(VIDEO) After filling vacant seats, Casper City Council to vote on wind energy project agreement and more Tuesday
CASPER, Wyo. — On Tuesday, the Casper City Council is expected to conduct candidate interviews and appoint two new members to fill seats vacated by former Vice Mayor Steve Freel and former Councilmember Shawn Johnson. Freel and Johnson resigned from the City Council in August due to moving to new residences outside of the wards they represented.
Before interviewing the three candidates who applied to fill the vacant Ward II seat and the four candidates who applied to fill the vacant Ward III seat, the City Council is expected to hold a straw poll to select a new vice mayor to fill the role after Freel’s resignation. Mayor Ray Pacheco will appoint the winner of the straw poll to serve as vice mayor through the end of the year.
After interviewing candidates, the City Council will select replacements for Freel and Johnson and those two people will be sworn in on Tuesday and participate in the City Council’s regular meeting.
During the regular meeting, the City Council will consider a range of items including a memorandum of understanding regarding a request for impact assistance dollars from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s Industrial Siting Council related to the Anticline Wind Energy Project.
That wind energy project proposes adding 52 turbines and other infrastructure on private land in Natrona County. With the development expected to cause impacts on infrastructure in Natrona County, local governments can apply for impact assistance through the Industrial Siting Council.
The MOU the City Council will consider on Tuesday is a proposed agreement also involving Natrona County, the City of Mills, the Town of Bar Nunn and the Town of Evansville. The City of Casper is requesting $365,000 in impact assistance under the agreement. Natrona County is requesting $875,000, Mills is requesting $300,000, Bar Nunn is requesting $275,000 and Evansville is requesting $175,000.
In addition to the wind energy agreement, the City Council is expected to consider an MOU with Evansville for Casper’s Metro Animal Shelter to continue providing animal services for the Town of Evansville until June 30, 2024.
There are a range of other items the City Council will consider on Tuesday, with details available in the work packet for Tuesday’s meeting:
Candidate interviews will begin at around 4 p.m. Tuesday, with the regular meeting set to begin after the new candidates and new vice mayor have been appointed. The meeting can be streamed via the City of Casper’s YouTube channel: