ROCK SPRINGS — The powerline cut that resulted in Western Wyoming Community College closing its Rock Springs campus for a day has a five-figure price tag associated with repairing it.
The college’s board of trustees voted unanimously to solicit bids to repair the powerline cut that caused the Jan. 22 power outage. The cut took place as workers were installing internet fiber and Western estimated the costs to repair it not to exceed $60,000.
Prior to the vote, Trustee Stephen P. Allen asked if the contractor, who was not named during the meeting, would be billed for the repair. He alleged the contractor has a history of causing similar problems. According to Chris Dever, Western’s director of physical resources, said the powerline’s location wasn’t known when it was cut, meaning the liability would fall on the college as it didn’t document the powerline’s location. That has changed as Dever said the facilities department is marking its location with GPS.
President Kirk Young said the outage led to the college’s emergency response team to assess the situation. He also said Sodexo, the company that operates Mitchell’s Dining Hall, opted to provide a free sandwich bar available to anyone on campus.
“It was a wonderful response,” Young said.
Other Business
The board also approved requests to accept a bid for design services related to the college’s pool locker room renovation project. The winning bid was for $44,000 from Stasis Design of Cheyenne.
The board approved a request to solicit bids for the Hay Library stacks reconstruction project, which is estimated to cost $75,000. Dever said once the project is finished, he will approach the board with a request to solicit bids for renovation work in the office space behind the stacks.
The board approved a request to solicit bids for a roof replacement project that is estimated to cost $150,000. The project will focus on the roof above the college’s information desk at the main entrance to the building. Dever said the area has been difficult to repair because of a historical issue with that portion of the building.
The board approved a request to solicit bids for epoxy flooring in the MIT shops, labs and offices. The project is anticipated to cost $160,000. Dever said the carpet in that area needs to be removed as it is impossible to maintain. Board documents state the flooring has degraded due to the industrial programs’ wear and tear in the area, resulting in flooring that’s stained, beyond repair, and creates tripping hazards that needs to be removed.
