Council reviews contract for Advanced Casper/Sustainable Strategies to expand grant-writing capacity

Councilors reviewed a proposed professional-services contract with Advanced Casper to access the firm Sustainable Strategies’ federal grant-writing and earmark-planning services. Staff said multiple local entities partner with Advanced Casper to obtain Sustainable Strategies’ technical grant-writing expertise for complex federal grants and congressional earmark requests.

Parks/staff described a history of successful work with Sustainable Strategies, citing assistance on two Land and Water Conservation Fund grants and current work on an Economic Development Administration (EDA) sanitary-sewer grant with a referenced amount of $8,000,000. Staff said the city has benefited from prior agreements and that the $27,000 fee for this year represents an increased share because one partner entity declined to participate.

A council member asked whether the $27,000 buy-in yields measurable returns; staff responded that the city has had “tremendous success” with the vendor and that the contractor manages trips to Washington, D.C., for earmark discussions by arranging key meetings with the delegation. The city’s staff said the consultant’s trip-planning and earmark coordination are part of the value proposition.

Separately, a council member raised franchise-fee contributions (identified as Rocky Mountain Power franchise fees) that historically support the economic development joint-powers authority, estimating roughly $400,000 a year, and asked that the contribution and its role be reviewed during upcoming budget discussions. Staff agreed to include that in budget deliberations.

No formal vote on the Advanced Casper contract or franchise-fee adjustments was recorded during the pre-meeting; staff indicated those topics would be part of forthcoming sessions and budget discussions.