The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – September 26
Published on September 26, 2025
CHEYENNE – I would like to thank Council President Rinne for writing the Council Chronicle last week. Judy and I went on vacation to celebrate her recent retirement. He did a great job of updating everyone on what has been happening at the city council and in the city.
Judy and I enjoyed getting away for a few days. She has always wanted to visit London. Her bucket list included Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby, Windsor Palace, and Stonehenge. Winston Churchill’s war time underground headquarters was a highlight for me. His museum was amazing. We took a train through the tunnel to Brussels. Colonel Dines, my former honorary commander from the base, now is stationed in Belgium. We toured Bastogne, and the Battle of the Bulge Museum with him. I loved the miniseries “Band of Brothers”. We were able to see the actual fox holes the men of Easy Company of the 101st dug during the battle. It was a nice vacation.
The trip home was 22 hours. Saturday morning, I was hoping to plant trees with Rooted in Cheyenne. We got in late, so I did not set an alarm. I figured if I woke up, I would go. Well, I woke up and had a great time with our volunteer team planting eight trees. More than 100 trees were planted on Saturday. I love the Rooted program. Since 2017, 1,900 trees have been planted. In the coming years, the tree canopy planted by Rooted in Cheyenne volunteers will have an amazing impact. We will be planting trees again in the spring. If you have room for a street tree, please go to Rooted in Cheyenne’s web site and apply. It is a great gift for the future of our city.
The recent announcement that the YMCA is closing on the 26th has left many kids and families needing support. Justin Pendelton from the Boys & Girls Club has shared with me how they have prioritized getting kids served by the Y into their program. I love their dedication to serving kids in our community. Jason Sanchez leads our Community Recreation & Events department. We have reopened our current sport leagues to give kids in Y programs a chance to get into city programs. It has stressed the B&G Club and our city programs for space and resources, but it is the right thing to do. We do need coaches and sponsors to keep these programs growing. I appreciate the conversations with both organizations and how they understand the importance of supporting kids and families.
Justice Fenn from the Wyoming Supreme Court has taken over for the recently retired Justice Fox in trying to add diversion options to the state courts. What he found in Natrona County is that the municipal court embraced the program and has found some success. He is hoping to implement the diversion concept in Laramie County and in our municipal court. It was nice to meet Justice Fenn and hear his vision. What we know is we have many repeat offenders who have mental health and addiction challenges. Getting them into treatment and out of the justice system makes so much sense to me. With our reduced revenues, it may be hard to implement in the immediate future.
Cheyenne was founded by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1867. Kelli from U.P. called this week to explain a merger with Norfolk Southern Railroad. The new railroad will have 50,000 miles of rail and serve 43 states. I appreciate the update and hope the new company will always have a presence in Cheyenne.
Speaking of railroads, I received an update on our negotiations with the BNSF on our desire to improve the Reed Ave. Corridor. The city gave the Reed Ave. right-of-way to the railroad in the early 1900s. When the governing body developed the Reed Ave. Corridor plan and project in 2017, they didn’t know about the gift of the right-of-way. We have spent the past four years working with the railroad to get permission to make improvements along the current dirt road that would bring development to the historic warehouses and buildings along the roadway. The BNSF has spent the past year reviewing our concept and it now appears they are ready to greenlight our program. It will take BNSF time to review all our plans, but I am finally feeling good about the direction.
We are blessed to have Cheyenne LEADS as a partner. We have an economic development contract and the ROI is amazing. I had lunch with Betsey to get caught up on current projects, to discuss our MOU on the revolving loan program, and to discuss upcoming legislative challenges. Every time we meet, I learn about a new company or industry looking to make a home in Cheyenne. We are truly blessed to have their expertise.
I have been meeting with the team from the Animal Shelter to talk about how to develop a new contract. Our last contract negotiation was very challenging, and we have been meeting in hopes of making this one a bit easier. I am happy to report that we are making good progress. Our contract is for sheltering animals picked up by Animal Control. The Shelter has many additional programs. The Shelter has made improvements to their accounting program that now allows for a more detailed identification of expenses. We can now more clearly see what Shelter expenses relate to our contract. I appreciate the work done by the Shelter’s finance team.
When our police department promotes Lieutenants and Captains, part of the process is they have to research a question. I met with Sergent Rippy who is applying to be on the Lieutenant’s list. The question is how to manage the schedule for police officers. I was impressed with his understanding of the question and enjoyed discussing ways to make improvements. Sgt. Rippy currently helps with the recruitment and hiring of new officers. I asked about the challenges of hiring police officers since the George Floyd incident and what we can do to bring more people into the law enforcement career field. We start police officers at $62,500 with amazing benefits and a pension after 20 years. In seven years, that salary grows to almost $80,000. I appreciate Sgt. Rippy including me in his research and for his leadership in our department. I hope some of you are looking for a meaningful career and will consider the Cheyenne police department. We have four immediate openings.
The Air National Guard hosted Discovery Day at the airport on Thursday. More than 1,000 students attended. The focus of the event is STEAM or science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. I really enjoyed watching the kids work with the University of Wyoming, LCCC, the Guard, NCAR, and so many other exhibitors who showed them STEAM careers and challenges available to them right here in Cheyenne and the state of Wyoming. It is a huge endeavor, and the Guard team killed it. One cool example was a Microsoft exhibit where the kids would have to trouble shoot a problem similar to a real data center tech. They are required to find the short in the circuit and figure out how to make it work. Tech careers in the military and industry give our kids a reason to choose Wyoming in their future!
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