City preps project list for release of ARPA funds

With the Wyoming Legislature just about to convene and the subject of how to spend American Relief Plan funding nudging the top of the agenda, the City of Sundance is poised to make the most of the coming opportunity.

Though it is not yet known exactly how the funding earmarked for infrastructure will be allotted, the Sundance City Council wanted to be ready to leap into action the moment decisions were made. For that reason, City Engineers Trihydro, the Public Works Department and City Hall have been working on a list of possible projects.

Mayor Paul Brooks called this, “A good time to have some cost estimates – some small, some medium, some large and some very large.” He shared his opinion that being ready with solid numbers will give Sundance the best chance of winning approval from the state representatives or department that’s ultimately charged with handing out the funding.

Greaser confirmed that Public Works Director Mac Erickson has compiled a list of projects “with a variety of price points.”

The list will likely include, for example, a new waterline under the park and creek to fix a leak that’s 17 feet below the surface and will need to be re-bored.

On the other hand, it’s unlikely that the city will ask for funding for any road paving projects.

“The state doesn’t have a huge appetite for pavement because the money doesn’t go very far,” explained Brooks.

“That’s not to say that it won’t happen or it can’t happen, it is to say that it has been traditionally something the state didn’t want to get into.”

Brooks also pointed out that there may be consensus money available in the near future, as the most recent CREG report suggests that oil is going back up. The list, he said, will therefore have a second potential use.

“Having those projects ready to go so that we can go to the meeting and ask for the money would be useful,” he said.

This is particularly the case because the list concentrates on infrastructure, which is largely what consensus money may be used for. This type of funding can only be used in certain ways, Brooks said, so it cannot be utilized to, for example, build a police department.

“Most of that money is earmarked for infrastructure, so it’s pretty handy to have a big variety [of possible project],” he said.