NIOBRARA-Niobrara County Commissioners met for the first time at the Niobrara County Fairgrounds on March 5. The Commissioners anticipated a large crowd during their meeting, which would cover two items of particular local interest on the agenda. This expectation proved accurate as the venue quickly filled with concerned Lusk residents.

Chairman Pat Wade said that they were first contacted in January of 2023 by BRC Real Estate. Stark said that at, the time, the Commissioners were not prepared to comment until all private properties were purchased for BRC Real Estate’s project.

“The County’s position was not to pressure any property owners to agree to any purchases by BRC Real Estate,” said Wade. “We also wanted to hear what the Niobrara County Fair Board wanted to do, and we wanted to hear from the people.”

Wade went onto say that they had heard from many people about this matter and that they were all very respectful, which he really appreciated. He voiced his hope that the public would maintain being respectful with airing their thoughts concerning the proposed business development.

The first new agenda concerned Michael Bright and Zach Policky, who are pursuing a potential business development plan and the possible purchase of a portion of the fairgrounds. Bright is a member of BRC Real Estate located in Lakewood, Colorado. Bright has been working with Policky’s family for over a decade. He expressed his gratitude to the community for coming out to listen to their proposal.

Policky is part of the Big D Oil Company family, which owns convenient stores in South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. Policky said that the Big D Oil Company began in Sundance, Wyoming in 1938 and they operate 40 stores. The Policky family still owns and operates a family ranch in that area.

“We operate a store in Wright, Wyoming that has been there for over 40 years,” Policky said. “We know towns like Lusk and we want to be a part of those town.”

Bright began with proposed plans for a new convenience store at the current location of Spirits on the corner of 802 South Main. BRC Real Estate company had purchased the property from owner Dede Reed. The company had also purchased the car wash, located at 824 South Main. Bright also said that they had been speaking with Rod Jones about purchasing his property too. Jones, at the time of the aforementioned meeting, had not committed to selling his property. They also purchased Melody Ford’s property that is next to the car wash.

“I knocked on Rodney Jones’ door a year ago and he had said no,” Bright said. “At that point, we asked for someone to advocate on behalf of Rodney and quickly found out how much this community cares about him. And, I want you to know we do, too.”

Bright and Policky were surprised by the candor of the meeting as they were prepared to present their proposed business development to the County Commissioners. Wade said that the Commissioners wanted to ensure that citizens were invited to hear the proposed plan and to have the ability to comment concerning the proposed sale of one acre of land that is owned by the Niobrara County Fairgrounds.

County Attorney Anne Wasserburger began with clarification that the County Commissioners have the sole authority to sell any County land they see fit. She went on to clarify through a State Supreme Court case that, even if the land was donated to the County, the right is still the Commissioners’ decision.

“We just wanted to share some of our ideas with the community. We are not Mavericks and we love the town of Lusk. We wanted to share why we were here,” Bright said. “It is a great hub for the traveling community, and we think we would be a great benefit to the community. That is our position and we understand that some of you disagree with that and hopefully we can talk through some of that.”

Bright and Policky had two plans that they showed to the public and the Commissioner. One was based on the property already acquired and the potential purchase of the acre of land that the County owned. The second plan did not include the potential purchase of Jones property.

Bright explained that they were tentatively planning to develop the properties into a convenience store that would allow ranchers to pull their trailers into the gas pumps with plenty of room to spare.

“We will provide a donation of $5,000 a year to be donated to the Fairground fund,” said Bright. “We want to serve the community, too.”

Policky said that they would also be happy to support local businesses such as the hospital and school.

“In our other locations, we support the hospital and schools and whatever else we can do,” Policky said.

The Big D Oil Company also obtained Spirits’ liquor license. Policky said that, at this point, since they were in the early stages of development, they would either use the liquor license to sell within the convenience store or, if the people wanted, they would create a bar for the patrons.

Many concerned citizens voiced the position that they did not want to see the sale of an acre of the Fairgrounds’ property. They were also concerned with the location of the proposed business. One citizen said that the she would not want to see any sale of the fairground land because of the sentimental value that it holds.

Another comment was that the public didn’t want to see Lusk grow and the town didn’t need another truck stop. One commenter countered that they did want to see some growth in Niobrara County. However, that same commenter stated that there were concerns with the purchase of the land at the fairgrounds.

Bright and Policky answered questions and addressed concerns from the community. They both thanked the community for the feedback and would be speaking with the Commissioners at a later date.

The Lusk Herald will publish Part 2 of the County Commissioner Meeting in next week’s edition on March 13.