around the table. Can we start um kind of before we go? Should we talk, you know, possibility of adding something?

Uh yeah, I I was going to bring up around the table, but agenda review appropriate time. So I um through DDA, OID and meeting I was at last night, uh there is in folks downtown to expand the operating hours and the geographic area of our open container ordinance. I know that usually starts Memorial Day, which is coming up real quick. So, I'm hoping we can have at the very least just a brief conversation about what that will look like this year. And if there's, you know, the the request that I received, Jenna, that's what she was saying before uh she left is um there's a property owner down there that was looking to, you know, expand uh up to First Street at least in some areas because currently I believe the open container ordinance is only south of Second Street. Um, so potentially uh allowing them up to First Street. There's also interest for multiple people to increase the hours on specifically Saturday uh to be a little more generous. And um the note Jenna gave me said that currently the folks on the south part of Ash Street are 321 Rockers Drapery and oh south of Midwest on Ash Street are not in the boundary. That surprises me. I thought they were. So, I guess maybe just looking for clarification on that. Um, yeah, I just there's some recommendation minor adjustments and so hopefully we could mail it out and maybe, you know, one work session or something is council okay with a work session.

Sounds good.

Yeah. Yeah, it's a resolution. Yeah, it's a resolution. So, a little more simple. Can we get that done? We have a work session. Yeah. So, I talked about this earlier. Um, your resolution is a standing resolution. This established open container area will take effect May 1st, but you could come in by resolution after that and amend it if you so choose. Yes. But take effect in the existing boundary and time frames day of time frames on day one. So would that come into effect beforemorial?

So for the majority of the summer if we expanded awesome you have anything else you'd like to share? So wonder At some point when we would talk about anything going on in particular special

um mayor at this point we are with some of the property owners down there this over the next week and I guess we'll see the outcomes of that. I know the city attorney's office has included legal research to understand the ownership and restrictions on the city parking lot including those types of things. I wouldn't rule out at this point.

I don't know about Walt. I know I said I wasn't going to give you any. Yeah, I think I think whether we can do an executive session will be determined by what happens next week and whether potential litigation falls from that or not. That makes sense. We're kind of wait

so also I believe everybody got the email from Warren B on the Stone Ridge property asking for reconsideration. I don't know council to not reop anybody. We have

I'm just going to ce my problem trying to get communication. out of the office

around. So I kind of tried that. Yes, I did. Um and then um also on I was at yesterday minerals economic development committee meeting talking a little bit about the business council and the benefits that they bring. Was pretty well attended. for the most part. We'll see what comes. That's all.

Uh just uh today I attended the uh the county safety and justice meeting. Uh we had they did a report about the results. They call it a wilder survey. It's actually a survey of the members of that that uh committee or council rather uh that uh asks about kind of operational kind of how well does the the group function as a team in terms of respect you know relationship trust issues resources etc etc and so conversation about uh around having capacity And then I think the other one was mission alignment I believe were the two areas to to focus that was going to focus their their work on. Um we did have also we had two reports one from the uh county county health department kind of similar to the the update we had a few weeks ago from um just kind of the high points of of what the the health department what what services they offer, resources, etc. And we also had a an update that we also had previously about the uh central wing counseling center mobile response team. So that was a good opportunity to hear more about that and ask people questions there. I I have had uh some not not well moves a phone call and some just people run into and questions about uh the size of if there's a restriction and I can email this to you.

Thank you. besides there's a restriction in city ordinance about political signs in yards specifically that the concern was that there political signs that are popping up and they're larger than your average um yard sign

in in yards um and kind of blocking people's obstructing people's view when they were trying to pull out from a street. This is specifically on Popper Street uh trying to pull out from a side street and constructed to kind of see oncoming traffic. Um, also had and again I can do most of these to you as well to uh the one one thing that's kind of emerged I guess on my radar is as we talk about housing and u the number of unhoused individuals in Casper and so forth and those those challenges. um the idea of kind of thinking about housing as a as a continuum. This kind of goes to the question I asked Kelly about that I mentioned to you Janine about um you know her recommend her thought about taking more holistic view to housing in in Casper. um looking at that continuum of and I think of that start for me the starting of that continuum being emergency shelter for those individuals who you know they're not ready to commit to some kind of from the supportive housing but they just need a place to get off the street so they don't die you know that kind of thing get those get folks out from under the bridge if we can or out of the parks or wherever they're they're staying on the streetsum So, all you know is

that's all I have. Thank you.

I'm pretty sure I did something, but it's lost. I got nothing. I know I was somewhere. Same. No, I do. We did the URA. We're gonna form a group. You were there. Come on. That's what we did. Got that. That was terrible. Kyle, pick up our slide. We just

had a homelessness coalition meeting last Wednesday at the collective health trust. Um, Captain Captain, right? I wrote lieutenant. I don't know why I always get the title.

Captain Captain Davney was there. uh and he discussed a very difficult case that occurred earlier over the week uh with a non-compliant individual who made their way uh to Casper from elsewhere and so uh those providers uh in that meeting kind of explained the work of the situation table which I didn't know much about so it was enlightening from that perspective but they meet monthly to address high needs clients and how to provide wraparound services to them to you know really try to achieve the best outcomes and to me it was just an illustration of how much better it seems like everyone is collaborating coordinating together on these types of cases. I think through the creation of the Nona County Safety and Justice Group and the situation table and uh the homelessness coalition, I I'm just glad to see um historically when I worked in social services, it felt very much like everyone was siloed doing their own thing, not talking together, not um coordinating services. So, I'm just glad to see that culture changing. It seems like it's yielding quite a bit of benefit already. Um but it does gap in services that currently exist primarily as we discussed in that meeting for pre-dementia elderly individuals uh folks who are unlimited f who are unlimited funds who uh maybe there's concerns about them being able to take care of themselves uh but they do not qualify for a 381 involuntary cycle initiated by the state and they refuse or unable to live in assisted living. So that there are people that are definitely still falling between the cracks because we don't have services or legal mechanis mechanisms like I brought up before. Um you know um what's that called? Not stewardship but um

conservative.

Conservative ship um we don't have those sorts of things really um broad enough to capture these people and um you know really guide them into treatment when they should when they need it. Um, and uh, so it's a serious issue. I hope they pick it up at the state level because I I think that's where it needs to be addressed. Uh, Salvation Army, they have 10 beds of transitional housing now for justice involved individuals with more on a waiting list. Kelly from Community Action Partnership reported that in the last month there were 104 households that have received $20,000 in assistance to prevent eviction. So just kind of a continuing saga of those updates I gave where it just seems like more and more people are struggling with the utility bill payments. A wham region 4 meeting last uh it was right after that homelessness meeting an hour or two afterwards. Uh last Wednesday Ashley our executive director updated the group on the work that they're doing in the interim. Housing and water are two big issues most municipalities and towns are asking for assistance with. I was kind of uh had a tab open. Well, you know, I was paying attention to our meeting, but I was also reading about Fontail Reservoir being at 49% and then potentially drawing down that to feed Flaming Gorge, which they're drawing down to feed Lake me. So, you know, uh the water is still definitely giving me uh cause for concern. We discussed the summer convention in Laramie, which sounds like it's going to be awesome and have lots of different components to it. You know, a lot elaborate maybe um than previous ones. So, we encourage you to maybe join. RAM is offering resources to cities to help them navigate things like foyer requests. Uh I know we've been subject to that at times, but just across the state, there are lots of municipalities just getting very burdensome and ownorous foyer requests a lot of the times from forprofit entities

that are just seeking to resell that data. So again, it's it's public servants and our city staff bending over backwards to get people that they're going to turn around and sell and make a buck off of. So, you know, just trying to navigate that and find some path forward that still uh protects transparency to citizens but maybe helps mitigate some of this ownorous leg work that a lot of folks are having to do. Um, and then I had a downtown meeting last night. It was DCBA, downtown Casper Business Association, development authority o uh had Lindsay from Lyric there. Uh David Street station was present. So uh a good meeting of everyone with kind of downtown interest. They're having a lot of success with I think it's called windows of bloom. Uh everyone everyone painting on their windows. Uh they're doing kind of a contest right now for best dressed windows and they found a lot more success with that than they were hoping for. It's going very well. They're having lots of people participating that didn't even sign up like the actual event and so they're talking about doing something similar around July 4th for the 250th celebration. Um we already talked about open container ordinance. Uh and then Melissa from downtown Development Authority, she gave an update on that board's goal to permanently light 17 planterbased trees along Second Street. We uh she had some devil lights that she showed that were you know very cool. Uh we had tough guys is the contractor we're looking to work with to install that permanent lining. Uh they were up there yesterday to do kind of a sidewalk and uh get eyes on the area and uh so yeah that's a very cool project that all the downtown folks are really pumped on. She also mentioned the fact that they distributed $35,000 in boost funding to eight separate entities and that is all I got today.

Great meeting today. A lot of information. Thank you staff. Just you dab me.