Goshen County Economic Development Corporation kicked off a series of county-wide meetings on Nov. 10, 2008, in Fort Laramie. Lisa Johnson, executive director of GCEDC, headed up the meeting and was joined by several members of the development group and County Commissioner Ross Newman.

Johnson began the meeting by asking audience members to introduce themselves. Although the turnout from Fort Laramie was light, the Fort Laramie Town Council was in attendance as well as a handful of interested residents and business owners.

Johnson began the meeting discussing the mission of the National Economic Development Corporation and how that mision can and will trickle down to the local level. Many of the national and state goals are similar to those expressed by local municipalities, Goshen County and individual towns such as Fort Laramie.

According to Johnson, one of the biggest problems facing Wyoming and state municipalities is the aging and crumbling infrastructure. Many towns have not updated infrastructure for years and are not prepared for future growth. Some are even lagging in meeting current demands.

Johnson pointed out that Goshen County has been very aggressive in seeking ways to help local municipalities with the sales tax.

“Some of the local sales tax is available through the Goshen County Economic Development Corp. to help towns achieve their goals,” she said. “Goshen County expects to have a Sales Tax Fund for economic development of around $700,000 by spring of ’09. We have earmarked $150,000 of those funds to be available for community projects such as the Hawk Springs Community Building Association and the Fort Laramie Community Center project. We can leverage the money for grant applications. In Hawk Springs, we used $3,000 to get a grant of $300,000 from the Wyoming Business Council.”

The remainder of the tax money will be used to develop businesses that will bring jobs to the community.

Newman spoke at length about the necessity of a county-wide land use plan. He noted that a land use was proposed approximately 30 years ago, but resulted in a “political blood bath” in which many elected officials were voted out of office.

He explained that while some people see a land use plan as a vehicle to restrict their ability to use their land as they see fit, plans are a way to protect those same properties from being acquired for uses that would devalue the land and surrounding property.

“A good land use plan will not harm local properties and their owners, but will help direct growth and expansion in ways that will benefit the county and the property owners,” he said. Newman cited the example of wind farms, saying that the windmill energy projects seem to be a good diversification in an agricultural area, but there are some pitfalls.

“When the project has reached the end of useful life, who cleans up the sites? Who takes down the towers?” he asked the audience.

When planning for a project such a wind energy, Newman said communities must consider the nuisance effect of the project during its working life, such as noise, flickering sunlight and cost of maintaining roads to service the project. Without a land use plan, costs of developing various projects could fall back on taxpayers, with the developer reaping profits.

Newman said that lack of a land use plan could find the county in a lawsuit.

GCEDC member and local developer Neil Newman said he agreed that a land use plan can help the county stay ahead of developers whose plans could end up costing taxpayers.

“A good plan takes into account the impact on the infrastructure, i.e., road use, dust, construction work and future impact of a developers project to the mutual benefit of the developer and the county,” Neil Newman said.

Johnson reiterated the need for a need for each town to have a master plan.

“Without a good master plan, towns will not be able to compete for grant money,” she said. “We can help the communities and towns with those master plans by helping to pay for surveys and professional services necessary for a master plan.”

Fort Laramie Mayor Richard Monger said he was really pleased to see GCEDC reaching out to the community.

“We are definitely going to work more closely with them,” Monger said. “This is the first time they have reached out to us. Fort Laramie has been left out of much of the earlier plans and discussions. I am really pleased at the offer of help which can benefit the entire county, especially the smaller communities.”

Johnson said she was pleased with the turnout and participation at the meeting.

“We have expanded on the ideas and potential projects identified by the Community Assessment Survey and have taken it one step further,” she said.

The next GCEDC community meeting is scheduled to take place in Lingle at the Legion Hall at 7 p.m. on Nov. 19.

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