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Commissioners approve short-term pass-through payment for Butch Cassidy power project
Summary
The commission voted to open the county budget to handle an up-front payment for a Butch Cassidy site power and RV-park project that will be reimbursed by a legislative appropriation; commissioners said the county bears no long-term expense once reimbursement arrives.
The Garfield County Commission voted to open the county budget to accommodate an immediate payment for work on a rural power and visitor-site project tied to the historic Butch Cassidy site.
Commissioners discussed the project as mostly a pass-through: an appropriation was secured by a state legislator for infrastructure to bring three-phase power and related site work toward the Butch Cassidy property. "We received, I believe, it's 750,000 from the legislature," a commissioner said, describing the appropriation and the county’s role to help make the payment now and be reimbursed later.
County staff said private contractors — identified in the meeting as Rocky Mountain and Sunrise Engineering — have invoiced for design work and want payment before the legislative reimbursement becomes available in May. Caden (county staff) explained the money is not a county expense if reimbursement arrives: "Although the funding would be paid by the county, none of that is the burden or the expense of the county...Once it's reimbursed, there will be no, you know, not a single penny will be actually coming to Washington."
A motion to open the budget and approve the short-term payment was made, seconded and approved by the commission. Commissioners said the project is intended to support tourism and partner counties and that county staff will track reimbursement and account for the appropriation.
The motion did not change county ownership or long-term obligations; commissioners described the county role as facilitator for the state-funded infrastructure. No additional county matching commitment was approved at the meeting.
