Town revisits MTC plans

Plans for the Moorcroft Town Center have not yet been put in motion regarding an answer to whether the Town Hall will move to the building or even what parts of it will remain standing, despite a number of public meetings, feasibility studies, surveys and more.

Moorcroft Mayor Ben Glenn expressed his frustration at last Wednesday night’s meeting of the council. “It seems like everybody keeps pushing this thing down the road; I really would like to have a decision to try to get up there and make it feasible to move Town Hall up there,” he said.

HDR Engineering’s Heath Turbiville has revealed the possibility of financing for this project in the near future.

“Possible funding for the MTC is within another $50 million ARPA funding that is specifically for projects that are not water and sewer,” he told the council. The opportunity to apply is anticipated to open in December.

There is, though, a criterion by which those who do apply must structure their applications, according to the engineer: “You have to have your match in place [and] you get points for having more match. [There are also to be considered] parts of the point system [that] are out of the town’s control like population, household income, etc.”

He emphasized the importance of working with this system, saying, “All approved funding [thus far], except for one, has been based on this point system. It’s important that you do what you can to get as many points as you can for the application.”

Council is inviting the public to another public meeting; according to Councilman Dale Petersen, “To make sure the public is informed and can have everything heard and get the public’s input,”

Public Works Director Cory Allison has repeatedly expressed his indifference to moving the town hall to the hill, but in the best interest of the council, he suggested having some possible answers to these questions:

“If we’re not going to move up there; and if we’re going to tear part of it down, what part? You guys may want to have that information ready for that public meeting also.”

“If you have an interest,” advised Petersen to the public, “You need to come.”

The date and time of this public meeting will be advertised in the next issue of the Moorcroft Leader.