News and Press Releases

COW recommends $300K or more for economic drive

By Michelle Dynes
rep2@wyomingnews.com

CHEYENNE – The City Council Committee of the Whole recommended to contribute $300,000 in tax money to a local economic development drive.

The committee held a public meeting on the resolution to approve dedicating tax money from the 2003-2006 fifth-penny sales tax overage for a contribution to Progress and Prosperity II.

Campaign chairman Mike McGee said five years ago a campaign was put together to raise funds for the business park in southeast Cheyenne, which now houses businesses such as Sierra Trading Post, Lowe’s and EchoStar. This initial campaign raised $1.7 million with a majority of it, $1.4-$1.5 million, coming from the private sector. The balance was made up with funding from the city and county.

He said this funding helped put in the infrastructure to attract a total of 12 companies, creating over 1,000 jobs. The average wage within these companies was set at $11.65 per hour, 40 percent over what was anticipated. He added this put $27.6 million in additional payroll funds into the community: money that went toward building homes and buying cars.

This time the goal is to raise $2.8 million in the next five years, but McGee said he doesn’t think this should be a problem. He said he “feels confident going into this.” Even though efforts have begun only a month and a half ago, an excess of $800,000 has been raised in signed pledges. He said additional indications of support from other companies have pushed that number past the halfway mark.

He said he was asking the city to make its investment, and he stressed that this was not a contribution, but an investment that the city will get back. He said part of the success with getting a company like Lowe’s came from having not only available land, but infrastructure as well. He said part of the reason Cheyenne lost the Owens-Illinois bottling plant was the lack of available infrastructure.

“ Until we have the infrastructure, we’re not a going to be a player for a lot of these companies,” he said.

The committee unanimously approved making the recommendation to approve this resolution Monday.

Committee member Tom Segrave said he thought $300,000 was a reasonable amount from the city.

“ There’s no question we need a new business park,” he said.

He added he’d like to see the amount increased.

The committee also voted to recommend to the council to approve up to $55,000 from 1999-2002 fifth-penny overage for playground equipment in Jaycee Park and tennis court lights for United Nations Park.

Parks Director Dennis Griess said the playground equipment at Jaycee is outdated and no longer meets safety standards.

Committee member C.J. Brown said he was in favor of this project. He said while developing areas such as Sun Valley do need parks, older parks should not be allowed to fall into disrepair.

“ If we’re not willing to maintain what we have, why are we looking into adding more?” He said.

Segrave said while he sympathized with the need for new equipment, he’d like to see a prioritized list from Parks and Recreation first, allowing these needs to be put into the annual budget instead.

Committee member Don Pierson said he would approve the request for park lights Monday unless he hears otherwise from neighboring residents.

Committee member Brent Beeman said he would talk to residents in the neighborhood to get their opinions, adding he would not approve the motion if these residents are not in favor of having this type of lighting so close to home.

The committee also agreed to continue with current water restrictions based on the recommendation from the Board of Public Utilities.

BOPU Director Tim Wilson said at this point there is no need for any modifications to the restrictions.

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