During a lengthy meeting that grew contentious, the Kemmerer City Council on Monday approved an ordinance establishing regulations for a possible man camp inside city limits.
The ordinance allows for the conditional use of a temporary workforce and short-term housing hub of no more than 50 dwelling units.
Multiple residents of the Antelope Ridge subdivision made their plea clear: not in my backyard.
City officials said opponents were putting the cart before the horse, as no man camp is guaranteed.
"The groundwork’s been laid,” Kemmerer Mayor Robert Bowen said after the vote, which followed about two hours of public discussion. “That doesn’t mean it will ever happen. But if it does we have guidelines in place.”
Background
Developers are proposing a temporary hub to house workers who will build the TerraPower nuclear power plant near Kemmerer.
The city of about 2,400 people is bracing for explosive growth with the first-of-its-kind sodium-cooled nuclear power plant under construction, Cowboy State Daily has previously reported.
Multiple companies have been eyeing properties to house workers when the plant comes online sometime around 2030.
What the man camp looks like, what it will cost to build and where it is located would depend on who is awarded the contract, Bowen previously told Cowboy State Daily.
He estimated the project is being considered by five to seven bidders.
While each bidder will come with proposals according to their interest in a particular piece of land, what has drawn the most attention from residents is an undeveloped city-owned property between the justice center and the Antelope Ridge subdivision.
Bowen said one developer has shown interest in that land.
Public Pushback
Multiple residents of Antelope Ridge pushed back against the proposed ordinance Monday, citing concerns such as property value impacts, taxpayers bearing costs of infrastructure buildout, noise and safety if a man camp were to be built.
The land in question is about a quarter-mile from Antelope Ridge.
Jannetta West, who lives in the subdivision, said a man camp so close to her neighborhood would threaten the community’s safety and infrastructure.
She urged council members to reject any proposals for the site near Antelope Ridge.
“Please don’t let the dollar signs cloud your moral and ethical judgment,” she said.
Several residents asked how property taxes would be affected by the TerraPower plant and potential man camp.
Brett Burt, also a resident of Antelope Ridge, said to the council, “I don’t know if you’re going to respond to me or if this is just me saying words.”
He paused, seeming to await an answer.
After a brief silence and the mayor beginning to respond, Burt called his questions rhetorical before asking why temporary workforce housing was not discussed by the city during the two years TerraPower was working through its project permitting.
He also posed a question other residents echoed: why not keep the project and temporary workforce housing on the same site?
Burt also asked: “Are you entertaining a data center? That’s a separate issue but I know most of us don’t want that either.”
Antelope Ridge resident Kodi Seamons questioned why the ordinance focused on a potential man camp specifically within city limits. She also wondered why the facility would have to be so close to an established neighborhood.
Seamons said she had reached out to a specific council member with those questions earlier. She did not name the council member.
“The response I received was, 'It’s none of your business,'” she told the council. “Respectfully, when a project has the potential to impact my neighborhood, my property value, my quality of life and the future of my community, it is my business. It is the business of every resident who lives here.”
Residents deserve the opportunity to ask questions without being dismissed, Seamons added.
“We deserve the opportunity to understand why decisions are being made,” she said.
She also said asking questions is civic participation.
A resident who identified himself as Mike, who also lives in the subdivision, spoke multiple times, first stating the city has no way of regulating the type of temporary housing that could come in.
“We’re not ready for temporary housing inside city limits,” he said. “We don’t know how to do it yet. We have a huge project coming and one of the first things we do is possibly irresponsibly put temporary workforce housing right next to a neighborhood.”
City-Owned Property
Residents asked whether a man camp on city property showed a conflict of interest.
“The city is in direct competition with private entities,” Mike said. “We are all watching who votes to allow a man camp when we have no way to regulate it yet.”
Bowen clarified that the city did not put in a bid for a temporary workforce hub to be built on city-owned property.
“We were approached by a contractor,” he said.
He added that other in-town properties are also possible.
That’s when the meeting grew more contentious.
“You’re elected to represent us and you’re not doing so," someone shouted from the audience.
“Anything else I say could be offensive so I won’t say it. Let’s just move on,” Bowen replied. “I think we’ve said enough for tonight. Anything else could get escalated. So we’ll just call it good where it’s at.”
Then, Bowen invited audience members to make additional comments on the record, in front of the microphone.
Several did, including Braden Seamons.
“These people are being backed into a corner by the people that are supposed to represent us,” Seamons said. “We don’t need a man camp anywhere in this town.”
Seamons asked how the city could guarantee anyone living in a man camp in town was vetted.
The mayor said the city itself can’t vet the people who live in a man camp.
“That’s not our place,” he said.
“If you can’t do it, then why should we put it in our backyard?” Seamons asked.
Temporary Housing Not Guaranteed
Bowen reiterated that a man camp was not inevitable.
“This is all conceptual,” he said. “This is not guaranteed. This ordinance gives the ability to have man camp in city limits. It does not guarantee that it is coming.”
Resident April Burt fired back, “Saying, ‘it may not happen’ is like saying, ‘it can happen'.”
To the assertion the city is not ready for it, the mayor said, “This is the ordinance that gets us ready.”
Housing conditions and choices that workers make could render a temporary housing hub unnecessary, he said.
He laid out projections that of the 1,600 workers expected on the project site, 15-25% are expected to stay in RVs. Another estimated 25% will stay in local housing because they’ll bring families.
The is for sole workers, Bowen said.
“Realistically, we’re looking at about 400 people in a hub," he said. "It’s not the scary 1,600 that’s being kicked around.”
Bowen also reiterated the hub will be built on-demand, to accommodate workers as needed. He assured community members the council is not talking about building a 1,600-person man camp.
“Our housing might catch up to where they don’t even need this,” he said.
He also rebutted other concerns, saying everything is a big “if” right now.
Considerations of temporary workforce housing have been in progress for years by TerraPower, he said. They just haven’t been brought to the city council until recently.
“I guarantee they were talking about this five years ago,” Bowen said. “This didn’t catch them off-guard. They’re way too invested, way too high-profile, too professional to have been caught at the last minute with, ‘Oh no, Kemmerer doesn’t have enough houses.'”
"We have to be angry about this,” Burt said. “We have to keep coming to these meetings. I’m really sad that we feel we are not being adequately heard.”
Kodi Seamons agreed, adding, “We’re scared because you will not give us a guarantee that a man camp won’t be there (near Antelope Ridge subdivision). “It feels like you’re putting dollars above our families.”
Workers are Coming
Bowen said that, man camp or no, workers are coming.
“Regardless of where they’re going to live, they’re coming,” he said. “Just because we say we may not pass an ordinance to allow a hub within the city limits, they’d still be coming. They are coming, whether they stay in the hub or stay in the house next to you.”
“How about in your backyard?” someone from the audience shouted.
“I have plenty of room,” the mayor replied.
City leaders said that the ordinance was to create rules around a potential man camp within city limits. Should any specific projects materialize, each project would follow a required advertising and discussion process, and also include further opportunities for the public to be heard.
Still, residents did not back down.
“On record, we would like to hear that you guys would support your constituents in that we don’t want temporary housing on that (Antelope Ridge) property and we don’t want the city of Kemmerer to be in direct competition with other potential properties for this man camp,” the man who identified himself as Mike said.
Neither Bowen nor council members directly responded.
After another 20 minutes spent discussing specific provisions of the ordinance, the council voted unanimously to approve it.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
