The Mayor’s Minute from Mayor Patrick Collins – Oct. 31, 2025
Published on October 31, 2025
Happy Halloween! Judy and I love to see the little kids coming to our door in their costumes excited for the experience. I could not believe how much candy we gave out the first year we lived in our current house. I had to run to the store a couple of times to keep up. I hope we are ready this year! I have a confession – I love chocolate. If I didn’t eat so much, we would have more for the trick or treaters. Please remember that the kids’ excitement means they may not be paying attention to their safety. Drive carefully and look out for the youngsters.
Our friend Cindy DeLancey introduced me to an energy developer this week that wants to help Cheyenne meet our power goals. I learned the process of bringing a new power facility online is not as easy as you might think. Getting through all the steps to get regulatory approvals and then negotiating the power purchase agreement is challenging. Cheyenne’s future looks very bright and the key to that future is the availability of power. We are blessed to have an active and engaged utility, Black Hills, that has helped make Cheyenne the envy of the region by powering our current business expansion. I appreciate the private sector stepping up to help.
City Engineer Tom Cobb was the presenter at our City Council work session last Friday dealing with our next 6th Penny sales tax ballot. His focus was on our roads and our goal to stabilize their condition. We have over 370 miles of roads in Cheyenne and the cost to maintain them is beyond the 5th Penny sales tax alone to manage. In our last 6th Penny sales tax, we asked for and received $14 million. Thank you, Laramie County! We have put the funding to work, doing critical maintenance like crack filling, sealing, and overlaying on well over 100 miles of city roads. We need at least $10 million a year to meet our goal of stabilization and the 5th Penny provides $5.5 million. City Engineer Cobb outlined the life cycle of a roadway and the best practices to keep them in good condition. He emphasized the need to include road maintenance on the 6th Penny sales tax if we want quality roads. We all hate potholes, and we learned what it will take to prevent them.
Cheyenne Fire Rescue took possession of three new support vehicles this week. When fire departments were first developed, they used horse drawn vehicles. When they received a new piece of equipment, firefighters would ceremonially wash down the old apparatus and then push the new one into the station by hand. The “wet down” of the new engine with water symbolized purification, readiness for service, and respect for tradition. We continued that custom by wetting down the new vehicles and pushing one of the trucks into the station bay. I love the tradition!
Judy and I toured the animal shelter to see the animals that were part of the recent hoarding event and check in with the staff. It is amazing what some food and love can do for the abused animals. They were thin and a bit shy, but I saw tails wagging and dogs ready to be adopted into forever homes. The work Britney and her team have done to take care of these animals is remarkable. The effort by our City team of animal control officers and our Compliance Department to get these animals to the shelter was tough. The conditions they witnessed were appalling. The response by our community to financially support the animals is in line with the amazing way our community always steps up. What was so awesome is the way the community also showed love to the shelter staff. So much food and snacks were delivered, keeping staff well fed and feeling loved. Thank you to everyone who stepped up in this situation.
Our Critical Traffic Control Area program committee made up of the chief of police, city engineer, and myself met this week to review petitions from neighborhoods concerned about speeding and safety. City Council members have shared that they receive too many of these kind of complaints and have made a goal of slowing down vehicles, reducing vehicle noise, and making our neighborhoods safer. When we receive a petition, we do a traffic speed study that includes accident history. The studies of most of the neighborhoods showed traffic was obeying the posted speed limits. What I am learning from these exercises is we may have our neighborhood speed limits set too high for residents to feel comfortable and safe.
I had coffee with an entrepreneur to talk about the Pumphouse. The Pumphouse was an essential part of our water system when Cheyenne was just getting started. Today, it is a part of our history and in desperate need of restoration. It was nice to talk with someone who understands building and the challenges this project faces. Finding an organization that would be a good fit in the Pumphouse is going to be a challenge, but it is important that we preserve our historic buildings for future generations.
Cowboy Racing is building a horse racing track just east of Cheyenne. Will Edwards and his family have a long history of building in our community, and the track is the next investment. The state created the Historic Horse Racing program to support horse breeding and equestrian activities in the state. The track is part of that effort as a percentage of the money bet in HHR facilities supports the industry. I am looking forward to attending my first horse racing event.
We received a request from a Casper developer to meet because she had heard about the regulatory changes our city has made to encourage the housing market to build a wide variety of housing in Cheyenne. We shared how we started with the Affordable Housing Task Force and their recommendations. Our Planning Department took those recommendations and wrote text amendments to our Unified Development Code to reduce regulations and allow a wider variety of housing choices to be built. Finally, it took City Council understanding the vision and passing the necessary ordinances. It was nice to have our efforts recognized.
It was another epic weekend for me as a football fan. All my teams won again, but the best part was the huge win by our Wyoming Cowboys shutting out the CSU Rams. It is the last game between them as members of the Mountain West Conference. Nice to have the Bronze Boot back in Laramie.