Evansville advances infrastructure plan to serve about 80 new homes, seeks Wyoming Business Council grant

Evansville town staff opened a public hearing July 13 to discuss a proposed application to the Wyoming Business Council’s Building Resilient Communities (BRC) grant program that would fund water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer and roadway improvements north of 7th Street and east of Plathbark Road to enable about 80 single-family residential lots.

The project is intended to address a barrier to workforce housing, staff said. Town engineer Shane Porter told the council the BRC program’s rules have changed and the current application will require a 25% match; he said the town needs to decide the mix of cash and in‑kind contributions before a resolution is brought forward on July 27 and that the application deadline falls at the end of July/early August.

Why it matters: The project would add utility and road infrastructure on the site commonly referenced as north of Eagle Estates and is intended to make construction of lower-density single-family homes financially feasible for the developer by leveraging state grant money. Councilors and the landowners discussed how the town’s contribution could affect timing of construction and future tap-fee revenues.

What the council heard: Keith Tyler, who identified himself as a landowner/partner for the property, told the council the owners have considered higher-density alternatives in the past but that state assistance would "help us push that project forward and allow… another development" that could produce single-family homes instead of duplexes or townhouses. Staff said land the town owns north of the project could be counted as an in‑kind contribution and estimated that parcel at roughly $95,000 in value. Using a prior project’s structure as an example, staff said a modest community cash match similar to a previous Mesa project would be about $62,000 while the developer’s contribution could be in the low millions.

Staff cautioned that the Wyoming Business Council’s guidance indicated certain items — notably waived tap fees under an existing recapture agreement — are unlikely to be accepted as eligible match. The council discussed whether the town could front a cash contribution and be reimbursed later from future tap fees if the developer and the town amended the recapture arrangement, but staff said tap fees would not be collected until houses are built and estimated that could be as early as fall 2027 if the project proceeds.

Next steps and deadlines: Staff said numbers for the town’s match must be finalized within about a week so a resolution with specific match terms can be placed on the July 27 agenda. Staff gave the application due date as August 1 but noted that date falls on a Saturday and that the town will likely need to submit materials by Friday, July 31 for processing.

What remains unresolved: The council did not fix the town’s final contribution at the July 13 meeting. Councilors directed staff to present specific scenarios for the town’s cash and in‑kind match, to provide the original recapture agreement for review and to bring a resolution to the next meeting that would include the agreed match strategy.

The hearing was closed and the council proceeded with other agenda business.