Casper City Council to Vote on Budget Revision, River Restoration Contract, Liquor Licenses

Casper City Council is scheduled to approve a revision of its budget for several major projects at its meeting at City Hall at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The total budget revision will be $28.8 million, according to a proposed resolution in the meeting agenda.

Some of these projects were not contracted by the June 30 end of the last fiscal year,  according to a Feb. 5 memo from Assistant City Manager V.H. McDonald to City Manager John Patterson.

The revision includes several high-dollar items including the $5 million lease of land on the former Amoco refinery site, now known as the Platte River Commons, for the proposed conference center.

Major projects include $4.4 million to replace the Mike Sedar Park pool, and more than $4 million for water line replacements, $800,000 for a maintenance building at the Hogadon Ski Area, $208,000 for a Safe Routes to School project, $900,000 for "arterials and collectors" road projects, $1.3 million for the Fort Caspar Underpass, $440,000 for the Highland Park Detention Reservoir, $181,000 for the Stuckenhoff restroom project, and $1.4 million for the Country Club Road project.

The funding for the revised budget will come from more than one million dollars in unexpected revenues, $11 million in current revenues and nearly $17 million in reserves, according to McDonald's memo.

Besides the budget revision, city council will consider a $1.3 million contract with the Raleigh, N.C.-based River Works Inc., to stabilize the banks, remove rip-rap concrete, develop wetlands and replant riparian areas in Morad Park.

River Works submitted a bid of $1.3 million.

A joint venture of Barnum Inc. and Steady Stream Hydrology of Buffalo and Sheridan had submitted a lower bid of $1.2 million, but it did not meet certain requirements for river restoration.

Six people have signed up to speak to the council about this contract, according to the agenda.

The council is also scheduled to approve an ordinance to allow rooftop signs on buildings in the Old Yellowstone District and South Poplar Street Corridor, and approve the renewals of dozens of liquor licenses.