Lagoon bid too high

Moorcroft’s lagoon is and has been in noncompliance with DEQ standards for many years, but the town has recently been granted funding from Wyoming Rural Development to upgrade the site with a few significant improvements, including more efficient weed control sheeting and rip rap shoring of the four cells, aeration lines to replace the non-working pipes and dredging.

However, the town received only one proposal when the project was offered for bid this year and that offer came in significantly over budget.

As requested by Rural Development and with a few adjustments made to the criteria by the town’s engineering firm, HDR, the job will once again be advertized for bidding in November. Says Mayor Dick Claar, “That’s all we can do.”

With the very real possibility of the bids again coming in too high, the council may have to once more “regroup and talk to the financing [agency] to see what our options are.”

The mayor said that he is not sure what the result of the town being unable to afford the needed improvements may be: “I suppose they could impose fines if they want to, but I don’t know.”