JACKSON, Wyo. — Ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline, the County Commission voted to obligate the remaining COVID-19 funds first issued to the county in 2021 from the U.S. Treasury, to the Public Works Department for a future RV dump station.
The Public Works Department will use the remaining balance of $605,609 to install an RV dump station south of Jackson on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Parcel 26.
Teton County received $4,557,607 from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) part of the American Rescue Plan, aimed at offsetting the fiscal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first half of the funds was disbursed in 2021 and the remaining balance was issued in 2022.
Sarah Mann, Director of General Services, explained during the Dec. 30 Commission meeting that if the funds were not obligated by Dec. 31, they would be returned to the federal government.
“Every county and municipality in the country was issued funds after the pandemic, so it was noncompetitive but we had to use it for certain things that were on the eligibility list,” Mann said.
Mann explained that the Treasury changed the rules over the course of the allocation period, with the final rule being that funds needed to be obligated by Dec. 31, 2024 and spent by Dec. 31, 2026. Her department verified with the Treasury that a Memorandum of Understanding with the Public Works Department outlining the project scope is enough to retain the funds, even though the project has not started.
According to the project description attached to the Dec. 30 County staff report, the RV dump station and associated potable water station will be opened to the public seasonally with an automated self-pay kiosk. The project still needs a site plan, construction plans, permits for the connection to the Town’s sewer main line and the installation of a well. A new highway access and parking area will also be built to accommodate oversized vehicles and trailers.
The project was identified in the Water Quality Management Plan, approved by the County in June 2024, as a priority water quality initiative.
Currently, the west side of parcel 26 is being used by the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) to store materials and temporarily house workers replacing the Snake River Bridge and intersection at WY22/WY390. WYDOT was issued a three-year temporary use permit in April 2023, which the county supported. Construction of the bridge is expected to be completed in June.
Following WYDOT’s lease, the BLM has agreed to transfer ownership of the parcel to Teton County to support the development of recreational facilities. This land transfer is part of a larger BLM land transfer within the county that has been ongoing for many years. A specific plan for the recreation development of the parcel has not been approved by the County; ballfields were proposed in 2023.
Teton County and WYDOT also have an agreement that WYDOT will install an underpass pedestrian and vehicle tunnel and recontour the property. County Attorney Keith Gingery said that he hopes to get the deed to the parcel early this year, telling the Commission that he’s willing to drive to the Pinedale BLM Office to get it.
