Casper City Council looks at Heritage Area, ice arena for new hockey franchise

CASPER, Wyo. — The Casper City Council will lead its work session today with a report that would name Natrona County and Casper within a “National Heritage Area,” followed by a discussion about a new local collegiate hockey franchise and a discussion about dealing with dangerous buildings, according to the meeting agenda.

The council’s work session will take place at its temporary chambers at The Lyric, 230 W. Yellowstone Highway, at 4:30 p.m.

The council usually does not take formal action on items and does not have a public comment period during work sessions.

The first item, following a short review of the council’s April 15 meeting, will be a report about the first draft by the Pathways National Heritage Feasibility Study Team to the National Heritage Area Program National Park Service office in Denver.

In February, the Natrona County Commission voted to join the Carbon County Commission in support of the project.

The National Heritage Area program, begun with authorization by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, is a combination of “unique, cohesive, and unifying heritage assets that tell a significant American story.” In this case, the proposed area represents the transportations and communications of the westward expansion era from the 1840s to the 1920s, according to the first draft study published March 30.

The second item on the agenda is crafting a three-year rental agreement with BladeEdge Ventures LLC to rent the Casper Ice Arena for National Collegiate Development Conference hockey. In March, the Casper Roughnecks junior hockey team announced it would dissolve this year. The commissioner of the U.S. Premier Hockey League and the owner of a new National National Collegiate Development Conference approached the Casper Ice Arena about having the franchise in Casper.

The council will then take up the following matters:

• The process for abating dangerous buildings that either need renovation or demolition.
• Establishing administrative fees for forced abatements and towing junk vehicles.
• Discussion regarding Casper’s obtainment of a grant not to exceed $3 million from the Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART program for restoration work in the Izaak Walton River Reach on the North Platte River. Other matches will cover the total $4 million cost of the restoration.
• Transition of a service fee model that would charge the processing/service fee from the city to customers who use…