JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Two Cheyenne-based projects failed to win recommendation of the Wyoming Business Council staff for grants, largely because of limited money available.
Cheyenne requested $1.8 million to help pay for a 374-foot-long skywalk or elevated walkway running from the city's downtown parking garage to Capitol Avenue.
Laramie County Community College requested $1.5 million to help pay for the expansion of the college's health sciences building.
The two projects were among five that were not recommended for grants at this time.
Another nine projects received higher priority ratings and recommendations for a total of $15.48 million. This left slightly more than $1 million unspent.
The recommended projects will be considered by the Wyoming Business Council during a meeting May 30 in Jackson. The council recommendations then will go to the State Loan and Investment Board, which includes the governor and the other four elected state officials, on June 21.
The Legislature gave the council $28.2 million last winter for Business Ready Communities Program projects, with the condition that no more than half be spent before the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1, 2007.
"If these recommendations stand, we will have around $15 million for the remainder of the biennium, unless money is returned to the account because projects came in under budget or just didn't get off the ground," said Shawn Reese, manager of the Business Ready Communities Program.
Reese said the Business Council gives the highest priority to projects that simultaneously create well-paying jobs and increase capacity for future business development.
The LCCC health science building expansion was marked down because the project doesn't directly create jobs, although it will train workers for existing jobs. The project will be financed with $7.4 million from a general obligation bond issue approved by voters in 2006 and a $7.4 million appropriation from the Legislature last winter.
The walkway project is supposed to create 12 jobs, but the salaries may not be competitive, the staff recommendation said.
The downtown Cheyenne walkway is to connect to a new Marriott TownePlace Suites hotel to be build on a vacant lot formerly occupied by a business, Wyoming Home. Wyoming Home and Mary's Bake Shoppe burned in a December 2005 fire.
The sponsors of the two projects can submit their requests after July 1 when more money is available, but they will be rated again in competition with other projects.
Demand for the money is high, Reese said.
"There's a lot of good projects. There's a lot of partnerships being developed to put these proposals together. It's pretty remarkable," he added.
Bob Bradshaw, Cheyenne's special projects coordinator, and officials at LCCC could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Other grant requests that failed to make the cut were:
* $3 million for the Northern Arapaho Tribe's casino to build turning lanes from the highway and other infrastructure needs
* $1 million to build an "Imagine Jackson" business facility in the South Park Service Center in Jackson.
* $3 million for Teton County to put in infrastructure for an organic waste recycling facility.
Projects recommended for funding include:
* $1.5 million for infrastructure to serve the Wind River Job Corps Center in Riverton.
* $2.6 million for the Eastern Shoshone Tribe's Fort Washakie Business Complex.
* $1.5 million for a building to help a business expand in Pine Bluffs.
* $3 million for an R&R Rig Service building in Riverton.
* $1.5 million for a child care center in Sheridan.
* $783,000 for infrastructure for Sheridan County's Airport Business Park.
Capital bureau reporter Joan Barron can be reached at (307) 632-1244 or at joan.barron@casperstartribune.net.