The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – Feb. 27, 2026
Published on February 27, 2026
What a weekend! I am a huge USA Olympic hockey fan and watching both our men’s and women’s teams bring gold medals home with wins against Canada was epic. I remember watching our 1980 team beat the Soviet team in the semi-finals and then winning the gold medal. So much fun, I just hate that we have to wait four more years to watch it again.
The Wyoming Business Council authored a report that talks about Wyoming exporting our youth at one of the highest rates in our country and mentions some of the reasons: quality jobs, housing, and amenities are among the biggest things we need to address. I had lunch with a local businessman to talk about how we can address the amenity needs. Parks, indoor recreation, and things for young families to do, especially in the winter, were high on the list. The good news is a lot of people and organizations are working on aspects of these needs. Giving our kids and grandkids the option to make Cheyenne and Wyoming their home is worth the effort.
A few months ago, we decided that a regularly scheduled breakfast between members of the county commission and our Governing Body would help with our communication and relationship. We have been having breakfast every couple months and I have really enjoyed the conversation. I’m not so happy with an early Saturday time, but it is worth it. The good-natured banter is fun, but more importantly, it gives us an opportunity to work on the things we do well together and talk about things that need more attention.
The Wyoming Tourism and Hospitality Convention was held this week in Cheyenne. It was fun to welcome hundreds of people who are Wyoming’s ambassadors and who tell our story every single day to people who visit our communities. Hospitality and tourism is not a side industry in Wyoming – it’s foundational. It is our second largest industry, fueling good-paying jobs, sustaining our Main Streets, supporting local businesses, and helping preserve the character that makes our state special. I was proud to welcome them and thank them for what they do for our state.
I was elected to City Council in November 2000, and I have always thought Cheyenne’s location on the northern edge of the Front Range would spur our economy. It hasn’t happened as quickly as I thought it would, but we’re hitting our stride. I had a company come to visit this week that has been looking at Cheyenne and is inspired by all that is happening here. They are interested in building warehouse buildings on spec and they see Cheyenne as a great place to invest.
The City Council goal of annexing the county pockets in Cheyenne is in the home stretch and we are in the process of annexing the last seven parcels. A couple of them are unique as they are agricultural in nature. One is a historic dairy barn that was built in 1918 that the property owners have plans to renovate. They also have horses and plans for more agricultural uses. We met with them this week to see what we could do to alleviate their concerns about how annexation would affect their plans and dreams. After the meeting, they would prefer the status quo but they do not object to the annexation. We will continue to work to protect their agricultural uses, and I am rooting for their effort to restore the historic barn. The barn is one of the last ones of its type in the area and it is important to save it for future generations to see.
Monday evening, we started the contract negotiations with our local fire union. State law gives us 30 days to conclude our discussions, and all sides hope it will progress quickly. The ground rules prevent both sides from discussing the negotiations until they are concluded. We appreciate all our first responders and what they do to protect our community.
I have spent time at the Capitol most days meeting with legislators on bills that are important to Cheyenne. Tuesday morning, I was there talking with legislators about Senate File 116. It would affect stormwater ordinances across the state, and our hope was that the bill would die and we could spend the summer interim working with legislators on crafting new legislation. As part of the discussion, our city council has introduced an ordinance that would stop our stormwater fee and give the interim process a chance to find a compromise. I look forward to the discussion this summer and thank the Legislature for their support.
The Downtown Development Authority is charged with the health and vitality of our downtown area. We are so blessed with beautiful buildings and businesses that make our downtown special. We met with Sophia, the DDA director, to get updates and to talk about the future. The DDA has a board of directors who make their living downtown and I want to publicly thank them for their service and dedication to improving the area that I think is the heart of our city. I have come to understand and respect how important this mission is since being elected mayor and working downtown every day. I would encourage you to spend some time downtown shopping or visiting some of the great restaurants.
Black Hills Energy has powered much of the growth we are seeing in Cheyenne and the surrounding area. We meet on a regular basis to compare notes and to make sure the City is up to date on the utility’s plans. I received a letter from the Industrial Siting Council this week announcing BHE’s plans to expand their gas fired power plant located on the eastern edge of the city. These investments are key to Cheyenne’s future.
The Wyoming Business Council met Wednesday morning to consider a Business Ready Community project for Cheyenne. The project, called First & Union, is a 184-unit multi-family, affordable housing development. We asked the WBC for $2.175 million to help purchase the property. Those dollars will allow the City and developer to leverage the 184 units to 444. Lack of housing is a constraint to Cheyenne’s economy, making it harder to diversify our economic base and for businesses to find employees. The WBC board asked a lot of great questions about the efforts City Council has made to reduce our regulatory burden on housing development, and the overall state of our economy. In the end, they voted unanimously to approve the BRC request. The final step in the approval process is the State Lands and Investment Board and the developer should break ground later this year. This project is made possible due to a $3.5 million grant the city received from Related Digital. They understand the importance of affordable housing and made a significant contribution to help make it happen.
With the extremely dry weather, don’t forget to water your trees. I am afraid we are going to lose a lot of our trees this year. A bit of water can make a big difference in their ability to survive the dry weather and wind.