Burlington lands state funding for economic development study

With the last of its Husky subdivision lots selling this year, the Town of Burlington has landed a $40,000 planning grant from the Wyoming Business Council to compile an economic development plan for its next 10 years.

The town’s funding request was one of three Business Ready Community (BRC) planning grant requests approved June 5 by the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB), with the others being the City of Evanston ($100,000) and Washakie County ($75,000).

Chelsi Aagard, Burlington’s grant coordinator and assistant clerk, said the intent is to develop a 10-year plan for the town by considering the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for growth in areas such as housing, roads, water, sewer, sidewalks and overall economic situation.

“This will give our town leadership some direction on what Burlington can do to continue to grow and be sustainable for years to come,” Aagard said.

The last time Burlington developed a master plan was in 2005.

“We’ve seen some growth since then,” Aagard said, citing the success of the Husky subdivision, among other things. “The question is, what do we do next.”

Aagard said the idea of applying for the WBC grant stemmed from a two-day workshop she attended with other town officials, including the mayor. “We all came away from that realizing there are a lot of factors that go into developing a town — and that to do it right, we needed some professional help.”

Aagard said the town has yet to finalize a contract with a Wyoming Business Council, but has already started forming a committee to take the lead on the master planning. It will include nine individuals with “expertise and interests” that line up well with master planning.

“We have a former member of the school board and parent, our school resources officer who oversees public safety, a local realtor, a historian, our public works — those are just a few examples.  We’ll have a good variety of people on it,” Aagard said.

To get the word out and solicit input, the town/committee will hold some open house-styled events and have informational displays at community events.  The master planning process is expected to take about a year, Aagard said.

“I think it will be really good and really inform leadership on the right steps to take,” she said, adding that success of the Husky subdivision can be traced back to the master planning process the town went through in 2005.