Zane Logan

Powell City Councilor Zane Logan is running for the Ward II seat on the council. Logan was appointed in January 2021 to fill the seat that was vacated when Scott Mangold was voted to the Park County Commission the previous November. No challengers filed to run against Logan. 

Logan moved to Powell in the summer of 1992 and took a job at the city as an electrical superintendent. In 1998, he was promoted to a position that’s the equivalent of public works director. After working a while as assistant city administrator, he moved into the city administrator position in January 2005. He retired in June of 2019. 

While he’s enjoyed his retirement, Logan said he missed working with the people at the city. When Mangold’s move to the county commission opened up a spot on the council, Logan decided to put in an application. 

“It seemed like an opportunity to use some of my experience to the benefit of the community,” Logan said. 

Logan sees the role of the council as being one to set priorities for the city, while the staff does the heavy lifting. The council also coordinates city objectives with other government agencies and community organizations, such as Northwest College and the Powell Economic Partnership. 

One of the things he likes about serving on the council, Logan said, is that everyone works together well, which he said isn’t true in all cities. While the people he works with don’t always agree, he said it’s not always a good thing when they never disagree. 

“It can mean no one is thinking critically about things,” Logan said. 

Logan is a big advocate for infrastructure, which he believes is key to the city’s success. He said it’s more than just “pipes, streets, and wires.” It includes parks and facilities, like the Powell Aquatic Center and the Powell Municipal Airport. 

It also incorporates the city’s fiber optic network, Powellink. The network was constructed in January 2009 as a joint venture between the city, Northwest Joint Powers Board, and private-sector partners. 

“I knew the internet was the infrastructure of the future,” Logan said. 

Powellink handles download speeds of up to a gigabyte, and now the city is now looking at upgrading the network to 10GB. 

Logan also wants to help facilitate the construction of a hotel and conference center. Logan helped push for the Clocktower Inn, which was a private-public partnership between hotelier Steve Wahrlich of Billings and the City of Powell. 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. Under the terms of the grant agreement, the city was going to own the conference center attached to a privately owned, 75-room hotel, and Wahrlich would operate the entire facility.

The project ultimately never got off the ground, and after failing to get financing in place for the hotel side of it, Wahrlich returned the funding to the state. 

Logan still believes a conference venue is important and hopes to find a way to make it happen. 

“My hope is … we can find a way to make a hotel and find a good fit for Powell,” Logan said.

He also wants to see downtown continue to attract businesses. He doesn’t expect, with changes in retail, that the face of downtown will look like it once did, but he said professional services, such as doctor’s offices, can still be successful. 

Ultimately, he said the job of a councilor is to take all the information from various sources, including city staff, and make a decision that’s best for the community. 

“It sounds like such a cliche, but it’s really true,” Logan said.

Two other spots on the council are up for election. Ward I Councilor Steve Lensegrav and Ward III Councilor Tim Sapp are also running unopposed for their seats.