Green space issue resolved

Good news was shared at last Monday’s meeting regarding the long-awaited resolution to the “green space” issue. The green space problem started when the Moorcroft swimming pool was demolished to make way for the South Little Horn Avenue meeting Converse Street several years ago.

Unbeknownst to the then sitting council, the Daniels grant that helped pay for that pool was conditioned on the approximately two acres being kept as a “green space” or recreation space “into perpetuity”. There were no remaining records from the time the pool was built in the mid 1960s.

This was no small mistake as the town could not receive any federal grant moneys for parks and recreational efforts until recompense of equal value was made. When the governing body learned of the debacle, they opened dialogue with the Daniels Foundation and started looking for a piece of town-owned property that was of equal value and fell under the foundation’s criteria.

Over the last few years, though, due to other issues, this issue of the “green space” has fallen by the way side and it took the notice of former councilman John Aloisio to bring the matter to the fore once more.

After the then-sitting council had chosen a reasonable property for trade, which is the area along Highway 14 near the underpass of I90, Moorcroft clerk Cheryl Schneider began to work as she could to gather the needed documentation to be sent to the state.

Schneider faced frustration as time went by and she had to start the process over again because the former work had expired. So she ordered a new appraisal, environmental assessment, etc. Then, as she sent the documentation to the different departments at the state level, individuals within the departments with whom she was dealing would leave and the next one would have no idea of what she spoke when she called; “Then we’d have to start the process all over again as I explained, this happened two or three times”, noted Schneider.

Finally, though, Schneider was able to tell the governing body at the meeting last Monday night that the state has approved the trade and the town is once again in good standing and able to apply for grants for things like a splash pad and play sets.