KEMMERER — On Nov. 1-2, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfield Program brought technical assistance providers from Kansas State University (KSU) and ICF International to facilitate two days of workshops with Kemmerer and Diamondville business owners, community members, members of the Chamber of Commerce, city councils and other municipal leaders.

Key participants who met with KSU technical assistant Maggie Belanger and representatives from ICF, Emily Blanton and Eliza Johnston, were the following: Mary Crosby, grant writer for Lincoln County; Trista Gordon, City of Kemmerer; Tina Robinson and Cortney Bartschi from Diamondville; Teresa Frommel, South Lincoln County Economic Development Corporation; Jesica Lozier, Fossil Basin Chamber of Commerce; Arvid Aase, Fossil Butte National Monument; Stephen Allen, Lincoln County chief of staff; Robert Bowen, business owner and city council member; Ted Lanzano, EPA Region 8; and Cindi Martinez and Abigail Lashbrook, Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.

Crosby said, “The main goal was for ICF and KSU to help us to develop plans to revitalize property that might be labeled brownfield.”

The Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) communities program provides training and technical assistance to communities and other groups interested in redeveloping brownfields. A brownfield is a property, the expansion, redevelopment or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. 

The EPA’s Brownfield Program, established in 1995, is designed to empower states, communities and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up and sustainably reuse brownfields.

“The workshops were designed to help the communities solidify a vision, identify priority sites and viable reuse opportunities and implement a road map for phased redevelopment along the corridor between Kemmerer and Diamondville,” Lanzano said. “Following the workshops, the ICF will assess the feasibility of community-proposed uses for redevelopment along the Kemmerer Diamondville corridor. Based on the communities’ vision, KSU will develop high-level renderings for potential redevelopment and streetscaping as well as provide on-going community engagement.”

The participants met for two days beginning with an afternoon tour of the corridor and potential priority sties and ending with an evening meeting to discuss vision, priority sites and potential uses on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

On Thursday, Nov. 2, the participants spent the morning discussing the findings from the day before and prioritizing key themes and their next steps.

A main theme derived from the last workshop was the need for signage throughout the corridor to highlight specific sites, the downtown area and the recreation opportunities, in order to attract visitors to stop in the communities. The participants agreed the signage should be uniform in the colors used.

Another main concern was the shortage of eating establishments with consistent hours of operation in the two communities. All participants stated a need for a brewery that would also include a family restaurant.

According to Crosby, what will happen next, now the workshops are over, is that KSU will take the economic information gained and will report back to the county with a landscape design and suggestions sometime in late March of 2024.

ICF is under contract with the EPA and will provide a follow-up report in early March 2024.  These reports, Crosby said, will outline two phases toward accomplishing the goals set at the November meetings; including potential DEQ grants and loans.

“It was important to get help from experienced people in order to become energized and be able to focus on the ideas generated and succeed,” Crosby said.