Northern WY Community College District Discussing Land Swap With WY Army National Guard

The Northern Wyoming Community College District is trying to weigh the pros and cons regarding a land swap with the Wyoming Army National Guard.

The Guard is planning on building a new vehicle maintenance facility in the Sheridan area and one of the proposals is a land swap with the District.

In exchange for about 21 acres of land on the other side of I-90 from Sheridan College, the District would get some land in front of the college.

District President Doctor Walter Tribley says one of the concerns the District has with the swap, is that the District would have to take the land off of the market.

If the college were to ever sell the land, the plan was to use the money gained from the sale, to remodel the building the college has on Solutions Way for career and technical education courses.

Doctor Tribley adds if the land swap goes through, there’s a plan B for the building.

“We’re still moving forward with that, whether we do this land swap or not. If we do the land swap, we lose the potential revenue from selling the land, because the Guard would get that land, so we would have to then have to raise $1.5 million in the community, come up with the necessary match for state funding.”

Doctor Tribley says the Guard would like to get the deal done by May 1st, meaning the Board of Trustees would have to have a special meeting between now and then, because the next regular board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 17th.

The Guard plans to break ground around this time next year, and have the new facility operational by 2025.