ROCK SPRINGS — In a unanimous vote the Rock Springs City Council decided to move forward with a grant application seeking $3.5 million in grant funding to help pay for Phase II of the Bitter Creek Restoration Project.
Prior to making the decision, no comments were made in regards to the grant application.
The Engineering/Operations & Public Services Department will now apply for a $3.5 million grant for Discretionary Congressional funding through Congresswoman Harriet Hageman’s Office for the Bitter Creek Restoration Phase II Project. Phase two is estimated to cost nearly $6.5 million.
Phase I of the restoration project was completed in December of 2022 and cost around $5.5 million. The city used $3.9 million of Abandoned Mine Land grant funding to help pay for that portion of the project. Now, the city would like to find funding to complete Phase II of the project and is hoping this grant application will be approved.
“The purpose of this project is to decrease flooding, provide recreational trail access, increase sustainable maintenance, and restore the natural ecosystem. The proposed project will fund an essential phase of the overall Bitter Creek Restoration Project,” the city’s letter states.
Phase II is the second part of this multiphase plan to remove several hundred properties and a large portion of the city from the floodplain. These improvements will take place from the Belt Route Bridge near Choptstix to the next bridge easterly at Dewar Drive.
“The project will directly benefit the citizens currently living in the flood plain by decreasing the costs to homeowners and creating new opportunities for property improvements and renovation,” the city’s letter states.
To read the funding request in its entirety, see the document below.
