Casper Lines up Grant-Hunting Help — and Tightens up the Rules for P&Z Votes

The original story by Tommy Culkin for Oil City News.

Casper City Council had a twofer on its plate Tuesday: lock in some outside help to chase grant money, and clean up a technical mismatch in the city code about how the Planning and Zoning Commission is supposed to vote.

First up, council approved a professional services agreement with Advance Casper aimed at spotting and securing grant funding for projects around the Casper area.

The contract basically formalizes the working relationship between the city and Advance Casper’s consulting arm, Sustainable Strategies DC (listed in city documents as S2). The work includes strategic consulting and grant writing, with compensation capped at $27,840.

The scope is broad — and it’s also backdated to July 1, running through June 30, 2026. Under the retainer setup, Advance Casper will keep Casper-area partners in the loop (including reps from the City of Casper, City of Mills, and Visit Casper) with a weekly newsletter and bimonthly “client alert” memos flagging new funding opportunities.

They’ll also be available on-call throughout the year for project development advice, which is a fancy way of saying: if Casper’s got an idea, S2 can help shape it into something funders actually want to pay for.

The big-ticket deliverable: S2 will prepare up to four grant applications aimed at state, federal, or philanthropic funding sources tied to community priorities. The agreement also says the consultant will help four participating jurisdictions submit requests for community project funding for priority projects.

And yes, there’s a Beltway angle: the contract outlines plans for a Casper-area leaders trip to Washington, DC, tentatively in late summer 2026. S2 would set up meetings with the congressional delegation and key agency officials, plus provide briefing sheets and help with logistics. Travel costs, though, would be on each participating jurisdiction.

As for who’s paying: half comes from the city’s FY2026 general fund, and the other half comes from utilities funds.

Council also approved the first reading of a proposed ordinance to clarify voting requirements for the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Community Development Director Liz Becher told staff the main point is to bring Casper’s municipal code in line with Wyoming’s enabling statute tied to the Board of Adjustment.

Here’s the issue: state law requires a majority of the total number of commissioners to agree for an affirmative decision. But Casper’s code had conflicting language saying an affirmative decision only needed a majority of the members present.

Becher noted that even with the messy wording in the code, the commission has been following state law in practice. The amendment just makes the written rule match reality.

The updated language will spell it out clearly: “the concurring vote of a majority of all members of the Planning and Zoning Commission is necessary” to reverse an order or grant a variance.