Council hears of grocery store expansion

While considering the monthly report from its Land Use Planning committee, the Sundance City Council approved a request to facilitate efforts to move a house situated next to Decker’s Market. The house is to be relocated to enable the grocery store to renovate, said Mayor Paul Brooks.

The request was approved, which will allow the house’s new site to be better prepared to receive it. Said Brooks, the Deckers project is expected to involve an expansion to increase its footprint.

During Tuesday’s regular meeting, the council also heard that a date has been set for the city’s clean-up day for May 24. According to Clerk-Treasurer Kathy Lenz, high school students will compete to pick up the most trash and the winning class will get a pizza party the next day.

City residents are encouraged to join in for the month-long effort. Contact City Hall for more information.

City projects are ramping back up for summer, according to Public Works Director Mac Erickson, who said the municipal pool has been cleaned, a new employee has joined the team and the Sundance Kid water tank project is once again underway. The footers have been dug and the walls are being formed, he said, so, “We should see a tank here pretty soon.”

Karla Greaser of Trihydro presented two change orders for the project, the first of which extends the timeline to July 15 and the second of which requested $11,219 for additional service and fees for Trihydro and Bearlodge Engineering to oversee construction.

Council Member Joe Wilson asked if it might be possible to reduce this total to reflect the remainder of the budget, perhaps by reducing the amount of observation. However, Lenz said she had already investigated this possibility and been advised that less oversight at this time would not be a good idea as the project has reached its crucial stages.

The delay was not the contractor’s fault, she said, as it was largely caused by material and labor shortages. Greaser stated that the contractor will be doing whatever is possible to speed up the timeline and reminded the council that it is in the contractor’s interests to finish up and move on, too.

The change orders were both approved.

In terms of future focuses, the city is looking into replacing the culvert on 3rd Street with a new bridge or culvert. Lenz told the council that WYDOT will be checking the culvert to see if they have funding to cover it.

The city intends to seek a State Revolving Fund loan for the north zone transmission water line on 3rd Street, she said, in conjunction with the culvert replacement. Around 20% of the water flowing through this line is being lost at this time, she said, which could qualify the project as an emergency.

The application to fix the leak and connect the new line across to Cleveland Street is expected to be for $754,500 in funding, she said. A motion was passed to approve the application, with the dollar cost of the culvert to be added if WYDOT is unable to fund it.

Lenz told the council that she and Erickson have met with Trihydro and another contractor to discuss “pre-design” of projects the city would like to present for possible American Rescue Plan Act funding. This would involve a trade-off, she said: the contractors would create a pre-design to present, to increase the chances of receiving the funding; in return, they would be contracted to perform the actual design if the money is granted.

Housekeeping activities included approval of new contracts with CW Waste and Kids Prints, both of which are the same as last year. The annual budget received its third and final reading, as did an ordinance in support of the continuation of the “fifth cent” sales tax, while an ordinance regulating the drilling and maintenance of water wells within city limits reached its second reading.

Service agreements will continue with the Crook County Family Violence and Sexual Assault Services and the Weston County Children’s Center. The council also agreed to donate $2000 again to this year’s e-cycling event, arranged by the Crook County Natural Resources District.

The council approved a request from the Dime Horseshoe Bar to do bike washes on Saturdays between June and August. The approval was contingent on the business making sure that the hose does not present a tripping hazard on the sidewalk.