School district sells MedBow property

Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2) appears to have solved their problem with property in Medicine Bow following their December 17 meeting. 

For more than a year, the school district had leased property surrounding the old Medicine Bow High School—which had been bought by Viridis Eolia in April 2017—to MedBow Lodging, LLC. The company then subleased the property for recreational vehicles used by contractors working on nearby wind energy projects.

As was reported previously (see “School district left with a ‘lot’ of questions” on page 14 of the April 22, 2020 Saratoga Sun and “CCSD2 sticks with MedBow Lodging” on page 2 of the May 13, 2020 Saratoga Sun), the school district was first informed that MedBow Lodging had no intention of renewing their lease prior to its May 9 deadline. Shortly thereafter, the company reversed course and submitted a bid to continue leasing the property, which was accepted by the Board of Trustees.

That lease contract was set to expire on December 31 and the Board of Trustees had voted to advertise the property for sale during their October 19 meeting. That notice, which ran in the Saratoga Sun on November 25, December 2 and December 9, resulted in three bids ranging from $20,000 to $75,000 that were unsealed and read by Chairman James Sewell.

The lowest bid came from Danny Drummond and Troy Maddox at $20,000 but with neither the bid nor a printed financial statement from their bank signed. The middle bid came from MedBow Lodging, LLC at $40,000 but also did not have a signed bid or a signed financial statement. The highest bid came from SKV Limited Liability Company out of Wright, Wyoming at $75,000 with a signed bid and signed financial statement.

Included with their bid, SKV provided a letter informing the Board of Trustees of their intentions with the property. The 20 acre property would be used by SKV as a laydown yard for equipment and cranes as well as using the current hookups to house employees.

After opening the bids, Boardmember Paul Clark asked if the board was required to award the bid that night.

“Can we, I guess, let the people of Medicine Bow have a say if that’s what they want in their town?” asked Clark.

“I think we passed that step, honestly,” said Charlie George. “We advertised it for sale and we received bids for the property. I think we’re past that step. I do know the property is zoned commercial already. If you ask the people of Medicine Bow what they think, you’ll get 384 different answers.”

It should be noted that George is director of public works for the Town of Medicine Bow.

Following a motion to accept the bid from SKV, the Board of Trustees voted 8-1 with Boardmember Georgia Miller voting nay.

With the sale still needing to be accepted by the Wyoming School Facilities, Bill MacPherson, legal counsel for the school district, informed the Board of Trustees that he expected the sale to be finalized by February 2021.

The next meeting of the Carbon County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees will be at 5 p.m. on January 18 at the Platte Valley Community Center in Saratoga.