Plans, funding top 2021 city issues

The year started with two new members of the Green River City Council being sworn into office. George Jost replaced a retiring Lisa Maes in Ward 2, while Sherry Bushman replaced Tom Murphy in Ward 1. They were joined in the ceremony by Councilman Robert Berg, who had won re-election to a second term in the 2020 election.

The Green River City Council would also resume in-person meetings in February, following several months of virtual meetings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tax revenue was a topic of concern for many governing bodies, including Sweetwater County School District No. 2. Early in the year, the district completed a voluntary separation program that resulted in the loss of 19 employees, a number consisting of 11 teachers, seven support staff and one administration-level employee. The program cost the district $700,000, but was estimated to save the district between $1 million and $1.5 million. The program was initiated to help prepare the district for lowered revenue forecasts related to lowered student enrollment, as well as potential moves being explored by the Wyoming Legislature at the time.

While sales tax revenues for the city were generally higher than the Council had budgeted, concerns about costs and revenue were common throughout the year with multiple entities. Golden Hour Senior Center sought additional funding from the city after proposals from the Sweetwater County Commissioners were made to cut its funding allocation. Additionally, concerns about ambulance funding and other issues led to a single-cent tax proposal being supported by the Council and other governmental entities like the Sweetwater County Commissioners. One group that did not sign on was the Rock Springs City Council, which had narrowly rejected a resolution seeking the sales tax in a tied 4-4 vote, with one member abstaining. The Rock Springs Council would also not opt to help fund education efforts.

Downtown Green River saw businesses flourish throughout the year, with several storefronts opening up. Coal Train Coffee and Green River Gold and Bullion opened their doors in downtown Green River.

In June, the school district’s aquatics center at Green River High School was paid off. The center was paid for after voters approved a request from the district to seek $11,475,00 in revenue bonds in 2012. The center was completed in 2014 and replaced the aging Monroe school pool, which has been in operation since 1964.

The Greenbelt saw increased focus in 2021 after the Greenbelt Task Force started to update its master plan for the 30-year-old Greenbelt. This started with a survey the group created and distributed as a means to get an idea of what their main focus should be. The survey would see a large response from residents, who voiced significant support for the Greenbelt and its expansion.

Union Wireless sought an emergency communications cell tower in Green River at a vacant lot near Ace Hardware on Uinta Drive. The permit request resulted in opposition from residents and members of the Green River City Council and the city’s planning and zoning board over potential view shed problems related to the proposed height and design of the tower. After tabling the issue, the Council would eventually approve the permit request.

The city’s wastewater treatment plant proposal was cleared by Wyoming DEQ this year, but inflationary woes resulted in bids for the project being rejected by the Green River City Council. Inflation in material costs resulted in the bids being much higher than the city anticipated in its initial estimates.

The Green River Police Department was involved in an alleged gunfight on Barnhart Street July 6. The alleged assailant, Matthew Riley Culley, was injured by GRPD officers and transported out of Wyoming for medical care.

He returned to face charges of first-degree attempted murder, four counts of aggravated assault, felonious restraint, two counts of interference with a peace officer and property destruction. He was placed on a $1 million cash-only bond by Circuit Court Judge John Prokos.

Masks became an optional item for schools throughout Green River. The school district opted to make masks optional prior to the start of the school year by modifying its COVID-19 response plan.

This was met with concerns of COVID-19 spreading easier through the schools, with the district’s administration initially recording higher positivity and quarantine numbers than 2020, but those figures have fallen sharply in the following months.

Near the end of the year, the city would see controversy in the aftermath of the special election to determine if a 1% general purpose sales tax should be levied in Sweetwater County. At the heart of that controversy was the creation of election signs to promote support of the sales tax and how the signs were paid for. Initially, the signs did not have any identifying information regarding who had purchased them -- a necessity according to Wyoming’s election laws. After the Sweetwater County Clerk’s Office started receiving complaints about the signs, the Green River Chamber of Commerce posted small stickers on the signs claiming to be the purchaser.

Despite multiple attempts at contacting the chamber for clarification by both the Green River Star and the Radio Network, the chamber refused to speak with either organization, opting to issue press releases that would explain the chamber board wanted to be neutral in the election and that the money used came from money provided by the city for obligations the chamber has to the city.

Emails received by the Green River Star revealed the signs were originally proposed by Sweetwater County Commissioner Lauren Schoenfeld and despite assertions by Green River City Administrator Reed Clevenger they were educational in nature, Schoenfeld’s initial proposal was they would be campaign signs to counter signs placed by the Sweetwater GOP opposing the tax.

 

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