Board of County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Yep. All right, please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Welcome to the August 4th Laramie County Board of Commissioners meeting. If you have a cell phone, I'd ask that you turn it to silent. And then just a little bit of housekeeping. So item 27, the bit of wild project. When we get to that item, there's been a request by our public works department to postpone that item until the September meeting to work through some road issues with the applicant. So we will not be having a public hearing on that item, but instead we'll entertain a motion to postpone to that future date. All right, with that, Mr. Clerk.

Item one, consideration of minutes of proceedings for July 21, 2026.

Move to approve.

Second. Motion to second. Any discussion on minutes? Discussion? Discussion? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Heath? Aye. Commissioner Hollingshead? Aye. Commissioner Thompson? Aye. Commissioner Kwanitzer? Aye. Chairman Malm?

Aye. Items 2 through 20 are considered routine business items and will be considered as one motion under the consent agenda unless a member of the governing body would like to have one removed.

Mr. Chair, move to approve the consent agenda.

Second. Motion and a second. Discussion by the commission. Discussion. Roll call, please.

Commissioner Heath. Aye. Commissioner Hollingshead. Aye. Commissioner Thompson. Aye. Commissioner Swanitzer. Aye. Chairman Maum.

Aye.

Next item, please. Item 21, consideration of warrants in the amount of $7,296,998.95 for July 2026. Commissioner Thompson. Mr. Chair, I'm going to recuse myself on this for conflict.

Okay. Commissioner Thompson has recused himself from this item. Commissioners?

Motion to approve.

Second. Motion and second. Discussion on warrants? Discussion? Discussion. Roll call, please.

Commissioner Heath? Aye. Commissioner Hollingshead? Aye. Commissioner Zoniser? Aye. Chairman Maul? Aye. Next item, please. Item 22, consideration of change order number one to the construction contract 0007. 260602-14 between Laramie County, Wyoming and A1 Chip Sale Company to adjust the contract cost for an additional $189,433.25 and change the description of work as shown in Attachment 1.

Commissioners, Molly Cook with Laramie County Public Works. So this change order is actually at the request of Laramie County. This is not anything that came from the contractor. We are going to be paving beckle, doing a chip seal on beckle from Christensen to Reese to assist in the additional traffic with Whitney Dahl Range Project and also the Summit Story Project in the area. So again, this is something that is a change requested by Laramie County. And happy to answer any questions. Any questions from Molly?

No. Motion to approve.

Second. Motion and second. Discussion by the commission. Discussion. Discussion. Roll call, please.

Commissioner Heath. Aye. Commissioner Hollingshead. Aye. Commissioner Thompson. Aye. Commissioner Zawandiser. Aye. Chairman Maum.

Aye. Next item, please.

Item 23, consideration of a services agreement between Laramie County, Wyoming and Incontrol Incorporated in the amount of $236,908.35 to upgrade the Archer Complex Water Tower Control Panel System as described in Exhibit A. Ms. Cook.

Commissioners, Molly Cook, Laramie County Public Works. This is to upgrade the... monitoring system for the Archer Water Tower and sewer systems, upgrade the SCADA. The system that we had previously is outdated. We can't get parts for it. So this is an upgrade to that system. It's also going to assist in the monitoring, like I mentioned, for our staff. So happy to answer any questions. Okay.

Any questions for Molly? Mr. Chair, move to approve.

Second.

Motion and second. Any discussion by the commission? Discussion? Discussion? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Heath? Aye. Commissioner Hollingshead? Aye. Commissioner Thompson? Aye. Commissioner Blundizer? Aye. Chairman Malm?

Aye. Next item, please.

Item 24, consideration of addendum between Laramie County, Wyoming and Novo Connection Analytics LLC to modify the client services agreement as attachment A. Aye.

There's someone from HR. I think I saw Julie walk in.

Yes.

Oh, there. She's sitting there.

Sorry.

There's a phone call. So she sent me up. So here I am.

Julie Cornwall, HR analyst. This contract is for analytics for our health fund and health insurance.

And that's about all I know about it.

I apologize. Any questions? No.

Mr. Chair, move to approve.

Second. Can I motion a second discussion by the commission? Discussion? I just note that we hire a consultant to help us assess different health plans as we're self-insured. And so as we make those decisions, we hire this company, Nova, and they help in those negotiations and add expertise to that process for five people that aren't exactly insurance experts.

Roll call, please. Commissioner Heath? Aye. Commissioner Hollingshead? Aye. Commissioner Thompson? Aye. Commissioner Zwaneser? Aye. Chairman Maum?

Aye. Next item, please.

Item 25, consideration of the modification of an intergovernmental agreement 250204-16 between the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Marshal Service, USMS, in Laramie County, Wyoming to add the per diem rate of $224 for juveniles residing outside the Laramie County School District number one boundaries to the IGA listed in box one. Captain.

County Sheriff's Office. We currently have a agreement with the U.S. Marshal Service with the kids at the Peabody Detention Center. We charge a rate of $190 a day for in-county students, for in-county kids. With the Marshal Service, we're hospitalizing kids from Otter County. That rate is going to go to $224. Because of the schooling that we have to provide, well, the student is at the detention center.

Okay, any questions for Perry?

Mr. Chair moved to approve.

Second.

Motion and second. Discussion by the commission? Discussion? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Heath? Aye. Commissioner Hollingshead? Aye. Commissioner Thompson? Aye. Commissioner Solaniser? Aye. Chairman Malm? Aye. Next item, please. Item 26, consideration of a master's subscription agreement between Laramie County, Wyoming, and E-Meet Enterprises LLC in the amount of $28,770 for an enterprise edition. Annual subscription.

All right. Is this Jason in the room? Mr. Voss, did you review this contract?

Yes or no.

I'm sorry. Got a promotion.

Again, it would amend all of our requirements and essentially review all of the contracts. Oh, hello.

Oh, sorry. Oh, okay.

Yes, Mr. Chair, that's correct. We would have reviewed this and found it completely satisfactory in regard to all of its elements. As you know, Mr. Smallwood is involved in many multiple agreements at this point, and this is simply one of them. So we would have passed on its legality and the protection of the county that needs to be expressed.

Okay. Any questions for Mr. Voss? Mr. Chair, move to approve. Second. Motion and a second. Any discussion?

Mr. Chair, I think it's important to note that this is to help track various parts and repair materials, maintenance materials that the building and maintenance department has and that this is going to help them keep track of those parts

materials across all of our county buildings that they're responsible for maintaining okay thank you commissioner heath roll call please commissioner heath aye commissioner hollingshead aye commissioner thompson aye commissioner swan is there aye chairman mung aye next item please item 27 public hearing regarding review and final action on a site plan for the bit away ranch and events Located in a portion of the land situated in the northeast quarter of section 11, township 14 north, range 70 west of the 6 p.m., Laramie County, Wyoming.

Mr. Arnold.

Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Justin Arnold, Laramie County Planning and Development. As you had mentioned, we are requesting to defer this or postpone it until the September 1 meeting of 2026 while we work through some agency review comments and get those buttoned up before we have a final hearing.

OK. Staff's requesting postponement. Mr. Chairman, so moved. Second. Motion and a second. Any discussion by the commission? Discussion? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Heath. Aye. Commissioner Hollingshead. Aye. Commissioner Thompson. Aye. Commissioner Swanitzer. Aye. Chairman Malm.

Aye. Next item, please.

Item 28, public hearing regarding a small subdivision permit and platform for Belio Gartside Reserve located in a portion of the south half of Section 28, Township 15 North, Range 68 West of the 6 p.m. Laramie County, Wyoming.

Mr. Arnold. Mr. Chairman, members of the Board, Justin Arnold, Laramie County Planning, presenting on behalf of Project Planner Sonny Porcio. Stout Surveying Services, LLC, on behalf of landowner G&G Enterprises of Wyoming, LLC, has submitted an application for a small subdivision permit in Platte for the above location. The purpose of the application is to subdivide the primary 35 acres into five new tracks with the existing residential use to remain. the subject property is located in the land use zone district and is currently used for agricultural purposes the surrounding area is also land use zone district residential residential vacant land and agricultural the property will be accessed from horse creek road pertinent laramie county land use regulations and statutory provisions include wyoming state statute 185301 through 306 34-12-101 through 34-12-115, Section 45100, Romanette I, Subsection A, governing small subdivision Permit and Plat, and Section 24104, governing the Land Use Zone District, and last, 13100, governing public notice. With that, we have Shane Hansen, agent for the applicant, here to answer any questions you may have. Mr. Hansen.

Good afternoon. Shane Hansen, Style Surveying. Happy to answer questions you have about this project, please.

Any questions for Shane? Okay, full staff report, please. Thanks, Shane.

Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Justin Arnold, Laramie County Planning. The Laramie County Comprehensive Plan identifies the area as rural ag interface. According to the adopted Amec memo dated January 31st, 2014, the property lies within zone two of the study area requiring 5.25 gross acres per lot, excuse me. Public notice was provided as required with no public comments being received. Based on the evidence provided, staff recommends the board find that A, this application meets the criteria for a small subdivision permit in Platte pursuant to section 45100 Roman at Iyer subsection A of the 2025 LCLUR and B, this application is in conformance with section 24104 of the 2025 LCLUR. And that the board may approve the small subdivision permit in Platte for Billy Ogartside Reserve located in a portion of the south half of section 28, township 15 north, range 68 west. of the 6th Principal Meridian, Laramie County, Wyoming, with no conditions, and I stand for any questions.

Any questions for Mr. Arnold? Any questions? Okay, this is a public hearing. If you'd like to speak on this item, please come forward now. Is there anyone online?

There's no one online at this time.

Okay, one more time in the room. Public hearing? Public hearing having met its purpose, the public hearing is closed. Commissioners?

Mr. Chair, I move to approve the small subdivision permit in Platte for Billy Oak Artside Reserve, located in a portion of the south half of Section 28, Township 15 North, Range 67 West, of the 6PM Laramie County, Wyoming, and adopt the findings of fact A and B of the staff report with no conditions.

Second. Motion and a second. Any discussion by the commission? Discussion? Roll call, please.

Commissioner Heath? Aye. Commissioner Hollingshead?

Aye.

Commissioner Thompson? Aye. Commissioner Swanitzer?

Aye. Chairman Malm? Aye. Next item, please.

Item 29, public hearing regarding a zone change from urban residential low density, URLD, to planned unit development, PUD, zone district for Aspen Valley subdivision.

Mr. Arnold.

Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Justin Arnold, Laramie County Planning and Development, presenting on behalf of project planner Kate Cundall. Aspen Valley LLC has submitted an application for approval of a zone change for the Aspen Valley subdivision from urban residential low density zone district to planned unit development zone district. This zone change will add campgrounds as a use by right. The subdivision is comprised of 174 single family home lots originally intended for manufactured homes. The applicant is proposing to allow two RVs to be able to be used on each lot for temporary workforce housing. The project has two phases with 192 RV spaces in the west phase and 136 RV spaces in the east phase for a total of 328 RV spaces. A community house that will serve as an office gathering place and laundry facility is also proposed. The lots are 50 feet wide and 130 feet deep and each RV space will be 3,400 square feet in size. This allows for off street parking of two vehicles in addition to the RVs. Permanent regulations include Section 21103 of the 2025 LCLUR governing criteria for a zone map amendment. Section 24111 of the 2025 LCLUR governing the planned unit development zone district. And with that, we have Bill Edwards and Will Edwards here to answer any questions you may have and provide some additional information, if you gentlemen will.

Mr. Edwards, Mr. Edwards.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and Laramie County Commissioners. My name is Bill Edwards. My address is 506 Shoshone Street. I'm the agent, owner, and general contractor for the Aspen Ridge subdivision. As previously presented by the Laramie County planning staff, today we're seeking approval for a conditional use to the Aspen Valley project, which is previously approved for mobile homes and platted as such. We're seeking this permit or this conditional use change to add more flexibility in the varying conditions of housing needs in Laramie County, offering other housing alternatives besides strictly a mobile home. Currently with a high amount of construction, commercial construction, there's a need to provide quality controlled housing for skilled workers. The type of housing and the type of skilled workers that we're catering to, No skilled worker on a construction project is better than another one. But I'm talking about skilled tradespeople that typically travel from a large job to a large job. They usually have beautiful RVs. They usually have a nice truck pulling them and pulling a a car for mama to drive during the day, and they have a poodle in there. And these are welders, pipe fitters, this type of worker. These people are used to traveling to a project and used to being a good part of a community. And this need is just really not there right now. As such, the first housing project option that we plan to provide is a well-designed, well-operated, and efficient mobile housing park. Aspen Ridge current mobile home spaces are 6,750 square feet. This is bigger than many house lots that are currently being designed and developed today. We've done that for a reason. We're the developers of South Fork, and it's worked really well giving people a little elbow room. By splitting a lot one time, Each RV space will have, and or small home in the future, which the conditional permit allows for, will have 3,400 square feet of lot area. This is also a minimum lot area size in the city of Cheyenne for cottage homes and the like. Most RV parks in our area, and most RV parks period, are around five to 700 square feet.

not 3,400.

The amenities of this conditional use as an RV park will be large lots, secured individual storage, recreational open space, and a community house that will serve as a central gathering area for messaging, breakout areas, and so forth, an office for the management to operate out of and security, and a probable laundry facility that we haven't totally looked at yet. The subdivision itself will be built just like it would be for the mobile home park. It's large, 40-foot back of curb to back of curb, improved paved streets, curb and gutter, sidewalk, subdivision standards. The expanded use of this park is typically More like the long-term park stays that you typically see in a retirement area like Arizona, Texas, and Florida, which is where we've gotten some of our ideas about how long-term folks live in those conditions. This is not a man camp, and I really think that's a word we ought to lose. The people that are coming here to help this community grow need a place to live. We're catering to skilled workers and professionals of the trade, as previously stated. Over and above the current need for work for housing, there's a need for smaller, more affordable and efficient living accommodations. As far as the rest of the infrastructure, excuse me, the water and sewer was restudied and approved with no changes. All of the other engineering and services were re-looked at and approved. A new traffic study was completed and certified, which actually represents less traffic generated. And the planning staff comments we have read, we understand, we agree with. And with that, I'll accept any questions that you may have.

Any questions for Mr. Edwards? Okay, doesn't look like it this time. Thank you, sir. Mr. Arnold, full report.

Mr. Chairman, members of the board, Justin Arnold, Laramie County Planning. The Laramie County Comprehensive Plan identifies the area as urban-rural interface. South Cheyenne Water and Sewer District provides water and sanitary sewer service to the subdivision. Public notice was provided in accordance with section 12104. Notices were sent to 33 surrounding property owners within 500 feet of the subject property. One written comment was received and is attached to this report. Section 21103 subsection E of the LCLUR states that prior to making a recommendation to the county commissioners via the planning commission about any zoning map amendment, the planning commission is required to find that one, the zone change request supports and upholds the safety and health of the community and that it endorses the general welfare of inhabitants of Laramie County. and that one of the following two is also determined and declared to be a finding. A, the existing zoning classification of the land does not fit in the overall development pattern of the area, or B, there have been changes of a physical, economic, or social nature within the area which have prompted the request and which enable the zone change to better meet the community needs. Criteria I and B are met by the type of action proposed and by meeting all of planning's application criteria. The Planning Commission met on July 9th, 2026 and recommended approval by a vote of five to zero. Based on evidence provided, staff recommends that A, this application does meet the criteria for a zone map amendment pursuant to section 21103 of the Laramie County land use regulations and B, the proposed change in zone district is in conformance with the requirements of section 24111 of the land use regulations. And that the Board of Commissioners may approve the Aspen Valley subdivision zone change from urban residential low density to planned unit development to allow campgrounds as a use by right with two conditions. One being, all agency review comments must be addressed prior to submission of the site plan application. And two, a privacy fence must be installed to comply with the conditions placed at the time of the approval of Aspen Valley subdivision. And with that, I stand for any questions from the body.

Any questions for Justin at this time? Any questions? Okay. This is a public hearing. If you'd like to speak on this item, please come forward.

Sorry, I'm short. Good afternoon, Chairman and Commissioners. My name is Patricia McCoy, and I live at 314 Pleasant Valley Trail in South Fork Mobile Home Park. I'm speaking today on behalf of my family and my neighbors. South Fork is a settled, family-centered community filled with seniors, working parents, and young children who play outside and walk to our local school bus stops every day. At the Planning Commission meeting, staff talked about an urgent rush to find housing for temporary workers. We understand that workforce housing is needed in Laramie County, but placing a high-density RV man camp, because that's what it is, squeezed right between two established neighborhoods, South Fork and Big Country, is completely unacceptable. There is plenty of open space outside of town, away from our children and our homes, that is far better suited for this. Some of you are coming to us right now asking for our votes for reelection. But when decisions like this are pushed forward over the clear objections of local residents, it feels like we aren't being listened to or represented at all. This site was zoned for 174 permanent single-family homes, and now the developer wants to double that density to 328 high-density RV spaces. Packing over 300 temporary workforce vehicles into our backyard brings severe safety and quality of life impacts. Heavy truck traffic on already narrow roads where our kids walk, continuous noise and dust, and added strain on our sheriff's department. Our nation's Declaration of Independence reminds us that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of we the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government laying its foundation on such principles as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. Government exists to protect the safety and happiness of its citizens, not to sacrifice established neighborhoods for temporary developer projects. We ask you to listen to the people that you represent. Please protect our families and deny this PUD rezoning. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. McCoy? So I appreciate the comments. Certainly understand your perspective on this item. Where I struggle is last year about this exact same time, I remember you standing in that spot and telling us that you didn't like our current rules, you didn't like the new rules, and you didn't want the government telling anybody what they could do with their property. So I'm struggling to see how... that stance a year ago and the stance today go together. And so I'm just seeking to understand which, like what am I, I'm trying to listen to you. So I'm just trying to figure out at which point I'm listening.

Our government is to remain limited and represent us for our safety and happiness. You were not doing that a year ago, which is why I said what I said. And you are not doing it now by trying to approve this within our neighborhoods. There is an elementary school right on the other side of big country that these young children walk to. And now they're going to be walking past all of these RV camps. to get to school that's unacceptable that is not safe for our children and that does overwhelm our sheriff's department who is already overwhelmed we have so much county space for now until the city continues to annex it that you guys are supposed to represent and you are supposed to protect us from things like this that's why we're here today okay thank you miss mccoy thank you sir okay this is a public hearing if you'd like to speak on this item please come forward

Ms. Madrid.

Heather Madrid. Sorry, I ran. I'm tired. So I'm winded. I live in Harmony Meadows, 1200 Melvie Lane. I understand the need for workforce housing due to the explosion of data center construction. I do have concerns that workforce housing will become the next unwelcome private business venture that citizens in South Cheyenne will be forced to accept in our backyards in the name of progress and property rights. At the Planning Commission meeting, the Planning Department shared that moving forward, they would like to require workforce housing be built on-site by developers rather than in neighborhoods. And although on-site and in neighborhoods are becoming one and the same, it's unwise to allow one privately owned man camp to move forward than expect to say no to everyone else once a precedent has been set. Workforce housing in this location will be disruptive to people raising families and trying to live in peace. due to the nature of 24-7 shift work 365 days of the year. Traffic will increase in a neighborhood where basic safety is already an afterthought because nobody wants to take responsibility for ensuring that children in the county can get to school safely by building sidewalks. Who will take accountability when there's a fatality due to the lack of sidewalks and unmitigated traffic? I've lived in South Cheyenne and shopped at Safeway for over a decade. I've never had an issue getting the groceries I needed even during COVID until fairly recently when endless data centers became the norm and people started being packed into South Cheyenne like sardines as fast as high-density housing can be built. What's the plan for that as we continue to accommodate out-of-state workers at the expense of lifelong residents? Another concern that came up for me at the Planning Commission meeting is that this is not only workforce housing, but it is going to be available for citizens once their lease agreements come up and they've been priced out of their homes. This is the result of foregone socioeconomic impact studies that industries avoid by locating in business parks. The traffic issues and empty shelves at Safeway are also partially the result of these foregone studies. If lifelong residents are being priced out of their homes in favor of fast-tracking industrial projects, an RV park is not the answer. Through my work in this community, I have sat on both the Overdose Fatality Review Committee and the Suicide Fatality Review Committee. Both take a deep dive into the details surrounding individual cases of people who've died by unintentional overdose or suicide. The purpose is to identify risk factors that contribute to the deaths of our neighbors so that we can develop targeted prevention strategies. Findings of these committees indicate that overdoses and suicides happen more frequently in RV parks, hence my argument against creating another RV park that is as an affordable housing alternative for people who have been sidelined by corporations and local governments. This is not workforce housing. Workforce housing is free. This RV park will not be free, and out-of-state workers are unlikely to live long-term in RV parks where they can easily afford a home and are unlikely to rent space in this park where they will stay while working, then return to wherever home is for them, leaving their RV and essentially paying for two homes, as the developer suggested at the last meeting. It was also mentioned that this can become more permanent housing in the future. If this is not strictly workforce housing, the only way for this to become anything other than an RV park will be to evict the people who have nowhere to go and certainly deserve better. And unless the property owner is willing to do that, there will not be anything temporary about this RV park. Sorry. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any questions for Ms. Madrid? Okay.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Francine Scheele. My home is at 3602 South Greeley Highway. I understand the need for more housing, and I have lived on my land for 40 years. I'm a 70-something old widow. And I had hoped to end my days there in peace. This doesn't seem possible now. South Fork has 474 spaces. A new addition in between the two sections of South Fork now has 20 spaces with plenty of room for expansion. Big Country has 257 spaces. Westwind's 295. If only two people per residence, that's 2,092 people in... whoop, I lost my pace, sorry, per residence. That's just add just one more person, and then you end up with 3,138 people on the conservative side, not counting AAA trailer court, Miller trailer court, So the total amount of people in a square mile area are at least 4,000 people. Aspen Valley originally wanted a mobile home park there with 174 spaces. Now Aspen Valley wants 328 spaces with double occupancy. Oh, my goodness. Per trailer. Okay. That's at least 656 more people. Can the schools handle the influx of students? Aspen Valley has been hauling truckloads of dirt, even working on Sundays. The pile is 20 foot tall and at least 200 yards long. This development is not following the topography of the land and is going to cause drainage problems. Are those RVs going to be owned by individuals? Are they going to be rental units? The place designated as a park slash playground is located right in the middle of the wetlands area. Now it's full of cattails. Cattails do not grow where there is not moisture. It is a water source for the frogs and salamanders that live there. Other animals and birds make use of this as a water source. Turning it into a park or a playground will destroy the existing habitat. Has a hydraulic assessment been done? By who? Environmental impact study? Traffic study? Have there been any public notices? I have spoken to several different sheriff's department personnel. They say the majority of their Southside calls involve South Fork, Big Country, and Westwinds. Their concerns and ours are more crime, drugs, violence, vandalism, and traffic speeding on Avenue B2 and the frontage road where little children have to walk to school. That was supposed to be a safe walk to school for the children. The traffic on 85 was already so heavy that a traffic light had to be installed especially for that meta-traffic. We, the landowners, are the ones most affected by this Aspen Valley and what they're doing. We feel that we have a legitimate and reasonable concerns. Before you make a decision that we have to live with, I would like one or all of you to come and see what's going on out there before you make your decisions. Would you want this in your backyard? Ask yourselves, I'm not getting two or three neighbors. I'm getting 36 right up against my south fence. If this were your home, I believe each and every one of you would fight to protect the peace and sanctity of your homes, as I am fighting for mine. I live in Wyoming, but I feel crowding 4,000 people in a one-square-mile area will turn my neighborhood into the projects like in New York City, full of problems. Has anyone considered the strain on emergency services? And in that same light, I have a little addendum here. Saturday, we were without power for two hours. There were 964 people affected by this power outage in 90 plus degree heat. There are old and infirm people out there who use medical devices, such as oxygen machines, which require power. 328 more housing units and pulling more power surely is going to cause a strain on the power grid. and cause more power outages. Governor Mark Gordon says we are in a severe drought, which is usually, whoops, sorry, not usually, is likely to get worse, putting a greater strain on local water, sewer, and causing a depletion of our resources. This is not progress. This is just plain greed. Let's see, okay. What would you do if this was your home? Would you ask, please, that you honor my request for a privacy fence, which you previously had granted? I thank you for your time.

Thank you. Does anyone have any questions for Ms. Scheel?

Afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Greg Winters. I own the property in a home just north of... the Aspen Valley it's going to flood my place you go out there and look at the mound of dirt that is there and you can stand up on Avenue B2 look down that is a low lying area it's going to spread that dirt out it's going to flood and I want that in the record that I'm saying that's going to flood my area that's going to flood my home Come and look at it. Just come and take a look at the mound of dirt in the lay of the land. I don't know if any study has been done. I don't think it has. And like Fran said, they're destroying the wetland. They're going to destroy that wetland. And another thing, where's the water coming from? We're in a severe drought. with all these data centers and everything else going in, you don't have any vision of the future of proving all this stuff. That's all I've got to say. But I'd like you to come and look at the mound of dirt that's there and look at the way the land looks, and it's going to flood me.

Thank you, Mr. Winters. Anyone have any questions for Mr. Winters? Again, this is a public hearing. If you'd like to speak on this item.

Commissioners, my name is Bonnie Ryder. I live at 515 West Allison Road in Cheyenne. I'm not here to speak for or against zone change. What I am here is to ask you if you have done or if anybody has done serious, excuse me, serious traffic studies. One of the things I've noticed is Parsley Boulevard is going to be going through from High Plains. It's going to come down Walderscheid, or, well, it's going to come down South Greeley Highway, or not South Greeley, it's College, South College. And it's then going to turn north and go to Walderscheid, which is going to come down Allison. Currently, we have a ton of traffic on Allison Road. We also have a new children's center that's being built along with an ice cream parlor and a coffee shop. And I've already spoken with Molly. They're going to look into possibly some lights there. But we have a ton of traffic. There's going to be even more traffic once this project if it if it comes to fruition is going to create a real safety hazard because we have all of the south high and the um well even the triumph high school kids are traveling on that road between walterscheid and south braley highway west allison road It really needs to have some serious, serious studies done before we bring in even more traffic. Again, I'm not here for or against the zone change. We all have personal property rights. Currently, I even own a piece of property that's contiguous to this property. So I'm just concerned about the traffic. Thank you.

Any questions for Ms. Ryder? Thank you very much. All right. A public hearing one more time. Anybody in the room? Anybody online?

There's nobody online.

One more time. Public hearing. Public hearing having met its purpose. The public hearing is closed. Commissioners? Ms. Chair? Hold up. Actually, does the applicant want to address any of the drainage or anything or the traffic studies that were done? Just give you the opportunity while the microphone's open before...

Yeah. First of all, regarding drainage, the drainage, we had a disagreement at the Planning Commission meeting. I'm not going to get back into that. The drainage is predominantly incidental flow from irrigating lawns at South Fork. It is a natural drainage way through there. It's been taken into account with the Aspen Ridge plan. There was a large storm many, many years ago because my history with Southport goes back about 40 years also. There was a large storm and some folks downstream who built in a low spot did get wet. At that time, I worked with the county commissioners and we built a drainage pipe that goes underneath South Greeley Highway to the east. It takes care of all this drainage. All of the Aspen Ridge drainage has been studied. A drainage report's been done. The grading plan has been done. It has been checked by the county engineer, and it is correct. Now, can I say somebody in a storm of over 100-year specification can't get wet? No, but nobody can. Drainage reports and study and plans for subdivisions are done based on 10-year storms, 25-year storms. Those are a probable guess at what storms could happen in that period of time. And finally, a 100-year event. Above a 100-year event is not looked at at all. For example, the flood of 1985 was way over a 100-year event. Huge amounts of the middle part of Cheyenne got wet. It happens. If you have two inches of rain in 15 minutes, somebody's going to get wet. So backing up, though, and not giving a lesson on drainage, Aspen Ridge is correct in all of its required engineering and reviews by the county. As far as traffic control, it's been looked at two times now and certified by a professional traffic engineer and stamped it. The one difference that I would say, this is actually less traffic. It's hard to imagine, but it is. It's less traffic for two of these type of RVs than a family occupying a mobile home. And also, this traffic is predominantly going to go south to the work. It's not coming into town. So that's really about all I have to say. It's all been studied pretty completely. I would comment about the piles of dirt. Really, this dirt is free dirt, we call it. It's good dirt. It comes out of the construction that's being done at South Fork. It is being stockpiled in one location because when we utilize that dirt, we need to pick it up again, spread it, compact it, water it, put it in place so that it's got good bearing capability for the streets and the lots. That's all that's going on.

Thank you, Mr. Edwards. All right. Commissioners?

Mr. Chair, I move to recommend approval of the Aspen Valley subdivision zone change from urban residential low density to planned unit development to allow campgrounds as a use by right and adopt the findings of fact A and B of the staff report with two conditions. One, all agency review comments must be addressed prior to submission of the site plan application. And two, a privacy fence must be installed to comply with the condition placed at the time of the approval of Aspen Valley subdivisions.

Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Discussion by the commission?

Commissioner Thompson? Mr. Chair, so I understand the neighbors' concerns. But I also understand the need for projects like this in our community right now. And I think that we've got a developer here that has developed a lot of property in Laramie County that has done a responsible job. of taking care of neighbors of taking care of drainage of taking care of traffic um and and so i i to me this fits um and so i'm going to be in favor of this project today thank you commissioner thompson commissioner heath

Yes, Mr. Chair, through you. I was looking at retirement communities and what size lots many of these communities are. Typical RV retirement community. Lots range from 30 to 40 feet and 55 to 80 feet long, providing space for the vehicle, slide outs, a tow vehicle, and a small patio. It looks to me like when you start looking at lots that are 50 feet wide and 130 feet feet deep, you've far exceeded the retirement community lot size. There were some comments made about the traffic. YDOT has been talking to several of the data centers down there as to how to mitigate the traffic down there on the south side. It's going to take money. It's going to take time to figure that out. So the impact is going to be, relief is going to be slow in coming. But The conversation has begun as to how to deal with the traffic down there. And I, like a lot of the neighbors down there, don't like the traffic, but it is what it is, and we end up dealing with it. I've lived in places that it's far worse, and that's just the daily travel, not just from certain industries that are coming in. So I'm going to be in support of this today.

Thank you, Commissioner Heath. Commissioner Swanson.

Mr. Chairman, through you, I just wanted to make note about the emergency services comment. I'm looking through the packet here, and it looks like it has been reviewed by the Sheriff's Office, the fire warden, the fire district, South Cheyenne Water and Sewer District. So it has gone through all the agency review comments, periods. They've been through just about every process they need to to look at the water, the emergency response. I'm not sure who at the Sheriff's Department people were talking with, but according to They're under sheriff here. They've been through all those agency comments. They've all been made aware. And to me, like, all their paperwork is in order and ready to go, and they've done their due diligence, and they've tried to accommodate the best they can for the needs that we have based upon trying to be good and neighborly. I see that the fence is in here as well, so that fence is definitely getting put up. It's one of the requirements. And, again, I see no reason to not approve this today.

Thank you, Commissioner Swanson. Yeah, so first, Mr. Winters and Ms. Scheele, I have driven out there. I didn't drive through the area. I checked out. I noticed the dirt. I did notice those things, but I have been in the neighborhood and did go look at the project area. So I just want you to be aware of that. I understand concerns anytime somebody is doing something next door to you. Commissioner Thompson has a great story about when he bought his house. Behind it was 640 acres of corn, and he loved that corn. And then one day it was houses. And the only way he could prevent it from being houses was to buy all that land and all that corn. And that's something I truly believe in. I understand Ms. Madrid's points regarding the socioeconomic impacts of projects and housing. But I'd say that even if we were to not approve a single additional project starting today in all of Laramie County or the city of Cheyenne, the workforce is here and is coming for the projects already approved. And so we need a way to protect local renters currently. And I think that this is a good option. And it's a good option brought to us by a local developer who has a long history of doing good work in our community. It's not some out-of-state company coming and looking to do work. It's somebody that is a member of our community. So I do appreciate that. to Ms. McCoy's comments about looking at putting these out in the middle of nowhere. We've got plenty of land. I don't think that's the government's job is to tell people what they should do with their land. I don't think I should go to a landowner and say, you need to make this into housing. That is not my role. You have the right in America to make as much money as you want, and you have the right in America to lose as much money as you want. And if a business owner thinks that this is a good use of their funds and their development and their land, then I don't think it's the government's place to stand in their way, especially when they meet all of our criteria. They have all of the reviews from all of our necessary agencies.

Their water comes from Southside Water and Sewer.

The Sheriff's Office, the fire districts, EMA, everybody has commented. And the stamped plans come from licensed engineers. I have to defer to the lawful use of that property. And so I will be a yes. And with that, roll call, please.

Commissioner Heath? Aye. Commissioner Hollingshead?

Aye.

Commissioner Thompson? Aye. Commissioner Zwaneser? Aye. Chairman Maum?

Aye. Is there anything else to come before us today?

Mr. Chairman, there's no further business.

All right. We are adjourned. Thank you.