City Government - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Good evening. Thank you. Order, please. Thank you. Let's get back to Welcome to the Laramie City Council regular meeting for Tuesday, April 7, 2026. And if you would like to join us in the pledge of allegiance city uh assistant city clerk, can you please call the role? Bowling

here. Freed here. Lockheart here. Newman is absent. Adori here. Shamway here. Hill here. Richardson here. And Cumbi here. Eight present and one absent. Thank you. Uh, next, is there any public comment on non-aggenda items? And I do have someone who signed up in advance, Miss Christina Huffford. Good evening, Christina.

Hello. Welcome. Thank you. You have three minutes.

Okay. Thank you. I'll keep this brief. So, good evening. My name is Christina Huffford and I live at 2305 Spring Creek Drive. I'm here to raise serious concerns about the current sidewalk and road construction project on Spring Creek and to ask for immediate city intervention. I'll be brief and focus on three issues, notice, access, and property impacts. First notice. I received no communication about this project until Friday, April 3rd, just days before work was expected to begin. The only notice was a posting on doorways indicating that access to our homes could be limited or blocked within the week. That is not adequate. For comparison, I received mailed notice and contact information for the 2024 Corell Hill project. Even though I did not it did not directly affect my property. This project does yet I was not informed in a meaningful or timely way nor directed to the project website. Second access. Because of this late notice, I had to scramble in one afternoon to figure out how to get to and from my home and workplace in the following week. There is still no clear plan for maintaining access during upcoming phases, including the street work expected in July. I only learned about that timeline because construction started early for curbs, gutters, and ADA ramps, not through any formal communication. Third, property impacts. I am also concerned about potential damage to my property, including the property pen, lawn, and irrigation lines. I have only received information on these issues because I reached out myself to the project manager. At this point, I have assurances, but no clear documentation or plan. My request, I am asking the city to immediately improve communication with affected residents,

provide a clear access plan for all phases of construction, and explain why this project did not include the same level of notification as previous projects. I also ask that the city hold contractors accountable for proper notice and for protecting private property. I am a homeowner, not an obstacle to this project and I expect to be treated accordingly. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Huffford. I appreciate your comments. Is there any

Is there any other public comment on nonaggenda items? Go ahead. If you can say your name for the record.

My name for the record is Eric Henderson. I'm here tonight to uh welcome the community to an upcoming 250th year of America celebration. It will be hosted at the Laram Lincoln Community Center, 365 Grand Avenue, West Grand Avenue in the Westside Historic District. As you enjoy the invitation, please consider supporting with your upcoming Wyoming Association of Municipalities venture in guests coming to our community. Uh consider Laramie native trademarked duck pawers as a welcome gift and potentially uh Wyoming fudge also a welcome gift. All products originating with connection to Wyoming. Um and and I think it's a it's a great opportunity you guys have. I've heard you invite people to uh support that in endeavor coming up and I haven't exactly heard of any suggestions. I give you two. And especially in the 25th year of KCA 935 FM, the talk shop would love to have your attendance each and every one of you at that upcoming uh celebration. It's going to be a car uh show and shine. It will be uh food. It will be culture. It will be Latin dance. It will be a rededication of Stavon Lucero, the Laramie native artist making his career in the uh fame in the CHO art scene in Denver, Colorado. We're most proud to feature at this upcoming event. It is a granted event supported by the 250th Initiative of Wyoming. So, we couldn't be more uh excited and and there'll be a live uh music event in the evening, a dance till probably 11:00 and that will be also uh that will be presented by Meta uh ASUW student organization from

the University of Wyoming campus. We'd be delighted to have each and every one of you in the in the interest of April 7th being the first day of a special uh purpose excise tax ballot initiative. That proposition is most important to get out quality information. The talk shop 935 would like to welcome each and every one of you city council members to that uh forum for public awareness. It's a complimentary visit. I hope you'll attend. Thank you. Um, Eric. Yes. Just for the Could you repeat the date and time? Yeah. Of the festival of the event? The May 2nd. May 2nd. Saturday, May 2nd.

Okay. Kids parade will begin in the early morning. Uh, cars will be checked in, motorcycles, trucks will be checked in as early as 8 uh a.m. and placed for a start of uh probably 10:00. and it's going to be it's going to be an event for the entire family. So, I appreciate that question and and again, I think I think the the live dance uh live music dance will go until 11. Any other Very good. No, thank you for repeating that. I appreciate I appreciate it. You bet. Thank you.

Enjoy the fudge and enjoy duck ballers. Jeremy Crumb. Jeremy Crumb, Laramie Native, uh is trademarked with the Duck Baller products and they're colored in brown, gold, and and they can be colored for each county of the 23 counties with 93 municipalities catered to. If we have enough time, we could do that. And in terms of the uh the fudge, by gosh, if you need explanation on sweets, I don't know.

We don't. Thanks, Eric. Uh any other public comment on non-aggenda items? Very good. We will move on. Is there uh any public request to move a consent agenda item and place it on the regular agenda? Seeing none, we will move on to uh Vice Mayor Richardson if you could motion for changes to the agenda.

Thank you, Mayor, and happy birthday. I move that the following changes to the agenda be approved. to add two executive sessions to item 14 regarding land negotiations uh Wyoming state statute 16-4-405A uh seven vi second I have a motion from Richardson second oy all in favor I opposed that motion passes vice mayor if you can motion to uh set the agenda as submitted. I mean as changed. Thank you, mayor. I move that uh the agenda be set as changed.

Second. I have a motion from Richardson, second from Lockheart. Uh all in favor? I I.

All oppose. That motion passes. And now we move on to uh a a fun part of the evening. Uh our proclamations. Uh our first proclamation that I'm going to do is about child abuse prevention and the representatives. Uh unfortunately we're not able to be here. Whereas prevention is possible with strong policies and investments, families and children can thrive fostering prevention, stability, and long-term well-being. Whereas the early experiences of a child impact them throughout life, both positively and negatively. Whereas supporting families early reduces the need for a crisis response, improves lifelong outcomes, strengthens communities, and saves public dollars and costly downstream intervention across multiple systems. Whereas every family and child is filled with tremendous promise and we all have a collective responsibility to prevent adverse child experiences, foster the potential of every child and promote positive childhood experiences. And whereas families who receive the support they need before a pri crisis occurs are better equipped to provide safety, healthy and nurturing environments leading to children who are safer, healthier, and more hopeful about their future. And whereas childhood trauma, including abuse and neglect, can have long-term psychological, emotional, and physical effects throughout an individual's lifetime and impact future generations.

And whereas we can prevent child abuse and neglect before it happens. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Sharon Cumbi, mayor and president of the city of Laramie, Wyoming City Council, do hereby proclaim April, this is a late one, to 202 Oh, no, I didn't. 2026 as Child Abuse Prevention Month. And we're going to go on to the next two that do have representatives here. And the first one is the national donate life month. And we have uh is it Mary Shore to uh be here? And uh so whereas this April 2026 marks the 23rd National Donate Life Month, a time to raise awareness of organ, eye, and tissue donation, encourage Americans to register as donors, and honor those who have saved and healed lives through the gift of donation. And whereas Wyoming has been in the top uh desile in the nation with nearly 50% of residents registering to be organ, eye, and tissue donors at W do driver services. A decision that reflects deep commitment to one another and confirms that there is good in all of us. And whereas donor alliance, Rocky Mountain Lions i bank and y dot driver services along with their community partners educate residents in Colorado and Wyoming on the life-saving benefits of organ and tissue donation, inspire them to register as

donors, and encourage them to share their decisions with their family. And whereas one donor can save up to eight lives through organ donation, restore sight in up to two people through cornea transplant, and save and heal more than 75 lives through tissue donation. Whereas in Colorado and most of Wyoming in 2025, a record 314 heroic organ donors provided 1,036 life-saving transplants. 1,880 heroic tissue donors saved and healed nearly 100,000 lives. And whereas registering gives hope to more than 100 Wyomites waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant while compassionately celebrating donors and their families for the gift of life. And whereas the city of Laramie recognizes the significance of gathering at the White Dot driver services office to a place that is a cornerstone in our community for don donor registration as more than 90% of registered donors make the decision right here. And whereas organ eye and tissue donation would not be possible without our community coming together for one united p purpose. Saying yes to being an organ, eye, and tissue donor means you're not just checking a box. You're saving and healing lives. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Sharon Cumbi, mayor and president of the city of Laramie,

Wyoming City Council, do hereby proclaim April 2026 is National Donate Life Month. And I invite Oh, and I invite you all to come up. Mayor Cumbi. Um, I'm Jennifer Prince and I serve as the I have the honor and privilege of serving as the president and CEO for Donor alliance and I have my colleague here with me tonight, Mary, as you introduced her. It is our honor to be here with you tonight and see council members. Thank you for recognizing the importance of organ eye and tissue donation and national donate life month. Literally by doing that you are joining with us to help save and heal lives by increasing awareness about organ and tissue donation. I cannot even say it better than you did with your proclamation and our on behalf of our board of directors. Thank you for doing that. The only thing that I would add is that on April 22nd at 2 PM we'll be celebrating with Y do DOT with a a ribbon cutting ceremony. We invite all of you to attend and celebrate. We have a tremendous partnership with our Y dot partners around increasing uh awareness about organized tissue donation. Wyoming literally is in the top five states in the country uh around donor designation. So we invite you to come over and help us celebrate. We'll make sure to send a reminder. Um, so thank you very much for having us here tonight and and happy birthday, Mayor. My brother's birthday is today, too. So, I hope you celebrate in a big way. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. And, uh, do you have a camera? Okay. Would you all like to come up, receive your proclamation? We would be honored. Thank you. Uh, the city manager will help you get up here. I think it's all right and then we'll all get around you. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you all. Those were impressive statistics.

Okay, perfect. Thank you. Can I Can I make a comment? Uh, council Dhy a comment. I I just wanted to remind people that you don't have to wait to die to donate life. And I know there's an organ donor here that donated a kidney, but also if any of us aren't that heroic, we could um donate blood. So, thank you.

Thank you. All right, we'll move on to our next proclamation which is recognizing the Larmy International Flavor Festival which is coming up. I can't wait. Whereas one of the best ways to learn about your neighbors is to start a conversation about food. And whereas Laram Laram Wyoming prides itself as a dynamic cultural and economic center. And whereas Laram Main Street Alliance organizes the Laram International Flavor Festival, a volunteerrun week-long event that partners with the University of Wyoming global engagement offices, international students and scholars to encourage a sense of welcoming and belonging to our residents and international community. And whereas the Larmy International Flavor Festival celebrates community building through authentic stories and flavors of our community members international heritage and experiences. And whereas Laram residents visit downtown venues to celebrate, recognize, and engage with international neighbors and influences. And whereas in this fifth year of the festival, more than 20 downtown restaurants will be offering menu items inspired by stories that were submitted by 75 plus international students and

community members representing over 40 nations. And whereas downtown Laram restaurants menus are increasingly reflective of the community's international influences, many keep specials on the menu permanently after this event. And whereas through five years of stories from 200 plus community members and international students representing 60 plus nations, the festival continues to invite Laram residents, business owners, students, and visitors to discover the stories that make our community's international heritage so vibrant. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Sharon Cumbi, acting as mayor and president of the governing body of the city of Laramie, Wyoming, do uh city council, do hereby proclaim April 14 through 18, 2026 as Laramie International Flavor Festival Week. and Alli Gman, Deb, Trey, who wants to come up. How many can we get up here?

Everybody up here. We're gonna have everybody up here.

Um, honorable Mayor Kumbi, happy birthday to you. and city council members, thank you for this proclamation of Laramie International Flavor Festival Week, April 14th through the 18th, next week, everybody. Welcome to all our flavor ambassadors that are here and our storytellers. Your contributions infuse the festival with inspiration for a special week of celebration, community, and connection. Thank you for sharing your flavors for all of us to enjoy and discover next week.

Thank you, Deb. And I think we could all fit, shall we? Let's go for it. Oh. Oh, we have a comment from uh Councelor Vhill. Thank you, mayor. Sorry to bugger up the system. I just wanted to say thank you um so much. This is one of my favorite um weeks out of the whole year. Um I can't wait for next week. And um I was lucky enough uh to be asked to be a judge this year. And so I got to read all of the submissions and um it's the hardest thing ever to quote unquote judge. I just want everyone to like be in this. So this is great. Thank you.

Thank you. And uh Councelor Bowling. Thank you, Mayor. um what Melanie said, this is I this is one of my favorite things that Laramie does and um I just want to commend you because I think that one of the things that brings people together and brings community together better than anything, especially across generations, across um demographics has always been a shared meal. So, thank you for doing that for us.

Thank you. And I just want to make a final comment. Um, I was at Sweet Melissa's Front Street when Deb Russ and Ally Grossman were sitting there dreaming this up five years ago. And to see where it has gone is amazing. Dare to dream. Dare to do. Thank you. So good. Come on.

Wide angle lens. Spot lens. I think so. If you can see Ryan. Oh, I can only see Trey. Trey. I'm here. You all are so beautiful.

Oh, thank you. I'm celebrating next month. Oh,

okay. All righty. All righty. Uh, thank you very much. Uh, that's some happy stuff. Uh next we're going to go to public hearing and assistant city clerk Chael if you will please uh read the public hearing for tonight. Notice is hereby given that between the 6th day of January 2026 and the municipal due date of 13th of February 2026 Are you using mic? Yeah. Can you hear me?

No, not really. Maybe change mics. I can. Maybe now we get one that's like that. Can you hear me now? Oh, yes. Okay. Do you want me to start over, mayor? Please.

Okay. Notice is hereby given that between the 6th day of January 2026 and the municipal due date of 13th day of February 2026 the following have filed applications for renewal of liquor licenses in the office of the city clerk of the city of Laramie Wyoming for the following described places and premises as shown in the notice. Notice is also give hereby given that on the 17th day of February 2026 through the 3rd day of March 2026 the following have filed applications for renewal liquor licenses in the office of the city clerk of the city of Laramie Wyoming for the following described places and premises also shown in the notice public hearing to hear comments or protests relative to the renewal of these licenses will be held Tuesday April 7th 2026 at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers of city hall, 406 Ivansson Avenue and via Zoom. Licenses will be considered for renewal at the regular meeting of the city council on Tuesday, April April 7th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers, 406 Ivansson Avenue and via Zoom.

Thank you. Um, is there any public comment on this public hearing? Seeing none, we will go on to announcements. City Manager Fezer, you have an announcement for this evening. Honorable mayor, there are two announcements from public works director Brooks Webb. Thank you. Good evening, Director Webb.

Good evening, Mayor Council. Uh my first announcement is from the solid waste division. Um our waste characterization study is going to begin on Tuesday, April 21st, and we'll go through the 24th. And we're looking for volunteers um volunteers to help sort and catalog items. Uh we've set up uh on our volunteer portal uh at volunteer.c city.org. folks can go in and sign up and if they need further information they can contact our solid waste division manager JR at 721-5309. Um training equipment and personal protective equipment will be supplied. So uh if you know anybody that wants to volunteer volunteer.csc city.org is where they can go to sign up for that.

Vice Mayor. Thank you mayor. Uh, sorry I missed the dates on that. Would you mind repeating those real quickly? April 21st through Friday 24th. And they don't have to be there the whole time. We are requesting that folks sign up for at least a 4-hour block so that we can get the training and stuff needed in there. Cool. Thank you. You bet. Okay. Thank you.

Uh, second announcement is uh from our engineering division and our utilities division. Uh, we just wanted to remind everybody the Thornberg Alley project is beginning and as you may recall as we talked about this and we went through bidawward and stuff, I I tried to warn everybody that this is going to be a tough project. Um, we're working in a really narrow alley with some deep water and sewer lines. Um, folks in that area are going to be disrupted. Our contractor and our project manager have been talking with folks out there already. Um, if you get calls, questions, uh, the best place to send them is to, uh, the engineering folks at engineering@city of alarm.com. Um, and they can just email, they can, or I'm sorry, it's or engineering@city.org. If they engineer, if they send a email or question there, uh, the project manager can get back to them pretty quick and and help them resolve any issues they have. Um, they are going to be working with some of the property owners there. some fences are going to need to come down that we actually have sewer and water lines that are underneath fences. Um it's like there's parts of that alley that are only 14 ft wide and the lines are 10 ft deep. So it's going to be it's going to be a rough one over there. When it's all done it's going to be awesome. We won't have to touch it for hopefully 50 60 years after that. Um but it it it's going to be tough on those folks over this summer and we recognize that and we're going to be working closely with them. Thank you mayor.

Thank you. Uh, Vice Mayor, you have a question. Yeah, thank you. Sorry, just a quick follow up on that. Do you said over the summer, is there an estimate, is this like a month of the summer? Is it the full summer? And will it kind of move along so that people's What do you anticipate each? Yeah, it's it's going to be the full summer and maybe into next summer. Um, next week at the work session, we're we're going to talk about the projects this summer. That's going to be one of the ones that um city engineer highlights. And maybe at that time I'll ask him if he's got a better schedule on how that's going to progress. But um they're going to be in that they're going to be in that alley all summer and maybe into next. One more

followup. Sorry, one more follow-up. I'm I'm just thinking about dogs and pets. Is there any sort of like temporary fence plan that we can be supportive of with people who have pets and have to go to work and will not have their fenced yard? Yeah. Eric, do you know if they're working on that? I don't know. I let me let's let let us bring that information back to you next week at the at the work session. I know that's something we talked about early on. If we have fences down, what are people going to do with their kids and their dogs and things like that? So, let us talk with the project manager and the contractor and stuff this next week and then we'll bring that information back to you at the work session next week. Thank you. Thank you very much. You bet.

Okay. So, uh, any disclosures or conflicts of interest by city council members? All right. Seeing none, Vice Mayor, if you can motion for approval of consent agenda. Thank you, mayor. I move that the consent agenda be approved and that each specific action on the consent agenda be approved as indicated. Second. Um, I I actually heard bowling. So, uh, I have a motion from Richardson, second from Bowling. City clerk, if you can call the role, please. Bowling, I. Freed, yes. Lockheart,

yes. Newman, absent. Odori, yes. Shamway, yes. Vehill, yes. Richardson I cumb yes that is eight yeses zero no nos and one absent

thank you that motion passes so now we will move on to the regular agenda and um our first item uh will start with a vote on the resolution and then we We'll ask our recipient to uh come forward. Uh we're uh giving um anyway you'll know what we're doing but uh so there'll be two parts to this. So councelor Freed.

Thank you mayor. I move that the Larmy city council approve resolution 2026-24 appointing Larry Foyanini ameritus status on the parks trees and wreck advisory board and authorize the mayor and the city clerk to sign. Second. I have a motion from Frerieded, a second from V Hill. Uh, councelor Frerieded.

Thanks again, Mayor. Uh, so background to this item. The council interview panel of mayor Sharon Comi, councelor Jim Freed, and councelor Will Bowling would like to recognize Larry Foyanini for his years of service on the park trees and recreation advisory board, which began in December of 2013. Larry's exemplary service and multiple terms qualify him for ameritus status on the parks, trees, and recreation advisory board. We appreciate his hard work and dedication to our community. Next, uh, Councelor Bolang, if you could, Mayor address the rules of procedure. Thank you.

Yes. uh as follows of the city council rules of procedures resolution 2026-17 attachment A appendix A10 ameritus members an ameritus designation is an honorary title given to a commission or board member who are recognized for their distinguished service and contributions ameritus status further defined honor and recognition it acknowledges the individual's achievement and long-standing commitment to the city of Laramie continued association. It allows the person to maintain a formal connection without the responsibilities of their previous role. For example, they may still advise on projects, mentor others, and represent the organization in approved capacities. Shall be added to calendar invites for upcoming meetings. Preserve institutional knowledge. ameritus members and individuals often serve as valuable resources for historical context, expertise and guidance and symbol of prestige. It singles signals respect and appreciation by showing that the city of Laram values the contributions made by the individual over time.

Thank you, councelor. Um, next council, are there any questions and or comments at this time? Okay. Uh, city manager,

honorable mayor, city council, um, I want to take a few moments to recognize Larry's, uh, impact on my life. You know, when I came here a little bit over 10 years ago, uh, one of the first people that I met with and interviewed with was Larry Fuini. Um, I can't tell you that I've had a better mentor in my life of somebody how to react to public comment, how to decipher, how to understand what people are saying, and anybody that's been more caring for the parks and recreation division and the community, the recreation center, and what they've done. Um, he's taken it all in stride. He's poured his heart into it, and we're all blessed to have had him in our lives and in our community for this time. So, it's just a pleasure to see him honored with this, uh, award tonight.

Thank you. Uh, is there any public comment on this agenda item? Back to council. Assistant city clerk, if you can call the role, please. Freed, yes. Horty, yes. Shamway, yes. Bowling, yes. Newman, absent. V Hill, yes. Lockheart, yes. Richardson, yes. And Cumbi, yes. That is eight yeses, zero no, and one absent.

That motion passes. And I'd like to ask Mr. uh Foyanini if he might come forward.

Good evening, Larry. So, first we're going to start. I'm going to read the resolution. Whereas the ameritus status membership for boards and commissions was created by city council February 17, 2026 by resolution 202617. And whereas the ammeritus membership is an honorary title given to commission board members who are being recognized for their distinguished service and contributions. And whereas it allows the individual to maintain a firm connection without the responsibilities of previous role after nomination and serving for at least two years. And whereas this membership was created to preserve institutional knowledge and provide a symbol of prestige and recognition. Now therefore, be it resolved by the city council of Laramie, Wyoming, that the foregoing recital are incorporated in and made a part of this resolution by this reference that council appoint Larry Foyanini to the ameritus status membership for the parks, tree, and recreation advisory board that this resolution is effective upon passage and approval. today. Thank you.

Thank you,

Larry. Is there anything you'd like to say? A very, very few words, but thank you all so much. And Todd, thank you for that those kind words. I really appreciate them. When I first got on the board, one of my main goals was to see a green belt completely encircling the city of Laramie. Well, it's not quite there yet, but it's getting very close and especially thanks to this addition to Spring Creek that you're doing this year. So, I hope I'm around long enough to see it completed. But I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the board and u I appreciate your recognition. Thank you.

Thank you so much. And we have a plaque to give you if you'd like to come up. Can we grab a photo? Mayor and to get a photo. Of course, thank you. We're so photogenic here. One more time. All right. Figure out the first date when we tried to get you, but we didn't want to do it without you. So, thank you very much. All right. Thank you so much. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks, Larry. We'll see you soon. Thank you.

Congratulations. Thanks, Larry. Appreciate it.

All righty. Next, we will move on to item 11B. Councelor Lockart. Thank you, Mayor. I move that the Laramie City Council approve the award of bid and contract with Fremont Electric for the backup generator project in the amount of $188,37 with a contingency of $18,830.70. and to approve resolution 2026-27 amending appropriations for the fiscal year 2026 budget of the city of Laramie Wyoming and authorize the mayor and city clerk to sign

second. I have a motion from Lockhart, second from Richardson. Uh, Director Wade, I mean Director Webb,

I've been called worse, may your council. Um, so this item is is for a natural gas uh emergency backup generator to be installed out at the municipal operations center that that will power two buildings. Um these buildings uh house um critical staff and equipment. Uh building A is one of the buildings and that houses our our utility division. So our water and wastewater folks as well as our our solid waste folks in that building. Um and a lot of their smaller equipment in there. Their workshops are in there. Um, our pumps and wells crew has their uh offices set up in the back where they have uh their scattera monitoring equipment. Um, the other building is the large the large uh vehicle parking building. That's where their their heavy equipment is, the big dump trucks, uh all the trash trucks, the uh the vac trucks, uh back hose in there. So, if there's uh an emergency situation, a a water line, god forbid, breaks up in the middle blows up in the middle of state highway, uh having power to that facility will allow us to get that equipment out of there quickly. Um the the doors, the roll-up doors on that building are extremely large and um to manually operate those is nearly impossible and and really a safety hazard in my opinion. Um so having power to those buildings constantly uh to me is critical for for the city um so that we can we can respond to events in in case of a power outage. Um we had two bids on the project. Fremont Electric and J&J's Enterprises. Fremont Electric was the lowest responsible bidder. We've worked with them many times. They're they're local here in town and they do good work and so we're recommending them for award. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to take them.

Thank you. Councelor's questions. All right. Is there any public comment on this agenda item? Seeing none, back to council. Council, any comments. City uh assistant city clerk, if you can call the role, please. Vhill, yes. Shamway, yes. Odori, yes. Newman, absent. Lockheart, yes. Freed, yes. Bowling, yes. Richardson, yes. And Cumbi, yes.

That is eight yeses, zero nos, and one absent. Thank you. Uh, that motion passes. Item 11 C. Councelor Bowling. Thank you, Mayor. I move that the city of Laramie approve uh the Laramie city council approve the drinking water state revolving fund loan agreement between the Wyoming state loan and investment board and the city of Laram for the zone one tank project and authorize the mayor and city clerk to sign the provided documents.

Second. I have a motion from Bowling, second from Behill, Director Web. Uh, mayor, back in August of 2025, uh, council authorized submitt of a drinking water state revolving fund loan application to the state loan and investment board. On February 5th, 2026, the state loan and investment board approved the city's application for $10.1 million with a 0% interest rate over a 20-year term. Um the zone one tank project is is currently under design and will replace the existing what we call low-level reservoir which is across the street from Murdoch's up there. That facility was built uh originally back in the 1950s and and is having some serious infrastructure problems that we've known about for a while and we've been preparing for this day. Um that that tank is really the central hub of our water system. It is probably the most critical piece of our water system. Um it the water from the plant goes directly to there and then it feeds out to to the other zones throughout the community. Um so it not only services zone one but it services multiple other zones uh throughout our system. Um there's there's uh promisary note attached uh federal requirement checklist, a loan document checklist, amortization schedule. The mayor's going to have lots of stuff to sign. Um and we'll get this we'll get this back over to state loan and investment board once that's completed. So with that, I'll take any questions if you have them.

Thank you, director. U councelor O'Dhorty. Uh Mr. Mr. Web, could you remind us how much that tank holds or that reservoir holds and is this re is it replace it or is it repairing what's there?

Yeah. So, uh, Mayor Thruu, so the the current tank, the capacity is 8.5 million gallons, but it really holds right now about 6 million gallons. Um, due to some cracking and stuff up near the top, we can't completely fill that tank. Um we've we've found out through the design process that we don't need 8 million gallons there. Um so the tank won't will not be as as large. Um there's possibility of two tanks going in. We're going to the first tank will go in and that'll give us the ability to assess the existing low-level reservoir. Um if that if we can do repairs to that, we will. If not, the second tank will go in and and and we want two tanks there cuz it's going to give us like backup, right? Where we don't have that right now. Um and so this this this project's going to be great. I I think by the end we're going to end up with about 3 and a half million gallons there um instead of the 8.5 million which will still fully serve the needs of the community.

Uh councelor Frerieded. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you Director Webb. I know we're um you know this is we're in a design phase assume with this funding but if you had an anticipated time where this thing could be completed down the line are we talking 5 years 10 years 20 years you know just in in a ballpark I know it's hard to do yeah mayor three I'm going to say two to three years thanks thank you further questions thank you um is there any public comment on this agenda item Um, back to council for comments. Uh, councelor Freed.

Yeah. Thank you, mayor. Again, just shout out to Director Webb and your team for a 0% interest rate on a 20-year loan. So, appreciate all the work that it takes to get that funding to get these projects done. So, thank you.

Further comment. I just want to uh thank Director Webb and your entire department for the foresight and to work on this knowing it was coming to prepare and that now that the time is here the preparation has been done so that we can move forward and I really appreciate that. Um city clerk if you can call the role please. Newman absent. Odori yes. Bowling yes. Shamway yes. Freed yes. Vhill

yes. Lockheart yes. Richardson yes. And cumby yes. That is eight yeses, zero nos, and one absent. Thank you. Uh that motion passes and we will move on to item 11D. Uh, Councelor Oorty,

I move that the Laramie City Council approve resolution 2 2026-25 declaring the westside study area as blight and authorizing the development pursuant to Wyoming statute 15-9-107 and authorize the mayor and clerk to sign. Second. I have a motion from O Dohy, second from Richardson. Uh, good evening, city manager.

Good evening, mayor. Do you have that presentation that I sent you, Ryan? Um, it's good to be here after the um postponement, but I do have the presentation that we gave at the last council meeting with some added slides that I wanted to run through real quickly with you tonight. Um again the question tonight is does this area um meet the state statute requirements to be determined as blight. Um that is the question that is before you tonight. Um we do add in some discussion around development some other things that are going hopefully going to happen in that area but right now this is our first step in the urban renewal project. Next slide please Ren. Um the conformance with 159103 again we just have that highlight is that the areas highlighted where we believe that that does meet the state statute the predominance of defective or inadequate street layout faulty lot layout in relation to size adequacy accessibility or usefulness and the existence of conditions which endanger life property by fire or other causes. um you know there are no streets it's not been developed and that is an impediment to development that does slow down development the cost of building streets the size of the project currently it's about 32 acres after I evaluated it based on some other engineering studies there's about 26 developable acres on that property which is really a large property to develop and so the size and the accessibility to that because the road structure didn't make it through the properties in west makes it difficult to develop and then the existent conditions which endanger life or property by fire or other causes. This property does have the the floodway which is the riverway in it. It also has two flood zones, the 500 and 100year flood zones that do impact that property and cause uh endanger life by other causes. There is one other one. It's labeled as other. We opt not to use that in Larmy to uh be a determination for

blight. Next slide, please. The conformance with 559110 is a uh there is a the urban renewal error consists of an open area land to be acquired by the municipality. This doesn't really apply to us because the municipality is not apply acquiring this property. We're trying to establish the blight zone on this property. But if we were to, we do meet this requirement already. There's a short of a shortage of housing and sound standards and design which is decent and sanitary exists in the municipality. That's been studied. It's been done through studies. It's been well documented. Um the need for housing accommodation has will has been or will be increased as a result of the clearance or the development of this area. The conditions of blight in the area and the shortage of decent safe sanitary housing cause contribute an increase in the spread of disease crime constitute a minute to the public health, safety, morals and welfare of this community. The welfare of this community is about getting people to be housed here and get them to have housing for jobs, entry- level jobs, and make sure people can get um uh established in Laramie. And that's part of the welfare that we're working on is our overwhelm community welfare. The acquisition of the area for residential uses is integral part of the essential to the program of this municipality. It's well documented for many years that housing the h cost of housing increasing housing supply and stock has been a council goal for um at least the 10 years that I've been here and so it's well documented that is part of the program in the municipality. Next slide please Ryan. Um a few things that you've heard is there's conformance with 159110 and there's criterion that are intended to be met. A feasible method exists for the relocation of families. Well, there's no housing or families on this property. So that is not a condition that needs to be met. The urban renewal plan conforms to the general plan and municipality as a whole. The general plan of our municipality as a whole is the comp plan which I included a map there with a

green box on it that indicates that property. The red areas in ex in map 7.2 of the comp plan which is the urban development area is the area that has been identified for urban growth in our community and our existing comp plan. Um, as you can see, not the entire property has been identified, but the bulk of that property hasn't been identified as development for urban renewal in our current comp plan that we are currently operating under. The next one, the urban renewal plan gives due consideration to the provision of adequate park and recreation areas. I know that a lot of times we've been told that this is going to ruin the green belt. Green belt is on the opposite side of the river. It won't have that effect. Um it is right there next to Optimus Park which is undergoing some redevelopment here in the next year or two. And then this project I do believe will lend itself to potentially another green belt on the east side of the river that will provide connectivity between Snowy Range Road and Garfield as it moves forward if projects if development occurs and moves forward. Um and then the last one the urban rural plan uh is allows for public or for private enterprise to do this. Again, the municipality is not acquiring this land. We're not playing a part of it. We're just trying to establish the powers that are awarded by state statute to encourage development in this area. Next slide, please. Ren, the blight to termination, of course, the predominance or def of defective or inequade adequate street layout. As you can see by this blow up, the only access is Garfield Street or Snowy Range Road. Uh the roads from the west side never made it through the property to make those connections. And we do believe that some of those connections will try need to try to be made through the development process to encourage that there's adequate ingress and egress from this property. The faulty layout in relation to size and accessibility and usefulness. As you can see, the size of that property is is hard to develop and and it's going to need to be subdivided

and changed out so that it can be used appropriately. And then unsanitary safe conditions is the existence of the flood zones the 105y year that encompass the most of the property. Next slide please Ryan. Uh the project boundaries. This illustrates the boundaries. Although you can see the project you can also see in this map that there is a rather large riparian area that is denoted. Um next slide please. If I could show you through this, the development of this property would not exist impact the existing Larmy River green belt. The section of the green belt is on the northwest corner of this where it goes under Snowy Range Road. And we do have an existing lease for that property with the G family that we would expect to be maintained with anybody that was to purchase this property in the future. Um, it's not in a developable area to tell you the truth. it's too near the floodway and too too inundated by river connectivity at that point. Uh from my measurements, there's about 26 acres that could be developed. Um on this property, as you can see, the green area highlights that area. Um that measurement is kind of supported by the westside Laram conceptual redevelopment plan that was conducted by heirs, which is an engineering firm that understands the nuances of developing around a river. um that river, the riparian area of that river will not be impacted by any development. It doesn't make any engineering sense to try to build down in that area and this is the only portion of that area. You've had a lot of discussion, a lot of people that are concerned about the trees on that area. The area that's available for development doesn't even have a single tree on it at this point. Um it butts up against the industrial property right next door and is just basically prairie land at this point. And then currently if a developer does not want to use this use the URA or tiff property then they have the rights to develop this property. If we go through

the blight determination a developer does pick up the tiff or ur application that is the city's one way to really negotiate and make sure that development follows a certain standard and is our way to do that and we can work on things that improve the different things that we're talking about like a larie river green belt or accessibility issues and some of those things. Storm water mitigation is another big one that we can handle through that process. Next slide, please, Ryan. Uh the anticipated authorized urban renewal activities as you get to a development completion agreement that would come your way would be to improve or construct any street, curb, gutter, or sidewalks, rights of ways within or adjacent to the subject property. So that is allowing for that connectivity for it to affect if it needs to improve Garfield or Snowy Range Road or the access points that it comes in that way. Um, street and utility connections could be done. We could relocate public and private utilities. Uh, construct other public improvements including storm water drainage improvements and detention facilities. We could remediate any environmental contamination if it's found to be there. Uh, demolish structures that have fallen into disrepair and to a maximum extent possible. Um, facilitate economic development and site beautifification including parks and recreation amenities. Those are the areas that we intend if tax increment financing is collected that the development completion agreement would require any tax increment funding to be spent on which you can tell it's all towards the public access the parks and recreation the different pieces of the property.

Councelor Odhorty you have a question. Um, I think this would be a good time to interject if I may, that if if the taxes on that site were 10 do I'm just putting some low numbers here because it's easier to do the math. If it was $10 this year, then um, and then if the value of the property goes up such that taxes would be $100, $90 a year would go towards only these things that are in the agreement. and the tax is still collected. It's just going to the county and the county says this is earmarked for the URRA and then the board using the agreement which would be these kinds of conditions would decide whether they could be reimbursed. Do I have that right?

Honorable mayor through you to councelor Dherty. I couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks. Thank you.

Thank you. Next slide. in the next steps. Um I forgot to change the dates on this cuz we were delayed is uh the next steps before you would see anything is what you would see is a plan and project come back through the process which that plan and project would go to the planning commission be back at city council and then it would hope then it if it if approved at that point it would establish the point of equalization which is that point that councelor had already brought up of that level of what it is at now for the taxes and those taxes would stay with the taxing entities Any tax above that would be the funding that's available for the urban renewal authority to negotiate development completion agreements to use for those associated purposes that were already identified. After that, I would imagine you'll see a subdivision of this property. Um, it'll go through some site plans. It'll have some work done with it. And then there will be a development completion agreement that includes those items again that are negotiated that it establishes it projects what the taxes may raise and how those could be used, how they would be reimbursed, requested for reimbursement and how the taxes any of the tax increment financing above that baseline could be used. I think that was the end of the presentation. I know we had this just a couple weeks ago. Um happy to answer any questions that you may have at this time. Councilors, uh, questions. Uh, councelor Lockart.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you, city manager. Um, I do appreciate you clarifying that regardless of, you know, if blight, if we do vote on blight tonight, if that is developed, the developer has the option not to use the tiff. Absolutely. So, but this gives the city more opportunity to help mitigate. Okay. Um, second question you brought up that the GIS do have a lease, they lease the land for the green belt right there. So, I'm curious if it is developed and it's bought by another entity. Does that lease have to be redone through the new entity that purchases the land?

Yeah, honor honorable mayor through you to councelor Lockheart. That would be the same with anybody that purchases land for any reason. Um, we do have a 2-year renewing lease with the guy's family for that green belt section. Um, I think it's $400 a year with uh every other year. I think we have $150 administrative fee or something on there. So, but uh if anybody purchased that property, whether it's for development or not, then we would have to renew that green belt lease for those purposes. Thank you. You're welcome. Further questions? Uh, Vice Mayor,

thank you, mayor. I have uh just a few. wanted to piggy back on what um councelor Lockheart had just asked about. Have you been in any discussion or are there opportunities to speak with the guys about ensuring that sort of an agreement could be written into if it if the proper property were to be sold that that sort of a lease lease agreement carries over to the next buyer? Uh mayor, is that even a thing? I'm kind of making this up. Mayor through you. I have had discussions with the guy's family. I haven't had that discussion in particular. Um, I'm confident that they believe the green belt is a good amenity and that they would do that, but I could certainly have that discussion. Thank you, Councelor O'Dy.

Um, I'd add from an engineering standpoint, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to build right there in that section owned by the Gist family because it's where it goes down and frequently floods. So, it's really like part of the river. Yeah. Honorable mayor through to councelor Dhy there's about you know from my view there could be a two or three foot depression or decrease from the elevation of what we identified as potential developable area to the river base that all flows down and you can see that green riparian area that is is enhanced from the water in the area. So it would not make any sense for anybody to try to build down in that area at all.

Vice Mayor, thank you. Um I think this is my last question but just uh um there was discussion in the um community um forum that we hosted um about you know is there an opportunity where the community could see if someone could buy it and keep this green space. Um let's just say that is the way things move and someone buys that. Could whoever whatever entity buys that land still have access to that tip financing and not use it for development? For example, if they decided to put like a community center that talked about the the the area, um could that tiff be used to help support the building of that community center if it addressed some of these things, the infrastructure, etc.?

Honorable mayor, through you to councelor Richardson, absolutely. It would be a matter of what generates the tax change though, right? So if you think about it, if that property was to be acquired by a nonprofit and they were able to alleviate the property tax base, the financing is not available, right? It would have to be some forprofit or some profitable entity that was generating property tax base that increased that baseline of property tax. So it is possible absolutely but it's a matter of what comes in and what constitutes. Uh as we you know a lot of you went through tax increment financing in the beginning of the urban renewal agency. My belief is that uh you know tax increment financing is better supported if there's a little bit of commercial involved. But to our knowledge right now nothing has been talked about any commercial development because commercial is the one that's the the got the highest tax return on your property tax. Uh, council.

Oops. Councelor Bowling.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, and thank you, Councelor Richardson, for the question because I think it's important to note that anyone that buys this, no matter what kind of group it is, could access this. Um, city manager, could you or or even uh, director Tenny um, speak to some of the like remediation and mitigation that needs to happen on that property in terms of like pollutants, heavy metals, things like that that that may be that that are there currently. Um, honorable mayor Theuda, councelor Bowling, the actually the environmental assessment done with the Westside Laram re rede conceptual redevelopment plan indicated that there was some barium in the area. Um, I don't know that that creates a huge uh environmental assessment that will be up to any developer. more than likely I can see where it may be a cause for maybe some vapor barriers on some development or something like that. But uh barium was the only thing identified in that environmental assessment if I remember correctly.

I'll let uh Director Tiny add to it. Director Tiny.

Yes, Mayor Council. Uh great question. Um, what I would encourage you to do if you want to spend some more time on this topic, um, all the way back, uh, going back a little bit of time here on is the date October 27th of 2020, uh, we spent some time presenting on this topic to the council. Um, in your work session at that time, you can actually see the presentation that we brought up and presented. But, um, I'll just quickly hit the high points. Um, out of the phase 2 ESA that was produced on this site, um, we do have no VOCC's or PHS compounds were detected in the soil samples above regulatory standards. Arsenic levels exceeded Wyoming SLC standards, but are consistent with the naturally occurring background levels. Uh, no VOCC's, PHs, or metal constituents were detected above Wyoming groundwater cleanup standards. And the phrase two results indicated there are no significant environmental impacts at the site that warrant additional assessment or preclude future development. So it's what we presented. It's in the slide slide 15 if you really want to get into it on that. So

thank you director. Absolutely. Uh councelor odory. P is polyylic aromatic hydrocarbons. So they were found they were not in that site and the volatile organic compounds that's VOCC's were not found. So the only thing was the arsenic that was consistent with um natural occurring light levels.

Thank you. Further questions councilors uh councelor Freed. Thank you, mayor, and and thank you, city manager, for for the second presentation, and I really do appreciate addressing some of these new slides based on what we've heard back and the feedback and the questions from the community. Um, really appreciate it. And I that my only question is about the process and you you kind of highlighted it through that presentation, but could you just kind of walk us through what happens next? So, if this were to move forward and gets voted for today, can you talk about the opportunities where the public has has a voice and they can be engaged in that public process or whether that's at planning commission meetings or council meetings or if if this were to move forward and this designation happens, how do people still get to be involved and and hopefully have a say in what gets developed there?

Yeah, absolutely. The next step in the process is the approval of a plan and project which that they will there will be an opportunity at the planning commission to be involved when it's scheduled. Then then there will be an opportunity at city council again when that plan and pro project comes through. Then there will be the development completion agreement which will have an additional area for the public to be involved at the urban renewal agency, the planning commission again and city council because that is the overarching authority of the fiscal responsibility of the project. As far as what could happen on the site itself, it'd be a matter of what development occurs there, but those are the areas that will be available for public input. Thank you, Council Bowling. You had a question.

Thank you, mayor. Um, thank you, city manager. Just a point of uh just to clarify for myself, am I correct in the the in in the process that you just laid out um especially when uh development proposal goes to planning commission that happens after the sale of a property? Correct. It it happens with the development process of the property because you honorable mayor threw you to councelor bowling. I apologize for that. Um it it happens with the development because we have to know what improvements are being established that are part of the plan and project that are identified as eligible for tax increment financing.

Further questions? Okay. Uh, thank you, city manager. And now public comment on this agenda item. Abe, uh, Litner, I saw your hand go up first. Uh, if you can come to the podium and state your name for the record, please.

Absolutely. U, thank you, honorable mayor, member of the council. My name is Abe Lentner. I live at 1319 East Sheridan Street and I'm the secretary for the Urban Renewal Agency, a founding member uh and have enjoyed my service so far uh on that committee. I serve with four other members of the of the community. Uh we're all volunteer residents who look at revitalization ideas, plans, uh and then projects that we could potentially undertake. Uh and we have a lot of passion for what we do. Um we voted uh as a agency to recommend the AVI study for findings of blight and we did that because of the tools that a finding of blight unlock to incentivize responsible and appropriate development on a site like this. Um we have done a lot of work to engage in outreach and community input in our process. Sometimes that's been successful. We've worked with AVI and city staff to hold town halls for the Westside project as well as the North Fourth Street project and in other times we have not gotten a lot of engagement. Um you talk about tax increment financing and development plans and it's hard to get engagement. U I'm actually really excited to see the level of involvement and passion around redevelopment. I think it's a tremendous opportunity. Uh one barrier that we have in terms of getting community outreach and engagement is the archaic language of the statute. uh we aren't because the statute talks about um urban renewal and as a commission as a committee we talk about revitalization we talk about reinvestment the statute talks about blight we talk about environmental re remediation aging infrastructure and deferred maintenance and and the two things have the same goal u but the language is so different that it's hard to engage people when that language is a barrier but we wanted to move forward with this because this project the the finding of blight um allows us to start the conversation, not end it. It allows us to have a a a possibility to incentivize development that's appropriate for the site, appropriate

for the community, and meets community goals. Without it, we don't necessarily have that opportunity to provide those incentives to negotiate development that meets the needs of the community and addresses the goals of our agency, which is to improve, revitalize, uh, and then offer opportunities for reinvestments in areas and neighborhoods that really could benefit from it. Um, so ultimately, uh, as a, uh, agency, we welcome the engagement. I'm excited about the engagement and because this finding of blight would potentially allow us to start the conversation, we would hope to see continued engagement from the community about setting goals, setting uh parameters, setting objectives that we could incorporate into plans and development uh agreements.

Thank you, Mr. Lintner. Further public comment. Uh I saw you second and then I saw Mr. glass third right now. So, good evening. If you can state your name for the record. Thank you.

Sure, absolutely. Uh, hello. My name is Dr. Christina Sluca. I'm a resident of the Westside neighborhood as well as a concerned ecologist who has conducted wildlife research on the property in question. Today, I will be reading a letter on behalf of my friend and colleague, Dr. Marov Ben David, professor emeritus of the University of Wyoming. Um, first, Morav and I wish to thank you guys, the council, uh, for your service and patience on this issue. You are facing difficult decisions that carry a very large responsibility. Morav regrets not attending the meeting today in person, but she is up in Sheridan um, this weekend or this week uh, for the Wyoming Wildlife Society annual conference. Instead, I will read this letter um, for the record as Morav's previous student and friend. Uh Christina, I do know the time. Okay. So, keep going.

Yep. I'll read the remainder of the letter from Morav's perspective, although I also note that I fully agree with her statements as both a resident of the west side as well as a citizen concerned with Laram's sustainable future. Now, Morav's letter. I'd like to again explain why I believe any decision that may damage parts of the Laramie River in its repairarian zone, including a blight designation that will increase property value should be done only after serious consideration and finding effects. Any engineering solutions to prevent flooding that are not based on environmental solutions are likely to cause damage to the river and the flood plane. To quote from the EPA, from the EPA, quote, "Green infrastructure can mitigate flood risk by slowing and reducing storm water runoff and protecting flood planes. As precipitation events become more intense, this type of mitigation becomes even more crucial for communities." End quote. Therefore, before you decide, please require the relevant parties to produce a plan following the EPA guidelines. Point source flooding can affect downstream flood plane and cause damage to properties beyond the one you are asked to address. Why is damage to the Laramie River problematic for wildlife? The Laramie River, although less than 2% of the landscape in the basin, is a hot spot for biodiversity. Birds, mammals, amphibians, fish, and aquatic invertebrates rely on the river as a habitat and movement corridors. Although spotting a moose along the river near town is a rare opportunity, and watching an otter from the green belt may be a once in a-lifetime occurrence, countless animals use this stretch of river year round. Again, before making a decision, please consult the wildlife observation system managed by the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database for multiple species detections at that location. Or at the very least, engage young wildlife students in conducting a study using camera traps to produce local scale data along the green belt within the city limits. I'll be happy to help direct that effort. Finally, I know that you have been considering the effects of flooding throughout the city in relation to the storm drain improvement plan, but would encourage you to think even more

broadly. Flood mitigation in parts of town close to the river can be done in part by using city properties up river as water retention facilities. By enhancing beaver activity on the monolith heart and bath ranches, the risk of flooding down river will be substantially reduced. At this time when climate models project severe drought in our region in years to come, retaining water in the Larmy values is crucial to developing a plan that will address water carrying capacity before authorizing additional housing is paramount. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you,

Mr. Glass. Good evening, honorable Mayor Cumby, members of council. I hope I can do this in three minutes because it's really really too little time for a discussion of this topic. I've spoken to you several times. We did have an hour and a half discussion as well. So,

yeah. Um, so I'll just give a quick summary of the reasons why you should vote this item down this evening. Point one, the city staff broke the law, specifically Wyoming statutes 159107, when it paid outside consultants to write an urban renewal plan prior to action by you, the city council. When it did this, it took on a large expense that should have been borne by the land owners, not by the taxpayers. Point two, the document is absurd in that it claims that conditions such as the lack of streets on undeveloped vacant land, which of course does not need streets, constitute blight. The plan also utterly fails to demonstrate that any of the three requirements in the penultimate sentence of Wyoming statutes 159 101 Romanet 3 have been met. Some members of staff have claimed that violating the law and cutting our tax revenue by instituting tax increment financing is justified to stimulate development of affordable housing. But if a tiff is applied to the land before it is bought by an actual developer, the financial benefit, a gift of taxpayer money that over time could amount to as much as half a million dollars, will go only to the current owners, not the tenants of apartments that would be built there, not the buyers of private homes, if any, are built there. It would thus make no more housing housing any affordable at all. But it would motivate all future developers to demand the same tax subsidy. Point4. It's not legal for an urban renewal authority to use its authority in attempt to stimulate new development or create affordable housing. Its mission under the law is to deal with decay and slumlike conditions. The lawyers of the LSO, who drafted 20 2025 House Bill 68, believed it would take 14 pages of changes to the Wyoming law to allow that. The bill containing these changes was voted down during the 2025 session, meaning that it's still illegal. And finally, and most importantly, um your constituents don't want you to do this. At a recent town hall meeting, only two members of the public out of dozens spoke in support of

the blight designation while all of the others opposed it. And those who spoke in support were not knowledgeable about the issue, the law, or the effects of a potential blight designation. As elected officials, it's your job to respect the public's wishes, not to give big financial gifts to private parties while going against the will of the public. So, please be responsive to the overwhelming will of the voters who elected you and vote this item down tonight. Thank Thank you, Mr. Glass. Well done. Further public comment on this agenda item.

I have Linda Divine online as well. We have someone coming in online and then I'll do you next. Miss Chapman,

are you is she in? She's joining.

Good evening, Mr. Divine. if you can state your uh name for the record, please.

Yes. Thank you so much, Mayor. My name is Linda Divine and I am a uh resident on the west side of Laramie. Uh thank you so much for allowing us to um comment tonight. Um I wanted just to visit a little bit about the involvement of the community. you know, I you know, heard the city manager talking that there'll be different meetings and public meetings. I do think it's important though to keep in mind that with the development and any development agreement um those any um development still has to have a nexus between the the blight and anything that the developer is going to do. So, I think our voices would be limited. That's why again I'm going to bring up the zoning overlay. I think it is detrimental that we include that. I know the city um a few years ago you did the westside study. You've also done the connecting of West Larammy. I think that's a start even with the study. If we really want to make sure that the Westside um folks do have a voice, I would strongly urge y'all to consider the zoning overlay. I also think it's more enforcable because the there's case law that states that agreements are just agreements. Contracts can be broken. If you have a zoning overlaw lay, you have a law in place. I know these are really hard decisions for y'all. I appreciate uh everything that you're doing. I do think that it's important to I think you do have the statutory authority to do it. And I would just urge you as you do move forward to um put in place things

that really will allow your constituents over here to have a voice. And I do think the best way to do that is through a zoning overlay. And I thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Dane. Uh, Miss Chapman. Thank you. Can you if you can state your name for the record, please? Okay. Uh, mayor and city council, my name is Wendy Chapman. I've lived on the west side for 27 years. Um, I have to say, uh, designating the 4G land as blighted requires quite a stretch of the imagination. The descriptions of how the land is already blighted is a great exaggeration. The land presents no danger to anyone as it is, and I must take this opportunity to remind everyone of the flooding issues already present on the west side. Any development on the 4G land would add impermeable surfaces on an existing flood plane and make all of our homes on the west side even more vulnerable to flooding. I encourage council not to feel that your hands are tied. I encourage you not to feel that you must support the blight designation of the 4G land just because we need housing. Laramie has other and better options including the vacated city property on North Fourth. I also want to encourage council to appreciate the land as it is a flood plane and a wildlife corridor. The land is not blighted. It has never been urban and it doesn't need renewal. It is enjoyed by so many in Laramie while walking or riding on the green

belt. The land is a treasure as it is. If it is altered, we will never get it back. I ask you all sincerely to vote no on the blight designation. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Chapman. Thank you.

Good evening, Chris. If you can state your name for the record.

Yes. Chris Stratton. Uh 1569 North 6th Street. My parents have lived on the west side forever. Uh so I I'm coming to you guys with their thoughts on it, which is yes, we do need housing. Yes, this is a very good idea because it gives you guys more control. It gives everybody on the left side more control. And everybody that keeps saying, "Oh, no. this isn't a good idea. You guys are trying to provide the best options for the property because if you don't do this, they can sell it to anybody. It's going to go through a very small process and then they're going to have the same problem that they have unless they want to bulk up some money, come together, buy the property, and make it the uh sanctuary that they're asking for. It's going to be housing. It's going to be business. It's going to be something because I am sure that the land owners are wanting to sell it. And you guys are taking the right actions to make for sure that everybody has a voice and that the mediations needed are going to happen. So, I am very much in support of this. my father Kirk Stratton 362 West Park and Laura Stratton 362 West Park is incomplete agreeance that uh it's something that the city needs. Thank you.

Thank you Chris. Is there further Yes. Good evening, sir. Hello. Hello. My name is Bob Shine. I live at 186 Corell and uh I have one comment first. I like the new logos on the city trucks.

Oh, thank you. My my question is for the developable of all uh land 20ome acres I believe would a levy be necessary to protect it from the flood plane that it's going to be built in. Uh can I refer that please? Honorable mayor through you to Mr. Shine. Yes. Yep. Todd Fer. Nice to meet you. The property is what we've been told by an engineer that has some knowledge of it is it's about six inches out of uh in the flood zone. So buildings would have to be raised up and no levy would be required.

Okay. Well, if you decide in the future that uh cuz I was a member of the LRCD at the time we bought that property and we thought that it would require at least a foot of uh replacement soil to make it adequate. Uh, and I was on the board for eight years and I went through all that and also I was on the board when we had the stream redevelopment project along that the banks of the Laramie River at that time and reestablish the meandering flow and improve fish habitat. So I'm also concerned about that if it would impact that.

Uh, and if you in any way the river's flow would be changed. Uh I uh think you should definitely check with the core of army engineers. I've been involved in two projects uh and and it's very advisable to check with them before you do anything. Thank you. I really appreciate your comment.

Uh excuse me, sir. Um Councelor Oorty has a question for you. We were wondering maybe you could tell us why LRCD um got rid of that land. Did they um um was it bought for a building or for conservation purposes? Yes. Uh initially we were going to build a small building for ourselves. Uh and then after I left after those 8 years they decided to go elsewhere to uh buy a building. So it but I think the flood plane did have something to do with it.

Thank you sir. Thank you. Thank you. Yes ma'am. Um I can help with Dr. Shine's response. Well, please come and if you can state your name for the record. Thank you.

Ruth Shepard and good evening who served for 12 years. Oh, and thank you very much for your time both to the council and you mayor. I appreciate it very much. Um I served for 12 years on the board and after Dr. Shine went off the board. We looked closely at our mission statement and because we are obligated as a special district for soil and water conservation, we realized that it would look pretty irresponsible if LRCD built in the flood plane and had to haul in a a foot of soil, tamp it down. And uh that area did used to flood up to the area where we wanted to position our buildings. So we were definitely in the flood plane on that. And while I'm here, I have one other response because we were part of that Harney Street uh vioduct that went in. We purchased land that now the Napa um store is located on and we worked in conjunction with Y dot. So there were five acres that we purchased and cleaned up a super fun site uh that Brownsville cleanup of the itrium plant the conservation district did. Uh we came to the city then and were given tiff funds. We matched it with an EPA grant. We got tip funds because that soil was so contaminated. We didn't do it because they wanted to put a big exchange there and needed that wide space to be able to connect back to the Snowy Range Road. We asked for TIF funds specifically because it was going to be very expensive. It was at that time about $1.5 million to do that

Brownsfield cleanup. and then turn it back to business, which does pay taxes for property, right? So, we did that with intention and purpose. We thought we were going to build there, too. But, um, we couldn't really uh justify being able to plant trees. If we plant fruit trees and kids came over and ate the fruit, there you are wondering, did it was it contaminated? So, back to these tiff grants. Uh, the city of Larmy at that time told us they had one shot to use that. So, they couldn't ask again. They're very rare that they give these. It was amazing that we got it. a woman at the time named Sandy, I can only remember her first name as a board member on the district. Really helped us via the city, handled all that money for us, passed it on so that we could pay for the disposal of the contaminants. So when you talk about developing North Fourth, I would think those TIFF monies would be really useful there. I came to that meeting because I live in that district and you convinced me that the development that you want to do on North Fourth is really a good idea.

Thank you. So, I think you need that. I appreciate your comments. I I really do and I appreciate some of the history. Oh, good. Thank you, city manager. Honorable mayor, for a point of clarification, the city hasn't enacted any TIFF funding. So, I think there's maybe some acronym disjunctionality there in tax increment financing and what was used for those for those project sites. Um, and just for the previous speaker, North Fourth Street has already been declared blight and is under the blight determination awaiting for tax increment financing to get one of those projects going too. Thank you. Thank you. Any further public comment?

Good evening. An if you could state your name for the record, please.

My name is Anne Brand and I'm here as a business owner and the executive director of the Albany County Conservancy. And I want to discuss tonight how um I feel and so do my members that the city has failed to adequately notify the entire Laramie community regarding this 4G property discussion. I reached out representing the conservancy to Bob Shine and to Ruth because I knew their background. That's the strength of Laramie. They didn't show up because of an Instagram or Facebook notice that talked about the Lincoln Community Center or the West Side. And so I'd like to point out to all of you here that there is something brewing there when you're talking about wildlife habitat. And I'd also like to circulate these pictures quickly. I don't want to eat up my time.

They go to the city clerk, please.

I showed up on the 31st and I stood on the Garfield Bridge and I took pictures of that area that we're talking about that FEMA determined was a flood plane and that it it was something that needed to be focused on. I know that you've focused on that a lot and I appreciate that. But when I was there taking pictures, there was a man there fly fishing and there was a woman there with a camera with an extensive zoom lens and she had binoculars and there were 20 to 25 cars in that parking lot at 7:45 8 a.m. in the morning. And so I engaged the fly fisherman first. I did this individually and those individuals do not live on the west side. So I think this is a tinder box brewing to happen and I think you don't need it. I listened tonight. I heard these wonderful adjectives. It's been a great city council member to go meeting to go to. I've heard improve communication. That was the first woman. She would like improved communication. So would my members. I heard community building. When I talk about the green belt with my members, they talk about it belonging to the community. There is a misperception that is happening that's occurring that where that path is is public open space. They don't understand this concept and that openhouse that happened back in February or March that looked to them to be for the west side and they are viewing the urban renewal announcements the same. So when I hear the fact that there is no public participation, it's not being presented like this and that's creating frustration and people are boiling over and so I want to encourage you to take more time about this topic. Those people told me that they live east in Laramie. They live by Pilot Hill and they like going to the green belt and a

lot of the cars in the parking lot weren't even county 5 at that time in the morning. So, go drive there and check it out yourself. Thank you very much. You're welcome. And I appreciate your due diligence. That river is a treasure trove to this community. It is. Thank you so much. Thank you very much.

Any further public comment? Yes, Miss Kelly. Oh, for God's sakes. So again, Siobhan Kelly, hello counselors and mayor. Again, this is the the parcel we're talking about with Garfield Road, Snowy Range Road, and the river going under the bridge. This is the blight we're talking about. This was a photo I took in 2022 when I was walking on the green belt, and it shows the 4G property and what it looks like on the river. When we study the maps, we see that this is the floodway and that this is the this is the zone AE and this is very our municipal code 15.20 20 addresses all of this dark purple and that is because the city of Laramie worked with FEMA and to adopt those that code in 2017 so that the city would be in accordance with code of federal regulations 44 which allowed us to have be a community with federal flood insurance. This is what the map looks like.

All of this in turquoise is the special flood hazard area. And when you look at it, you see that it doesn't actually leave a lot of this brown as building location. This is also a flood zone. If you zoom out, the picture becomes pretty clear that the special flood hazard area, it takes up this much of the site. So all of that applicable municipal code 15.20 applies here. And that this is what is left. And you see that it goes into the westside la neighborhood and you see how particularly vulnerable this westside neighborhood is. When you talk about building housing everywhere else, you don't see these two flood areas. This has the levy of Garfield Snowy Range. This is the pinch point and even the railroad tracks are elevated. So, it occurred to me all the times that I've talked to you that

Siobhan talked about flooding. Thank you. May I show the pictures? You're showing it. Thank you. Thank you. Uh this is how frightening it is, right? And this Siobhan is the most recent episode. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Is there any further public comment? Yes. Good evening, Brett. and if you can state your name for the record.

Uh, hi, I'm Brett Rston. I'm 29 and live in Larmy Ward 3. And ultimately, I'm here because I really wish for the development um and access to things that I think are essential needs for humans to live good lives. And one of those things is housings. That also includes access to transportation, access to health care, access to higher wages, access to work, and things like that. And so when I look at this piece of land that we're talking about for the blight determination, I see that um the types of development that can go on it, it's zoned for residential, I believe, right now. And I think that that's important to note because any private developer could already just put houses on it if they had the funds and income. And my friends that know me probably know that I don't really trust private entities that much um for a lot of reasons. But I think that the the bargaining chip that the blight determination can allow the city to have to ameliate some of that flooding um that would be bad if someone just developed without even considering it uh is really important and allows us to build things that are necessary for providing the essential goods for people. Especially as Laramie grows and as we get more people coming to this wonderful city, it's really nice and I think that people see that and it's desirable. And so moving forward, I think if we don't take the precautions to to build appropriate housing now and take the steps to fix what might be a problem 10 to 20 years from now, it might be a lot worse. So I'm just ultimately in support of it. Um, I think that it's totally viable and I think people want housing and people want it to be done correctly. And so, uh, I'm not envious of the decision you guys have to make tonight, but I really appreciate you guys' work listening to all of us. So, thank you.

Thank you very much. Appreciate your comments. Uh, yes, Mr. Henderson,

if you can state your name for the record, please.

For the record, my name is Eric Henderson. I'm a Westside Historic District resident on Pine Street. I would tell you that when the water level increases in the Laramie River, the water table rises throughout the neighborhood. It's my understanding from engineers that backflow valves will not solve that problem. impervious surface uh increases will not add anything but trouble to this area where you have uh in December 2025, December 18th, it was presented to council that 84 units at least were proposed in this in this 32 acre space. that would result in 100 to 164 additional parking spaces, additional per impervious area. This is infringing on a wildlife corridor. This is threatening uh my historic uh home in westside historic district. I worry about valuation. I sent council a complete uh incremental f uh tax incremental financing uh concern. Those those concerns I still I still find uh a few of them most concerning. Uh the the most concerning to me is the high financial risk and debt uh but for misuse in TIFF. It is intended for development that would not occur but for the subsidy. I do not believe that this is a but for case. As I researched back to 2017, I found listings of this property by members in this uh room tonight that listed it for 2.5 million dollar. That is $78,000 per acre in this in this space. This is not a funding week.

I'm sorry. Um the gentleman said members are were buying or selling this property. I think that that's a smear. Um, none of these members own I'm just you said

it's only my intent it's only my intent to show that but for the misuse of tiff money if if you want to if you want to privilege the few the single owner of the property 4G Enterprises. I would rather that council consider 159 uh 1110 mentioned by city manager earlier tonight and secure ultimate control over this space. I would ask that that be the ultimate consideration. This is a gateway. We always talk about Snowy Range Gateway. We talk about gateways to our community. I would ask that city council obviously there's so much to talk about. There's so many considerations. You you mentioned an hour and a half at Lincoln Community Center. You are a individual mentioned that there was there was not participation, but now there's great participation. It's not in a bad way, but it is a request that you actually listen to the constituents. We have one W 2 member not present tonight.

Thank you, Mr. and this matter needs representation for our area. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Eric. Is there any further public comment? Yes, sir. My name is Al Garcia. I'm a lifetime resident of the west side. Um uh you were here and I saw you at the meeting at the Lincoln school and uh one of the things that uh I didn't think of at the time because the city council said we don't have the money to buy it but maybe there's other things we could do. There's another blight on the west side too which was part of the old oil refinery that's fenced off. Maybe they might be interested in a part of a trade, a land swap, and then the property in question could be incorporated incorporated into the Optimus Park for recreational use. And um then you get rid of an eyesore on the west side. I was really glad to see the bridge go over the west side where it was because it got rid of a big eyesore. And to be honest, that was my playground when I grew up. All of that area was my playground. So, um, just food for thought. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. I have a question for him. Vice Mayor, um, thank you. Um, uh, sorry, I was just going to call you out, but Mr. Garcia, when you noted that, um, the fence stop area, are you speaking of the area that is Uh the further north like way more north uh just south of Curtis Street. Okay. Yep. Thank you. Yeah. River too. Councelor Bowling. Um I believe that's BP Ammo property, correct? Yes.

Yeah. Any further public comment? Okay. Back to council for comment. Councilors. Uh, councelor Lockart.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you everybody for coming and the emails and whatnot, the staff for doing their due diligence. This very tough decision for all of us. I' I've been pondering this for, as we all have, for weeks. The the thing I'm looking at is it's private property. It's personal property and personal property rights. So they can do what they want with the property just like we could do what we want with our own property um within reason within state statute within city laws and things of that nature. And as some of some residents stated and as in the presentation if it is designated blight there's more control over what is done mitigated and whatnot if the tiff is used. If it's not, it's not. But I know the the the GES and the 4G that own it want want to sell it. You know, that's why they changed it from industrial to R3, which is multifamily and single family housing. I don't believe that the city should tell them what that they can't develop it. Okay. I don't think that's in our in our um obligations, our rights to tell someone that they can't do something on their own property. It's not easy. I've read through tons of material as we all have. So, um I'm still haven't decided on my vote tonight, but it's coming soon. So, but thank you. I just wanted to get that off my chest.

Further comments,

vice mayor. Thank you, mayor. Um but I would say similarly this is it's been a lot of thought put into this and um I I will still go back to the comment that I made at our meeting that I I think there one this is specifically for the blight and yes uh designating this as blight encourages development. I'm not going to pretend like that's not true. It is true that is that's what we are are doing with this. However, I think that some of the the issues that have been brought up by um some of you in the room um are worth looking at. So, um you know, goes back to one of the public commentators um statements on overlay. What is what can an overlay look like? So, that would be something we could look at as a ne as a next step. Um this though just for the designation of blight um for me knowing that housing was the thing I heard the very most when I ran it continues to be the thing that I hear the very most I know that we have turned away businesses who wanted to come to Laramie because we didn't have housing for them. this um we can have a little more control over over some of those infrastructure pieces with this. Um I think it's a tool. It's not going to solve our housing problem completely, but I think it's something we can look at and um you know and and ideally putting some of that money toward infrastructure to help to bring the cost down would be great. I mean, I guess that's probably not a guarantee, but I I would love to see that be the offset of it because in theory it could work that way. Um, and so I I am leaning toward a I shouldn't even say right now I feel like this will be a yes vote for me um based strictly on the blight and then thinking about

what are next steps for the community and how can we address some of the issues and concerns and questions that you all brought up about green space and um what you would like the community to look like. Thank you, uh, Councelor Freed.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, and thanks for all the participation and the information over the last three weeks. I think I've had a crash course in tax increment financing, urban renewal, walking that green belt section, watching social media and people posting videos. It's been really helpful and challenged my perceptions that I've had. I've looked at state statutes. I've looked at the history. I've gotten a lot of information from members of the community and from city staff and we ask questions and and ask where this stuff comes from. So that all happened um in this process and I think the the voice of the community really helped me get to where we are now. Um and I I also want to say that some of the things that were said tonight in terms of the the Laramie River and the and the green belt, I can't imagine there's a single person in this room that would see development harm in those things. um you know that I I feel like there's a misconception between we need housing at the expense of conservation or we need development over protecting the river and I don't think those are mutually exclusive and at least that's what I would promise if this moves forward that you know I I'm not going to speak for the other seven folks up here today but that's not something that I will try to pursue is is damaging that nor do I expect anyone from the community or the city to want that. Um, what we're looking at tonight is a designation of blight if this area meets the criteria designated by the state. And you know, I know members of the public have questioned the legality of this, but our interpretation is that this meets multiple designations to be considered blight. Um, and that and that's the fact of the matter. And so I think there's a there's a strong argument in terms of how we protect and develop this area. And those don't stop with the designation of blight. So, that would be my encouragement if this if this passes, you know, that we work together to continue to make sure we're not putting something that's going to damage the westside neighborhood that's going to damage an area. You know, our city manager, I think, did a great job of showing where development could be in

these 20some acres. And this riparian corridor in this area that we're talking about, people are concerned about. So, are we and any development that would come in here would be heavily heavily looked at to make sure we're not damaging that. No one wants to see, you know, wildlife not have a way to to move through our community. Um they go through the alley every day. Um and I guess the last thing I'll say is just really awesome to see people from the west side. Um my first project in 2012 with the Wyoming Conservation Corps was uh with the Laramie River Conservation District cleaning up that area over uh on the other side of the Harney Bridge. So that was my first uh steps into conservation in Wyoming. So appreciate you being here and thanks. Thank you. Uh councelor Vill.

Uh thank you, Mayor. uh councelor Freed and and the vice mayor said kind of a lot of what I'm thinking as well. Um you know my my dad was conservationist uh for for his career and my mom is from the west side and so this um this really has kind of hit home for me and so I've really appreciated the conversation. I've appreciated getting to see all of the again the residents of the west side here tonight and at all of our previous meetings. And so, um, you know, this is something that I've been thinking about daily, um, over the last however long. Um, and I think the one thing that I really keep going back to is is the question that we have to answer tonight and that we have to vote on tonight. And so, is this area considered blight per statute? Right? And so, that's what I'm trying because there's a there's a lot of stuff out there. We've been hearing a lot of stuff, but the like when we come back down to it tonight, our job is deter this determination. And so that's what I'm kind of focused on tonight. And then and then as the vice mayor kind of mentioned, like we can move forward on um you know, what is what does this look like after tonight? And so I think that's something that I'm I'm really focused on because um you know, this stuff can get pretty emotional. There can be a lot of you know, information out there. There's sometimes some misinformation, too. I know I was really concerned about the riparian areas, but um you know, just getting some clarification on that has really helped me and helped inform how I'm going to vote tonight. Um and again, we really we really have to focus on the question at hand tonight. Thanks.

Uh thank you, councelor. Uh councelor Bowling.

Um thank you, Mayor. Um I will more or less reiterate briefly what I think a lot of uh my fellow counselors have said. Um a couple of items that I just want to you know I I will continue to push back on and especially in community conversations like the designation of blight and the possibility of a tiff is not a kickback to owners to raise a property price. They still it's going to be assessed at the property rate the the the rate that it is now as a empty piece of property. It's not a kickback to developers. The community gets to decide how a tiff gets used in order to improve its health and well-being. A blight designation is about in this case for me about the question of more or less control. And in that scenario, I am always going to choose more control. I am not approaching this from um someone who is uh concerned and advocating for affordable housing, which I am one of those people. I am approaching this from a position of having the most control over something that happens that is adjacent a sensitive place. And um what we don't have control over, which is something that I it's very easy for me for folks to say or and I've heard many times nothing should happen there. And what we don't have the control to do is to make sure nothing happens there. We can't prevent someone from selling it. We can't prevent people from developing it. City government doesn't have that stick. We don't have that stick. Um, but we can

make sure that that we have as much control over that as possible. Um, and I have lost my train of thought, so I'm going to leave. Thank you, councelor. Any further uh councelor Odhorty?

Uh, what I've learned on seven years of being on city council is that housing housing housing is a problem. Um, so that's why I'm not surprised that there's been support among council. I know that surprised some folks um that commented that that people were supportive because what we learned is there's no silver bullet. There's not one we can't just fix the housing problem by doing one project. We have to tackle it every way we can. And what our professional um planners have told us is one of the things is you reduce the amount of parking that's needed. So we reduce the amount of parking needed. We got a lot of flack about that. We reduce setbacks. My neighborhood I've got I we got people saying your job is to preserve the characteristics of my neighborhood. And I would say 51% of our constituents are renters. 51% of the people that live here, the young people. I'm not interested in bringing people from outside. I'm sorry to say that in front of the um the business development folks, but I'm interested in keeping the people that live here now. I'd like to keep them. I'd like to keep our young people so that they can get their foot in the door because I'm lucky. I have equity in my house and a lot of the people on the west side that have lived there for 27 years. you have some equity and that's great and that is such a comfort but we have so many people 51% of our population that doesn't have they can't get their foot in the door because there isn't enough housing so anything that increases the stock I'm in favor of I'm a I'm a PhD my work was in stream ecology I studied wildlife and fragmentation for the forest service as

a wildlife ecologist um I You know, I put my life to protect the Laram River. I'm a river runner, but um and and I love wildlife, but it would be impractical to build on the actual river corridor. It's going to have to be set aside. That's the developer's problem. They're going to have to come up with a plan that protects the neighborhood. But the blight designation allows us to use some of the money that's generated to increase storm water runoff and things like that. So that's my tie rate. Thank you for my TED talk.

Thank you counselor. Further comments. Um I appreciate the comments of council. Uh I think many good points were made. Um and so um city clerk if you can please call the role. Lockhart. Thanks. Yes. Oorti. Yes. Bowling. Yes. Freed. Yes. Vhill. Yes. Shamway. Yes. Newman absent. Richardson,

yes. And Cumbi, yes. That is eight yeses, zero nos, and one absent. Thank you. Uh, that motion passes. And finally, item 11E. Just a minute. Councelor Richardson,

I'm not even a little bit prepared after that. Just give me one second here. I move that the Larmy City Council approve the project development and administration agreement and related exhibits for a $5 million grant and a $5 million loan award to the city of Larmy by the Wyoming business council and authorize the mayor and clerk to sign where indicated. Second. I have a motion from Richardson, second from Freed. Uh, good evening, city manager.

Honorable mayor, city council. It's a pleasure to be here tonight. Um, this agreement, if I take you back a whole year, which is embarrassing for me to say that it took a whole year to get this done, but uh, this agreement is related to a previously approved resolution for a BRC grant that was approved by the BRC and the SLIB in March and April of 2025. Um, at that time we had draft agreements ready to go, but it took a while for Wii, LCBA, and the city to come together on the agreements and get them lined out. What you have before you tonight are is one agreement with two attachments. One is the project development administration agreement and that what that does is that outlines the responsibilities of the entities. The second piece of that is the um one piece of that is the revenue recap. Oh, the lease purchase agreement which details out how this project will be purchased out or leased out by LCBA to Wiotech and when purchasing comes into place. And then the final part of that is what happens with the revenue recapture which a portion of the revenue goes back to the business council, a portion goes to LCBA and a portion comes the city for future economic development projects. Um there's not a big change. We're back on timing a little bit as far as this project moving forward, but WTO has continued to move forward with the design and engineering of this project. And uh I'd be happy to answer any question. Oh, before I go, I've got two members here. Kyle Morris, the president of Watt is here, and then Brad Enzy with the Larmy Chamber Business Alliance, the CEO, is here. Um not sure if they have anything to say, but it's for a $5 million grant, a $5 million loan with the Wyoming Business Council. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you, city manager. Um, yes, Councelor Freed. Thank you, mayor. Sorry, city manager. Um,

what's going on? Uh well just you know this seems like a a solid way to build you know businesses and growth in our community and as a city we've done this sort of thing before with other entities and you don't have to list them but is this a pretty standard way that we can you know help get development to happen? Honorable mayor through to councelor Freed. Absolutely. The tungsten uh heavy powder and parts that's in West Laram. The high viz that's in West Laram. The uh UL building that's up in the Sears sky. Um the Sears sky project itself in its entirety was a Wyoming business council development project. So these are exactly ways that are the state of Wyoming supports economic development and business growth throughout the state of Wyoming. Uh, Vice Mayor, I think you were first.

Thank you. And this, um, may or may not be a question for you. Um, if we could be reminded of, is this anticipated to increase enrollment, which I believe it is. Um, and then what that I know there are discussions about dorms, but I don't remember where those are. Just in terms of thinking about future growth and how do we handle an increase of folks. da for that. But um how do we house them?

Um I'll answer the first part and then I'll turn it over Kyle Morris, president of Wii. But uh it is intuited in intended to increase uh tuition paying students, but it's also intended to create full-time jobs in Wyoming in Laramie. So it's got two values to us. not only the income from the students, but the the uh general economic benefit from the uh jobs, the well-paying jobs that they're going to create. With the second part of that, uh Kyle's actually given me a couple talks about what this project does to speed up the housing project ideas and concepts, and I'll turn it over to Kyle Morris. Good evening, President Morris. Good to see you.

Good evening. Yes, mayor and council. Thanks for having me. Um, so yeah, great question and and it has been discussed at length. But so we we will as part of our growth plan in the future need additional dorms. And so we have we have a kind of a simultaneous project. We have a design phase going for future dorms currently. So thank you for the refresher. I knew that I'd heard it but thank Yes. Uh Councelor Lockhart.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Morris. How many more students are you anticipating um with this design, this project? Yeah. So this this project will increase capacity from 500 to 700 plus students. So our current capacity is around 1,200 and this will take us up over 1,700 students and depending on how we reconfigurate everything even even potentially a little bit more than that. So thank you. Yeah. Okay. Todd uh or sorry, city manager, it's okay.

City manager uh reminded me, but jobs jobs wise, this this project is is right around 100 new jobs that we anticipate. So, yeah, at full capacity. Good. Thank you. Yeah, city manager, anything further? Honorable Mayor 3. Okay. Uh counselors questions public comment on this agenda item.

Good evening Mr. Enzy,

Mayor Cy, members of the council. I just want to thank you for your time and efforts in this. This is uh a culmination of a lot of efforts on behalf of city staff, our staff and the business council. And just kind of as a refresher, when we look at these projects as the LCBA and the economic development entity of the city, we look at first what's the increase in employment and are those jobs that are going to come to town to increase employment, do they add to our median income? Are we going to increase the median income and 100 jobs with where the pay is met that threshold? Then we look at what's the ancillary economic benefit uh of the overall project. In this case, you know, I like to talk about OPM. That's other people's money. And uh Wiiotech and its brand has such a trusted relationship with not only the vendors that come and hire the kids, but with the parents. uh the person who cuts my hair sent their kid there and uh was super excited about the parent experience. So they're a trusted element in the vocational and technical education element nationwide and they those parents trust the school to come and drop off their money and their child in our community and I think the um the work that they've done to make that uh world class um both from the experience of the student and the employability of the student uh can't be overlooked. So when we look at kind of that total picture of does it increase our employment here that allows us to spend the dollars in employment over and over again coupled with the students coming and the money being dropped off at our community to also support those employees and cycle through. It also increases our profile as a community uh nationally and really internationally

now uh with their hiring fairs and we're working with Wiiotech um all the time. It's how how do we keep those students here to increase our workforce? But the demand is so high right now around the country and internationally for these particularly you know in the heavy trades diesel automotive that uh it's a fierce and uh fascinating battle. I'd encourage everybody to go watch on the hiring fair day um which is a great asset for our community to have. So just kind of as a refresher of how we look at these projects and how we say yeah this should move forward or it doesn't move forward and we approach the council for support and then the business council.

Thank you. With that I'll stand for any questions. Any questions? Thank you very much.

So uh Chris public comment. Christopher Stratton, 1569 North 6th Street. Looking at this and where I live, etc. We're right next to a large complex that Wiiotech has leased out for housing because they already can't house the amount of students that they have. Um, the big thing is we're looking at 100 new jobs. That's amazing for Laramie. Yes. But again, that's 100 new people. Where are they going to live? I think that Wiiotech needs to look at their dorms and being able to house their students on their own property like the University of Wyoming can before they look at expanding 100 new jobs and however many new students coming into town. whenever we have such a problem right now with housing and being able to just house the people that live here. I think that this would be a good idea to not vote for and to look at the option of housing before we look at the option of expansion. Thank you.

Thank you, Chris. Any further public comment? Seeing none, back to council. Council comments. Uh, vice mayor. Thank you, mayor. I I thank you all for your work on this. It's really exciting and um hopefully to kind of ease some of Mr. um testifiers uh comments is that it does sound like this is being worked on kind of simultaneously. So hopefully this will all come together in a very nice way that doesn't have these huge impacts on community when we're thinking about where to put people. Thank you. Further comment

uh councelor feed. Thank you mayor. Just to echo uh Vice Mayor Richardson and and thanks to all the folks that have worked on this from uh the business council, city staff and and beyond. And I do remember in the in the wild presentation from President Morris, you know, a few months back now that, you know, staff housing was also included in in kind of how they're looking at developing. And so I'm sure if we want more more information on that, I'm sure he'd be happy to provide it. But I agree. Thanks.

Thank you. And I'd just like to say I'd like to thank everyone involved for the work that's been done on this. And this has been a long-term complex process and sometimes it's easy to oversimplify things into we have to stop everything until we get housing. Um often a development such as this is a yearslong development and concurrently we are very we are really working on housing and to bring that together. And so I appreciate the comment uh about housing, but I think if we keep pulling back and not work on solutions and development that we're just going to be like a hamster spinning on a wheel and it's time to we've just need to move forward and there are many people working on these issues and I'm just so proud of the fact that we had uh a housing coalition that rose to 84 dedicated members who stayed with the group for 18 months toward decision making, problem solving, uh generating ideas. So, I think these things occur concurrently and um that that's my comment. Uh I'm in support of this. Uh assistant city clerk, if you can please call the role.

Shamway, yes. Bowling, yes. Oorti, yes. Vhill, yes. Newman, absent. Lockheart, yes. Freed, yes. Richardson, yes. And Cy, yes. That is eight yeses, zero nos, and one absent. That motion passes. Thank you. Um, is there any public comment on non-aggenda items? Seeing none, councilors, consideration of future council work session topics. Vice Mayor, thank you. the look.

He did uh actually it's and maybe this isn't quite appropriate. I'm just I know we had talked about and I' I've had a quick conversation with um city manager about the um water restrictions for this summer and I know we're having that discussion in June or slated for June, but I keep thinking uh that if Oh, I am only supposed to bring it up, aren't I? I'm not supposed to talk. bring up a topic and not

Well, it's already slated and so I'm trying to I and you had said the water folks said we're fine, but I'm if we decide we need to implement water restrictions, I think it's going to be easier to do before June than after June. And so I'm just wondering if we need to change the date on that. Councelor Bowling. Um I would second the vice mayor um if for many reasons but most importantly the um some of the reporting at the um Laram um emergency planning commission yesterday leads me to believe we should move this up if we can. City manager

honorable mayor staff's happy to move it up to whenever you guys would like. Um, I do believe that uh after my meeting with staff yesterday that we're still in a really good spot, but if if there is that concern, that outward concern, we may as well get it moved up. It's going to have some impact. I want to remind you, you've got a lot of budget meetings coming and it's going to have some weight. We're going to have some weight over the next extra meetings. We we are happy to slide that in and have that discussion wherever we can find it as we move forward. Okay. And we can talk about that. that we'll work on that. Yes. Okay. Very good. Thank you.

All right. Um Councelor Odory, I move that we adjourn for um executive session two executive sessions regarding land negotiations. Wyoming statute 16-4-405 lowercase a roman atet 7 second. I have a motion from a dory second from vehill. Uh all in favor I I I opposed. We are adjourned.