October 26, 2022 |
At last week’s Rawlins City Council meeting, members brainstormed ideas on how to use this year’s distribution from Wyoming Community Gas, agreeing to pick up the discussion at the next meeting.
Each year, the not-for-profit consortium of municipalities formed in 1996 returns a portion of its revenues to members communities. The city will receive $10,309.33 this year.
Councilman Darril Garner started the discussion by suggesting a reseeding project to help residents green up their lawns after this year’s water restrictions. The mayor expressed doubts.
The Community Gas web site is filled with photos of videos of renovations and enhancements to skate parks, swimming pools and community centers in towns around Wyoming. Councilwoman Linda Smith suggested setting aside some of the money for improvements to the dog park, which benefitted from Community Gas funding in the past.
The discussion took an interesting turn and then was shut down when Councilman Chris Weisenburg wondered if the distribution could be combined with money from a previously uncompleted project of the Christmas star.
Weisenburg’s idea was vague, and quickly short-circuited by Smith, whose reference to an executive session suggested the matter of the Christmas star may be the subject of future litigation.
Councilman Debari Martinez took advantage of the awkward moment to motion to postpone further discussion of how to use the Community Gas distribution until the next meeting.
Vice-mayor Jacqueline Wells added that money could be used to rehabilitate the baseball fields.
Council agreed to postpone discussion. Councilman Aaron Durst was absent from the meeting. Previous Community Gas projects in Rawlins have included a sound system for downtown events, the Martinez Mural Preservation, the dog park and a bench outside City Hall.
