The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – June 20, 2025
Published on June 20, 2025
I spent some time driving around town this week since the rain. I love how green everything is – it’s my favorite time of year. I feel like the warmth and sunshine fuels my energy level far above the winter months. I admire so many of the homes and yards that show care and respect for their neighbors by keeping them neat and mowed. I would ask everyone in our beautiful community to take a minute to look at their properties and ask if it meets our community standard and respects your neighbors.
The Wyoming Business Council held a meeting to share new rules for how the agency will fund economic development in our state. They talked about the large investments made in the past and how our state’s economy is still lagging behind our neighboring states. I have been advocating that the State of Wyoming needs to help our communities by removing barriers to build more affordable and workforce housing. We can’t create more primary jobs in our state if those who would take the jobs have nowhere to live. I have shared my concern with the proposed rule changes that would require local communities to invest up to a 25% match on projects the Business Council funds. I believe our city’s responsibility is to create the kind of community where businesses would want to invest. Our recent investments include indoor recreation, $30+ million in road maintenance, increased building inspector staffing, more firefighters and police officers, and so much more. Asking local communities for more shows a lack of understanding for what we do and for our mission and vision.
It has been many years since the city looked at updating our branding. Our current logo of the buffalo is classic, but many think it is not representative of the Cheyenne of today and could use a refresh. Our PIO Matt Murphy has been leading a team that is working with our vendor to look at updating our logo and branding efforts. I like the first renderings and the discussion. More to come, but I am excited to see where this leads.
The 15th Street Rail Experience is an effort by the city to enhance our railroad history by placing Wyoming’s oldest steam locomotive, two historic rail cars, and a caboose in an area between 15th and the Union Pacific Railroad yard. It will also include upgrading the fencing, lighting, and improving parking. This week, we received responses to a request for proposals to restore the outside of the two historic rail cars. The city received an Economic Development Administration Grant to pay most of the cost to get the cars ready for display. I am excited to see the improvements on 15th Street and give our residents and visitors a bit more of our railroad history.
The City has owned the Belvoir Ranch since 2003 and the Big Hole property since 2005. The Green Ranch is one of our southern neighbors. Louisa and Dean Andersen recently purchased the Green Ranch and came by to introduce themselves and pledge to be good neighbors. I love the times I have been able to tour both ranches. They are so beautiful, especially this time of year when everything is green. A quick update: the trail construction on the Belvoir is going well. We are still waiting for delivery of the bathroom building before we can get the trail system open. Once we have a date, I will share it with all of you.
The Meta data center construction is going well and is at the point where Meta has hired a local Community Development Manager. Chris Mickey lives here in Cheyenne and will be helping Meta give back to our community and answer questions about the company. I appreciate their investment in our city as well as Chris to make their presence more impactful.
We recently lost power downtown due to a fiber optic company boring into a Black Hills Energy electrical service. The blackout included the Municipal Building and we met this week to discuss what procedures we should put in place if and when it happens again. My hope is the contractors will be more careful and we won’t have any recurrence. If it does, we will be ready.
The team from Ascent Holding Corp was in town this week to put the final touches on their new data center development. Permits from the DEQ and the City have been pulled, and they should be breaking ground this summer. The timeline is for the first building to be completed in the last quarter of 2026. I am amazed with the tremendous investments being made in Cheyenne and the high-quality jobs being created.
Tuesday evening, I stopped by the VMAccel offices to see the 4H Circuit Breakers prepare for an international robotics contest. The program has 50 kids who are coached by Matt Fields. I was blown away by kids as young as 10 and up to high school and their understanding of coding and building robots. Matt shared his goal of teaching the kids science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curriculums and his hope that the program is preparing the next generation of our much-needed workforce. The kids used 3D printers to make some of the components, built their robots, and wrote the code to make the robots perform the tasks required in the upcoming competition. Wishing the Circuit Breakers luck!
The City, County, and WYDOT have been working together to improve our roadways in the eastern part of our community. We completed the U.S. 30 improvements last fall and it has made a huge difference. Next will be the intersection of Dell Range Boulevard and Whitney Road. With all the growth in the county and the new Whitney Ranch subdivision, the intersection and the nearby stretch of Dell Range needs to be improved to meet the number of vehicles. Commissioner Malm and I met with our Engineering and Public Works teams to discuss extending Storey Boulevard to Whitney to handle the traffic when the intersection closes. We should see the start of construction on the Storey extension this fall and Whitney/Dell Range next year. We know this will be an inconvenience during construction, but the final product will be worth it.
The 90th Security Forces Group (SFG) on F.E. Warren AFB had a change of command this week. The SFG is made up of almost 1,400 defenders who are responsible for the security of the base and 150 missiles spread over a 9,600 square mile area. Our friend, Colonel Justin Secrest, is leaving to become a Wing Commander at the 377th Air Base Wing in Albuquerque, N.M. Colonel Secrest led the 90th SFG to the highest rating in the 20th Air Force, so we know the 377th is getting a great leader. We wish him the best. Colonel Jeremy Sheppard is taking over the Security Forces Group. Welcome to the Mighty 90 Colonel Sheppard and family.
This will be a very busy weekend with Fridays on the Plaza, Juneteenth, and the Cheyenne Pride event, and I hope to see you downtown. There are more events next week, including Bike to Work Day and Superday. It’s hot, don’t forget the sunscreen!