The Powell City Council’s bid to revamp the city’s mural of John Wesley Powell cleared its first hurdle last week: A Park County Travel Council subcommittee decided that the city’s “pre-application” for grant funding was worthy of consideration by the full travel council.

About a third of the applications submitted through the Park County Destination Development Grant Program were weeded out by the committee, but “we’re still in the hunt,” Mayor John Wetzel told the city council on April 3; he sits on both the travel council and the subcommittee.

The city is hoping to secure funds to freshen up the downtown mural that’s attached to a Treasure Valley Seed elevator. The artwork features a portrait of Powell’s namesake, an image of a farmer irrigating — it’s based on a photograph of the late Rich Fisher — and a tribute to Powell’s 1994 recognition as an All-America City. However, the decades-old paint is fading and the plywood is aging.

Whether the city would simply freshen up the mural or come up with a new design has yet to be determined. Wetzel has said a decision wouldn’t be made until funding is secured and the public has a chance to weigh in.

Treasure Valley’s owner offered its support in a Wednesday letter to the city, describing the company as “excited” about the project.

“We at Trinidad Benham Corporation know how iconic and important the Powell City Mural on our Treasure Valley Seed elevator building is to the citizens of Powell and the surrounding community,” wrote Treasure Valley VP Steve Schwartz, saying the building has become “a historical part of Powell and its culture.”

If the city wanted to add lights and illuminate the mural at night, Schwartz said the company would be supportive and would cover the electric bill for the lights.

The travel council plans to sort through the grant applications at its April 20 meeting. It’s offering $10,000 to $70,000 per grant, looking for projects that “focus on enhancing the tourism industry through new outdoor recreation infrastructure, enhanced nonresident experiences and offerings bringing economic impact to our local communities.” 

April dedicated to preventing child abuse

City leaders and others are seeking to bring more attention to the plight of abused children, declaring April to be “Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month.”

“Every child is precious and deserves to grow up in a healthy, safe, nurturing environment free from harmful effects of abuse and neglect,” says a portion of a proclamation approved by the council.

The document says an estimated 1,000 children are abused or neglected in Wyoming each year, putting them at a higher risk for everything ranging from depression to drug use to criminality as an adult.

Agencies and nonprofits across the state join together each April with the aim of preventing abuse and neglect “through outreach, education and intervention.” Last week’s proclamation says successfully stopping and preventing abuse stems from partnerships between community members, social services, law enforcement agencies, schools, churches, businesses and civic organizations.

“It’s a sad thing that child abuse exists, but I think it’s the least we can do to make a motion and support this proclamation,” Mayor Wetzel said before the unanimous vote.

Councilman offers kudos to police

When a prank caller called in a bogus report of a shooting at Powell Middle School on the morning of April 3, the Powell Police Department was on top of it, said City Councilman Steve Lensegrav.

“The response was amazingly fast,” said Lensegrav, who also serves as the assistant principal at Powell High School. The hoax was debunked so quickly that there was no need to lock down any schools, he said, offering the department kudos.

Powell Police Chief Roy Eckerdt has attributed the rapid response to advance planning that took place between his department and the school district. Powell was among a host of Wyoming communities to be hit by the hoaxes on Monday, with schools in Cody, Rock Springs, Gillette, Cheyenne, Casper and Sheridan among those targeted by bogus reports of shootings.

“It hurts my heart to know that some people were… thinking that’s something worth pranking about,” Lensegrav said.

“Hopefully they find the source of whatever that is,” said Councilman Zane Logan.

However, Lensegrav noted that it can be difficult to trace those calls back to their source, with callers often disguising their phone number through the use of multiple virtual private networks and other tactics.

“I guess at the end of the day, we’ll chalk it up [as] good practice,” he said.

City writes off bad debt

The City of Powell is officially letting go of some decade-old debts. The council agreed to write-off $17,783.86 worth of utility bills from 2012 that went unpaid. 

Despite being turned over to a collection agency, the debts “are either now over 10 years old and are past the statute of limitations for collection, or the debt has been discharged due to bankruptcy or death,” said City Administrator Zack Thorington.

He added that the total write-off amounts to “less than a half-a-percent” of what the city bills out to its customers each year. The largest share of the bad debt ($7,658.79) related to electric bills, followed by garbage service ($4,278.40).

State law requires the council to certify its uncollectible debt, a process that includes verifying that the debtors “[have] no financial means or assets from which the debt may be satisfied.” The council writes off a small amount of debt each year, deeming $13,893.31 worth of unpaid bills to be uncollectible last year.