The City of Powell will soon begin gathering thoughts from residents to craft a new vision for the city’s future.

At a Monday meeting, the city council approved a $108,500 contract with an engineering firm to update Powell’s master plan. The city’s existing plan is nearly 30 years old, and both city and chamber officials have said it’s overdue for a rewrite.

The plan is not a zoning document, nor does it create any restrictions on properties. Rather, it’s intended to help guide decisions related to land use, economic development, housing, transportation, utilities, parks and community facilities. The 1997 plan framed itself as a way to maintain Powell’s good quality of life, as “Unplanned development has eroded the character and livability of small towns throughout the west.”

The process

The chosen contractor, Ayres Associates, says the city’s updated master plan will be clear and easy to understand. The firm has also pledged to focus “on realistic, manageable recommendations that support sustainable growth and economic development, provide clear implementation strategies, and align with community priorities identified through targeted and thoughtful engagement.”

Ayres says its aim is to deliver a workbook-style document that not only sets a shared vision, but can “get things done.”

The process is set to get underway in early July.

According to contract documents, staff from Ayres will hold an initial virtual meeting with key city staff to pin down the schedule, goals, outreach, etc., and go from there. The effort will include digging into GIS data to explore Powell’s current conditions and trends and reviewing the city’s ordinances. 

The firm will also hold a series of in-person discussions and meetings with the public and launch an online survey, all intended to “discover what the community cares about the most.”

Ayres personnel will use the information to create a draft and then gather more input before putting out a finished plan. The firm expects to finish the work by April 30 of next year.

How they were chosen

The City’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommended Ayres after evaluating proposals from seven different firms. It wasn’t an easy choice, said Planning Commission Chair Ronn Smith, but between Ayres’ references and an interview with commission members, “they became a clear favorite.”

The committee that evaluated the firms gave particular weight to past experience in Wyoming, Smith said in April, “because there are some unique features to doing a master plan for Powell that somebody in Utah or Colorado might not appreciate.”

Ayres Associates is based in Wisconsin, but has an office in Cheyenne.

Longtime planning member John Campbell said in April that all of the firms were qualified and some had worked in small towns. However, Ayres has created plans for the comparable communities of Douglas and Lander, and Campbell believed they “would do a good job in a town like ours.”

Among the six firms that submitted proposals for an “update,” Ayres’ cost ranked second-highest; the lowest offer of $58,920 came from Logan Simpson, an Arizona-based firm that’s helping develop Park County’s new development standards and regulations.

However, Smith said several other city and county planning officials relayed to him that updating a 30-year-old plan “is really a new plan.”

“We can glean some of the basic values from the original plan, but in terms of assessing the current needs, it’s pretty much starting over,” Smith told the city council on May 4, saying he believed Ayres’ submission reflected that reality.

The five quotes the city received for “new” plans ranged from a low of $99,926 from Logan Simpson to a high of $159,785 from the North Dakota-based KLJ Engineering; Ayres only submitted the $108,500 offer for an updated plan.

The council unanimously voted to adopt the planning board’s recommendation and hire Ayres on May 4, and unanimously approved the contract on Monday.