The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – July 12, 2024

Published on July 12, 2024

We started this week off again talking about neighborhood safety and the concerns of drivers speeding. Our new Critical Traffic Control Program just went into effect, and we met to finalize how to implement the program. We have received a petition from the folks along Gardenia Drive asking to have their street studied to see if it qualifies for the enhanced enforcement the ordinance provides. I wish we did not have to pass this ordinance and that we would not see petitions from neighborhoods concerned with their safety. I will let you know how progress on the ordinance’s implementation goes.

One of the hard parts of redevelopment is changes of use and the opportunity for the city to require changes to improve safety, especially regarding street access from properties. This week I spent time with our Engineering Department discussing a new business that is concerned the city will require them to close one of their existing accesses on one of our busiest streets. The driveway is too close to a very busy intersection and has a history of crashes. I pushed back, but after staff presented all their reasons and evidence it was impossible to second guess the professionals doing their jobs. I like to ask “why” to make sure we are doing things for the right reasons and not just because we have always done them that way.

I was invited to attend the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s Editorial Board meeting on Monday afternoon. The topic was roads, and I was joined by our City Engineer, Tom Cobb, and our Public Works Manager, Vicki Nemecek. We all drive our roads and understand that our roadway system needs maintenance. The city has more than 370 miles of roadways, which, if laid out, would stretch from Cheyenne to Evanston. When we started in 2021, we had a deferred maintenance backlog of over $140 million. We discussed our pavement management system and our focus on getting back to the basics of road maintenance: crack filling streets, sealing the road surface, overlays, and being consistent with our efforts. Our goal is to give 10 percent of our road system significant maintenance every year, and we are doing that. Unfortunately, it will take a decade of investing $10.5 million a year to make a significant dent in our backlog. I so appreciate the support of the 5th and 6th penny sales taxes. Without them, we would have no money to invest in our roads.

I must admit that I am surprised by the ridership of the electric scooters placed mostly in our downtown. It is apparently a lot of fun. One concern I have and that has been communicated to me is the scooters are strewn all over the place. The scooter program is just a few years old. Now that we have some experience, our intention is to rewrite our rules and contracts to tighten up on the parking, maintenance, and responsiveness of scooter vendors. This week we met again to talk about best practices in the industry and what would be best for Cheyenne. I hope to have everything done and the new relationships in place by the next scooter season.

Ansley Mouw is a local architect who has spent a lot of time testifying at our city council meetings about housing. She was so passionate that I started having coffee with her to get ideas on what the city should be doing to promote a more livable city that also has more housing that people can afford to buy and rent. She always challenges the status quo and even some of the best practices we read about. I appreciate the time and the ideas she brings. Housing is one of the biggest challenges we must answer if we want our community to continue to thrive.

Cheyenne was born in 1867 when the Union Pacific Railroad decided to put its mountain headquarters on this site. The railroad has been an important part of our city’s life since then. I don’t feel like we do a very good job of delivering our rail heritage to our visitors. That will change a bit when we finish our 15th Street Rail Experience project. It will restore a 1927 Pullman business car and a 1936 caboose that will be located just west of the Historic Depot. Added to the two cars will be an 1890 steam locomotive. I am excited to see the area improved and the addition of our rail history. This week I traveled west of Cheyenne to an old Atlas Missile silo where Mike Pannell has a business that restores historic train cars. He had a few cars from the late 1880s getting refurbished and it was fascinating to see him bring the cars back to life. It gives me confidence that our cars will be beautiful when they are displayed on 15th Street for our residents and guests. Thanks for the tour, Mike.

I enjoy attending the LEADS board of directors’ meetings. This month Rachelle reported they are working with 29 prospects looking to bring businesses to Cheyenne. We know they all won’t make the great decision to locate here, but it is exciting to know so many companies are seriously looking at all our community has to offer. I know the recent Meta announcement has their phones ringing. LEADS is so busy managing the installation of water, sewer, and roads to many of the new businesses that are located here. Cheyenne’s future looks so bright!

Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in our nation. We built a new pickleball facility in Lions Park and the courts are full and folks are waiting to get their turn. We put porta-potties at the courts this week (thanks ladies in the coffee shop who shared the need). This week I met with a gentleman who is going to open an indoor pickleball center this winter with eight courts and a pro shop. More indoor recreation is just what our community needs, and I am grateful he is making the investment. I know his announcement will be made in the future and I wish him luck. I have played a couple of times, and I love the game.

Frontier Days is just a few days away now. We held our last coordination meeting with all the folks who are involved in making CFD a great event every year. Teams from public safety, public health, the National Weather Service, Homeland Security, and all our city departments joined with the CFD team to go over any last-minute changes and make sure our collaboration is ready for the show. The National Weather Service guaranteed us all great, dry weather (if only that were true, haha!). It really does take our whole city to put on CFD.

Cheyenne’s Neighborhood Night was held on Thursday evening. This event is sponsored by the Police Department and has neighborhood parties located all over town. It is a great opportunity for neighbors to meet and for our police officers to introduce themselves. Thanks to everyone who makes this program such a success every year.