The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – Oct. 23, 2026

Published on October 23, 2026

During the last year, we have heard from neighborhoods that are concerned that their kids who walk to school are forced to walk in the street because sidewalks are not available. Safety is further affected because some of the streets are busy collectors with higher speeds and traffic volumes. I was joined by Councilman Rinne on a tour of the areas by Doug who runs the City’s 1% Construction office. Walking the area helped me understand you can’t just slap a sidewalk along the road. Doug explained the complications that exist due to drainage concerns and the lack of available right-of-way. We have a commitment from a recent data center development that they will financially contribute to solving this issue, so I am feeling confident that we will be able to partner in the solution. I really appreciate Doug and his expertise.

Every two years the City hires a consultant to do a salary study to compare the wages of City employees to the market in an effort to provide the Governing Body with the information they need to keep our employees’ salaries competitive. During my first few years as mayor, we found that most of our employees were behind the market, requiring a significant investment to resolve the gap. This week we received the first draft of this year’s report and the news was good. We had the fewest number of employees who were below the market. What’s interesting is many of these positions are the ones we have found are the hardest to hire. I know the team will need to work through the draft report, but I am excited that our hard work to recognize our employees is paying off.

Our housing coalition met again this week, and cities and towns shared some of their priorities for the upcoming legislative session. One of the last things left to do on the Affordable Housing Task Force list is the creation of a housing investment fund, sometimes called a housing trust fund. Wyoming is one of only two states left in the U.S. that has not made this tool for housing available. Rep. Sherwood has also authored a bill that would help communities with abandoned and nuisance properties, encouraging redevelopment. Other priorities were:

Give communities the tax increment financing tool to help build more housing.
Accelerate housing by creating a statewide preapproved home design plans library that would save homeowners money and time.
Reform the protest petition provision that requires a supermajority of a city council for zone changes, which is something that has been debated for the past couple of sessions.
Allow state lands to be leased for housing development.
Deregulate manufactured housing to help cities and towns successfully add housing units. Many communities don’t have a workforce to build housing, especially smaller towns.

Members of the coalition also brought up the challenge in today’s high-interest rate environment of getting developers to bring housing lots online that small builders can buy and build on. In smaller communities, that problem is multiplied. The regulatory cost of building homes was discussed and how those costs affect the cost of housing in our communities. We also talked about how delays end up costing the builder because time delays increase the cost of the construction loan. The group also talked about the high cost of infrastructure like roads, water, and sewer. Finding partnerships to share the cost of infrastructure would make an impactful difference.

Another housing opportunity this week was a visit by the folks from Hillpointe. They are one of the largest home builders in the country and the Wyoming Business Council introduced us a month ago. They are looking for property to build a multifamily development that is targeted at residents making between 80 and 120% AMI. This covers the 40% of our workforce that makes up to $20 hour. I am excited by their goal to build 300 apartment units to help provide housing for our growing workforce. We toured the city and I hope the result will be their investment in Cheyenne.

A few months ago, we met with a team from American Fertilizer and discussed their interest in building a plant that would convert natural gas into fertilizer for America’s agriculture industry. Since that time, they have been visiting other sites around the western states. I learned this week that they have determined Cheyenne is their preferred site and they are now going to work through their due diligence investigation. 47% of the fertilizer used in the western states is imported from countries like Ukraine and Russia. This could result in a disruption in our farmers’ supply of fertilizer, creating a national security imperative to produce more fertilizer domestically. I don’t have a lot of details yet-except that it will create around 270 jobs and includes a capital investment of over $4 billion. Diversifying our local economy and creating more jobs to encourage our kids to stay home is worth the time and conversation.

I can’t believe it has been over a year since Chief Kopper retired from our fire department and Chief Dykshorn took over. We met to go over where the department is at this time and the plans he is making for the future of Fire Rescue. During listening sessions with the members of the department, questions came up about the growth of the city and our ability to grow the department to keep up; where we find office space for the staff that does not work daily in the fire stations; the RFP process when our current contract for EMS or ambulance services expires; how to strengthen the things we are doing well; and ways to improve those areas identified as opportunities for improvement.

I am excited that the department is working hard to get the new fire station built that was approved by the voters in the last 6th Penny sales tax election. The team and consultants are finishing the construction documents with the goal of breaking ground next year and cutting the ribbon in 2028. I want to again thank the voters of Laramie County for their amazing support of this project and always supporting our community.

The Public Services Committee considered a lease with the Air Force this week that would give the City and Frontier Days the ability to build a parking lot on the closed golf course area on base. The next step is to build a bridge over I-25, connecting the parking lot with CFD. When completed, the project will greatly improve the customer experience for rodeo and night show fans. Not having to wait for a bus but being able to walk over the bridge at your convenience will be great. Grateful for all the agencies and people who helped the parking lot become a reality.