The Council Communique from Dr. Mark Rinne – Oct. 18, 2024

Published on October 18, 2024

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As many of you know, I wrote a column on Council goals and updates that replaced the Mayor’s Minute last month. My colleagues on the Council had several areas that they wanted to be covered. When I had finished writing, I had two articles worth of material. As a consequence, fortunately or unfortunately as you may perceive it, you get a Council Communique II.

My fellow Council members asked if I would review some of the City projects that the Council supported or had a role in. We have supported several of what we consider to be improvements or upgrades to the quality of life in our city and I would like to list some of what we consider to be important accomplishments in the last year or two.

The City for the moment is in good financial condition. For the past few years, our various departments have turned back close to $2 million to the General Fund each fiscal year. These funds are then placed in the City’s reserves. We are pleased to say at the close of the last fiscal year, the City was able to place $3.9 million into the reserve account. The City has gone from having 67 days of operating expenses in reserves to 225 days. Kudos to our City employees who have once again demonstrated their careful and responsible approach to spending public money. However, if there is a dark cloud on the horizon, it is that sales tax revenues are starting to slow. As a result, it is critical that we have savings for the future.

On the public safety front, we agreed to accept a SAFER grant in August of 2023. The grant was for three years, and it provided the salaries for another nine firefighters. We recently amended the contract with the Fire Fighters Union to retain the nine public servants after the grant expires. In addition, we have approved the purchase of seven new fire trucks.

We have not neglected the Cheyenne Police Department either. We have approved upgrades to their computers, radios, and increased the staffing of the department by 14 new members.

We took one other action on public safety. Although the data does not support it, there has been a lingering perception that the Spiker Parking Garage is not safe. We approved funding from the 6th Penny Downtown Improvement Fund to purchase and install eight emergency call stations in the garage. Activating one of these stations connects the caller directly to emergency dispatch. The dispatcher can view the situation through a camera mounted in the station. Finally, we approved upgrades and new fixtures for the Spiker Garage bathrooms.

Another vital responsibility for city government is to maintain our streets. Cheyenne’s winter and spring seasons are a difficult environment for concrete and asphalt streets. The Council has approved contracts for street repairs and resealing in 2024 in the amount of $35 million. We will seal 63 miles of streets this year.

We all recognize that public safety, street maintenance, and other essential City services are our priority. However, this Council also believes that we should constantly strive to improve the quality of life for Cheyenne’s residents. As a result of this philosophy, we have taken or supported the following initiatives:

  • Prior to this year, the City did not own a full size gymnasium. In the past, we have been able to use many of the school district’s facilities. However, as the district’s demand on their gyms increased, we found it more and more difficult to schedule many of our recreation programs. Mayor Collins was approached by the owner of the BEAST Foundation recreation facility near Buffalo Ridge School about purchasing the facility. We as a Council agreed to pay the appraised value for the facility in February. Acquisition of the BEAST has allowed Community Recreation and Events to greatly expand our recreation programming.

     

  • A program that needed a home was the City’s gymnastics program. It had been leasing space from the school district after the district bought our neighborhood facility next to Cole School. The program currently has 465 students and many more on a waiting list. The Council approved building a new gymnastics center next to the Ice and Events Center. The new facility will allow us to more than double our current capacity. It is expected to be open by June 2025.

     

  • Other projects that we have encouraged and supported are a complete upgrade of our cemetery sprinkler systems, which were a 6th Penny project. Another important project is seeing that the road to the new National Cemetery was paved and was recently dedicated. The Council and City have been collaborating with State Parks and Cultural Resources in their efforts to make the High Plains Arboretum a State Historic Site. We have approved contracts to evaluate Johnson Pool for recommendations on renovation or replacement, a Master Plan for Kiwanis Park on the East side and an updated overall Master Plan for our Parks and Greenway system. The current Parks Master Plan was produced in 2006.

     

  • We recently approved a contract for $1.4 million in improvements to the Depot as well as additional improvements to electrical systems, wi-fi and security cameras for the Plaza. All these improvements will be paid from the 6th Penny Downtown Improvement Funds.

 

I have to say, as with any group of nine people, we do not always agree, which is to be expected. However, this Council does get along well. I appreciate the fact that we have treated each other with courtesy and respect. We all recognize that it takes a team effort to accomplish our goals. I want to add that in my 26 years on Council, this group has stayed focused and has accomplished more than many of the councils that I have served on.

- Dr Mark Rinne, Cheyenne City Council