EVANSTON — Three young women — JuJu Davis, Alisia Segura and Raya Albert — along with Evanston Youth Club teacher Emileigh Hillstead, attended the Evanston City Council meeting on Tuesday, April 5. They joined a small but larger-than-usual crowd of local residents and business leaders. The youth club members were attending as part of their Youth of the Year program.

Mayor Kent Williams acknowledged the girls and thanked them and all of the audience for attending the meeting. An addition was added to the agenda to discuss the sale of a Zoom camera.

Evanston City Attorney Dennis Boal opened a public hearing regarding the application for a restaurant liquor license for Paff’s, located at 164 Front St. The applicant was unable to attend the meeting and there were no comments from the public, so the hearing was closed and the council then approved a motion to approve the request.

A parade route for the All-Alumni Committee’s Noise Parade, to take place on Saturday, July 2, at 10 a.m., was approved by the council.

A request by Equine Capital Network for a zone change from Agricultural-Established to Highway Business-Developing for 150 acres located near Overthrust Road was approved on second reading. The ordinance will be read a third time at the next regular meeting before final approval.

The proposed plan for this property is to develop a multi-use, indoor/outdoor arena with accompanying restaurants, hotels and other hospitality businesses.

City Treasurer Trudy Lym addressed two resolutions. The first item was a request for the council to authorize the FAA approval agreement for transfer of entitlements with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration from the Evanston Airport to the Fort Bridger Airport.

“Each year, we receive a grant of $150,000 for each airport from the FAA that can be marked for airport projects,” Lym explained. “Twice in the past, we have borrowed from the Ft. Bridger airport to use at the Evanston airport. We owe them $300,000. I would like to send them a check for $150,000 to pay back half of what we owe.” 

The second item Lym brought to the council was a request for approval of the contract to continue the city’s medical plan with Wyoming Educators Benefit Trust (WEBT). Lym said there were no changes to the medical and vision plans. She said that, since 2007, there had only been a minor increase in fees, and employees were satisfied with the plan.

Both resolutions Lym addressed were approved by the council.

The council approved the final plat for the Anderson 2nd Addition subdivision off Highway 89 as requested by Senior Planner DuWayne Jacobsen. He said the owner wishes to take the one large lot and divide it into two lots, and both lots will meet size requirements. Currently, there are two principal buildings and a storage shed on the lot, and the owner wishes to replace them with an industrial center. Jacobsen said the area is zoned as Industrial Established.

The final plat requested by Quality General Contractors for the Dream Catcher subdivision was approved by the council. This subdivision contains approximately 6,469 acres and is located east of Overthrust Road and off Tomahawk Drive.

Uinta County Clerk Amanda Hutchinson addressed the council with a request they pass an ordinance to adjust the city’s ward boundaries to more closely align with the revised boundaries of the voting districts enacted by the Wyoming Legislature. Hutchinson had attended the council work session on March 22, and explained the need to simplify the voting districts for the voters and for the county clerk’s office. 

“I will be sending notices out to voters regarding the redistricting and would be happy to send a second notice of the boundary changes if you approve it,” Hutchinson said.

The council voted to approve the ordinance to adjust the city’s ward boundaries and thanked Hutchinson for her offer to send notices. The ordinance will come before the council for two more readings before final approval.

Regarding the sale of the Zoom camera, Evanston Community Development Director Rocco O’Neill said the camera was purchased during the COVID-19 pandemic and is not being used.  He said the county commission had requested to purchase it and would pay exactly what the city had paid for it. The council approved the sale of the camera to the county.