Parking is a big part of what the city does, especially in the downtown area. I met with our team to discuss a part of parking that no one likes: parking tickets. Since March of 2020, we have over $214,810 of unpaid parking tickets. We use parking revenues and tickets to pay for the bonds on the parking garage. Stay tuned for an announcement on January 31st for our plan.
The team from Black Hills Energy came by to give a bit of the state of their business. They have been making big investments to support the new businesses moving into our city. We have a couple of new data centers, crypto miners, manufactures, and others moving into Cheyenne. They also shared a plan to start upgrading our streetlights to the newest LED styles. They last longer and save on electricity. I appreciate their history of economic support!
Crow Creek has a big future. If the city council gets its way, the creek will be restored to the way it was originally. The Army Corp of Engineers is willing to partner with our city to help make it happen. It is our hope to see the water quality improved to restore fishing, adding walking paths, and to beautify the area for our enjoyment. We have started the process and hope the momentum will continue.
The fire union and our staff met again this week. We are working on the preparations for our upcoming labor negotiations. To be honest, this is not my favorite part of the job. The firefighters are great, and I hope we can make this year’s negotiations a bit easier than it was last time.
A year ago, I met with the city council for our first goal setting session. I felt like it was a great success. We agreed on how we would work together, and we set some goals. We lived by our agreement and got all but one of the goals accomplished. We met on Saturday for five hours and did it again. I loved it and them. We started with over 100 suggested goals and spent the hours prioritizing. In the end, we have seven main goals we hope to accomplish in 2022:
Reed Avenue Corridor – This is the roadway bisected by the BNSF railroad running from Lincolnway to 23rd Street. It is our hope to create an area with walking paths, bike lanes, outdoor seating with restaurants, and breweries along the corridor.
Belvoir Ranch – We bought the ranch in 2003 and it is our plan to create a hiking and biking trail system that will give folks access to the big hole. Full disclosure, I have been in the bike business for the past several decades. Can’t wait to open the ranch.
Surface Water Mitigation – Flooding is one of the biggest risks we have to property and life. It is the council goal to update our master plan, and then to create a surface water mitigation program to ensure our city is safe from flooding.
County Pockets – Not long ago, our police department was directing traffic while waiting for the county fire department to come to put out the Supply Sergeant fire. You see, the Supply Sergeant is in a county pocket, but the road out front is in the city. The city council wants to eliminate the jurisdictional problems by cleaning up the county pockets surrounded by the city.
Homeless Issues – We have all seen the increasing homeless population in our city. The city council wishes to invest in ways to make the homeless issues better.
15th Street Experience – I have had a dream of creating a destination railroad tourist experience in downtown Cheyenne. The first phase is to create the 15th Street railroad experience. The Union Pacific railroad has been nice enough to give the city 17 historic cars. It is our goal to place some of them along 15th Street with upgrades to fencing, street scape, parking, and lighting. It should be a catalyst for the area. Our next phase should give residents and tourists a chance to interact with our historic steam engines.
Gymnastics Building – The Gymnastics program is growing in Cheyenne. Their city building is going to be torn down very soon for a new elementary school. It is our plan to find the funding to build the new gymnastics building next to the ice and events center. We are also going to investigate ways to also build indoor courts in the same area.
We will be giving you periodic updates on the progress of our goals.
Community Action of Laramie County is a local non-profit that works to help the less fortunate in our community. Tim Ernst is the executive director, and he stopped by to update me on a couple of projects they are working on, and to advocate for increased public transportation for the very poor and homeless populations. They do great work in Cheyenne.
I met with Mayors and administrators of the six largest cities in the state. I love that we are talking and finding ways to help each other make governing easier. We plan on keeping the meetings going, and to involve our staffs as well.
Colonel Barrington is the commanding officer of F.E. Warren Air Force Base. We met for lunch to catch up with the happenings on base. I love that the base and city were born on the same day, and for more than 150 years have worked closely together. We talked about the Crow Creek restoration as it borders the base and had a very uncomfortable discussion about how people of color are being treated in our community. The race issue is one I plan on spending much time on this year. The base is involved in those discussions as they have a very large population of people of color.
My Chief of Staff, Andy Worshek, and I spent some time with Betsey Hale from LEADS. She gave us an update on their recruiting efforts, and I can report some great news is coming. We also talked about the investment the city makes in LEADS. Our budget process is getting started soon, and it’s time to make these decisions.
Parking for folks with disabilities is a problem for those coming to Fridays on the Plaza. I met with our City Engineer, Tom Cobb to discuss this and other issues. One big one is the Reed Avenue Corridor, and the possibility of using a Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant to help the project. It is a big goal, and we are looking for every way to make it happen.
The Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce holds quarterly luncheons with some of their national partners. Matt Dillow is a retired colonel from the Air Force and is now working for Northrop Grumman as the representative on the new Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) missile system. It was very informative, and I appreciate getting the latest information on the project. Good news is it seems the project is on track and the budget is in place. It is important to make sure the political will is there to complete this program.
The Cheyenne Symphony gives a youth concert every year at the Civic Center. It is an opportunity to expose our youth to music and the symphony did not disappoint. The concert was amazing, and the kids were so well behaved. I loved their enthusiasm.
An open house was held to get input on the proposed East Park master plan. I enjoyed seeing what the consultant has learned to date, and the opportunity to comment on things I liked in the plan and suggest items I would like them to consider. This will be a jewel on the growing east part of town.
If you have a question for me, send it to media@cheyennecity.org. I’ll continue to answer them in my following Mayor’s Minute column.
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