The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – Nov. 7, 2025

Published on November 07, 2025

I write each week’s Minute on Thursday evenings. This week is special as we have the fireplace burning and the Denver Broncos and Nebraska volleyball playing on TV. I do feel a bit sorry for Judy as I am a sports fan, but she is such a supportive spouse. Huskers are undefeated, the number one team in the land, and are playing awesome volleyball, and the Broncos are leading the league. Let’s go!

City Council held another work session last Friday to discuss our Prospering Together Plan. The plan was funded by a $1 million Climate Pollution Reduction Grant from the EPA that was awarded to Cheyenne. The consultant reported on our greenhouse gas emissions and what the community shared as goals they hope to see going forward. Those goals include more affordable housing, improving energy efficiency, more transportation options, and improved public engagement and education. It was one of the most informative work sessions we have held in a while. This is just the beginning of this effort and I am excited to see where the community takes us.

I speak a lot about the need for more affordable housing in Cheyenne. We held a public hearing as part of the requirements to apply for Wyoming Business Council grant funds. We hope to leverage the grant funds to help with a project to build 488 workforce housing units. Our original plan was to use the recent gift from Related Digital to help develop 184 housing units. If we are successful in getting Wyoming Business Council funding, we can leverage the gift and grant to help build 488 units. I enjoyed the testimony and really appreciate City Council’s support for our housing efforts.

I spent time this week preparing for the City’s appearance before the state Industrial Siting Council (ISC). When development projects are exceptionally large – think hundreds of millions of dollars – the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) administers the ISC program to help local governments cover the costs they incur due to impacts during the construction phase of the development. A very large wind energy project is being planned near Chugwater and due to the size, the project must comply with ISC processes. It is so large that Wheatland and Chugwater don’t have enough places for the projected workforce to live, so the ISC report shows many of the wind farm workers commuting daily from Cheyenne. I know the impact to Wheatland and Chugwater will be huge during construction if this project comes to fruition. The decision to approve the project will be made by the ISC and the Platte County Commissioners, but if it moves forward, we will be ready to testify to the impacts in Cheyenne.

The Legislature’s Joint Corporations Committee met in Cheyenne this week. They delt with a number of issues that could affect Cheyenne and municipalities across the state. Cheyenne is a member of many associations including the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM), the Wyoming Chiefs and Sheriffs Association, the Wyoming Planning Association, and others that help with educating our staff and elected officials. There was a bill considered by the committee to prohibit governing bodies from using public funds to join associations because they also lobby for or against bills at the Capitol. WAM does lobby but never uses the public funds portion of their revenue stream to do so. I was so proud of Pinedale Mayor Matt Murdock and his passionate support of the work municipalities do in our state and why preventing dissent is bad policy. Thankfully, the bill was tabled.

The other issue the committee considered involved public records. Public organizations like the City of Cheyenne have a responsibility to preserve records so our citizens can inspect them in the future. We take that responsibility seriously. Currently, when a member of the public makes a public records request, we must acknowledge that request in 10 days and produce the record within 30 days. Cheyenne will get over 4,000 public records requests this year, averaging around 14 requests a day. Most requests are simple and we will respond within a couple of days. Unfortunately, we also receive huge requests, including some from data mining companies that ask for thousands of records. The committee debated a bill that would shorten the time to respond to 10 days. I want to make sure we are good stewards of public records and are responsive to public records requests in a timely manner. Honestly, though, we can’t complete these larger requests properly in 10 days. I have asked the committee to help us eliminate data mining requests as using our staff to gather data they will later sell is not in the spirit of the law. The committee moved the bill forward with the idea they will work on the details during the session. We will stay involved.

Councilman Segrave and I spent all day Wednesday giving a Greek company named Metlen a tour of Cheyenne and meeting with our economic development folks. They specialize in metals and energy and were in Cheyenne looking at opportunities to build their first American project. Sen. Pappas was instrumental in bringing them to Cheyenne. I was so impressed with the wide breadth of the things Metlen makes and does. It would be an honor to have them in our community.

Our quarterly elected officials dinner was held in Albin Wednesday evening. It is always fun to get together with the other elected officials in our county - a chance to share the new happenings in our communities and ask questions. We had a full house in the Albin Community Center, a good meal, and a spirit of collaboration.

The Wyoming Workforce Development Council (WWDC) asked me to join a panel discussion on the impact of large-scale construction projects on local communities. With the size of our recent development projects, workforce challenges are real and something smart people are trying to solve. I enjoyed listening to the panelists’ perspectives on the challenge and how our community might be able to get more people interested in a career in the trades. The WWDC is a large group made up of people from all kinds of industries. I can see the impact they have on this topic. Their work is important and appreciated.

The City of Cheyenne has an investment committee to help guide our investment strategy. We have funds that are set aside for future actions like closing our landfill one day a long time from now. If we do a good job investing the funds we have today, the fund will grow and save future residents higher fees. We have three people on the committee who are investment professionals who donate their time and talents to help advise our team. I am so appreciative of their help. The Legislature recently approved a change allowing us to invest in equities. I look forward to working with our team and advisors to create a new investment policy for investing in equities. The work we do today will have a huge impact on the city’s financial future.

Tuesday is Veterans Day in our nation. I want to recognize all our residents who have worn our nation’s uniform – thank you for your service.