City approves church daycare

The Green River City Council chambers at City Hall were nearly packed full before the council meeting last Tuesday night as members of Hilltop Baptist Church showed up to support the church's efforts to start a daycare service.

"This is a way bigger crowd than we normally have," Mayor Pete Rust commented at the beginning of the meeting, noting that it's good to see involvement from the community.

The July 2 council meeting included a public hearing concerning the church's request for a special use permit, as well as the council's consideration of the resolution to approve the special use permit, which the council approved.

Hilltop Baptist Senior Pastor Dr. Clint Scott first approached the council about the church's desire to start a daycare center at the May 21 council meeting.

"We are a longstanding ministry in the community," Scott said. "This is an extension of the ministry efforts."

Scott pointed out that there is a "huge need for daycare" in the community, and that the church is a good facility for helping meet that need. He also explained that they wanted to be able to start providing daycare by the beginning of August before school starts, and that they already had a waiting list with nearly 150 children.

Because the church is a religious organization, Scott questioned whether they were exempt from typical Planning and Zoning requirements. Councilmember Gary Killpack said he believed a special use permit would still be needed, and it was decided the church would continue to work with the city to determine the requirements.

Planning and Zoning Administrator Holly Wilhelm brought the issue before the council at the July 2 meeting, pointing out that the church's property is zoned as residential.

"A church is a permitted use in any residential zone, but a Child Care Center is subject to State of Wyoming requirements and is allowed by right only in business zones," Wilhelm explained.

While the church has also been working with the Department of Family Services (DFS) to obtain State licensure, they also needed the Special Use Permit from the city.

The Planning and Zoning Commission sent notification letters to nearby property owners. The commission didn't receive any comments opposed to the daycare center, according to Wilhelm.

During the public hearing, Mayor Pete Rust asked if anyone in the audience was opposed to the daycare center and received no replies. He noted that Planning and Zoning had recommended approving the special use permit and he believed the council would follow their recommendation, so an extended conversation wasn't needed during the public meeting since everyone was in support.

Pastor Scott spoke as a representative of those in attendance, thanking the city for their help in the process.

"This is about families, this is about children, this is about us putting our best foot forward for the community," Scott said.

The council voted unanimously to approve the special use permit, and Councilmember Robert Berg thanked the church for going through the proper process since the city has policies and procedures in place for a reason.

Several church members stayed in the meeting to also hear an update on a construction project on Faith Drive and Evans Drive, which will include construction in front of the church's location.

The city council voted unanimously to award a bid for the Faith and Evans Drive Reconstruction and Utility Improvements Project to Kilgore Companies, LLC doing business as Lewis & Lewis, Inc.

City Engineer Dustin Romero told the council that the project proposes to completely rebuild Faith Drive and a portion of Evans Drive and to make improvements to water and storm drainage systems. The goal is to start the project around mid-August and finish within a 120-day timeframe.

"This is a much-needed project," Romero said, explaining that it has been a long time in the making and will get the next round of sixth-penny projects off on the right foot.

Councilmembers Killpack and Ron Williams expressed their concerns over only receiving one bid for the project. City Administrator Reed Clevenger explained that there are many reasons for the city receiving limited bids, including having limited contractors who can do the work for the scope and size of the project, having some contractors busy with state-wide projects, and having less full-time contracting businesses in the area due to the less stable nature of relying on the sixth-penny tax for funding projects.

The bid for the project came in at $1,910,261, which Romero explained was under the engineer's estimate for the project cost. Mayor Rust said that the bid coming in lower is saving the city approximately $800,000.

Pastor Scott expressed questioned the timeline for the project since it will impact the church as it is in front of their property, and added his concerns about the possibility of delays. Romero noted that the project will be done in as timely a manner as possible, and pointed out that the contractors are a local company that the city has worked with in the past. Councilmember Killpack clarified that the project isn't getting any special treatment, but noted that contractors do their best to keep disruptions minimal and ensure that the public has access.