SCED agreement OK'd

The Green River City Council voted to approve a memorandum of understanding between the city, the Rock Springs City Council and the Sweetwater County commissioners in regards to the Sweetwater Economic Development Coalition.

“This agreement will allow the continuation of the SEDC,” City Administrator Reed Clevenger told the Council last week. “I will allow the move to the county, which has already been approved in previous meetings.”

The coalition was originally formed under the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce, however questions about if the chamber should house an economic development agency ultimately resulted in an independent SEDC advisory board being formed and prompted work to separate it from the chamber. Clevenger said the current head of the SEDC, Kayla McDonald, will be working at the county courthouse.

Under the agreement, the SEDC staff will report to the Sweetwater County Land Use Director, Eric Bingham. The county will determine the nature of the positions involved with the SEDC, as well as hiring to fill those positions. The SEDC employees will work to promote quality economic development efforts in the county and work with its advisory board to develop a strategic plan to guide those efforts.

The county will provide the cities quarterly reports on economic projects and efforts. All of this will be done through a budget separate from the county’s budget.

The cities are tasked with coordinating with the county to provide resources to the SEDC. The agreement also states the cities will support and encourage collaboration with the county to meet shared priorities.

The agreement extends to June 1, 2021 and costs the city $45,000, which will be paid in six installments throughout.

The MOU was pulled from a previous meeting because the version the Council had did not match the version approved by the commissioners and Rock Springs Council.

 

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