The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – September 8th
Published on September 08, 2023
CHEYENNE – Judy and I really enjoyed our time away from work during our short vacation in Mexico. We joined our good friends Steve and Jeanne for five days of sunshine and relaxation. I had been working on getting my weight under 200 pounds, let’s just say my goal is under pressure after our trip. It is good to be back in Cheyenne. We used Labor Day to get ready for work and get in the right mindset to head back to work.
Work started first thing Tuesday morning. Gil Moyle from Moyle Petroleum was in town and wanted to share their plans to build a travel plaza geared to the traveling public. They have been in Rapid City and Sheridan for many years. Their challenge is working out an agreement with WYDOT for access along College Drive near I-80. WYDOT is concerned about the lack of room for a deceleration lane and the safety impact it could have. Moyle Petroleum wants to invest millions of dollars and create 50-plus jobs and needs some accommodation in the area. I understand both sides and hope they can find a middle ground.
A couple of highlights from the Public Services Committee meeting we held on Tuesday. One is we will be having an election in the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) district October 18th to determine whether to continue the extra mills paid by non-residential property owners. The DDA administration is paid exclusively by the city, and the tax dollars collected by the mill levy are all invested back into improvements in the downtown. I have always appreciated the downtown property owners taxing themselves to help improve the area they work in.
The other item I wanted to highlight is the city council is working on a $150,000 investment in the Robin’s Pointe affordable housing project. This one should be done, but the bids came in so much higher due to the inflationary environment we find ourselves in today. The city has a small amount of money we have recaptured from our affordable housing efforts over the years, and we wanted to get it invested in a great project. The Wyoming Housing Network is a perfect partner, and we so appreciate their efforts to build housing for those getting left behind.
We held our monthly Frontier Days bridge meeting. We are working so hard to build a bridge across I-25 to a parking area we hope to build on the old golf course on the base. The list of challenges is long, but Mary Kay is the perfect person to keep our group on track. I am excited that we will one day have visitor parking without the need for buses. A much-improved visitor experience.
One fun thing about my job as mayor is the opportunity to learn about so many different subjects. Tom Segrave and I have been investigating the solar energy industry and the opportunity to build a community solar project in Cheyenne. I had coffee with Bryce Freeman, who I graduated high school with (East High School class of ‘78) to learn more about how the electric utility business is done. Bryce worked at the Public Service Commission for decades. My takeaways, it is a very complicated industry, and local governments have very little influence in the decisions made. It has been months of lessons now and I feel like we are just scratching the surface.
This week has been dominated with meetings regarding the Enhanced Use Lease (EUL). I met with the team from Coldwell Banker Commercial to get an update on their efforts to negotiate a lease for the 50 acres of Air Force property to build an apartment complex and commercial development. The area is the Park-N-Ride land we use to park for CFD. I am happy to report they are working hard to reach a deal with the Air Force. We really need the housing numbers and an opportunity to bring folks off I-25 to shop in the commercial area would help our economy. They are at the midpoint of the 180-day negotiation period. Hoping for good news at the beginning of the new year.
Cheyenne and F.E. Warren Air Force Base were honored to have the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Brown, at the base for an All-Call event. He addressed an overflow crowd of airmen and shared the challenges our nation is facing and how we need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. The rate of change in the Air Force is ramping up and our airmen need to embrace the change and be comfortable with being uncomfortable with the rate of change. If we don’t, we won’t be able to keep up with China and our other adversaries. Listening to him made me think we need to work on the same thing within the city and all our businesses. Think of the rate of change that has happened since Covid. General Brown was inspirational, and I took the time to share our efforts in getting the EUL built and asked for his help in making it happen. An honor to have him in our city.
The Town of Burns hosted our quarterly elected official’s dinner Wednesday evening. I do enjoy these evenings, and the Rustic Diner killed the ribeye and cherry pie. I joined our Assessor, Clerk of the District Court, County Clerk, Commissioner Lovett, and Councilman Segrave. I always come away learning something about our other elected jobs and their challenges. I am happy we have started having these dinners again.
Hispanic Heritage Month starts September 15th of each year. Our local Hispanic group is kicking off the celebration this weekend and I filmed a welcome for Friday’s evening event at the Civic Center. Judy and I will not be able to attend, and I wanted to help them celebrate and read a proclamation. I was joined for the filming by a small group of ladies from Chispa who are organizing the Hispanic Heritage events. I am impressed with the progress Chispa has made in the past year and look forward to joining them Saturday at the Depot Plaza for music, food, and vendors. I hope you will join us.
I spent most of Thursday afternoon on zoom with the Board of Directors from the Wyoming Business Council asking them for an extension for our grant and loan for the EUL project. The original developer was not able to negotiate a deal with the Air Force and we now have the new local developer in negotiations. This means we need more time to get the project started. The board was very gracious in granting the extension and we will work very hard to get this project underway. Thank you, Wyoming Business Council.
My last meeting of this week was with our Fire Chief and his Deputy. I got updates on the construction of our new fire stations. Things are going well and the interior of our station on Converse is mostly done. Challenges to get power poles moved and landscaping done before the snow flies remain. I got an update on our fire academy. We now run our own academy with help from Laramie, Sheridan, Casper, and Rock Springs. The current class is going well and our 11 recruits are looking good. I also got an update on our efforts to find a location for a new fire station in south Cheyenne. With Sweetgrass and all the development along College Drive, we will need a station in the future. We learned that securing a location is critical for our future development.
If you have a question for me, send it to media@cheyennecity.org. I’ll continue to answer them in my following Mayor’s Minute column.
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