ROCK SPRINGS – While no set decisions were made on budget workshop Wednesday night, many of the outside agencies approached the Rock Springs City Council to make their annual budget requests to the governing body.

The budget committee is approximately one-third of the way through the current budget. Rock Springs Councilman and Budget Chairman David Tate explained they would be taking all the budget requests under advisement at this time and would not make any decisions right now. He said they are also watching revenue streams.

“They are not quite where we would like them to be, but they could change at anytime,” Tate said.

Mayor Carl Demshar said as they go through the budget and find they do need to reduce any outside agency request, the committee would get ahold of the agency and sit down with them before they found out about the change through the media.

The city had asked the agencies to continue to work under a very conservative budget and this was evident as most agencies requested the same amount of money as they did last year.

Rock Springs/Sweetwater County Airport

The airport has almost a $5 million budget and requested just under $207,000 which is over what they requested from the city last year. Last year’s request was around $180,000. Airport Manager Terry Doak said the airport really works hard to be as self-sustaining as possible. The airport uses the money they request from the city as part of the match for construction  projects at the airport.

Doak explained the Federal Aviation Administration covers about 97 percent of the grant and the money requested is to meet the 2.5 percent match.

Rock Springs Councilwoman Rose Mosbey asked about the projects. Doak said currently they are in the process of purchasing a new rescue firefighting vehicle and will start design work on  the rehabilitation of the main runway which will take place in 2015-2016.

Young-at-Heart Senior Center

The senior center has a total budget of $2.1 million and asked for the same as last year $32,550. Director Jeanine Cox said it is used to cover the utilities of the building. Currently the city pays 35 percent while the county picks up the remaining 65 percent. Cox said if they happen to have issues during the year, they just approach the council for assistance.

Community Fine Arts Center

Director Debra Soule said they would be asking for $30,000 from the city again. She told the council she was recently reminded about the importance of the CFAC to the community as one of Sen. John Barrasso’s aides recently visited and a group discussed the importance of art in the community. Soule said they will be bringing the Christmas Concert back this year which she was very excited about.

Rock Springs Library.

Jason Grubb and new Rock Springs Library Director Nancy Venable asked the council for $27,000. Grubb said the money is used for children and teen services as well as the maintenance and upkeep on the Rock Springs portion of the building.

Councilman Tim Savage asked Grubb to discuss the homebound services the library provides. He said it is provided through the Sweetwater County Library Systems and they go to 65-100 homes a month. The program goes to nursing homes in the community and also travels to McKinnon to service the children in the area.

Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce

Chief Executive Officer Dave Hanks said the money they receive from the city is for specific services performed which are requested by the city. For the service contract, the request is $46,200 and for the business development program the request is $35,000.

Hanks and Demshar said they recently were able to see the new business development plan. Demshar said he believes it is a real benefit to Rock Springs and added it is a great vehicle for potential businesses looking to move to the area.

“It is money very well spent,” Demshar said.

Sweetwater Transit Authority Resources

S.T.A.R.’s request came in at $45,170 of an $879,000 budget. The transit also gets money from the city of Green River and from the county for the fixed route.

Demshar told Director Judy Owens, S.T.A.R. has done a great job keeping the council up-to-date on the progress of the program. Demshar said last time Owens reported, ridership was on an increase. He asked if that trend was still happening. Owens reported they had one of the biggest months of March they have ever had.

Red Desert Humane Society

The humane society asked for $3,000 again which goes for the spay and neuter program. The $3,000 averages to be about 50 procedures.

Councilman Billy Shalata said he has been out at the facility recently and said the staff has done a fantastic job on the center. He said it was very clean and the staff had really done an amazing job in the last three to four years getting the program back on track.

Sweetwater Events Complex

The Events Complex asked for $30,000 from the city. Marketing and Events Director Kandi Pendleton said the money goes directly into the fair entertainment budget which is around $300,000 per year. She said this year the entertainment budget is a little over what it has been in the past, but said the entertainment they are bringing in is phenomenal this year and well worth the increase.

Red Desert Rodeo

The rodeo asked for $10,000 from the city to help with an event which brings in roughly a quarter of a million dollars to the community. Rodeo officials said they were down this year about 20 percent at the gate which is a substantial decrease. They said it is getting harder to get sponsors along with the other decreasing funding streams for the event and said the city’s help is very important to the event.

Treatment Court

Treatment court requested $8,000 from the city. Representatives said one of the biggest changes which has helped treatment court is the addition of a new judge. Judge John Prokos has been a big supporter of the effectiveness of treatment court and when he was sworn in, treatment court representatives told the council Prokos jumped right in and  took control the drug court program.

Treatment court also said they are finding it harder and harder to get funds through the state this year.

Councilman Clark Stith said he is a strong proponent of treatment court and said Sweetwater County ranks 21 of 23 counties in healthy behavior so it is needed. He asked if hours had been changed so people working could make times.

Reps said they run a very strict program and having a new judge has helped. She said most clients have found it to work well but they keep it very strict in a hope to put clean and productive residents back on the streets.

Boys and Girls Club of Sweetwater County

There was one new request from the Boys and Girls Club. Board member Tim Kaumo reported in 2013 they had 329 members including 31 teens and 25 new members in 2014. He said there are around 30 who are on a waiting list.

Kaumo said the county provides $60,000 and they are asking for the same amount. He said $60,000 averages about $200 per member. Kaumo also said they are starting to run out of space at the building and they have been lucky with industry. Kaumo explained Encana was purchasing a lot of food for the club and with the recent sale (of Encana), it has left an unknown.

The club also announced they would be having a fundraiser on Sept. 12 and have booked the Little River Band to play. This event will take place at the Events Complex but watch for details as it gets closer.