Finance Committee backs revised WYDOT road funding and agrees to reimburse Laramie County
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Summary
The Finance Committee unanimously recommended city approval of a WYDOT contract modification that increases federal participation and asked the governing body to approve $866,240 from the optional 1% sales tax; the committee also approved a reimbursement agreement with Laramie County not to exceed $2,523,500.
The City of Cheyenne Finance Committee on Feb. 3 unanimously recommended the governing body approve a modification to the city’s cooperative agreement with the Wyoming Department of Transportation and a related reimbursement agreement with Laramie County.
City engineer Tom Cobb said the WYDOT amendment raises federal participation in federal project B 231031 (Cheyenne Streets, US 30, Del Range Boulevard and Whitney Road) from $3,160,000 to $6,610,000 and updates federal award documentation. He told the committee the city’s total project obligation increased from about $3,986,396 to $7,335,032 but that the city’s proportional share decreased because of the larger federal contribution. Cobb asked the committee to approve $866,240 from the 1% optional sales tax to cover revised obligations and contingencies.
A separate cooperative agreement presented later would reimburse Laramie County for costs it initially absorbed for the same WYDOT project — design and utility relocation, right-of-way acquisition and related fees. Tom Kopp (identified in the transcript as a city engineer) said the city’s reimbursement obligation was about $2,102,874 and requested authorization for an agreement not to exceed $2,523,500 so the city could account for contingencies.
Councilman Wolf moved to approve the $866,240 authorization; Councilman Moody seconded, and the committee voted unanimously to forward the recommendation to the governing body. Wolf then moved to approve the reimbursement agreement not to exceed $2,523,500; Moody seconded and the committee again voted unanimously.
Why it matters: the amended agreement brings significant additional federal funding to a multi-project corridor rehabilitation effort, while the reimbursement agreement settles local cost-sharing between the city and county for design and right-of-way work the county initially funded. The items will now go to the governing body for final approval.
What’s next: both items were recommended to the governing body at its next meeting; the committee recorded unanimous support and did not record individual roll-call tallies in the transcript.
