Economic shot in the arm — Owens reveals plans to revitalize Newcastle’s economy

Newcastle Mayor Tyrel Owens, who began his first term after being sworn in on Jan. 6, has a three-pronged plan for revitalizing the city’s economy. The plan involves “livening up Main Street and attracting businesses,” bringing a larger enterprise, such as a manufacturer, to Newcastle and hosting tourist-friendly events in the city.

To reinvigorate Main Street, Owens has reached out to Brandi Harlow, the northeast regional director for the Wyoming Business Council. Of interest to Owens is the organization’s program known as Wyoming Main Street.

According to the WBC website, “Wyoming Main Street … serves the state of Wyoming through preservation-based economic development and community revitalization.”

Owens said that while the program is available to municipalities, it comes with eligibility criteria that need to be met. He said he is exploring the program to gain a better understanding of the criteria to determine whether it would be worthwhile for Newcastle to pursue such assistance.

Owens would also like to establish an economic steering committee to consider ideas for economic development. The committee would be composed of community members but would also have City Council representation to better facilitate communication between the committee and city government. Owens said the committee would prioritize communication and transparency. He also said he has already been approached by interested individuals about potentially serving on such a committee.

Another aspect of Owens’ plan is to encourage a larger business to set up shop in Newcastle.

“We need to have some out-of-the-box thinking as far as trying to get some industry into our community,” he said.

Owens proposed the rare earth minerals industry as one possible avenue to pursue. He pointed out the existence of a rare earth mine in Crook County and the development of a processing facility in Upton and suggested that Newcastle’s close proximity to such facilities makes the industry an especially promising one for the city. He also said that the connection via rail and highway between such locations and Newcastle gives the city an advantage in developing the industry locally.

“Where we have rare earth minerals nearby, it would be fantastic if we could try to develop some property in town to see if there were any businesses that would like to come to our community to engage in that kind of activity,” he said.

Owens bemoaned the loss of past events held in Newcastle and acknowledged their importance to the local economy. He recounted Sagebrush Days, which he said was a festival held on Main Street that involved vendors, a beer garden, a street dance and the handing out of sagebrush seeds.

“Newcastle has had a lot of events through the years that have died out,” he said.

The third component of Owens’ economic revitalization plan is to bring such tourist-friendly events back to the city, along with the economic benefits that tourism brings.

One such event is Summer Classic Drags, which is scheduled to take place July 17-19 and is being headed by a former chamber of commerce president, Sandy Martin, along with a board of local residents.

“(The City Council) is really hopeful that Sandy’s event takes off,” Owens said.

At the mention of the board of the Summer Classic Drags event, Owens also shared his desire for the establishment of a board registry. He noted the high number of local boards and said that a registry would enable better communication between the boards and the city government and between city government and Newcastle residents.

“It’s been proposed to me by some of the citizens that we do some kind of board registry where we get all of the boards in town … (to) register … or at least provide contact information (for) the chairman of their board so that we can keep track of all of (them). And if somebody has a question about it, then we can send that person to the board chair,” he said.

As with the hosting of events, Owens also sees economic promise in establishing recreational facilities in town, such as parks. He is also motivated by the relative lack of recreational opportunities available for the city’s youth. He frequently travels the state for his day job and “sees communities smaller than (Newcastle) that have better stuff.”

He brought up an existing project, the Backyard Park project, or bike/park being developed along Salem Avenue, as a project he hopes to see completed.

“As I said at one of the (council) meetings, once we start a project, we need to finish it,” he said.

Owens said that the completed Backyard Park could draw people to the community. He also mentioned two grants given to the city by Wyoming Refining Co., earmarked for this project, which have not been used and are currently “sitting in the general fund.” He said that the refinery would like to see progress made on the project. At their February 18 meeting, the council approved a motion to hire American Ramp to begin design work for the Backyard Park. A motion to purchase a sign, pending design and cost approval, to thank the donors was also approved.

The financial reality faced by the city does temper Owens’ expectations, and he noted that Weston County is “the second-poorest county in the state.” However, he remains optimistic and believes that progress can be made with the resources available.

“We’ve got to look for things we can do for our community that there’s funding available for,” he said.

Owens said he is aware of likely pushback and that some would probably decry the idea of such development when other areas, such as infrastructure, need attention. He acknowledged the need to replace and repair outdated infrastructure, such as roads and pipes, but argued that the city can also multi-task.

“If we have grants and programs available for recreation that we can procure and actually get some of these park projects done, then that’s a positive thing,” he said.

Speaking of grants, Owens said that he has reached out to the Rural Community Assistance Corp., which, according to its website, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that assists “rural communities through training, technical and financial assistance and advocacy.”

According to Owens, the organization is limited by increased federal reluctance on spending but has expressed a willingness to accept Newcastle into their program if an opening becomes available.

In addition to the Backyard Park project, Owens also spoke of two other park projects he hopes are eventually realized.

One is a floating water park. Owens said that he was approached by News Letter Journal Publisher Bob Bonnar about establishing a Wibit water park for the community. Wibit is a company that manufactures inflatable modules that can be linked together to create an obstacle course atop a body of water.

The idea of using the LAK Reservoir for this project was initially proposed but received no interest from the reservoir’s owner, TRUE Ranches. Sights were then set on the pond by the Super 8 hotel, formerly known as the Fountain Inn, as a possible location. The City Council’s parks committee is currently exploring the feasibility of this location, as well as the availability of grant funds for the project.

Heritage Park is the other project that was recently abandoned, but Owens hopes to bring it back to life. The project, which would be located next to Pinnacle Bank, underwent a feasibility study in 2022 and had design plans drawn up but ran into funding impediments.

“I’ve also been in contact with a staffer from (Rep.) Harriet Hageman’s office,” Owens said. “I provided her with some information on the Heritage Park project that kind of fell through, and she was having somebody that she knew follow up on that.”

Owens is motivated to pursue all available options in realizing his economic revitalization aims.

“I have four years … to deliver on these campaign promises,” he said.

City Beats

Notes from the Feb. 18, 2025, meeting of the Newcastle City Council

Mayor Tyrel Owens nominated the Womack family for recognition for their volunteer work on the bridge at Centennial Park during the summer of 2024.

The parks and streets committee is planning to meet to discuss the future location of the farmers market.

A fire committee meeting will be scheduled to discuss ordinance 12-2 regarding open fires per the request of Councilman Don Steveson.

The council moved to allow Clerk-Treasurer Stacy Haggerty to have Marco create email addresses for all council members. She noted the cost would be $24 a month. Councilman John Butts voted against the motion.

Public Works Supervisor Greg Stumpff reported that one city customer was without water after a water main break on Gray Boulevard. He said that this repair could end up being extensive and that the city was providing the customer with bottled water.

Stumpff reported that he had received an agreement from the Wyoming Department of Transportation for the mill and overlay project on South Summit and Cedar Avenue. He said the project’s estimated cost is $399,600, which would come in the form of a loan in 2027. Approval of the agreement was granted, pending Attorney Dublin Hughes’ approval.

The council approved Stumpff’s request to put $150,000 in the escrow account for Landfill No. 1 remediation. He noted that the funds would be replaced from the State Revolving Fund loan.

Stumpff reported that both the 2025 improvement project and Landfill No. 1 remediation project loans through the EPA State Revolving Fund operated by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality were approved with 25% principal forgiveness, with percentage rates remaining the same.

The council approved a motion to draft a resolution regarding the grant application for the U.S. Highway 16 pathway project through the Wyoming Department of Transportation. Stumpff reported that the estimated cost is $958,440.02 and that the city’s match would be 9.51%. He noted that the city has received donations in the amount of $40,296.00, leaving an estimated cost of $50,951.65.

The council moved to adopt an updated bond schedule for municipal court.