City Council - Regular Meeting

Schedule.

Before we begin this evening, I'd like to remind everyone to please silence your cell phones and remind that council meetings are live streamed on our city's YouTube channel. I now call the September 15th, 2026 regular council meeting to order. The chair to entertain a motion to excuse the absence of Councillor Larson. Moved by Councillor Bond, seconded by Councillor Pollack. Please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With all councilors voting aye, the motion passes.

The chair would entertain a motion to remove item 11B14 from tonight's agenda. Move by Councilor McIntosh, seconded by Councilor Haskins. Please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With all councilors voting aye, the motion passes.

Thank you, everyone. Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Please read the consent minute approval titles.

Approving the minutes of the September 1st, 2026 regular council meeting and the September First 2026 executive session.

Motion to approve the consent minute action agenda items just read. Moved by Councillor Pollack, seconded by Councillor McIntosh. Any abstentions or nay votes? Please cast your vote.

With all councillors voting aye, the motion passes.

The chair to entertain a motion to approve by minute action the September 15th 2026 bills and claims as audited by City Manager Jordan. Move by Councilor McIntosh, seconded by Councilor Haskins. Any abstentions? Please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With all Councilors voting aye, the motion passes.

Thank you, everyone. Tonight, we would like to welcome the Wyoming Food Bank Director of Development, Olivia McCarthy, and Development Manager, Shelley. I'm going to massacre this name. Sorkowski. Sorkowski, thank you so much. Sorkowski. Oh, hey. Hey. Sorry, Danica. I didn't see you there. It wasn't in my script, and if it's not in the script, I don't know what to say. Yeah, well, it's on the teleprompter. I'm like a newscast person. And the executive director. From the Wyoming Food Bank, the supporters, would you guys please come forward, introduce yourselves, and I'll read a proclamation. Proclamation.

Hi, thanks for having us again. It's Hunger Action Month. I'm Danica Spita, Executive Director of Food Bank of Wyoming.

I'm Shelly Strakowski, Jessica Osborne, Community Relations Coordinator. And Olivia McCarthy, Director of Development.

So tell us a little bit about this, Danica. That would be fantastic.

Yeah, so Hunger Action Month is a month to recognize that there's a lot of people feeling hungry. In Wyoming, we have the 12th highest percentage of the population facing food insecurity. The numbers keep climbing. I've been with a food bank for four years and every year the number is increasing. And I think we all feel that when we go to the grocery store.

I know when I look at my cart,

and so this is to really recognize we heard all the time of the welfare queen it's just people sitting around not doing anything and utilizing government resources well that's

Provide them food?

while they work on putting necessary to live a stable life. And so when people support Food Bank of Wyoming, they're really happening in our town and our state. And it is a huge issue because food is fundamental to everything that we do. If people don't have enough to eat, they're going to sacrifice so, so much. And so supporting Food Bank of Wyoming is one way that we can help neighbors. You can raise your voices. This legislative session, we saw sunbucks. Pat made me talk about it quite a bit the other day. And so the governor funded sunbucks, which is a really important program that helps families that don't have a summer feeding site close by to be able to provide food for their kids when school is out. And so I think we're starting to recognize that the need is here and it's worth investing in. If we have kids that are nourished and well fed, they're going to learn a lot more in school instead of having a kid that didn't eat that well that morning and worrying about if they're going to have food at the end of the day, they're probably not focusing on math. And so these cycles continue. We need to make sure that we make the investment in nourishing food for people so that they can be productive citizens and contribute back to the state.

Awesome.

Thank you so much. You guys want to come up here behind me?

I can't wait.

Yeah, that's good. Whereas hunger is a vital concern in Wyoming, where food insecurity rates are at more than a 10-year high, including one in every seven individuals and one in every five children experience food insecurity. And whereas every person deserves access to the food and resources they need to live a full, healthy life, and when people don't have enough to eat, it impacts their health, education, and future opportunities. And whereas the City of Casper is committed to working with Food Bank of Wyoming to educate people about the role and importance of the Feeding American Network and how it stands alongside neighbors facing hunger to ensure everyone has access to the food and resources they need to thrive. And whereas more than 13,100 individuals in Natrona County, over 16.4% of the population are estimated to experience food insecurity today. And whereas Food Bank of Wyoming distributed more than 12 million pounds of food to Wyomingites experiencing food insecurity in 2025 through a network of agency partners, food pantries, and meal programs, and other community organizations. And whereas the month of September has been designated Hunger Action Month to bring communities together to elevate the voices of people who experience food insecurity and inspire everyone to take action in the movement to end hunger. Now, therefore, I, Ray Pacheco, Mayor of the City of Casper, do hereby proclaim September 26 as Hunger Action Month, and I encourage all the citizens to increase their understanding and awareness of food insecurity and how it impacts our nation, our state, our county, and our communities. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and cause the official seal of the City of Casper, Wyoming to be affixed the 15th day of September 2026. So I just want to give a big, huge thanks for the work that they do. Jessica is one of my former youth group kids when I was a youth minister. So it's always good to see you. Danica is a former colleague of mine at Casper College. So thank you. I think it was really important for us to understand that the level of some of us are one paycheck, one disaster, one emergency away from food insecurity. And I don't think that it discriminates against anybody. And I think that's really important for us to understand. Casper and Wyoming tend to be one of the most giving states in the country, and I believe that wholeheartedly. But I think when we look at and remove the stigma around individuals that are housing instability, that are homeless, that have mental health issues, traumatic brain injuries, addictions, all those things that create that, and the elderly who are particularly vulnerable That we stand in that to say that it is an injustice in the United States of America that we have people that are hungry. So my challenge to us, and this comes more from the heart as a social worker than the mayor, is that we have to stand in unity to make sure people in our community and our state do not ever, especially kids, ever go hungry. And we fight for that. We continue to support Wyoming Food Bank. Thank you for the work that you guys do. We appreciate you. And thank you for the justice you guys push for. Thank you. So now is the time that we invite anyone in the audience who wishes to speak with the Council to come forward. This portion of the meeting is dedicated to the public to allow time to discuss matters of public interest and for anyone to voice any concerns. We ask that you please state your name. Direct all your questions and comments to the mayor. No personal obscenities or threats will be tolerated. Council will not respond to any personnel matters. These will all be referred back to our city manager. Council may ask clarifying questions, but if they choose to respond to matters, that will be done at a scheduled council response time following communications from persons present. Presentations will be limited to five minutes and there are no time extensions that will be permitted. Please note the public hearings and ordinances each have their own separate comment periods. Just a quick note, the microphone is very sensitive, so you don't need to speak so directly into it. You can stand a few feet back and it'll pick you up just fine. Anybody wish to address council?

Mayor? Yes. Point of clarification. So I noticed quite a few hockey folks out there. And so... they're under number 10 resolutions, a non-consent. Correct. Will there be a public hearing portion at that point or? No, there'll be no public comment at that, at that time.

Okay. So if they wanted to say something. Oh, great point. Yeah. Thank you, counselor. So if anybody from the hockey community that is here, I don't see very many, just kidding. Just kidding. Just one or two of you. If you want to come up and address council around that, since it's on a non-consent, meaning there's no public comment, I would encourage you. Thank you, Councillor Sweeney.

How are you all? I'm Travis St. John, president of the Casper Amateur Hockey Club. And mainly just wanted to thank you all for the support and working through the process that we have over the last eight years now. And it's super exciting to see it so close to getting to the point of the project being able to break ground. And honestly, thousands of hours are put in by volunteers and city employees to work through the process to get at this point to the point that it is. And I think it's definitely worth the push with the positive benefits that it's going to have with economic impact of more tournaments, more teams coming, people coming to Casper is always a benefit there. Lowering the subsidy to the that has to go to the ice rink and then filling the demand that's seen in the community, and whether that's through youth and adult players as well. When we did the feasibility study eight years ago, there was a demand. It was seen that we needed a second sheet of ice at that point, and it certainly continued to grow even over that period of time until now. So that'll be great to serve that need that's seen for the community and across the state. When you really look at, um, talk to any of the hockey teams and community or programs around the state. Um, and I think the one thing I want to state that kind of relates to just all projects in general, like this is when I started this project, my excitement was to have it to where my son could play hockey on the ice. We didn't quite get it done in time for that, but now that he's, um, now that he's in college, it's, what do we do? It's flipped, um, kind of unbeknownst to me, but I felt the change go from providing something for him to do when he was here. But now I got to provide something that makes it attractive for him to come back to. And I think that's the big thing that as a community, we have to really hopefully continue to press on is how do we build the community and invest in the community and with assets like this, um, and many others too, but to make it something that will keep our youth here. And then also something that will bring them or either keep them here if they're staying here or bring them back if they're going elsewhere for a period of time. So greatly appreciate your support, um, in, in working through all this. So any questions for me?

Any questions?

Yeah.

Counselor Sweeney.

Thank you, Mary. Thanks for being here. And, uh, I just appreciate with all the setbacks that have happened, not just the sixth cent in the SPECTACs, but even before that and all of the different iterations, yet you guys continue to press on. And I just appreciate all of your efforts. I appreciate city staff efforts. to try to keep this on track. And I just want to say thank you. And I didn't know if there were any of the youth players that might be prepared to tell folks that hopefully with the second sheet of ice, they won't have to be there to practice at 6 o'clock in the morning.

For sure. Yes, I don't know if there are not. We'll see if anybody else comes up, but.

Very much appreciated. Anybody else wish to address the Council of regarding this matter?

Mr. Wold, how are you?

Thank you. Mr. Mayor, distinguished counselors. It's a privilege to be here tonight. I'm not going to replicate the comments that I put into a letter that I sent to all of you yesterday, but I appreciated your comments back. I take them to heart. This project has been underway for, I can't tell you how long, ever since my young son who was three years old When we first put him out on the hockey rink, we've been trying to get a second sheet of ice. He's now 40 years old. So it's been a long haul. I can remember back when my father, who played semi-pro hockey in his day, wanted that second sheet of ice. We put it up at the event center and that didn't work. But this one, here at this location makes all kinds of sense, and it will. So I want to thank all of you for your leadership, your devotion to Casper, and to your commitment of time, because I know that there's a lot of it. I look over here and I see the plaque acknowledging the first sheet of ice in 1982. And I look forward to the one that will be on the plaque that says 2027 second sheet of ice. So I hope that you'll support this resolution authorizing the funding of the second sheet of ice. Thank you very much. Any questions? Go ahead.

So thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Wolfe. And I didn't know anybody replied, but I did want to thank yourself for all your dedication. When you came on board with this project, I knew it was gonna get over the hump and appreciate that. But I would like to mention, so thank you for writing, Tasma Powers, Keith Hopkins, Kevin Anderson, Sam Lemp, Travis St. John, Jamie Warner, the executive director of Casper Amateur Hockey, Jennifer Jensen, Luke Opitz, David Ostermeyer, Caleb Bullington, Samantha Myers, Nicole Hickey, Paige Heron, Jenny Oaks, Seth Corrin, Angela Kerr, Sam Kingsolver, Brianna McConnell, Jessica Corson, Mr. Wold, Ken and Stacey Kennedy, Heather Grossman, Joanne Davis, Amanda Beckman, Brackman, Victoria Petty, and Auburn Richardson considered that returned email. I appreciate it. the dedication and Glenda, if you sent those folks forward, they did their job. So, but really appreciate all of your efforts and you've made such a marked difference in our city. So thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Anybody else? Any young people brave enough? No one's forced. Okay.

They're like, nope. Okay, thank you everyone. Let's go ahead and we'll move towards, if there's any counselors that would like to briefly respond or to address any of the comments that were just made. So I'd like to open that up to the council.

Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. Don't have any prepared comments. Just wanted, I always like seeing a room filled with people. it's nice to have company during our meetings. Uh, too often it's just a handful of city staff members and, uh, you know, the chief's in the back. So, uh, I'm just always excited to see people in the room. Thank you all for taking the time out of your evening. I know you might be stalling or missing dinner plans and stuff. So just thank you for showing up. Thank you to everyone that reached out to us and emailed us. Um, uh, I barely got through them all. Uh, so yeah, I appreciate some, uh, some patience and grace with all of us who received those emails over the past day. Hopefully we can get back to you. But yeah, just thank you everyone for being out here tonight. Thank you for your advocacy and for your passion for this project. Like Peter, I'm excited to add another plaque to the wall. So thank you.

Any other counselors?

Counselor Bond.

Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I would just like to add my thanks to all the families that showed up tonight, the ones that wrote emails to us. I think this is such a remarkable example of public-private partnership that I don't think people always appreciate or realize how unusual that is. I think it's not the norm in some locales. So I think Casper is to be congratulated as a community for endeavoring to do this. So again, thank you for all your commitment and for being here.

So I'll just add a couple things. One, I do remember when this first conversation started many years ago, where we saw the commitment from the city council had happened. And we saw that we put all in, right? We did everything that we could to support and wanting to be there through a lot of the trials and the things that came up. But it's becoming a reality. What I want to say is a lot of people, I think, don't see the value in amenities within a community here like the City of Casper. Many times when I'm around the state and sometimes around the country at other national conventions, a lot of people comment how much they are jealous of Casper because of the amenities that we have to offer and the things that we do. Part of that is because of that, like Councilor Bond said, that type of partnership between the government and private business. when we look at that as a powerful tool to get things done in our community, and we continue to support that. And so I want the hockey community to be able to, especially you young kids that are here to play hockey, that you get an opportunity to experience that, and thank you for the work, the dedication, and the value you see in these types of amenities. Please read the consent agenda titles.

Establish October 6, 2026 as the public hearing date for consideration of an ordinance repealing and replacing Title 15 of the Casper Municipal Code to update building and constructing current model codes and local amendments and a resolution for the adoption of budget amendment number one to the fiscal year 2027 adopted budget.

Thank you. The chair to entertain a motion to by minute action establish the public hearing dates just read. Moved by Councilor McIntosh, seconded by Councilor Bond. Any abstentions or nay votes?

Mayor, I'd like to vote no on 7A1A, an ordinance repealing and replacing Title 15 of Casper Municipal Code.

Okay. Any other nays?

I'm also going to vote nay on A1A, please.

All right, please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With Councillor Sweeney and Councillor Haskins, nay votes noted, and all others voting aye, the motion passes.

Thank you. And now we'll go to the public hearing open for the consideration of of an ordinance regarding the Park Ridge Medical Campus number five subdivision. Mr. City Attorney, do you have any exhibits?

Thank you, Mayor, I do. Exhibit number one, correspondence from Liz Becker to Janine Jordan, dated August 14th, 2024. Exhibit number two, affidavit of publication as published in the Casper Star Tribune, dated September 1st, 2026.

Thank you. Madam City Manager, do you have anything to report tonight?

Mayor, I do not.

Thank you. Councilman, I'll listen to public comment. Public hearing comments are limited to five minutes. and no duplication of speakers will be allowed. At this time, I would ask those individuals who wish to speak in favor of the ordinance to please approach the lectern. Anybody who wishes to speak in favor of this hearing ordinance. Okay? This time I would ask those individuals who wish to speak in opposition to this ordinance to please approach the lectern. Anybody in opposition? There being no one to speak for or against the ordinance, I now declare the public hearing closed. Please read the ordinance by title only.

An ordinance approving a final plat to create the Park Ridge Medical Campus number five subdivision in the city of Casper, Wyoming.

Thank you. The chair to entertain a motion to approve on first reading the ordinance just read.

So moved.

Moved by Councillor Pollack, seconded by Councillor McIntosh. Any discussion from the council? Okay, please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With all councillors voting aye, the motion passes.

I now declare the public hearing open for the consideration of an ordinance regarding the annex in the Brian Stanko subdivision at 2583 Brian Evansville Road. Mr. City Attorney, do you have any exhibits?

Thank you, Mayor. I do. Exhibit number one, correspondence from Liz Becker to Janine Jordan dated September 11th, 2026. Exhibit number two, affidavit of publication as published in the Casper Star Tribune. dated August 28th, 2026.

Thank you. Madam City Manager, do you have anything to report on this?

Nothing additional, Mayor.

Thank you. Council will now listen to public comment. Public hearing comments are limited to five minutes and no duplication of speakers are allowed. At this time, I would ask those individuals who wish to speak in favor of this ordinance to please come forward to the lectern.

Good evening. Good evening.

Okay. Julie and Bruce Hitt, Anything 23 LLC, our company. We are already, we were in the county, we already have a building, and we are with two other...

That's a good thing. Any questions? Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you. Anybody else who wishes to speak in favor? At this time, I would ask those individuals who wish to speak in opposition to the ordinance to please approach the lectern. Anybody in opposition? There being no others to speak for or against the ordinance, I now declare the public hearing closed. Please read the ordinance by title only.

An ordinance approving an annexation, annexation agreement and zoning for a half acre portion of tract seven, Brian Stanko's subdivision located at 2583 Brian Evansville Road.

Thank you. The chair would entertain a motion to approve on first reading the ordinance just read. Moved by Councilor McIntosh, seconded by the vice mayor. Oh, you didn't. Oh, I thought you did. Oh, it was you. Sorry, Councilor Bond. Any discussion by the council?

Okay, please cast your vote.

Please record the vote.

With all councillors voting aye, the motion passes.

Now I'll declare the public hearing open for the consideration of an ordinance regarding the Neeson Addition subdivision. Mr. City Attorney, do you have any exhibits?

Thank you, Mayor. I do. Exhibit number one, correspondence from Liz Becker to Janine Jordan, dated September 11th, 2026. Exhibit number two, affidavit of publication as published in the Casper Star Tribune, dated August 28th, 2026.

Thank you. Madam City Manager, do you have anything on this?

Nothing additional, Mayor.

Council will now listen to public comments. Public hearing comments are limited to five minutes and no duplication of speakers are allowed. At this time, I would ask individuals who wish to speak in favor of this ordinance to please approach the lectern. Anybody in favor? Okay. At this time, I would ask those individuals who wish to speak in opposition to this ordinance to please approach the lectern. Anybody in opposition? There being no one to speak for or against the ordinance, I now declare the public hearing closed. Please read the ordinance by title only.

An ordinance approving an annexation final plat subdivision agreement and zoning for the Neeson addition subdivision.

Chair, do you entertain a motion to approve on first reading the ordinance just read?

I'll move.

Moved by Councillor McIntosh, seconded by Councillor Haskins. Any discussion? Please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With all councillors voting aye, the motion passes.

Please read the ordinance on second reading by title alone.

An ordinance authorizing a lease transaction for the purpose of financing the design construction and or equipping of various capital improvements within the City and authorizing the execution and delivery of a site lease between the City of Casper as site lessor and U.S. Bank Trust Company National Association as site lessee, a lease and option to purchase agreement between the City and U.S. Bank Trust Company National Association and other related documents.

Thank you. The chair would entertain a motion to approve on second reading the ordinance just read. Moved by Councillor Pollack, seconded by Councillor McIntosh. Council will now listen to public comment. Would anybody like to speak to this second reading?

Any discussion from the council? Please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With all councillors voting aye, the motion passes.

Council will now discuss the resolution regarding the funding and completion assurance agreement with the Casper Amateur Hockey Club. Because this is not on the consent agenda, it will be open for discussion by the council. Please read the resolution by title only.

A resolution authorizing a funding and completion assurance agreement between the City of Casper and the Casper Amateur Hockey Club for the Casper Ice Arena Expansion Project.

Thank you. Chair to entertain a motion to approve the resolution just read. Moved by Councillor Haskins, seconded by Councillor McIntosh. Madam City Manager, do you have anything to report on this item?

Mayor, I do. Just a quick recap. In January of 23, City Council committed to partnering with private donors led by the Casper Amateur Hockey Club on the construction for this project. The proposed agreement establishes a framework for how the funding you have already approved will be combined with private fundraising to double Casper's ice capacity while also upgrading existing mechanical infrastructure to ensure that we can reliably operate both sheets of ice into the future. The Casper Amateur Hockey Club will maintain a dedicated project account and provide financial support through a line of credit under this agreement. The city is committing to 30% of project costs, and the Casper Amateur Hockey Club's president has executed the funding and completion assurance agreement. Staff recommend favorably for your approval.

Thank you. Discussion from the council. I'll open it up. We said some comments already, but Anybody else has anything to add? Okay. Any amendments? Please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With all councillors voting aye, the motion passes.

Congratulations, guys. Alrighty, council now discuss the resolution regarding the construction management agreement for the Casper Ice Arena expansion project. Again, because this is not on the consent agenda, it will be open for discussion by the council. Please read the resolution by title only.

Authorizing an agreement with Samson Construction Company Incorporated for construction management services for the Casper Ice Arena expansion project.

Thank you. The chair would entertain a motion to approve the resolution just read. Moved by Councilor Pollock, seconded by Councilor Haskins. Madam City Manager, do you have anything on this?

Yes, so of course, Mayor and Council, this is a companion item to the funding and assurance agreement you just approved. By recapping some logistics, I'll get us to tonight. The city and the Casper Amateur Hockey Club hired HTG Architects in November of 2023 to design the Casper Ice Arena expansion. We will be utilizing a construction manager at risk delivery method for this project that engages a highly qualified construction contractor prior to bidding and construction that helped us to value engineer the project and keep it within budget. This agreement establishes a guaranteed maximum price for this project. And after reviewing proposals and interviewing qualified contractors, the city recommended Samson Construction Company incorporated with the concurrence of the Casper Amateur Hockey Club. Total construction costs with plan review and permitting fees included is $15,979,975. And I'd like to acknowledge that the Casper Amateur Hockey Club did pay the pre-construction costs through the bidding phase. The city's contribution of 30% is capped and includes in-kind as well as cash contributions. The Casper Amateur Hockey Club has raised the remaining balance of 70%, which equates to $11,650,975 that they will raise and contribute to this project. Under the agreement, the city will retain ownership and control of the facility and also will direct the course of construction. The next phase of the project will require us to issue a work authorization to proceed into construction. We recommend you do approve this agreement for construction management services with Samson Construction Company. And with your approval of this companion item, we will be positioned to immediately begin construction and we will make Final, the tentative groundbreaking date of September 28th at 515, and hope you will join us, assuming you approve this item.

Thank you. Discussion from the council. Any amendments? Please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With all councillors voting aye, the motion passes.

And you said it was the 28th? 28th at 5.15?

Correct, 28th at 5.15 of September. P.M., yes, P.M. You won't have to show up for 5.15 ice time. Gotcha. P.M.

P.M. So I'll give the option, if you came, I'm going to spare you, especially the younger ones, the rest of the meeting, if you would like to go, we'll take a two-second break here to let you go ahead and and leave if you would like to, unless your heart is dying to hear the rest of this meeting. Okay.

Thanks, everybody.

All righty, thank you everyone. At this time, council will consider consent resolutions. Please read the consent resolutions by title only.

10B1, authorizing a use license agreement between the City of Casper and WSRM LLC for the City of Casper to host three adult sports tournaments at the Wyo Sports Ranch. 10B2, authorizing a contract between the City of Casper and Colon Associates. 10B3, authorizing contract amendment number four to the agreement with Barnum Incorporated for construction manager at risk services for the North Platte River Restoration Isaac Walton Reach Project. 10B4, authorizing change order number one with Waddell and Dobb Contractors Incorporated for a time extension for the Fort Casper Buildings Rehab Project. 10B5, authorizing a contract for outside city water service with George and Elizabeth Staton. 10B6, authorizing a contract for outside city water and sewer service with Pico Land Wyoming LLC. 10B7, authorizing a professional services contract between the City of Casper and Communication Technologies Incorporated for the purchase and implementation of an Eventide NexLog 740DX communications recording system, 10BA authorizing the first addendum to the Comms Coach Hire Subscription Agreement between the City of Casper through its Public Safety Communications Center and GovWorks Incorporated for the addition of the Comms Coach Hire Subscription 10B9, approving the Wyoming Department of Transportation Highway Safety Program Grant, FFY 2027, sub-award agreement between the Wyoming Department of Transportation Highway Safety Program and City of Casper, Casper Police Department for the enforcement of seatbelt use to reduce unbolted injuries. 10B10, approving the Wyoming Department of Transportation Highway Safety Program Grant, FFY 2027, sub-award agreement between the Wyoming Department of Transportation Highway Safety Program and the Casper Police Department for the enforcement and reduction of impaired driving, 10B11 authorizing a contract for professional services between the City of Casper and 954 Consulting LLC for Cisco Webex calling licenses, and 10B12 approving the vacation and final plat creating the Conger Edition number one subdivision and approving the subdivision agreement.

Thank you. The chair will entertain a motion to adopt the consent agenda items just read.

So moved. Second.

Moved by Councillor McIntosh, seconded by the Vice Mayor. Madam City Manager, do you have any comments on any of these items?

I do not.

Great. Any abstentions or nay votes from the council? Please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With all councillors voting aye, the motion passes.

Council will now discuss the purchase of side-loading sanitation trucks. Because this is not on the consent agenda, it will be open for discussion by the council. Please read the minute action item by title only.

Authorizing the purchase of two new side-loading 27-yard sanitation trucks in the total amount of $733,764 for use by the Solid Waste Division of the Public Services Department.

Thank you. The chair will entertain a motion to approve the item just read. Moved by Councilor Pollack, seconded by Councilor McIntosh. Madam City Manager, do you have anything to report on this?

I do not.

Any discussion from the Council?

Yep, Councilor Sweeney.

Thank you, Mayor. So I did have concern on this because one of them made total sense to me. The other one was a 2023 model and with I think if I remember right, 64,000 miles. So my concern was why are we replacing that already? And the answer was we're getting it in the queue on the five-year rotation cycle. And I guess the lead time on these trucks is about two years for a So with that, I still think it's a bit early, but I'll be voting in favor. Thank you. Thank you.

Any other discussion?

Okay, any amendments? Please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With all councillors voting aye, the motion passes.

All right, please read the consent minute action titles.

Authorizing the purchase of a Bauer Verticon breathing air compressor from the Municipal Emergency Services in the amount of $67,500.03, authorizing the purchase of two new compact pickup trucks in the total amount of $54,652, for use by the Building Inspection Division of the Community Development Department, authorizing the purchase of one new half-ton extended cab pickup truck with six and a half foot bed, and the total amount of $39,773, for use by the Casper Public Utilities Division of the Public Services Department, authorizing the purchase of two new heavy-duty three-quarter ton crew cab trucks with six and a half foot beds, and the total amount of $125,702 for use by the Casper Fire Department, authorizing the purchase of one new three-quarter ton extended cab truck with eight-foot bed, and the total amount of $48,400 for use by the Hokodan Basin Ski Area of the Parks, Recreation, and Public Facilities Department, authorizing the purchase of one new 64,000-pound tandem axle roll-off truck, and the total amount of $206,000 thousand one hundred and fifty three dollars for use by the solid waste division of the public services department authorizing the purchase of one new heavy duty cab and chassis truck with platform body and accessories and the total amount of seventy six thousand three hundred and fifteen dollars for use by the streets and traffic division of the public services department authorizing the purchase of one new half ton extended cab pickup truck with six and a half foot bed in the total amount of $38,975 for use by the Streets and Traffic Division of the Public Services Department, authorizing the purchase of one new engine-driven welder with air compressor and separate plasma cutter in the total amount of $19,104.35 for use by the Parks Division of the Parks, Recreation, and Public Facilities Department, authorizing the purchase of one new duplex forklift from Wyoming Machinery, Casper, Wyoming, for use by the Solid Waste Division of the Public Services Department, and the total amount of $66,918.62, approving the Civil Service Commissioner appointments to establish alternating terms for Commissioner Cathy O'Quinn with a term expiring April 1st, 2027, and Commissioner Susan Burke with a term expiring April 1st, 2029, effective September 15th, 2026, Authorizing the purchase of one new one-ton extended cab pickup truck with a utility body in the total amount of $58,439 for use by the Meter Service Division of the Public Services Department. And authorizing the purchase of one new three-quarter ton cab and chassis pickup in the total amount of $30,837 for use by the Metro Animal Services of the Casper Police Department.

Thank you. The chair to entertain a motion to approve the consent minute action agenda items just read. Moved by the vice mayor, seconded by Councilor Bond. Any abstentions or nay votes?

Councilor Sweeney. Mayor, I'd like to vote no on 11B4.

Any other nays?

All right. Please cast your vote.

Please record the vote.

With Councilor Sweeney's nay vote noted and all others voting aye, the motion passes.

Thank you. At this time, we ask the councilors to bring forward any relevant concerns or items of interest. Councilor Bond, can we start with you tonight?

Thank you, Mayor. Just a few things. I attended the Youth Mental Health Collective meeting this afternoon. We had a change in our facilitator with the Health Trust. Leanne Loya, the previous facilitator has moved to Colorado. So Haley, I can't think of her last name right now, it'll come to me, is a new employee to the trust and will be taking over that facilitation. But just a reminder that the collective and the trust awarded some money previously, I think about a year ago for the creation of some third spaces in Casper. And so that continues to move forward. There's some training opportunities coming up that they shared at the meeting today. One is called the Youth Thrive Training. And another one is about the juvenile cross systems mapping, just kind of looking at the alignment and the array of services we have to support youth in the community. I think as the collective moves forward, I think that will be the focus is on what's the next gap in support services for youth going forward that the collective can maybe work towards. I attended the Salvation Army Cowboy Up lunch last Wednesday with the city manager and the mayor and Councilor Sweeney. Always a good event. First lady, thank you, Jenny Gordon. I thought that was the first, last name, but not the first name. Jenny Gordon was recognized by the Salvation Army for her work on the Wyoming Hunger Initiative. Went to the, attended the community dinner last Thursday down at David Street Station. That was a great event with some other city council members and the city manager there and some city staff. It was a very nice event, both for just kind of recognize and celebrate the David Street Station. I attended the Nick Lassen Gala event on last Friday, and Zach Pollan was recognized with the Above and Beyond Award for his philanthropy curation and just, I think, for his contributions to the NIC and to the community. Zach is a nationally recognized artist who's been published on magazine covers nationally. And his exhibit, if you didn't get a chance to see it, you missed a great opportunity. It just shut down like about a month ago. It was a pretty, pretty extensive exhibit of his work at the main gallery of the NIC and really a good opportunity to kind of celebrate local, local, gentlemen and his contributions to the art world. David Claren was recognized with the Tom West Award. David is a, an artist that's fairly new to the Nicolaeson, but he's not new to the Wyoming art scene. He helped by conducting tours for the high school youth, the art symposium that was held a few months ago. And He helped with judging at the symposium as well. And he's also contributed a lot towards some other group exhibitions across the state and at the Nicolaeson. And finally attended the gaming work group meeting this afternoon. So hopefully we'll have some more details for counselors coming up at a upcoming work session. That's all I have.

Awesome. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. So

also attended the Salvation Army in a great event, very motivational, I felt. Last Wednesday night, we had the Amoco Joint Reuse Joint Powers Board Meeting and went through financials and updates and reports And so tonight folks notice that we pulled from the agenda. We have to do in. In unison with the county on appointments to that board, and so the county I thought was on line with appointing will win, but. they decided to, we've got three or four, counting that one, four appointments coming up, and so they'll, the county will be advertising that and going forward with appointments, so more to come, and that'll happen by the end of the year, so that New folks will come on board kind of seamlessly. The next morning, last Thursday, was the United Way kickoff at the Tate Pump House, and that was a nice event. Friday, I attended the lunch, and there was a presentation by the new manufacturer coming into Gillette, BWXT, to produce the nuclear fuel used in, currently used in, I believe, nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers for the Navy, but also will Given whole nother dimension in product productivity that's coming to Gillette. Unfortunately, we missed the opportunity with radiant, but hopefully this next legislative session I've been told that they may move forward with the legislation that radiant really needed. To make it work. Also, last Friday, we lost a great entrepreneur, Bob Shepard. You may not, some of you may not recognize the name, but I know you'll recognize the NW Rook here. And the west side on CY had the shop there. I don't, I don't know. 40 years, I'm guessing, so attended his service, and on Saturday morning, I went up for the stair climb and appreciate all of the participation, obviously from fire, but in our police departments, but the community at large, I thought it was, I'm much larger turnout that I remember from years previous, and it was a great, great event, I felt. And then, basically, today, I think, for sake of time, AMRA will go through regional water, also the Game Inc. I believe we'll present to council on the next work session briefly on what the group has come up with. Lastly, two things. I'd like to explain myself on my no vote in particular on the authorizing the purchase of two new heavy-duty three-quarter ton crew cab trucks for the fire department. It's not that I didn't think those were needed because I did see the need. I didn't see the need for the tremor package on those and I felt that a F-350 would have Gotten you to the same place and save this probably, um, about $20,000. So that was the reason for my no vote chief. Um, and then, uh, lastly. Uh, uh, I I there was some chatter recently about, um, uh, I had attended on its item 10B12, approving the vacation and final plaque creating the Conger Edition number one subdivision. And I did speak at planning and zoning. Some folks felt that I should abstain from voting on that item because of my comments. But, you know, I, I asked the city attorney his opinion. Um, he wrote, wrote me, uh, quite a lengthy, uh, his, his opinion. And, uh, basically, uh, because I'm, I live one door down and I have two other properties on the same, same block. And, um, So the main, if I can't represent my constituents, not just myself, because some of my neighbors came to me and said, we're concerned about the traffic. We're concerned about parking in particular because Mr. Conger is putting up, he's currently under construction on one four blocks and he's we'll put up a second complex. And unfortunately, our code only requires 1.21 parking places off street. And in today's world, everybody's got two cars. And so that will create quite a bit of congestion on a tight street to begin with. I believe he'll be able to PARK APPROXIMATELY 10 CARS ACROSS THE FRONT OF THE PROPERTY AND PERHAPS 11. BUT SO I WENT AHEAD AND VOTED. I DID NOT ABSTAIN BECAUSE IF I CAN'T REPRESENT MY CONSTITUENTS, I HAVE NO FINANCIAL GAIN, NO INTEREST IN THE PROPERTY. and no financial interest in, if I can't represent my constituents, including myself, what good am I? So, and I've actually had my neighbors ask me, well, if you can't talk about it, then what good are you? And I'm like, well, and so that was what I was gonna have Rory Franklin One of my neighbors actually talked to the city manager about, but I didn't end up doing that. So I wanted to explain that and appreciate the time. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. I can start with that regional water update that Pat alluded to. A couple things of note at the meeting today. The first would be probably one of us probably mentioned this in a previous update. In April, we submitted a letter of intent to request an increase in the quantity of water available with the Wyoming Water Development Office from the Pathfinder Modification Project. Currently, regional water has 150 acre feet. We're looking to increase that to 4,000 acre feet. So we submitted that letter and it was approved by WWDO. And so today we authorized an amendment to that contract, functionally doubling the amount of collective access that we have to Pathfinder modification water that was that was collectively held by the City of Casper and the and regional water. So that aligns with some of the results that came out of our water resource master plan, which we did get an updated presentation on today as well to address some of the questions that came up from the initial presentation. I'm hopeful that that kind of like final plan and document. I don't know if it's made it to y'all yet or if we're still kind of, there are still questions that had to be addressed today to the board. So hopefully that plan will be available soon if it's not already to you. But there are a number of recommendations in there and we believe that the amendment to that Pathfinder Modification Project Agreement helps secure some additional water for all the users of the regional water system. And then probably the other thing of most note would be that we are going to be closing out our WGIF and WildStar 1 and 2 investment accounts and moving those monies. So that'll be happening in accordance to the various closeout processes that those different investment accounts require. So that was approved today as well. And then I did have to dip out early. We got a disinfection improvement update. So I'm going to need to get caught up to speed on what that entailed. But otherwise, we spent the bulk of the meeting talking about the Water Resource Master Plan. I have another update for you. Oh, yes, Parks. I mentioned that Parks and Rec Advisory Board was reconvening this month. So we had that meeting last week. Got a really extensive update from Zulima about the various grants and projects that we are somewhere in process with. And that will be included in your next packet or next month's packet once we approve these minutes, but a couple highlights from that. I mean, there was a lot of highlights. I could speak for 45 minutes up here about that list. But we have artificial turf installation is complete on four fields on North Casper Athletics with the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Mountain grant work as what they always call it. There's the Marion Kreiner, same group provided a grant for Marion Kreiner. That water slide has been installed. If you haven't driven past there, you can see quite a lot of progress on that project. The building remodel is also progressing. And that's going to be completed in the next couple of weeks. There's the Save America's Treasures grant at Port Casper. We've been able to actually expand the scope of that and extend that work with the same initial pot of money to all the fort buildings, because some things that we thought perhaps might need to be done, some of those buildings didn't need to get done. And so we're able to actually touch all the fort buildings with that on grant, which is really exciting. Update on Washington Park revival, phase one is complete and done, phase two, stormwater the move for of the stormwater um lines in the uh everything is done tennis courts are complete the ribbon cutting happened last month um there's still some landscaping to be done phase three concept has been finalized um and will be out to bid next month um and then phase four a little further off still some details being worked out um in phase four but i'm really moving along super positively at Washington Park. Those are probably some of the largest grants in terms of dollar amounts, but I won't go on and on about it. That will be coming to you. These reports have been extremely helpful from Parks and Rec staff and really show there's probably 12, 15, 20 something active projects being managed by that group right now. So really exciting stuff. And that group is excited to be back meeting. The only other things that we talked about were predominantly liaison assignments. So that board is a really active board. Not only are they now reviewing the Parks and Rec's business plans and the lease agreements, but each member of that board has liaison assignments to the various facilities and also the user groups. And so really encourage you all to, if there are questions coming up about different user groups or different facilities or you've got anything that you're hearing, let me know because we do have members of that group that are pretty actively engaged with the various facilities and user groups. So we just went over those assignments and there's a little bit of shuffling as to who would take which assignments this year and that sort of thing. But overall, the group is very excited to be back up and going for this season. And I think that's all from me. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you. Pastor Haskins.

I don't have quite that much. So I had a drug court meeting last week there. I really love that board. It's always the, we have grants, they cut our money. We're going to be broke, but we're trying really hard with every committee I'm on. It's always about limited funding, but at drug court, I always, get to hear the success stories and this time there were three of their people are enrolled in Casper College and one of them just graduated from Sage Trucking and all of the things every time I go to that meeting I just leave being like this is why we do the things that we do and it's super exciting and it's wonderful and It was during lunchtime and it smelled nice, and I didn't have lunch this time, but it was amazing. And also, there's an article in Casper Star Tribune, if you can read it. September 14th, they did a very large article right up on drug court, what it means, what it does. You should read it. It's a good read. So that's what I have from that one. If you can't read it, I have a copy. Totally sure. For a price, of course. Not really. Completely... somewhat related friday i went to the rock orchestra at the event center and i know i'm a little more ryan bingham than corn but at the end of the day i am a super duper band geek and it was so cool you guys i'm just so excited i know pat it's like you at the boone show you wouldn't expect it but it was amazing and i'm just so excited with the stuff that's coming up to the event center and props to all of the event center people always leave happy always leave happy Saturday was busy, busy, busy downtown Saturday night. There was a comedy show. There was a show at David Street Station. There was a sold-out show at the Gaslight. I like to go to things barely on time. There was a lot of traffic down there. There was a lot of cars. And guess who parked in the parking garage with no problems whatsoever for free? Just thought I'd throw that out. It's two blocks. And I walked in heels, just saying. Park downtown. There's so much park.

Okay, I'm done.

Well, I have nothing other than I did, too, use the parking garage this weekend as I was downtown doing community engagement. So I had a great time, and that's all I got for now.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. I was actually not downtown this weekend, surprisingly. Sounded awesome. But yeah, I had a DDA board meeting last Wednesday. We discussed the ongoing alley project currently in the midst of. Sounds like all the stakeholders are happy with the engagement coordination with the contractors on that, which I'm thankful to hear that's not always the case. The Christmas parade committee, I understand that later in the day. Councillor Jensen I imagine will keep us in the loop as maybe not tonight but in the future she will keep us in the loop as those chats progress yeah lots of enthusiasm and new ideas this year you know sounds like there's a lot of really cool ideas being floated around I won't I won't blow the lid off any of them but excited for the Christmas parade this year Stakeholders report that there are fewer issues related to homelessness and adjacent crime this year. It's probably likely the result of more targeted enforcement by the police department, which I think I've reported before. There are four open board positions at the DDA, and I believe that's going to be published this week. So if you are interested, please keep an eye out for that. Apply. Happy to answer questions for anyone that wants to learn more. That same day, I stopped by the Casper Youth Hub. and spoke to a group of about eight teenagers. I really valued that conversation and appreciate the space that Seth Turner and the rest of their team are cultivating over there. It's been a while since I took a tour, and it was cool to see kids developing designs for painting shoes, using 3D printers, playing video games, and just socializing. They were very interested in the topic of e-bikes, since many of them use it as a mode of transportation. So I promise to keep them in the loop on our future conversations. I believe we have it on the agenda at some point. And so I promise to give them a heads up when we talk about that and hope that they will follow those conversations and provide their input when and where it's necessary. I was not at downtown over the weekend, but I did spend a beautiful evening Thursday night at David Street Station during their community dinner. I just want to thank that team for organizing that. Weather was great. Food was great. Company was great. Very much enjoyed myself and look forward to attending that again in the future. And then lastly, I did just want to take a moment to recognize our community loss, Frank Gambino, last week hearing that news was awful, just awful, which is one of those words Frankie used to always say if you listen to him. But seriously, he was a longtime sports broadcaster here in Casper, spending decades on the air, both radio and television, including alongside my father for 20-plus years as part of the KTWO morning radio programming. His voice was part of the soundtrack of my life, rivaled really only by folks like Bob Price and Don Day. He made great contributions to the Wyoming world of high school sports, and I have very much enjoyed reading all the anecdotes and stories of people whose lives he touched. I believe local funeral services are being organized still. I don't think they've published any dates or times for that, but I fully expect a tremendous outpouring of support for folks to celebrate his life's work. Bob Price at K2 Radio wrote a very nice piece several days ago on Frank and his history at the station. And Colby Fedor, who also worked alongside Frank during her time at K2, also wrote a very nice article she published on Cowboy State Daily. And I would encourage you to both check both those out. So my condolences to all of his family, friends, and work colleagues. He will indeed be missed. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Kyle, for recognizing Frank. Appreciate it. Just a couple items. I will be at the Boys and Girls Club breakfast tomorrow doing a proclamation with the mayor of Wyotown. I'm looking forward to that. Coach Carter, which Samuel L. Jackson portrayed in a Hollywood film, will be there. He's signing basketballs, Pat, so if you're going to go... Just in case you want to get a basketball, let me know. I can maybe hook you up. Let's see. Thursday, we have Council of Governments breakfast at Eggington, so I'm looking forward to that. Monday... Where's the chief? There he is. One lateral introduction of a telecommunicator. So we're looking to add another officer through a lateral. So we're looking forward to that. And finally, I did attend the Cowboy Up event for the Salvation Army, along with our city manager, Councilor Bond, Councilor Sweeney. So it was great to be there to help support them. That's all I've got. Next meeting of the City Council will be a work session to be held at 4.30 on Tuesday, September 22nd, and a regular council meeting to be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, the 6th. A notice of an executive session to take place on this date and during this meeting was given. We have personnel and attorney-client privilege matters to discuss. The chair would entertain a motion to adjourn into an executive session and at the conclusion of that executive session to reconvene the regular meeting solely for the purposes of the adjournment of this regular meeting. Moved by Councillor McIntosh, seconded by Councillor Haskins. The majority of council present and a motion to adjourn into an executive session has been moved and seconded. This motion requires two-thirds majority of the council present. Please cast your vote. Please record the vote.

With all councillors voting aye, the motion passes.