ROCK SPRINGS – The old First Security Bank Building on South Main Street will get listed, though members of the Rock Springs City Council would have liked to use a local realtor to represent the city.
The Council unanimously voted to list the building with KW Commercial to sell the property for $800,000. As far as why the city couldn’t use a local realtor, the reason is something that can’t be disclosed publicly. Councilman Rob Zotti said there are circumstances with the building and the agreement impacting the decision that can’t be discussed in public, though he would like to see a local realtor able to represent the city at some point.
Councilwoman Jeannie Demas asked about the grant stipulations if the building is sold. Mayor Max Mickelson said the grant agreement would require the city to return 90% of the funds it received from the State Loan and Investments Board.
The board awarded a $2.9 million Community Development Readiness Grant to rehabilitate the building for future use. The city acquired the building in 2011 after it had been vacant for more than four decades. The city sought an extension to the grant agreement with SLIB in 2021, which extended the service contract the city had to 2026.
Other Business
The Council approved a $29,569.24 expenditure to join the Wyoming Association of Municipalities.
“I think this is a great move,” Councilman Brent Bettolo said.
WAM describes itself as a non-partisan nonprofit organization that seeks to represent Wyoming cities and towns. Mickelson said the organization reached out to the city prior to the Council approving membership dues Tuesday to get information to argue for adding more impact funding from large-scale projects taking place in the area.
“I shared with them that it isn’t so much that it would impact the city, because the county was very generous in reducing their ask, but a lot of the outlying communities and other counties that were impacted had to take a very small amount of money because that was all that was available,” Mickelson said.
