Casper City Council Discusses Scooter Changes
The Casper city council discussed at their meeting on Tuesday possible changes to proposed ordinance changes that would be needed if rentable scooters are to come to the city.
While the council eventually voted to approve the first reading of the ordinance, with two more planned over the next few weeks, council members Lisa Engebretsen and Kyle Gamroth ended up voting against it.
Gamroth said before they voted that he opposed the addition of dock-less electronic scooters into the city because there wasn't a problem the scooters would solve, and that because they have not looked into the scooters enough, they might introduce problems into the good year the city is having.
Vice Mayor Ray Pacheco said he feels at future meetings when they receive public comment pertaining to the changes, the council can iron out any issues that people may have with scooters.
During discussion on possible amendments to the ordinance, three were proposed, one by council member Bruce Knell and another two by Gamroth and Engebretsen, however none passed.
The current proposal requires companies bringing dock-less electronic scooters into the city to pay $90 per scooter, which Knell proposed lowering to $50 per scooter to attract more businesses into the area.
Knell's proposal was voted down after a tie vote, with council members Engebretsen, Gamroth, Pacheco, and mayor Steve Freel voting against.
There were only eight members of council present at the meeting, as council member Shawn Johnson was absent.
Following Knell's amendment, both Gamroth and Engebretsen attempted to amend the ordinance, with Gamroth wanting to remove dock-less scooters entirely, while Engebretsen wanted to lower the cost to $50 per scooter along with a flat $3,000 annual fee.
Both amendments did not receive a second, and so didn't receive a vote.