City staff to reapply to Joint Powers Board for gym divider curtains used by Casper youth program

City staff told the council they will reapply to the Joint Powers Board for a grant to buy two heavy-duty divider curtains that would let a city gym be split into three full-size basketball courts for programming used by the Casper fourth- and fifth-grade basketball and volleyball program.

The request matters because the dividers would allow simultaneous, separate activities in one gym — an operational need staff said is important to daily programming for elementary students. Staff said this is a second application after an earlier denial and that one of the gym’s existing curtains has failed since the first request.

“Absolutely. Good evening, everybody. It's nice to be with you tonight. We have a grant application we'd like to take another run at with, the district recreation. Joint Powers Board,” Carter, a staff member, said when introducing the request. Carter said the grant would pay for “fighter curtains” that create three individual spaces each the size of a full-size basketball court and allow different programming in each section.

Carter said he and a colleague, Nick, were available to answer questions and that the city partners with the school district to offer Casper — spelled C-A-S-P-E-R in the meeting — to fourth- and fifth-grade students. “We partner with them to offer that to their elementary students,” Carter said, adding the city “utilize[s] those students for that purpose and need to have them sectioned off.”

A councilor who serves on the Joint Powers Board said the board had good discussion and supported the idea to move forward. The same councilor told colleagues the source of Joint Powers Board proceeds is largely property-tax revenue but also other lending sources. “State. Yeah. A lot of it is coming from the property taxes. Also, we have other lending sources,” the councilor said.

Staff said the earlier application was denied; they did not specify why. Carter told the council that the need has increased because “we actually had a failure in one of the curtains since the first task.” A councilor warned that upcoming tax cuts discussed previously could reduce available Joint Powers Board funding for youth programs.

Council members signaled verbal support for staff to reapply, but the transcript records no formal motion or vote on the grant application. No spending or award was approved during the meeting.

Officials did not provide a dollar figure for the grant request, a procurement timetable, or firm vendor specifications during the discussion.