EVANSTON — Evanston Public Works Director Gordon Robinson asked the council to approve two resolutions establishing no parking zones for the south side of Cheyenne Drive near Uinta Meadows …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, below, or purchase a new subscription.
Please log in to continue |
EVANSTON — Evanston Public Works Director Gordon Robinson asked the council to approve two resolutions establishing no parking zones for the south side of Cheyenne Drive near Uinta Meadows Elementary School, for the area of Sioux Drive to Arapaho Circle, and for both sides of the area of Cheyenne Drive near the Uinta Meadows area from 540 Cheyenne Dr. to 105 Cheyenne Dr.
“Essentially, from the car wash on down,” Robinson said. “Without these resolutions passed by the city council, the no parking signs would not be enforceable.”
In an earlier work session, Robinson pointed out how cars parked on Cheyenne Drive near the apartment complexes hindered garbage collection and access to fire hydrants, and cars parked on the street near the elementary school created a safety hazard.
The council approved both resolutions to establish the no parking zones on Cheyenne Drive.
During the conduction of special orders, two people, Lisa Cox and Summer Benn, were reappointed to the Evanston Tree Board for a term of three years, ending January 2028.
A street closure permit requested by Ben Reynolds for the Evanston Car Show on Saturday, July 26, was approved.
A public hearing was opened by Evanston City Attorney Mark Harris to gain public comments regarding applying for a business-ready community planning grant from the Wyoming Business Council for grant funds to create a detailed comprehensive economic development master plan for the city of Evanston.
Grant writer Mieke Madrid explained, “This will be a plan for the next 25 years and will be a benefit to the public with outcomes of improvement to public infrastructure, housing and more. The grant request is for $100,000, with a match from the city of $37,500. We should know if we get the grant by April or early May and the monies will be dispersed in June.”
Councilmember Evan Perkes said the new master plan is something he’s wanted to see done for some time.
There were no comments from the public, so Harris closed the public hearing.
Later in the meeting, during the review of new business, the council approved the resolution authorizing the application to obtain grant funds from the Wyoming Business Council for the 2050 economic development master plan.
The motion to accept financial disclosure statements from the mayor, city council members, city clerk and city treasurer was approved.
A motion to accept the substantial completion of the Roundhouse Section 4 project and to advertise final payment to Tenner Development LLC was approved.
Councilmember Jen Hegeman asked Evanston Community Development Director Rocco O’Neill to disclose the final cost for the Section 4 project and asked if there were any more change orders.
“The final amount for the cost of the project is $4,644,011.43, and there are no more change orders,” O’Neill said. “The final payment will be done in March.”
An ordinance for a zone change requested by Aspen Grove Nursery from Public to Highway Business for the property known as the Sunset Cabins site was approved on first reading.
The annual service agreement with WETCO Inc to provide maintenance services for the SCADA system at the city’s wastewater treatment and water treatment plants was approved by the council.
A resolution to officially designate Uinta Bank, State Bank, First Bank Evanston and BMO as depositories for monies of the city was approved.
During public comments, resident and local business owner Alex Rossi said he was happy to see the council approve the master plan request and hoped that downtown revitalization would be included in the plan. He said he would like to be involved in the design and work on the master plan.
Following Rossi’s comments on the master plan, Marijke Rossi asked the council what was happening with the abandoned Wyoming State Hospital buildings.
Mayor Kent Williams said there had been very little discussion from the council as the buildings are in the hands of the state and the fate of the buildings is up to the state.
“It has been a ping-pong discussion between the city and the state,” Hegemen said. “The state has given us until this coming March to come up with a plan. Demolition is slated for this coming spring. There has been talk about a school wanting to use the buildings as a training ground for removing asbestos and lead, but nothing has come of that proposal yet.”
Councilmember Jesse Lind said the council had approved a resolution to approach the state about saving the buildings, but Mayor Williams had written a letter to the appropriations board saying he was against it and nothing has been done since.
“I just think it is a shame to let those buildings deteriorate when we need housing and they could be used for a training center, as well,” Marijke Rossi said.
Another resident, Jacob Haught, stood to thank O’Neill and several council members for meeting with him privately and answering his questions. He also said he thought there should be more transparency and better treatment of the public from the mayor and council.