The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – June 12, 2026

Published on June 12, 2026

I am a geek when it comes to local and state politics. At our Wyoming Association of Municipalities meeting in Laramie, three of the candidates for Governor spent an hour answering questions, giving us an idea of who would support local governments. I have run for local office five times, and I can’t imagine running for office on a statewide basis. I appreciate the candidates making time to meet with local mayors and city council members.

Another panel included members of the Legislature from Laramie County and Albany County. Sen. Love and Reps. Geringer and Fornstrom from Laramie County participated. They answered questions about local control, HHR facilities and our responsibility to regulate them, stormwater challenges, properly funding local government, fast tracking housing permits, and much more. I enjoyed getting to listen to Senate President Bo Biteman from Sheridan. I have never had the opportunity to hear him speak and was pleased by his support for our communities. Thank you to our delegation who drove to Laramie and participated.

Data centers are not just being talked about here in Cheyenne. I was asked to participate in a site visit with a delegation from Weld County, Colorado, that was in town to learn about our experiences dealing with data centers and the companies that run them. They asked about many of the same topics our residents have been asking: water, power, workforce, taxes, environmental, resident support, and much more. It was great to meet elected officials from other communities and to hear how they are dealing with the challenges and opportunities we all share. It’s funny how a community that is just an hour from Cheyenne seems so much further away than the cities and towns in Wyoming. It’s amazing the effect a state border creates.

Laramie County voters have been so supportive of our local governments with their approval of the 5th and 6th penny sales taxes. Friday night, we celebrated the completion of a 6th Penny sales tax project with a ribbon cutting at the Depot Plaza. Using the downtown funding approved on the ballot, we installed a new shade structure in the plaza, new brick work, replaced tripping hazards, repainted historic windows on the Depot, and installed new paint and carpet inside the Depot. It is hard to believe it has been 25 years since we restored the Depot and built the plaza.

I was part of a panel discussion held at the Civic Center on Saturday afternoon. The purpose of the panel was to answer community questions about data centers. BOPU, Black Hills Energy, Microsoft, the Data Center Coalition, City Planning, AFL-CIO, LEADS, and I spent two hours answering questions about why data centers are interested in Cheyenne, how many data centers are in Cheyenne, how approvals happen, where they are allowed, if data centers receive incentives, NDAs, effects on property values, how utilities assess if they can handle a data center project, if we have enough water and how much water data centers use, how much electricity do they use and where does it come from, if electric bills going to be affected, environmental impacts, and benefits the community gets from data centers. It was a fun discussion, and we recorded it so you can watch it on our YouTube channel or on our web site at www.cheyennecity.org/datacenters. Thanks, President Segrave, for being our moderator.

Tim Geitner is the HUD Region 8 Rocky Mountain Regional Administrator. I have been surprised how often our City business and HUD intersect. Frankly, the HUD bureaucracy has been frustrating. Having Tim come to Cheyenne to meet with us and offer to help us navigate the challenges is refreshing. He set a follow-up meeting to bring back answers to our questions. I appreciate his customer service.

I was invited to speak to the P.E.O. Chapter Z group to update them on what is happening in the city and give them an overview of our upcoming 6th Penny sales tax projects. I have always wondered what PEO stands for, and I learned it is Philanthropic Educational Organization, which was founded in 1869 at Iowa Wesleyan University. Its mission is to support women to pursue their educational goals. I loved their questions and the opportunity to share the latest happenings in our city.

We meet with Black Hills Energy on a regular basis. They gave us updates on our effort to get power to a small business in south Cheyenne. It would be more cost effective for the business to hook up to High West, but it takes permission from the Public Service Commission to allow High West to serve a client outside their territory, and that takes time. I appreciate BHE caring more about the client than their territory. We also talked about how to improve lighting safety in the area around Cheyenne Frontier Days. I asked for their help and cooperation in managing the noise that may come from data centers if they violate our noise regulations. The last item of discussion was their plans to build a new gas-fired power plant just west of Cheyenne. I appreciate our partnership and time together.

President Segrave and I met with Kate Barlow from the Office of State Lands. We were interested in how the state manages the lands that abut the Belvoir Ranch, including how they handle selling property, trading property, and leasing state property. Kate was kind with her time, and we now understand the processes the state uses to dispose of property. It will help us as we look at potentially developing parts of the Belvoir Ranch.

Related Digital invited Gov. Gordon and I to tour their data center that is currently under construction in east Cheyenne. They showed us the closed loop system that cools the servers – saving water by recirculating it like the radiator in our cars. They also showed us the power side of the data center, including the backup generator system, and we learned about the fire suppression system. The highlight was the opportunity at each station to meet Wyoming residents doing the work - electricians, pipefitters, plumbers, sheet metal, and fire suppression – all from Wyoming. After our tour, we joined the 450 skilled workers for lunch. I was able to thank Related Digital for their investment in Cheyenne, their innovative technology that uses water efficiently, and for their civic investment in donating $3.5 million for housing in Cheyenne. It is amazing how much work has been done since the groundbreaking in October.

One of my favorite bands during my college days was The Marshal Tucker Band. Their song, “Heard it in a Love Song,” always brings me back to my time at the University of Wyoming. They are playing this weekend at Fridays on the Plaza. It will be epic!