Cow Pie Open to benefit Encampment FCCLA/ProStart

The Encampment Town Council expressed excitement for the 19th annual Encampment/Riverside Cow Pie Open golf tournament, coming to town June 7.

Jim McKinney, who coordinates the Cow Pie Open, asked if the council could help with another monetary donation for the local tourney. Unlike many golf tournaments, the Cow Pie Open takes place at a cow pasture, where 10 buckets serving as golf course holes are set into the ground.

McKinney said last year’s open raised around $3,000 for Saratoga’s charter of the USA Wrestling program.

“This year we’re playing for the Encampment ProStart and FCCLA kids, so Cheryl (Munroe) is helping us out with that,” he said. “We always have a really good turnout, and we’ve had a lot of repeat golfers and people come from word of mouth. We really appreciate all you guys do.”

The council approved $500 to go toward supporting the tournament.

McKinney, who is the Encampment representative for the Carbon County Visitors’ Council (CCVC), updated the council on the progress of the CCVC’s planning grant that was submitted to the Wyoming Business Council.

With hopes of relocating the CCVC’s center in Rawlins, McKinney said the plan was approved for a Wyoming Business Council Business Ready Community Planning Grant to study the guard quarters at the old state penitentiary. The grant money would allow an architect to do a study on the prison space, which is desired for a possible new visitors council office.

The study would determine the site’s suitability, possible costs, design and floor plans, public meeting spaces and potential community partners. McKinney said a visitors center located at the old penitentiary may bring in more tourists.

“What we’re looking at is moving the office for our visitors center in Rawlins, and it’s more or less a planning grant to see if it would even be feasible,” he said. “Where we’re at right now there’s no foot traffic there, but they get over 10,000 visitors there at the old pen. We got a planning grant to look at the feasibility to put an office in there, and we put up some matching money for it and got some state money as well.”

The council passed the second readings for both the Fiscal Year 2014 and FY2015 budget ordinances. A budget workshop was then set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20.

A budget hearing is planned for the next town council meeting, which takes place at 7 p.m., June 12 at Encampment Town Hall.