CHEYENNE – Cheyenne city officials continued discussion Monday surrounding the annexing of 38 parcels of land that are completely surrounded by city limits.
The parcels are generally located in east Cheyenne – south of Dell Range Boulevard, east of Dry Creek, west of Whitney Road and north of Charles Street.
This is just one of many annexation ordinances the Cheyenne City Council has discussed. The most recent of approved annexations cover 44.56 acres of various tracts of land that contain 95 parcels generally located north of Dell Range Boulevard and south of Storey Boulevard, along either side of Ridge Road, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle previously reported.
Mayor Patrick Collins said these decisions are being made due to jurisdictional concerns, saying when someone in a “pocket” calls 911, it is unclear which emergency response team should be assigned.
Collins said there was an incident about a month ago on Ridge Road where a fire broke out. A neighbor in the county pocket called the county fire department, but it was a city fire, so there was a delayed response.
“It just didn’t go as well as it could,” Collins said, “and so the city council is just nervous about the disjointed response that we sometimes get in these areas. … So that was the goal in 2001, was to try to clean those up as much as we could, so that if there’s a 911 call in that area, we know who’s going to respond. … And we don’t have those situations where maybe tragedy would happen because we had a miscommunication.”
One community member, Trish Morris, lives on a street that is part of the annexation. She said when she bought the property, it was a county property, and it is not her choice to be moved into city parameters.
Morris’ main concern was, if she were to sell her house, whether the new buyer would have to pay to put curb and gutter in.
“If you look at the piece that we own, it’s an enormous section of curb and gutter,” Morris said. “… That’s a big concern for us because that was a huge cost, so that definitely negatively impacts the value of the piece of property.”
Collins said that would’ve been an issue back in 2001 when the council first brought up the annexations. But now, the council has gone through all of the city’s ordinances to make sure they can eliminate as many costs as they can – curb and gutter being just one of them.
Other cost eliminations include no longer requiring the paving of the road in front of a home, or hooking onto city water and sewer. The city will, however, require the newly annexed properties to use the city’s sanitation service, and property taxes will go up by 5%.
Collins also said if a property owner has a business they cannot conduct in the city, the city will grandfather that in. However, if the owner sells their property and the “buyer wants to put a four-plex on there” and develop it, that would change everything.
“Then the curb, gutter or sidewalk – those things would come in, but that’s with any development that would happen in the county or in the city limits,” Collins said. “So really, the only thing we ask you to do is vote for your city council people and enjoy your property as you have it.”
Another community member, Mark Morris, said he feels he was railroaded by the city and county.
“We didn’t move into the city, the city moved around us,” Mark said, “which we had no say in that either. Now we have no say in this. I can’t vote for you guys, you know, and I think that’s just wrong.”
The recommendation of the Public Services Committee was to approve the annexations on second reading, with Michelle Aldrich and Mark Moody being the only “no” votes. The ordinance will come before the committee for third reading Aug. 4, and then back to the city council Aug. 11 for third and final reading.
