Steve Lensegrav

Councilor Steven Lensegrav is running again for his Ward I seat on the council. As with all the council races in Powell, the incumbents are running unopposed. 

“I’ve appreciated the opportunity to serve the last four years and look forward to serving for another four,” Lensegrav said. 

In 2018, Lensegrav and Ernest Phipps ran for the seat that became open after Eric Paul decided not to run again. Lensegrav took 65% of the vote. 

As he looks toward his second term on the council, Lensegrav said he’ll be armed with a bit more experience in the next four years than he had in the first. 

“Your first term is always about getting your feet wet,” Lensegrav said. 

For the first three years, he served as council liaison to the Powell Golf Club Board, taking over the year after the club had begun to turn things around financially. The club had run up debts totaling $250,000. It’s been operating in the black since late 2017. 

Due to time constraints, Lensegrav had to let councilor Lesli Spencer take over as golf board liaison, but Lensegrav said he’d like to see the course continue to be a successful amenity. 

He also wants to help Powell’s economy continue to grow. 

“We had some hits and misses there,” Lensegrav said. 

When he started on the council, the Clocktower Inn project was well in the works. The public-private venture was to be a hotel and conference center, with the city owning the conference center and leasing it back to the owner of the hotel. 

The State of Wyoming appropriated $2.62 million in support of the approximately $10 million project, which was supposed to break ground in summer of 2019. The project faced delays, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, the hotelier elected to return the state funding. 

Despite the Clocktower failing to get off the ground, Lensegrav said the council is still keeping their eyes open for opportunities that would allow them to facilitate such a project. 

“That’d be a big boon for our town. We’ll do what we can to help out on our end,” Lensegrav said. 

On the other hand, the Dairy Queen continues to move forward. The council this month approved an amendment to the plat for a sliver of land the city sold to help the owner have a parcel that fit the franchise requirements. 

“Everyone loves ice cream,” Lensegrav said. 

Lensegrav was on the council in summer 2019 when a fire at the Vining Substation crippled the aging piece of infrastructure. The city went about a $3 million renovation that was completed last spring, doubling the substation’s capacity. 

Lensegrav attributes the project’s success to the city staff who developed the financing plan, carried out the bidding process, and saw it through to completion on time and on budget. 

“We’re better now than when we started,” he said. 

He’s also interested in seeing the Division Street project move ahead. This will widen the well-used but notoriously narrow street, and replace sewer and water lines, many of which are still the original cast-iron piping. 

Lensegrav grew up in Sturgis, South Dakota, and graduated from Black Hills State University. He taught and coached K12 in Sturgis for 11 years, and moved to Powell in 2011 to teach science at Powell High School. 

Three years ago, he was promoted to assistant principal at PHS, and he serves as principal of the Shoshone Learning Center.