The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – Feb. 7, 2025

Published on February 07, 2025

Last Friday, City Council held a work session to discuss council’s goal of creating a railroad experience on 15th Street from the Depot to Bent Avenue. Cheyenne was founded by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1867, and the hope is to give residents and visitors a bit of that history by restoring the exterior of a couple of historic railcars and placing them on 15th Street along with an 1890 steam locomotive. It should be a cool display. Our goal is to have the cars in place by June of 2026.The lead and asbestos have been remediated, and the cars are ready for exterior updates.

We had another labor/management meeting with the fire union this week. Our talks are always cordial, and we made good progress this week. Our plans are to continue these discussions until we have formal negotiations at the end of this month.

On Saturday, I attended Mayor Don and Jacqui Erickson’s 65th wedding anniversary. Wow! It is an amazing accomplishment, and I wanted to congratulate them and thank them for all they have done for our community. It was nice to see so many friends and family show up.

I met Tave Jackson at the gym where I work out. He is a personal trainer, and I always admired how he worked with his clients. I attended the grand opening of his new personal training gym, Body Benefits. Lashae and Dionne have Savage Boxing that is also in the building and the two of them have me motivated to up my workouts. Good luck to both businesses.

Saturday evening was the Governor’s Reception celebrating the Wyoming National Guard and their partnership with Tunisia. All the military members were dressed in their formal uniforms and looked so good. One highlight was the signing of an MOU between Wyoming and Tunisia. Governor Gordon and Ambassador Bessassi agreed to cooperation in agriculture and civil protection. Wyoming’s National Guard has a military partnership with Tunisia and this new agreement will expand the amazing partnership. Sen. Nethercott was awarded the Patrick Henry award from the National Guard for her years of support for our military. It was a great evening.

I testified before two different legislative committees this week on the High Plains Arboretum. The Arboretum was established in 1928 by the USDA to find trees and other plants that would grow on our high plains. Plant explorers traveled all over the world to bring back plants that were tested at the Arboretum. They were successful, and today we are trying to make the Arboretum a State Historic Site to save the historic trees and the story for future generations. Unfortunately, both committees voted down the bill that would have created the Historic Site designation. I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard over the past two years for this effort. We will continue to work to make it happen.

I was happy to present two employees with their 25-year service awards. Tiffany Marzluf has spent the past 25 years working as a police records technician for our police department. She shared how technology has changed over the years and made the job easier. Don Wood is a battalion chief with our fire department, where he has spent the past 25 years. The biggest change he has witnessed is the professionalism in the training aspect of the department. Today we have academies, whereas in the past, you showed up and learned on the job. I am so appreciative of the folks who make a career serving our city and its residents.

I participated in a video call with Sen. Lummis this week. She wanted some feedback on a past military commander, and I was pleased to participate. Cheyenne and Wyoming are so fortunate to have a delegation in Washington, D.C., that is available to its residents. Not many states are as fortunate.

The Governing Body passed a surface water mitigation ordinance a couple of months ago. It starts Jan. 1, 2026, and our teams got together to begin the complicated process of getting everything up and running. The biggest challenge will be billing, as we need to create over 25,000 accounts. I was so pleased with the amazing way everyone is cooperating and working to meet the goal.

The second phase of City Council’s annual goal setting was on Tuesday evening. We spent three hours discussing potential goals and then prioritized four of them:

• First, with everything happening to our revenue streams at the Capitol, one goal is to look at new sources of revenue. The goal is to review what it costs to provide services and to determine if the fees charged are adequate. It also includes looking at new projects that could help with revenues without charging a fee to our residents. Lastly, we will look at ways we can reduce expenditures to save money.
• The second goal is to ensure resources are available to address traffic violations and road safety, including issues like speeding in our neighborhoods and noise complaints. These are some of the most common complaints received by council members. The goal is to make our neighborhoods safer and improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods.
• The third goal is to look at developing the east end of the Belvoir Ranch. The city bought Belvoir Ranch in 2003. This goal is to investigate opportunities for industrial and other development on the eastern side of the property. The development potential could help fund the city operations for years to come.
• The fourth and final goal is to plan for the next 6th Penny. The 6th Penny sales tax has been so influential in the development of Cheyenne and Laramie County. The next election is projected for 2026, and the goal is to make sure we have our projects ready. Our departments have already been working for the past six months to identify what projects might be appropriate. Our next step will be work sessions and public meetings to discuss the priorities and see if there are any projects the public might suggest.

I met with Jeff Fassett for coffee and to talk about the Greenway. He is a huge supporter and serves on the Greenway Foundation. They were selected to be part of Thankful Thursdays, and their first date is March 20. They are hoping all of us Greenway lovers will come and support them.

Brian Deurloo started Frog Creek Partners. They manufacture gutter bins that are put into storm drains to capture trash and sediment. They received a grant from Microsoft to add 100 more units in Cheyenne and this new MOU also includes Frog Creek cleaning and maintaining the gutter bins for the next 10 years. This work will be great for our environment and keeping Crow Creek clean. It is cool that a Wyoming manufacturer is successfully supporting Wyoming communities.

The Super Bowl is this weekend. As a Bronco fan, it is really hard for me to root for the Chiefs, but our police chief and Wendy in the clerk’s office are longtime fans, so I am reluctantly rooting for KC.