CASPER, Wyoming – The Casper City Council will hold its regular work session on Tuesday, Aug. 13, at 4:30 p.m. The meeting will be streamed on the city’s YouTube channel. The council will review the results of a feasibility study to acquire a large Pony Express collection facility at an expanded Fort Caspar. A consultant has also prepared a proposal to adjust water and sewer rates to suit different classes of users, with the long-term goal of keeping pace with rising operating and maintenance costs.

The information packet can be found here on the city government website and is also included at the end of this article. https://www.youtube.com/@CityofCasperWyoming/featured

Pony Express exhibition at Fort Caspar

Council will hear the details of the Pony Express feasibility study. The packet explains that a significant collection of Pony Express era artifacts, documents and artwork will be donated to the City of Casper. The study calls for expanding the exhibit space at the Fort Caspar Museum to accommodate the collection.

According to the memo, the city would cover the initial $10,000 to $12,000 cost of transporting the Joe Nardone collection from Laguna Beach, Calif. The Fort Caspar Museum Association would invest about $40,000 to catalog the collection and plan the expansion.

Visit Casper would then spend up to $50,000 to hire a consultant to lead fundraising efforts for the $7 million to $10 million expansion of Fort Casper.

The consultant says tourism is increasing from people interested in the sites and artifacts related to westward expansion, including the Pony Express. He notes that the authenticity of the reconstructed Fort Caspar and Pony Express station makes it an obvious place to have a collection of its own. It would also fit in with recent initiatives to designate Natrona County as a National Heritage Area.

With the new expansion and designation as the National Pony Express Museum, the museum could bring in more than three million dollars annually to the local economy, the consultant said.

Proposed change to water and sewerage charges

The Council will also hear the results of a study by Raftelis Financial Consultants looking at ways to keep pace with rising operating and maintenance costs for water and wastewater infrastructure.

Currently, the monthly fee for all customers within the city is $10.17 for the first 1,500 gallons of water, the information packet says. After that, it is $2.40 for the next 500 gallons. Outside the city, rates are slightly higher.

The proposal envisions three classes of users: commercial, residential and irrigation. There would be four classes of residential customers based on usage. Wastewater charges would be the same for all customers regardless of volume.

A typical low-water household currently pays $43 a month for water and sewer. According to the consultants’ report, the proposed structure would cost $47. No formal action is currently required from the council.

Proposed zoning change aims to attract buyers to city properties

The city has tried several times in recent years to sell about 9 acres of undeveloped land on Robertson Road, a city memo said. The land’s assessed value was just over $1 million, but the only bid was about half that.

Because the city plans to sell again, it is seeking to rezone the area from planned unit development to general commercial or high-density residential development, which the city says will give developers more flexibility.

Because the city owns the land, it could bypass the Planning and Zoning Commission. There would still be a public hearing and the ordinance would have to pass three readings.

Salary structure for municipal employees

The council is expected to receive recommendations from a human resources consultant on how to replace the city’s current salary structure of pay scales and salary brackets for city employees with a market-based approach. The approach is intended to help maintain financial stability and create positions with more clearly defined career paths, the memo said.

The consultant will meet with heads of all city departments for two days to discuss the proposals, the package says, and no formal action is required from the council at this time.

Federal grant for Wyoming Boulevard Pathway design project rejected

The packet includes a memo informing the council that its request for federal funding to plan an extension of multi-use trails through various parts of the city was denied. The two-phase project would create a trail along Outer Drive in western Casper and another connecting CY Avenue to East Yellowstone Highway. It would also add a section in east Casper.

The city would have paid about $210,000 for both phases of the design, with the Federal Transportation Alternatives grant covering 90% of the total $2.21 million cost.

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