OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Casper City Council Regular Meeting - December 2, 2025

City Council — Wednesday, December 3, 2025
BodyCasper, Wyoming
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, December 3, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 45:20

Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Good evening, and let's go ahead and get started.

0:04

Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone to please silence your cell phones.

0:08

Also remind you that council meetings are live streamed and they are on the city's YouTube channel.

0:14

I now call the December 2nd, 2025 regular council meeting to order.

0:18

The chair to entertain a motion to by consent minute action excuse the absence of Councillor Pollock.

0:25

Move by counselor or by vice mayor, seconded by counselor Haskins.

0:29

Please cast your vote.

0:50

There we go.

0:51

Please record the vote.

0:55

With all counselors voting aye, the motion passes.

0:57

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:08

And to the Republic for which it stands on nation under a God, indivisible with the consent minute approval titles.

1:30

Approving the minutes of the October 28th, 2025 special council meeting, the October 28th, 2025 executive session, the November 4th, 2025 regular council meeting, and the November 4th, 2025 executive session.

1:45

Thank you.

1:45

The chair generated a motion to approve the consent minute action items just read.

1:51

Moved by Councillor Haskin, seconded by Counselor Bond.

1:54

Any abstentions?

1:55

Please cast your vote.

2:00

Please record the vote.

2:01

With all counselors voting aye, the motion passes.

2:08

Approved by minute action.

2:09

The December 2nd, 2025 bills and claims is audited by interim city manager Lopez.

2:16

Move by Councillor Jensen, seconded by the Vice Mayor.

2:19

Any abstentions?

2:20

Please cast your vote.

2:25

Please record the vote.

2:27

With all counselors voting aye, the motion passes.

2:31

Tonight we would talk with our bright spot when we store outage city response.

2:36

On November 13th, 2025, our community experienced a widespread power outage that affected not only the city of Casper, but also the whole state of Wyoming and the surrounding region.

2:47

In the face of a rapidly evolving and unpredictable situation, our city force responded to professionalism, coordination, and a commitment to public service.

2:57

So tonight, I want to recognize the efforts of some of these departments involved.

3:02

First, our public safety communication center faced an intense surge, as you probably imagine, of 911 call volume.

3:10

As radio cycled, console consuls went dark, and alarms flooded the system.

3:16

Yet PSCC staff maintained calm and provided continuity of service.

3:23

Every division of the the Casper Police Department responded swiftly and worked in unison to support schools, assist businesses, manage out is outages, and swiftly and worked in unison, excuse me, assisted assisting businesses, managing outages and delivering critical information to residents.

3:43

At incident, a command post was quickly established to maintain coordinated uh communication across just uh jurisdictions.

3:51

Their adaptability and dedication ensured our community remained safe and informed.

3:57

During the initial two hours of the power outage, the fire department responded to 18 calls.

4:03

Crew crews navigated structured fires, uh, fire alarms and simultaneous emergencies with only minutes between calls and times, and at times.

4:14

Firefighters inspectors and chiefs triaged incidences efficiently while maintaining citywide coverage.

4:21

Their seamless coordination with dispatch and other emergency partners ensured critical services never faltered during the unprecedented surge in calls in the volume of them.

4:33

While the community experienced the outage above ground, our water operations division worked behind the scenes to keep clean, safe drinking water flowing.

4:42

Water distribution and water treatment managers immediately mobilize teams to remote tanks and booster stations, manually performing uh tasks is usually handled by automated systems.

5:00

Operators worked long hours to maintain system integrity, and once power returned, crews rapidly and safely brought wells and treatment operations back online.

5:05

Their expertise and dedication ensure our water supply remained protected, stable, and fully compliant throughout the event.

5:14

The power outage also promoted prompted an extensive response to keep the sewer and wastewater treatment systems functioning.

5:22

While most of uh the gravity-based sewer system was unaffected, 17 lift stations required active management through permanent through permanent or portable generators, and if necessary, a suit sewer cleaning trucks.

5:37

Wastewater operations division staff mobilized quickly to assess non-powered stations, deploy a trailer mounted generator and coordinated the wastewater treatment plant, with the plant-wide generator activated automatically, and operators successfully restarted treatment systems.

5:54

Original lift stations also required also required inspection due to the inconsistent incoming power.

6:02

As you utility power returned intermittently, crews remained on standby and kept generators running to protect aging equipment while supplies stabilized.

6:12

Throughout the event, staff maintained permit uh required sampling and stayed in compliance, and why YO WARN while worn um outreach confirmed to additional aid was needed.

6:24

No additional aid was needed.

6:26

Thanks to these coordinated efforts, Casper Sewer and Wastewater Systems remained fully operational with no backups, uh equipment failures or environmental environmental violations.

6:37

Despite a total loss of power at the uh transit facility, and throughout much of the service areas, our transit division maintained 100% of essential link and um assist operations with dispatch systems offline.

6:51

Staff quickly transitioned to handheld radios and backup phones uh to maintain communications with drivers.

6:58

On the road, operators navigated dark um intersections, congested streets with professionalism.

7:05

The assist uh paratransit team managed a sudden system-wide surge of passengers needing immediate return trips from medical facilities, and every rider made it safely to their destination.

7:17

Our parks and recreation and public facilities team coordinated four facility evacuations occurring simultaneously in the middle of a busy day.

7:26

Staff across the Ice Arena, Recreation Center, Aquatic Center, and Fort Casper Museum demonstrated calm leadership and clear communication as they safely guided hundreds of patrons through evacuations and transitions.

7:40

Our parks crews stepped in wherever needed, truly operating as one team.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████29%
Public Health████████████████16%
Community Engagement███████████████15%
Public Engagement████████████12%
Public Safety█████████9%
Gaming Regulation████████8%
Racial Equity████4%
Mental Health Awareness███3%
Water And Wastewater Management██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Casper City Council Regular Meeting - December 2, 2025

The Casper City Council convened on December 2, 2025, to conduct routine business, recognize public safety efforts following a state-wide power outage, and approve several liquor license transfers. The meeting featured a dedicated segment highlighting the city's resilience and operational continuity during the November 13, 2025, power outage, followed by public comments regarding historical policy decisions and community events. The council approved multiple consent agenda items and resolved a series of public hearings regarding the transfer and modification of retail and bar-and-grill liquor licenses.

Consent Calendar

  • Absence of Councillor Pollock was excused with a unanimous vote.
  • Approval of minutes from the October 28, 2025 special meeting, October 28, 2025 executive session, November 4, 2025 regular meeting, and November 4, 2025 executive session.
  • Approval of the December 2, 2025 bills and claims, audited by Interim City Manager Lopez.
  • Establishment of December 16, 2025, as the public hearing date for the transfer of retail liquor license #18 (Casper Chop House LLC to 307 Hospitality LLC).
  • Cancellation and re-establishment of a public hearing date for December 16, 2025, for planning and zoning commission meetings (ordinance 12.210).
  • Adoption of consent resolutions (981–9810) covering: amendments to leases with David Street Station, contracts for pump station replacements (Granite Peak), change orders for Goodstein Park and landfill remediation, a cloud-based risk management subscription, fire inspection service amendments, procurement of 25 duty rifles and suppressors, and allocation of opioid settlement funds.
  • Authorization to purchase Cisco network devices via a state contract with 954 Consultants LLC.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Mr. Shriffman (Member of the Public):
    • Expressed appreciation for the city's response to the November 13 power outage.
    • Requested clarification on the settlement status of the "Warbirds" venue regarding past rent arrears and asked for the current status of funding for the Ice Arena expansion.
    • Position: Expressed concern and questioned the logic behind the 2022 anti-discrimination ordinance for not including "age" as a protected class, citing the severity of elder abuse and the exclusion of age when other protected classes are included in federal statutes.
  • Councillor Gamroth:
    • Provided a detailed report on the community-led Christmas tree lighting event held on November 21, 2025, noting the involvement of volunteers, sponsors, and city staff.
    • Expressed concern regarding increasing food insecurity, citing reports that the Central Wyoming Rescue Mission served a record number of meals and expects a 43% increase over budget during the holidays.
    • Encouraged attendance at the December 17th legislative interim recap.
  • Councillor Sweeney:
    • Expressed gratitude for the passage of the senior district and the impact on the senior center and Meals on Wheels.
    • Welcomed the new ownership group (Julio and partners) taking over Silver Fox Steakhouse.
    • Noted a record turnout for the recent Christmas parade and reminded the council about volunteer needs for the upcoming event.
  • Councillor Bond:
    • Praised the organizer of the Christmas tree lighting (Elon A. Medford) and the community effort.
    • Recommended attending a professional development stress-reduction workshop at Casper College scheduled for the upcoming Friday.
  • Councillor Haskins:
    • Mentioned the availability of DOT physicals and requested to place a discussion on adding "vaping" (specifically THC vape pens) to the smoking ordinance on a future work session.
    • Shared that Councillor Jensen would be absent the following week but would participate remotely.

Discussion Items

  • November 13 Power Outage Response:
    • The Acting City Manager presented a comprehensive overview of the city's response. Departments including Public Safety Communication Center, Police, Fire, Water Operations, Wastewater, Transit, Parks & Recreation, and Buildings & Structures were recognized for maintaining critical services, such as keeping water flowing via manual operations, running 17 sewer lift stations on generators, and maintaining 100% of essential transit lines despite system outages.
  • Ice Arena Expansion:
    • Councillor Gamroth and the Mayor discussed the status of the Ice Arena expansion project, which is contingent on the ice hockey club raising sufficient funds. Councillor Haskins noted a conversation is slated for the December 30th work session to determine the project's future or the reallocation of the $3.2 million city contribution.
  • Warbirds Venue Settlement:
    • Councillor Sweeney clarified to Mr. Shriffman that there was "no gap in payment" for Warbirds, indicating the previous issues were settled.
  • Non-Discrimination Ordinance:
    • Councillor Gamroth responded to concerns about the exclusion of "age" from the ordinance, stating that at the time of the 2022 vote, there were "legitimate reasoning[s]" and legal technicalities preventing its inclusion, as age is not always classified identically to other protected classes under federal standards. He committed to reviewing records to provide specific details at a later time.

Key Outcomes

  • Power Outage Recognition: The council formally recognized the resilience and coordination of city staff departments during the November 13 power outage.
  • Liquor License Transfer #18: Approved the transfer of retail liquor license #18 from Silver Fox Restaurant and Lounge (3422 Energy Lane) to Big D Oil Company (4501 Southwest Wyoming Boulevard) with a unanimous "aye" vote.
  • Bar-and-Grill License #7: Approved the issuance of new Bar and Grill liquor license #7 for Quintana Innovations, LLC doing business as Silver Fox Steakhouse (3422 Energy Lane) with a unanimous "aye" vote.
  • Vaping Ordinance: The council agreed to place a discussion on adding vaping/THC to smoking ordinances and age restrictions on a future work session.
  • Upcoming Meetings:
    • Regular Council Meeting scheduled for December 9, 2025 (Work Session at 4 PM).
    • Regular Council Meeting scheduled for December 16, 2025 (6 PM).
    • Executive session was entered with a 2/3 majority vote to discuss personnel and land matters prior to adjourning.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, and let's go ahead and get started. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone to please silence your cell phones. Also remind you that council meetings are live streamed and they are on the city's YouTube channel. I now call the December 2nd, 2025 regular council meeting to order. The chair to entertain a motion to by consent minute action excuse the absence of Councillor Pollock. Move by counselor or by vice mayor, seconded by counselor Haskins. Please cast your vote. There we go. Please record the vote. With all counselors voting aye, the motion passes. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. And to the Republic for which it stands on nation under a God, indivisible with the consent minute approval titles. Approving the minutes of the October 28th, 2025 special council meeting, the October 28th, 2025 executive session, the November 4th, 2025 regular council meeting, and the November 4th, 2025 executive session. Thank you. The chair generated a motion to approve the consent minute action items just read. Moved by Councillor Haskin, seconded by Counselor Bond. Any abstentions? Please cast your vote. Please record the vote. With all counselors voting aye, the motion passes. Approved by minute action. The December 2nd, 2025 bills and claims is audited by interim city manager Lopez. Move by Councillor Jensen, seconded by the Vice Mayor. Any abstentions? Please cast your vote. Please record the vote. With all counselors voting aye, the motion passes. Tonight we would talk with our bright spot when we store outage city response. On November 13th, 2025, our community experienced a widespread power outage that affected not only the city of Casper, but also the whole state of Wyoming and the surrounding region. In the face of a rapidly evolving and unpredictable situation, our city force responded to professionalism, coordination, and a commitment to public service. So tonight, I want to recognize the efforts of some of these departments involved. First, our public safety communication center faced an intense surge, as you probably imagine, of 911 call volume. As radio cycled, console consuls went dark, and alarms flooded the system. Yet PSCC staff maintained calm and provided continuity of service. Every division of the the Casper Police Department responded swiftly and worked in unison to support schools, assist businesses, manage out is outages, and swiftly and worked in unison, excuse me, assisted assisting businesses, managing outages and delivering critical information to residents. At incident, a command post was quickly established to maintain coordinated uh communication across just uh jurisdictions. Their adaptability and dedication ensured our community remained safe and informed. During the initial two hours of the power outage, the fire department responded to 18 calls. Crew crews navigated structured fires, uh, fire alarms and simultaneous emergencies with only minutes between calls and times, and at times. Firefighters inspectors and chiefs triaged incidences efficiently while maintaining citywide coverage. Their seamless coordination with dispatch and other emergency partners ensured critical services never faltered during the unprecedented surge in calls in the volume of them. While the community experienced the outage above ground, our water operations division worked behind the scenes to keep clean, safe drinking water flowing. Water distribution and water treatment managers immediately mobilize teams to remote tanks and booster stations, manually performing uh tasks is usually handled by automated systems. Operators worked long hours to maintain system integrity, and once power returned, crews rapidly and safely brought wells and treatment operations back online. Their expertise and dedication ensure our water supply remained protected, stable, and fully compliant throughout the event. The power outage also promoted prompted an extensive response to keep the sewer and wastewater treatment systems functioning. While most of uh the gravity-based sewer system was unaffected, 17 lift stations required active management through permanent through permanent or portable generators, and if necessary, a suit sewer cleaning trucks. Wastewater operations division staff mobilized quickly to assess non-powered stations, deploy a trailer mounted generator and coordinated the wastewater treatment plant, with the plant-wide generator activated automatically, and operators successfully restarted treatment systems. Original lift stations also required also required inspection due to the inconsistent incoming power. As you utility power returned intermittently, crews remained on standby and kept generators running to protect aging equipment while supplies stabilized.

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