An application is being prepared to submit to the Wyoming Business Council for a  Community Readiness grant in the amount of $1,500,000. This grant will fund some of the cost of expanding the City electrical system to serve the electrical customers in the Southern Industrial Addition Annexation. By the end of 2014, when the annexation is final, the City will need to purchase the property of PRECorp to serve the area with electrical power as well as increase the capacity of the existing sub-station in the Winland Subdivision on Swanson Road. In addition to purchasing those assets of PRECorp that can be used by Gillette to serve the residents with power, the City will have to reintegrate the portions of their existing system that are interrupted by the annexation and pay 1 1/2 times the annual billing for the area and compensate Basin for any stranded contracts. The total estimated price of the electrical conversion is in the neighborhood of $8.5M, although not all of those expenses are eligible for funding through Wyoming Business Council grant or loan programs.

I move for the Approval of a Resolution Authorizing Submission of an Application to the Business Ready Community Grant and Loan Program for a Community Readiness Grant on Behalf of the Governing Body for the City of Gillette, Wyoming.