Council passes storage container ordinance

At Tuesday’s meeting, an ordinance amending the City of Sundance’s rules for storage containers and billboards received its third and final reading. Though final approval had been scheduled for August’s meeting, the issue was tabled to allow time to finalize the wording.

With the new rule in place, shipping containers are still allowed within the industrial zone of the city. However, while the ordinance does allow portable moving containers and moving pods “used for moving and temporary use” outside the industrial zone, they may only remain for a maximum of 30 days.

The ordinance also governs billboards on private land, which the mayor recently stated is geared towards addressing the interstate right-of-way.

“I personally don’t have a problem with it and I would encourage the council to support those people,” said Brooks of the final version of the ordinance, referring to the Land Use Planning Committee that recommended the changes within it.

An additional issue concerning the aesthetics of Sundance appeared on the agenda in the form of an inquiry from a private landowner concerning placement of a new Visionary Communications tower on their property.

“I don’t like the idea of towers in town,” commented Brooks, explaining that he feels they are unsightly.

Allowing them could set a precedent, he said, asking the council, “Do you want towers all over town?”

The inquiry from the landowners was whether a building permit would be necessary for a tower. The council directed Lenz to inform them that the answer to this is yes.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the council also heard that the city is still waiting for guidance on what can be done with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. As well as approximately $200,000 in direct distribution from the federal stimulus funding, the state is expected to receive a sizeable chunk that cities and counties will be eligible to apply for.

“We still have our eye on it,” commented Clerk Treasurer Kathy Lenz at last week’s meeting of the council. Among the potential projects for which the city hopes to apply, infrastructure on 3rd Street remains a priority.

However, said Lenz, this is still a moving target. The state recently hired a consultant to figure out what the funding can and cannot be spent on, she continued, so the city is hopeful that the time will soon come to apply.

Lenz also informed the council on Tuesday that the Wyoming Business Council has awarded the city a grant for a new study. This is not the first economic development study that has taken place in Sundance, she said, but this one aims to give direction to the city as to what businesses are looking for and in need of, both those that may come to town and those that are already here.

Lenz said a stakeholder’s meeting is in the works for this study, which will hopefully include officials, business owners, municipal department heads, long-time community members and more.

The council was informed that the city has received a letter of intent from someone who intends to file a case against Sheriff Jeff Hodge. Commenting that the particulars of the potential suit seem problematic, Mayor Paul Brooks said he was not unduly concerned.

“To me, this is a baseless lawsuit,” he said.

Karla Greaser of Trihydro reported that the Sundance West water storage tank project is now wrapped up and final payment is ready to be approved. For the Sundance Kid water tank project, she presented a change order for $14,651 from work to reconnect two water service lines that the city had not known existed.

The next potential project, said Greaser, is street lighting for Hwy 585, for which she is looking into getting a cost estimate together. Brooks expressed that he wants to see this happen with the assistance of WYDOT and believes it necessary due to the presence of the football field and the liability of not having good lighting nearby.

A change order of $1770 was also approved for the Sundance Square park project for the additional time to finish the park. Lenz commented that the contractors have been wonderful to work with and extremely diligent and the delay was out of their ability to control.

The next meeting of the council is scheduled for October 5.