The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – Oct. 17, 2025

Published on October 17, 2025

We continue our City Council work sessions to educate our Governing Body and the community about potential 6th Penny sales tax projects. Last Friday, our city engineer, Tom Cobb, presented the Reed Avenue Corridor project, which includes Reed Avenue from 15th Street along the BNSF tracks north to Dillon Avenue. That section of Reed is currently a dirt road with a BNSF railroad track running down the middle. By building a concrete Greenway path along the eastern right of way, with lighting, landscaping, and improved safety, it is hoped we will see the cool old warehouses and buildings redevelop. A perfect example that’s already happened is Westby Edge, a great brewery and restaurant currently facing Reed at 20th Street. I learned right after being elected mayor that in 1908, the City gave the Colorado Railroad the Reed Avenue right of way. We have been working with the BNSF, the current owner of the tracks, to get permission to do the project. BNSF has shared their safety concerns with operations inside city limits and has proposed closing the crossings at 17th, 18th, 21st and Dillion. With an agreement for these safety measures, BNSF is willing to move the project forward with us. We have a lot more work to do, but we are finally making progress.

Judy and I checked another experience off her bucket list this past weekend as Paul McCartney played at Coors Field in Denver on Saturday night. He is 83 years old and is still a real rock star. He played songs from his Beatles and Wings days. It was the soundtrack of my youth, and we feel so blessed to get to see him in person. He did not disappoint!

Monday night was a regularly scheduled meeting of City Council and was our first meeting since the tragic passing of Councilman Scott Roybal. When our city clerk called his name during roll call for the last time, it was a heart break. We were blessed to have Scott’s mom, Mary, and his brother, John, in attendance. It was nice to share how much we loved Scott with them.

With Scott’s passing, we had to declare his council seat vacant. That means we are looking to appoint a person in Ward 1 to finish Scott’s term that runs through 2026. City Council will take letters of interest and resumes until Oct. 20 at 5 p.m. The remaining two members of Ward 1 will conduct interviews and recommend Scott’s replacement to the Governing Body for approval. I hope we get many good letters of interest. Please reach out to me or a council member if you have any questions about serving. I served on City Council for 12 years and I loved the experience.

I spent Tuesday morning at the Capitol attending the Select Committee on Gaming. With the rapid increase in historic horse racing (HHR) facilities in Cheyenne and the state, the Legislature assigned a select committee to look at the industry. For me, the biggest concern is local control. Cheyenne has 10 HHR locations permitted by the Gaming Commission and approved by the County Commission. I am dismayed that your city council had no say in approving any of the locations. How can the government closest to the people of Cheyenne have no say in a historic horse racing establishment being sited in our community? I testified to that effect to the Select Committee asking for local control, not only in the siting of HHR facilities, but to also allow city council oversight if an establishment is a bad actor. The Select Committee passed a local control bill 5 to 1 with Laramie County Representative Steve Johnson the only no vote. We still have to shepherd the bill through the Management Council and then the Legislature in February. Local control will give our residents the opportunity to weigh in on future HHR establishments.

We have experienced a significant increase in large companies making big investments in Cheyenne and Laramie County. Tuesday, I met with one of those companies looking into the possibility of making an investment in Cheyenne. The refreshing thing about the meeting was they were not there to sell us on their company, but to ask questions about Cheyenne to ascertain if they would be a good fit for us. I left impressed and hoping they will choose to come to Cheyenne.

I have preached for years now about our need for housing. We cut the ribbon on a 48-unit affordable housing project on Tuesday afternoon called Robin’s Point. The Wyoming Housing Network was the architect of putting this project together. I spoke about the folks who need affordable housing as being “workforce families” as most are employed full time and their salaries have not kept up with the cost of housing in Cheyenne. They are part of our essential workforce – nurses, teachers, trades people, service workers, and public servants. Having a safe and affordable place to live is transformational for the 48 families that will move into this new complex. I toured the community room and one of the three-bedroom apartments. Beautiful! A big thank you to all the people in our community that make housing their mission every day.

A quick update on the Municipal Building. We closed the building due to carbon monoxide affecting our employees and we had a forensic expert look at the building and they found all our appliances were working in good order. Long-term monitoring began on Oct. 13, and the data will be reviewed on Oct. 24. Those results will help us identify the next steps. The city is open for business, and I would recommend calling the department first to make sure we make your business experience a positive one.

I joined Karmen from Senator Lummis’ office and our chief of staff, Amber, for a tour of the Laramie County Combined Communications Center. Most of us would think of it as our 911 dispatch center. In the early 2000s, we voted to combine all our dispatch centers into a combined one. I enjoyed learning about the current operations and plans for upgrading to the new Next Generation 911 system. It would improve resiliency of the system as it is cloud-based rather than using the legacy wires currently in service. I learned something new – you can contact 911 in Cheyenne via text message. I was impressed by the calm and professional way the dispatchers handled the calls that came in during our visit. The professionals in the LCCCC are the first step in the first responder chain. I left our tour knowing that chain is in good shape.

Cheyenne lost another valued member of our team this week with the passing of Scott Aker, the director of our Botanic Gardens. Scott led a great team at the Botanic Gardens and his passing leaves them and our City staff devastated. Please keep Scott and his family in your prayers.

Judy and I received our flu shots this week. I hate needles but I hate the flu more. I appreciate the nurses from Cheyenne Laramie County Public Health who helped our City team with a flu shot clinic on Wednesday. They were gentle and are always fun.