City Council Approves Minor Revisions To Downtown Plaza Agreements

Casper City Council approved minor revisions to the agreements the city will have for the creation and maintenance of the downtown plaza during a special meeting Tuesday.

Mayor Daniel Sandoval said the resolutions smoothed some legal rough spots for the Downtown Development Authority to acquire land and build the plaza at West Yellowstone Highway and David Street to be known as the David Street Station.

"It's just changing the memorandum of understanding so that we can actually accommodate the on-the-ground transfer of property that can be demolished and constructed," Sandoval said.

"It just essentially making a new legal instrument to fit with that timeline," he said.

The resolutions authorized a revised memorandum of understanding between the DDA and the city, authorized a parking space lease Wold Bros., Inc., and authorized a lease agreement between the city as lessor and the DDA as lessee for the plaza.

However, former city councilman Keith Goodenough questioned the project, saying it will cost far more than city officials have indicated.

Goodenough cited the city's purchase of the Plains Furniture building for $3 million and other acquisitions and expenses that could bring the total cost to about $10 million.

But Sandoval and other council members responded that some of Goodenough's numbers were inaccurate, and the purchase of the Plains Furniture building was coincidental to and not a result of the plans for the plaza.

DDA officials have said the plaza could be completed as early as November.