In this July 3, 2015, Boomerang file photo, water-filled potholes sit at the intersection of Van Buren and Pierce streets in West Laramie. The West Laramie storm drainage project includes a stormwater outfall for approximately 300 acres of West Laramie by constructing a stormwater trunk line under Buchanan Street, Van Buren Street and Adams Street. The line would create a flowpath for stormwater runoff to pass under Interstate 80, discharge to the McCue wetlands and ultimately the Laramie River, according to the city.
In this July 3, 2015, Boomerang file photo, water-filled potholes sit at the intersection of Van Buren and Pierce streets in West Laramie. The West Laramie storm drainage project includes a stormwater outfall for approximately 300 acres of West Laramie by constructing a stormwater trunk line under Buchanan Street, Van Buren Street and Adams Street. The line would create a flowpath for stormwater runoff to pass under Interstate 80, discharge to the McCue wetlands and ultimately the Laramie River, according to the city.
The city will pursue federal funding for two water projects this year, in the hope of increasing security and relieving flooding issues in West Laramie.
Laramie city councilors approved two applications to the State Loan and Investment Board for American Rescue Plan Act local government project funds on Tuesday at a regular council meeting. The first application is for $3.5 million for the Wyoming Avenue and West Laramie stormwater outfall project, and the second application is for $1.2 million for a wellhead buildings upgrade project.
The West Laramie storm drainage project includes a stormwater outfall for approximately 300 acres of West Laramie by constructing a stormwater trunk line under Buchanan Street, Van Buren Street and Adams Street. The line would create a flowpath for stormwater runoff to pass under Interstate 80, discharge to the McCue wetlands and ultimately the Laramie River, according to the city.
The proposed trunk line is sized to account for future development and future connections, and West Laramie street improvement projects are also planned.
Wyoming Avenue will be paved immediately following the outfall installation, as storm runoff from Wyoming Avenue will be collected by the proposed storm sewer at Wyoming Avenue and Buchanan Street. The paving portion of the project will include sidewalks and ADA required features. The proposed project will also mitigate nuisance ponding, and help prevent private property flooding by using the proposed stormwater inlets to collect runoff and carry it in the underground system, instead of in the street, according to the city.
“It’s a big project that has a lot going on in it,” said Brooks Webb, city public works director. “We are doing the storm drainage, the paving of the roadway which includes sidewalks, curbs and gutter on Wyoming. And then there is some water line replacement we want to do before we get the asphalt down.”
The state has $50 million to award for project submittals in what Webb said will be a “highly competitive” grant process. During the last round of a similar granting process, or the Chapter 41 APRA grant application process, SLIB received 131 applications for a total of $252 million.
Councilor Erin O’Doherty asked if drainage projects are so costly in West Laramie because the ground has little slope, meaning crews must dig deep enough to create a gradient.
“I think that is an accurate statement,” Webb said. “The area we are going to be working in is very flat, and so there is no real outlet for the water. We have to get it somewhere. The line that is going in is very long.”
Vice Mayor Sharon Cumbie asked how significant flooding was in the area during recent events.
“There is a small detention area over in West Laramie, and any time we get a significant rain, staff is out there with pumps pumping that out. When it overflows, (water) gets to properties next door. Residential, private properties,” Webb said. “This is going to completely solve that problem.”
Councilors also approved a second grant application to SLIB for ARPA funding for the wellhead buildings upgrade project.
“This project originally got into our budget and got under design because it was identified in our homeland security assessment that these wellhead buildings needed to be upgraded,” Webb said.
The city’s existing wellhead buildings are small fiberglass structures lacking adequate security, according to Webb. If approved, the project will install new buildings and security that includes remote monitoring.
O’Doherty also addressed concerns she said she’d heard regarding use of federal funds.
“We have heard at the state level that we have to ‘be careful spending this money because our grandchildren are paying for it’. This is federal money that taxpayers all over America are paying,” she said. “Our grandparents didn’t build this storm system, so we have to do it.”
Both projects are scheduled to go out for bid in the spring or summer of this year.
The council also approved on first reading amending Laramie Municipal Code to prohibit intoxicated individuals from entering private homes or places without the knowledge or consent of the owner of the occupant.
Laramie’s Assistant City and Prosecuting Attorney Holli Austin-Belaski told the councilors she put forth the amendment because there are, at times, “intoxicated individuals that will enter somebody’s home and the homeowner or the occupant or renter won’t know.” The current ordinance only makes it illegal to do so in a public place.
“If somebody is found in your backyard and they are heavily intoxicated, law enforcement cannot remove them,” Austin-Belaski said. “The intent of this ordinance is that when somebody stumbles onto private property where they are not supposed to be, law enforcement has the ability to remove that person.”
Carrie Haderlie is a freelance journalist who covers southeast Wyoming from her home near Saratoga. She has written for the Laramie Boomerang, Wyoming Tribune Eagle, the Wyoming Business Report and several other publications for many years, including covering the Wyoming Legislature.
