CASPER, Wyo. — On Tuesday, the Casper City Council passed on the first of three readings an ordinance to create a City of Casper Local Assessment District for Chinook Trail Improvements.
No one spoke for or against at the June 6 public hearing on a proposed ordinance to establish a local assessment district to assist property owners with the expense. After the third public hearing, if fewer than half of the assessed property owners object in writing, the LAD will be created by ordinance.
State statute gives the city authority to make and maintain local improvements and to levy and collect a special assessment on the benefiting properties to pay for all or part of the improvement cost.
Chinook Trail is a gravel road that extends south of Wyoming Boulevard. According to a city staff memo, when the trail was annexed into the city in the 1990s, about 1,100 feet immediately south of Wyoming Boulevard was annexed at the same time.
The city intends to pave the road with its own equipment, labor and materials, according to a city staff memo. The estimated cost for the city crew to perform the work is $113,400. Half the cost will be paid for by the City of Casper from its streets operational fund, and the property owners within the LAD will pay the remaining half. The combined total out-of-pocket expense for property owners is an estimated $56,700 as assessed per lot. The city intends to enter a separate agreement with a property owner in the county whose property will also benefit from the improvements.
According to the staff memo, the overall consensus of property owners at a March 13 public meeting to discuss proposed improvements and anticipated costs was favorable toward the improvements and the cost savings of the LAD.
The proposed ordinance lists nine property owners in the city limits. Eight of nine have an estimated cost of $6,650 with the remaining one showing $3,500 for a total of $56,700.
On March 13, the city held a public meeting with property owners in the project area to discuss proposed improvements, expected costs and proposed assessments.
“The overall consensus at the meeting was that property owners were in favor of the improvements and the cost savings of the LAD,” the staff memo states.
See documents with further details about the City of Casper’s proposed Chinook Trail Improvements below:
