The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – Jan. 30, 2026

Published on January 30, 2026

I asked retired Municipal Juvenile Court Judge Ronn Jeffrey to lead an effort to review our juvenile justice ordinances and make recommendations for improvements for City Council to review. We had our first meeting since he accepted the challenge. His timeline and proposed workflow will keep him and the task force very busy. I am appreciative of Ronn and those he has volunteering to help him with this work.

The Unified Development Code (UDC) was passed by Cheyenne’s Governing Body in 2012. Part of the UDC is a requirement to annually solicit feedback from our community on proposed changes and improvements. We held a work session with our planning staff to discuss proposed UDC changes for this year. One proposal is to allow small multifamily buildings to be zoned by right in more residential zone districts. This change would allow up to four-unit buildings without additional regulatory steps. We also received three requests regarding landscaping. One would remove the requirement to plant trees in commercial developments. Another asks for more flexibility in choosing street trees in residential areas or removing the requirement completely. We also got a request to look at the new Senior Center and the landscaping dominated by rock. The request would require more living vegetation to soften and beautify the area for future developments. I appreciate our Planning Department and their efforts to keep our regulations in step with our community.

It is hard to believe, but the restoration of the historic UP Depot happened 25 years ago. Last summer, we remodeled the first floor and added a beautiful patio on the south side facing the railroad tracks. We are currently remodeling the second and third floors and doing some beautiful brick work in the plaza. I toured the construction with Jason from our Community Recreation and Events Department, and it looked amazing. We had to inconvenience LEADS, Visit Cheyenne, and the Chamber by having them move out of the building while we remodeled their offices. The good news is the construction in their areas is being completed a month early. Owning a historic building is a lot of work and a big responsibility. Preserving it for future generations is our obligation.

We continued our labor management meetings with the fire union this week. Taking time to communicate leads to understanding and has helped craft fair contracts. It is time consuming but worth the effort.

During City Council’s goal setting this month, we discussed how we can help keep the council and community more informed on the status of city projects. I had lunch with a project manager this week to discuss how she uses project management software to keep everyone informed and on task. We are planning a follow-up to review a project dashboard and other features. It is our hope that we will find a solution that will allow the entire community to follow our progress.

The voters approved allowing local governments to invest in equities with the hope we can follow the success of our state treasurer. Our investment committee has been meeting to discuss updates to our Investment Policy Statement before we begin considering equity investing. We have some funds like the landfill closure fund where we are saving money for the eventual closure of our current landfill. We project it will be decades before that happens. Investing those funds in equities over that time frame will help grow the funds and hopefully reduce future sanitation fees required to close the landfill and open a new one. We are blessed to have a couple of investment professionals helping guide our revision of the investment policy.

During our directors’ meeting this week, our BOPU director shared that the current snowpack in our Crow Creek drainage is 5% of normal, the Medicine Bow range is at 70%, and the Sierra Madre is at 80%. I prayed for snow in 2021 and we had a record snowfall, so now I am more prescriptive in what I pray for. I am asking for snow, six inches at a time. If we don’t get snow this winter, I fear the Colorado River drainage will reach the point where we might lose access to our Colorado River water. If you are a praying person, please join me. Just remember March 14, 2021, and ask for amounts we can handle.

“Project Stampede” is an international company that has identified Cheyenne as a place they may want to do business. We met with them this week to begin the process and to answer questions about Cheyenne and Wyoming. I have learned over the years that economic development takes patience. So often the companies start, stop, and maybe start again. It’s fun to champion Cheyenne and I am hopeful Project Stampede will make Cheyenne home.

The Cheyenne Police Department held their annual awards ceremony this week. I was most impressed by the Unit Citation awards that were given. A bunch of these awards were given to teams of officers who joined together to make our community safer. It became readily apparent as the award citations were read about how well our officers are trained and how collaboratively they work together. Saving young people from abductors, capturing burglary suspects, rescuing a family from domestic violence, and many more. The audience was filled with families and small kids. It reminds me that it is not just our officers who serve, but their families who support them. Grateful for all who are serving in our police department.

I was invited to be a panelist at the Wyoming Resiliency Summit in Laramie this week. Gov. Gordon and Jamie Diamond from JP Morgan met last year and the summit was one result. In an Oct. 13 op-ed, Mr. Diamond shared the view that the world is not safe and we have become reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing – all of which are essential for our national security. JP Morgan has pledged a $1.5 trillion effort over the next 10 years of direct equity investments to help reverse this challenge and solve the problem. They call this effort the Security & Resiliency Initiative. The summit brought together leaders from industry, education, and government to network and look for opportunities in Wyoming to meet the goal. Rare earth minerals, uranium & nuclear power, AI data computing, and advanced manufacturing are areas we need to develop to keep up with the challenge from China and others. Wyoming has a history of powering America and an equally powerful history of contributing to our national security. The summit is a great start to the reindustrialization of America. It was fun to be part of it.

This has been an amazing week for economic development with the announcement that the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association has entered into a MOU with Cheyenne LEADS to move their headquarters, museum, and hall of fame to Cheyenne. Thank you to LEADS and all our partners who have worked so hard over the past year to bring this international sports headquarters to the Cowboy State. Seems like a perfect fit.