[00:00:01] Hey, let's talk Gillette what's happening in Gillette? Next week on September 2nd is a Gillette City Council meeting. Before we get to the agenda, let's take a look at some other City of Gillette happenings in the next week or two.
[00:00:19] I know I mentioned this on the last podcast episode, but city offices will be closed on Monday, September 1st for Labor Day, and if your regular trash day is Monday, it will be picked up on Tuesday instead.
[00:00:31] Usually I don't mention it until the closest podcast to the closure, but I guess I wasn't paying attention last time and I forgot. The next City Council meeting after the one on the second will be on Monday, September 15th. It's being moved one day earlier so as not to conflict with the Memory of the Eight Run, which is held annually on September 16th as a memorial to the eight University of Wyoming track team members killed in a drunk driving accident in 2001.
[00:00:57] Did you know the City of Gillette has more than 40 parks? There's so many. How could you possibly know which ones are the best ones?
[00:01:05] As always, you should look to the opinions of experts in the field or in the park at any rate. And who are these park experts?
[00:01:15] Children. You can check out our series of park reviews by kids on the City of Gillette YouTube page.
[00:01:23] Here's what's on the September 2 City Council agenda.
[00:01:26] There are a couple of special event permits. One is for a street closure to the third Street Plaza, including open containers and live music for a Mexican Independence day celebration on September 13, requested by Cinco de Mayo Restaurant.
[00:01:41] I was confused about this item because I thought that Cinco de Mayo, which is obviously the 5th of May, was Mexican independence Day, but apparently that's a common misconception.
[00:01:51] Cinco de Mayo celebrates Mexico's victory over the second French empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, while Mexican independence Day celebrates the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain, which began with the cry of Dolores.
[00:02:05] The call to arms for Mexican Independence, which took place in Dolores, Mexico on September 16, 1810.
[00:02:14] Um, where was I? I think I got a bit sidetracked.
[00:02:19] Event Permits the other event permit is for a street closure on gillette Avenue between 5th and 6th street for a 911 run walk and outdoor service on September 7th, requested by First Baptist Church.
[00:02:32] The Boys and Girls Club is requesting a donation from the council to replace their existing rock playground surfacing with engineered wood fiber surfacing, the same stuff the city uses at its own playgrounds.
[00:02:45] There are a few optional 1% supported projects on the agenda and oddly all of them are professional services agreements where the city hires outside professionals to administer aspects of their projects, including the engineering evaluation for the Gurley Overpass project, construction management for the Foothills Boulevard Reconstruction project and engineering services for the Antelope Valley Street Maintenance project.
[00:03:09] There are three items for the 30 inch Madison Transmission repairs project.
[00:03:14] One of them is a services agreement for construction management and the other is Work Authorization 2 to enter into an agreement for a guaranteed maximum price for the project, that price being $8,632,908.47. Then council will consider authorizing the submission of an application to the Office of State Lands and Investments to request additional funds from the Drinking Water State Revolving fund for the same project.
[00:03:43] The Gillette Regional Water Supply Project Priority five pipeline is a little over half a mile longer than it was expected to be and that additional length is going to make the project take slightly longer. So Council will consider a contract amendment to the professional services agreement for the additional construction management services for the project.
[00:04:02] There will be bid awards for two the City Hall Customer Service Renovation project and the Energy Capital Sports Complex softball Field Bleacher Shelter project.
[00:04:13] There are a whopping five items from the Planning Commission before the council at this meeting.
[00:04:19] One item is an amendment to the district Zoning map for 1000 Camel Drive and 1500 Butler Spaeth Road from R1 single family residential and R2 2 family residential to CO Office and Institution District. 1000 Campbell Drive is Campbell County High School and 1500 Butler Spaeth Road is Hillcrest Elementary. And while schools are allowed in both R1 and R2, what isn' isn't allowed is for one lot to be in two zoning districts.
[00:04:48] The school district is also planning to construct a new Campbell County High School in the future and a CO zoning will allow them to include buildings for offices or storage or shops that aren't necessarily school buildings.
[00:05:02] Then there will be council consideration of the vacation of a 70 foot stormwater drain easement in the Prestige park subdivision.
[00:05:09] There's a resubdivision for Lot 10B of the Collins Heights industrial subdivision, splitting it into lots 10C, 10D, each with a building on it already.
[00:05:19] Council will consider the final plant of the OPSETH subdivision which would combine two lots, one of which is actually non conforming for the RS suburban residential zone it's in. Since RS requires each lot to be connected to sewer and water services and this particular lot isn't. But combining these two lots will resolve that issue since the other lot is connected to water and sewer, then there's one more planning item, which I think requires a little historical context.
[00:05:50] See back in 1962 they plotted the sunburst subdivision and then they sold not individual lots, but 1 1/2 lots for reasons that I honestly cannot fathom. Why wouldn't you just plat it so that the parts you wanted to sell together were one single lot?
[00:06:08] This was well before the area was annexed into the city in 1984, and houses were built on several of the lots, sometimes over the lot lines, which isn't really allowed in the current city code. It doesn't really matter unless you want planning permission to build an addition or something. Or say you want to sell your house and the title company says no, because doing half lots is bonkers. So this item before the council is to merge Lot 17 with the southern half of Lot 18, and that will require a variance from the City council because then the rest of Lot 18 won't meet the minimum size requirements for R zoning.
[00:06:47] That's a brief look at the September 2nd meeting. You can find the agenda on the city website gillettewy.gov and click on any item in the agenda to get a deeper explanation of the topic and see any supporting documentation. Sign up to receive meeting notices by clicking on the Email Updates link in the description of this episode. City Council meetings are broadcast live on GPA TV cable channel 192, as well as streaming
[email protected] GPA, where you can also find past meetings archived.
[00:07:16] Let's Talk Gillette is a production of Gillette Public Access Television and the City of Gillette. For more information on city operations, visit the city's website gillettewy. Gov, or follow the City of Gillette on Facebook or Instagram.
