It is almost time for the Wyoming Legislature to meet for its 2025 session. Laramie County has a large number of new legislators, and I have asked them for a meeting. I wanted to introduce myself, let them know we are available to help answer any questions that might come up on municipal issues, explain our budget and where our funding comes from, how we spend taxpayers’ money, and to share our legislative priorities for the session.
Last Friday, I was able to meet with Representatives Gary Brown, Steve Johnson, and Ann Lucas. Monday, Senator Evie Brennan joined me, and this Thursday, Representatives Jacob Wasserburger, Rob Geringer, and Lee Filer, along with Senator Darin Smith graciously made time for me. I know the next 40 days will be unbelievably busy for them and I really appreciate their willingness to spend 90 minutes with us and their great questions about our operations. I will be spending a lot of time at the Capitol advocating for Cheyenne.
Thunder Plains horse racing track is currently being built just east of Cheyenne. The Wyoming Gaming Commission has licensed the track, and the County Commissioners have approved three new related casino locations in Cheyenne. This company is Cheyenne-owned, and Bill and Ryan stopped by to share their master plans for the track and the proposed amenities that will be built near the track. I have never been to a horse race and am curious to see what the experience will be like. Looks like we will get that opportunity this coming fall.
Our City Engineer, Tom Cobb, and his team held their part of the new city council member orientation this week. Engineering is made up of 21 employees who are responsible for our roadways, storm drainage, GIS, and assist in development. Pavement management of 370 miles of roads is, to me, the biggest challenge. There are never enough resources and prioritizing what maintenance will make the most impact takes constant analysis. City Council just passed a surface water management ordinance that will provide the engineering department with the resources to begin to manage our stormwater drainages and should add an additional five employees in January of 2026. The cone zones during the summer are indicators of how much work the department is doing annually to get our roads the much-needed maintenance and attention they deserve.
Monday, we held the Sine Die meeting of City Council. It is the last meeting of the governing body where we say goodbye to any outgoing members. This was the last meeting for Councilmen Bryan Cook and Richard Johnson. I have really enjoyed working with both of them for the past four years. I will miss their leadership and want to thank them for serving our city and residents for years.
Once the Sine Die was adjourned, we held the first meeting of the new governing body. I took the oath of office as mayor, and Pete Laybourn, Jeff White, Tom Segrave, Kathy Emmons, Michelle Aldrich and Mark Moody all took the city council oaths of office. We were honored that Chief Justice Kate Fox administered the oaths. The city council approved the slate of department directors and Justice Fox swore them into their positions. Last business for the meeting was the election of Mark Rinne as the city council president and Scott Roybal as city council vice president. For the members of the Public Services Committee, their first meeting was an hour later. Thank you to the voters for this opportunity to serve for an additional four years.
We know the challenges Cheyenne faces when it comes to water. Most of our water comes from the Colorado River drainage. With the decades-long drought, we expect that water to be suspended in the near future, causing a shortage for our residents and businesses. This week, I joined the team at BOPU to talk about some of the options that we have to add water resources to offset the water we expect to lose. We have some promising options, but no contracts have been signed yet. It is one of our top priorities for this year.
We implemented the Critical Traffic Control Area Program last year and Gardenia Drive was our first designated roadway. We met this week to discuss how the Gardenia operation worked. We identified a few things operationally we need to fix, but the good news is traffic speeds were reduced and are still where we hoped they would be. I appreciate the drivers of the area slowing down and making the area safer. I hate that it took big tickets to accomplish the goal, but so far it is a success.
We have spent three years looking into the possibility of installing a small solar farm on the old Happy Jack Landfill. There are grants that would make it affordable, but we need a change in state law to make it happen. We have a bill coming before the Legislature to support our plan. Fingers crossed our efforts will be successful.
The Kiwanis Club wanted to do an epic project for their 100th anniversary in Cheyenne. They chose to sponsor what we used to call East Park, and now call Kiwanis Community Park. As part of the agreement to name the park, they pledged $250,000. This week they made good on that pledge with the presentation of a check for $170,000 to complete the full amount. The club’s support of our community and children makes such a difference. This new park is essential to the quality of life on our growing eastern side of Cheyenne. Thank you, Kiwanians!
The county commission hosted our quarterly Laramie County elected officials’ dinner this week. It was one of the best turnouts in a long time with seven legislators in attendance. I enjoy the opportunity to catch up with the Albin, Burns, and Pine Bluffs teams along with our sheriff, coroner, assessor, and commissioners. I love that we all get along well and support each other.
Judy and I are so excited, our oldest son is getting married on Jan. 19. We are going to take some time off to be with family and get things ready for the wedding. I am going to take the next two weeks off writing the Mayor’s Minute to focus on family and will bring the next issue in early February. We have two boys, and we are excited to welcome our son’s fiancé to our family.