One More For The Road

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Verdict: Deserved....."}]

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Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>One More For The Road: Thursday, December 26, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Verdict: Deserved.....

One More For The Road: Thursday, December 26, 2024

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Outdoors

Adam Fink, the owner of Laird Sanitation LLC (“Got Poop?”) in Greybull, says trying to retrieve anything that's fallen into an outhouse, portable toilet, or vault toilet isn't worth the risk and effort. 

That includes sunglasses, which is what a man in central California was trying to recover when he fell into a vault toilet and had to be rescued from its fetid depths last week.

“Aside from a family heirloom or a wedding ring, it’s not worth digging through a pile of waste to recover something that’s fallen into a vault toilet,” Fink told Cowboy State Daily. "Even then, you should call someone, not try to get it yourself."

The incident occurred June 20 at Camp Edison on the Sierra National Forest, northeast of Fresno.

According to media reports, the unidentified man trying to recover his sunglasses was stuck inside for about 15 minutes before being rescued.

Fink typically doesn’t deal with vault toilets in Wyoming’s state and national parks, but he knows what horrors can lurk at their depths. This man was lucky he wasn’t down there deeper or longer, he said.

“A vault toilet can be anywhere from three to 10 feet deep,” he said. “If you jump in, you may not be touching bottom. It's not worth the risk."

[{"type":"text","text":"Disturbing Depths"}]

For the unfamiliar, vault toilets are non-flush toilets in which human waste is deposited into a large underground tank. Because no water is used, the waste sits until it’s pumped out and transported to a treatment facility.

Vault toilets are common in national parks and campgrounds where running water and sewer lines are unavailable. They can go several months or longer without being pumped.

You don’t know what diseases might be running around in there with all the human waste,” Fink said.

While vault toilets don’t use water, many are at least partially filled with the same biodegradable chemical solution Fink and others use to fill portable toilets. It helps break down everything that falls inside.

Nobody likes the idea of being partially submerged in a caustic chemical bath at the bottom of a vault toilet, but it’s preferable to everything else floating at the bottom.

Then there are the “lily pads” that give people a false sense of hope.

“Those vaults and tanks will develop a bit of a crust on top, or the toilet paper will act as a lily pad,” Fink said. “You might see something you dropped sitting right at the surface, but that doesn’t mean that’s the bottom.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Bowels Of Hell"}]

People lose items in portable toilets and vault toilets all the time. The lengths some will go to retrieve these lost objects can have dangerous and humiliating consequences.

In August 2022, a man was stuck in a vault toilet at Fishtrap Creek in western Montana for three hours, half-naked, after trying to recover his phone. Morgan Jacobsen, spokesperson for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, relayed the full details of the incident to VICE News.

“The man undressed, removed the toilet and climbed (into the vault) to retrieve his phone,” Jacobsen said. “He was unable to climb out and was stuck for about three hours until a few other people came along and were able to help him.”

The Good Samaritans saved the man from the bowels of Hell by lowering a camp chair into the vault, which he used as a platform to climb out.

In April 2022, a woman in Washington’s Olympic National Park was stuck in a vault toilet for more than an hour after she 

That incident was enough for the Wyoming Division of Parks and Cultural Resources to release a statement discouraging visitors from doing the same.

“While rare, we have received reports from several parks over the years,” spokesperson Gary Schoene said. “First and foremost, people should contact the respective park staff if they should drop their phone in the toilet. We advise folks not to reach down or try to retrieve the phone themselves because of the potential for dangerous, noxious gases in the vault.”

The Teton Raptor Center's Porta Potty Owl Project, or "

," developed a special screen to cover the open-pipe chimney on many vault toilets to protect owls and other birds. Getting stuck in a vault toilet might be a disturbing moment and memory for people, but it's often fatal for animals. 

"In our complicated times of complex problems, this is an issue for wildlife with a simple, affordable solution,” Teton Raptor Center CEO Amy McCarthy told Cowboy State Daily. “It's making a difference that has led to the safety of thousands of wild creatures, one toilet at a time.”

[{"type":"text","text":"The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and Camp Edison staff"}]

rescued the man who fell into the vault toilet within 15 minutes. CAL Fire personnel hosed him off.

“(We) were able to safely get him out, decontaminate him, and he’ll be OK,” said Sgt. Chris Tullus with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.

Fink has recovered many items that have been dropped into portable toilets.

[{"type":"text","text":"Few, he believes, were worth the call."}]

“We find items of all sorts in vaults and portable toilets, but they’re usually trash,” he said.

A smartphone can cost close to $2,000 in 2026. Nobody wants to lose that much in one fell swoop, but Fink said it’s probably best to leave that phone where it dropped.

“When it comes to cellphones, there's a thing called the Cloud,” he said. “If you're not backing your information up to the Cloud, this is a good reminder that it's probably time to do that, because it’s not worth diving into a vault toilet.”

That’s assuming a phone would even work after soaking in a cocktail of human waste and chemicals. Stranger things have happened, however.

When Wyoming outdoorsman Paul Ulrich dropped his iPhone into a vault toilet, he didn’t even consider trying to recover it.

“I never wanted to see that phone again,” he told 

Nevertheless, when he had his son call the phone hours later, it was still working.

“You gotta credit Apple,” he said. “At the bottom of an outhouse, which probably hadn’t been emptied since the 1940s, and it was still working. God bless America.”

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<title>Wyoming Outhouse Expert Says Retrieving Sunglasses From Vault Toilets Is Bad Idea | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The owner of a Wyoming sanitation company said it's not worth it to jump in a vault toilet to retrieve sunglasses like a man in California did last week. “It's anywhere from 3 to 10 feet deep,” he said. “If you jump in, you may not be touching bottom."

Wyoming Outhouse Expert Says Retrieving Sunglasses From Vault Toilets Is Bad Idea

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Jackie Dorothy.

Jackie Dorothy

Wyoming Life

They have been dubbed by historians as the Arapaho Five, warriors who found themselves fighting against the cavalry in the Battle of the Little Bighorn 150 years ago this week. In the spring of 1876, these young bucks, as they called themselves, snuck off from the fort where their band was camping and became part of history. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Their names were Left Hand, Yellow Eagle, Yellow Fly, Water Man and Sage."}]

In 1919, Tim McCoy, actor and adopted member of the Arapaho tribe, was sitting in a powwow with several Arapaho friends on the Wind River Indian Reservation along the Little Wind River. 

He later related the story to Darryl Ponicsan in a June 1977 article for the American Heritage magazine, 

“High Eagle The Many Lives Of Colonel Tim Mccoy

“They started telling me that Old Water Man was in that fight,” McCoy said. “I sort of scoffed at it because every Indian and his brother was in that fight. Practically all of them killed Custer.”

However, when McCoy began asking Water Man questions, the old Arapaho answered them all accurately. Determined to have the old men tell the stories themselves, McCoy arranged for separate interviews with Water Man and Left Hand in nearby Riverton by 1920. 

The other three warriors had already gone to the “great mystery” according to Left Hand and 

. However,  Sage, was still living near St. Stephens under the name of Sherman Sage. Only remnants of Sage's own story were ever recorded.

The two warriors McCoy knew about agreed their stories needed told.

“I had lived 22 snows at the time of the great battle on the Little Bighorn River,” 

told McCoy. “Soon Left Hand and I must go to the long sleep, and no one will be alive to tell the story, so I will tell you, whom the Arapahoes call their Soldier-Chief, everything just as I saw it, and nothing that is not the truth.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Left Hand & Water Man"}]

Left Hand began his story by stating that he was part Blackfeet and part Cheyenne but had always lived among the Arapaho. He was born in the Powder River Country and, in 1876, was camped with the Arapaho at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, drawing rations, when he left with a war party to fight the Shoshones.

“When we were young men, it was the custom of the young Indian to go on small war parties looking for Shoshones or other unfriendly tribes,” Water Man explained. “If our medicine was good, we sometimes returned to camp with a scalp or a number of ponies.” 

The young bucks rode north into the buffalo country and, near the Little Bighorn River just south of what is now Crow Agency, Montana, met a small party of Sioux.

“They told us that the Sioux were going to have a sundance and said that we should come along with them to the Sioux village and have a good time,” Water Man said. “Afterward I learned that these Sioux thought we were scouts for the white soldiers.”

Unaware that they were being tricked, the five Arapaho rode with the Sioux. As they came near the village, a great many Sioux came out of the camp.

“They took all our guns away, and made us prisoners, saying that we were scouts of the white man, and that they were going to kill us,” Water Man said.

Young Two Moon, nephew of Cheyenne Chief Two Moon, said all the Sioux believed they were scouts from a camp of soldiers. He verified the Arapahos' claim of being held prisoner in a 1908 interview with George Bird Grinnell.

“Two men took their part — Black Wolf and Last Bull,” Young Two Moon said. “They said the people should wait and not act hastily.”

The Arapaho were taken into Two Moon’s lodge. The Sioux threatened to kill the five all night.

“In the morning, Two Moon, Chief of the Cheyenne, learned we were Arapahoes, so he went to the Sioux Chiefs and made them give us back our guns and set us free,” Water Man said.

The Arapaho were given back their guns but not allowed to leave camp. The young men saw the sun rise two times and the village grew to thousands of warriors, the most any had ever seen in one place.

It was on the third day, June 25, 1876, that the battle began.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The War Cries"}]

All the Arapaho men had readied themselves for the battle. Water Man said he was dressed in beaded leggings, breechclout, a white shirt and a large war bonnet. Left Hand was dressed in a shirt and breechclout, and his medicine was a piece of buffalo hide made into a cross with two feathers in it, which he wore in his hair.

“My face was painted yellow and red and, around my neck, tied in a deer-skin medicine bag, was a certain root, which was my medicine,” Water Man said. “I still have that same medicine,”

Left Hand said the first attack, led by Major Marcus Reno, was at the south end of the village when the sun was at the position of about 9 a.m.

“The soldiers fired a few shots, but when we rushed toward them, they became frightened and started back across the river,” Left Hand said. “Many of them lost their horses and had to swim across."

He described how the soldiers climbed on a high ridge and built a barricade.

“There were many soldiers killed there,” Left Hand said. “The Sioux were all around them.”

When the sun was straight up, about noon, Left Hand heard shooting at the lower end of the village and knew it must be more soldiers.

“I went down through the village and crossed the river with a large party of Sioux and Cheyennes,” Left Hand said. “We Arapahoes had all gotten separated during the first fight.”

 had joined a group of warriors at the lower end of the village and fought off troops who were trying to cross the river and attack the camp. During the earlier part of the fight, Waterman was in a small gulch below the hill where the soldiers were stationed. He later moved up the hill and closed in on the enemy.

“There was a great deal of noise and confusion,” Water Man said. “The air was heavy with powder smoke, and the Indians were all yelling.”

Water Man said Crazy Horse, the Sioux Chief, was the bravest man he had ever seen.

“Crazy Horse rode closest to the soldiers, yelling to his warriors,” he said. “All the soldiers were shooting at him, but he was never hit.”

Water Man said he only knew of one soldier he personally killed. It was near the end of the fight when they rushed to the top of the hill and finished all that were still alive.

“I killed him with my gun, but did not scalp him because the Arapahoes do not scalp a man with short hair, only long hair,” Water Man said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Killed A Sioux But Not White Soldier"}]

Left Hand, who counted 13 coup during the battle, saw an Indian on foot who was wounded in the leg.

“Thinking he was one of the Crow or Arikara scouts with the soldiers, I rode at him, striking at him with a long lance which I carried,” Left Hand said. “The head of the lance was sharpened like an arrow. It struck him in the chest and went clear through him.”

The Indian fell over a pile of dead soldiers. Afterward. Left Hand discovered the man he killed was actually Sioux.

“The Sioux were going to kill me because I had killed their friend,” Left Hand said. “One Sioux tried to take my horse away from me, but I would not give him up.

“Everyone was excited. The hills were swarming with Indians, all yelling and shooting.”

Left Hand said that as he came up on the ridge, one soldier, who was on the ground, handed him his gun.

“I took the gun and did not kill him, but some Sioux who were behind me killed him,” Left Hand said. “I went back and took his belt, which had many cartridges in it.”

McCoy said the soldier was wounded and handed Left Hand his gun to surrender.

“They didn’t understand. You don’t surrender to an Indian 

 you either fight or you die,” McCoy said. “Left Hand took the gun, but he couldn’t use it because the shell jammed in the chamber.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Custer’s Last Stand"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Both Water Man and Left Hand saw Custer near the end of the fight."}]

“He was dressed in buckskin and was standing up and had pistols in his hands shooting into the Indians,” Left Hand said. “I did not see him again until it was all over. I walked around and saw him lying there. He was dead.”

Water Man also reported that Custer was wearing buckskin. But by the time he saw him, Custer was on his hands and knees.

“He had been shot through the side and there was blood coming from his mouth,” Water Man said. “He seemed to be watching the Indians moving around him.”

Water Man described how four soldiers were sitting up around Custer, but they were all badly wounded. The next time he saw Custer, he was dead.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Snuck Away"}]

After the squaws, as the old men called the women of the tribe, had cleared the battlefield, the Arapahoes knew they had to escape. The Sioux were angry at Left Hand for killing one of their own and were waiting to take revenge.

The next morning, the Sioux broke camp and started for the mountains. They had heard some soldiers were coming up the river, and the Indians were scared.

“That night after they had made camp and it was dark, we four Arapahoes crawled out to the pony herd and, each mounting a pony, slipped away,” Left Hand said. “We travelled as fast as we could back to Fort Robinson where the Arapahoes were.”

At the time they shared their stories with McCoy, the old men were living on the reservation and life was much different.

“The buffalo are all gone, and the Indians who once roamed these plains and were happy are now held on reservations as wards of the government,” Water Man said. “We are old men now, and soon we too must pass over to the great mystery. That is why I have told you this story.”

Left Hand also commented on how different times were during his 1920 interview.

“The white men used to trade us guns for buffalo robes, but now it is all changed,” Left Hand said. “The buffalo are all gone, the antelope are gone, and now we old men can only sit by the fire, sing our war songs and dream of the past.”

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<title>The Arapaho Five: Unsuspecting Braves Who Fought Custer 150 Years Ago This Week | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Five young Arapaho braves snuck off from Fort Robinson 150 years ago this week and fought the 7th Cavalry at Little Bighorn, where General Custer met his demise. They later told their story to actor and adopted member of the Arapaho tribe, Tim McCoy.

The Arapaho Five: Unsuspecting Braves Who Fought Custer 150 Years Ago This Week

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, June 24th.  I’m Mac Watson

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":"–"}]

During a lengthy meeting that grew contentious, the Kemmerer City Council on Monday approved an ordinance establishing regulations for a possible man camp inside city limits. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that despite resident’s objections, Mayor Robert Bowen says, “The groundwork’s been laid.

“The Kemmerer City Council was adamant at the meeting on Monday that there is no man camp guaranteed. The ordinance just lays this groundwork. One place that has gotten interest from potential developers for a possible man camp is an area near this Antelope Ridge subdivision. Multiple people were at this meeting who live in that subdivision saying we don't want this in our backyard. the main concerns are safety, one woman brought up, you know, when you have people in groups, strange things happen.”

Developers are proposing a temporary hub to house workers who will build the TerraPower nuclear power plant near Kemmerer.

The Wyoming Supreme Court denied a Cheyenne-based attorney’s request for an order appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Secretary of State Chuck Gray for handing sensitive voter data to the federal government on Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the high court also denied the attorney, George Powers’ request that it order Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz to recuse himself from this investigation since Kautz’s office has reportedly counseled Gray on the voter data transfer.

“George Powers had asked the Wyoming Supreme Court to make the Attorney General's office recuse itself from Fowler's requested investigation of Chuck Gray, and for the High Court to appoint a special prosecutor for that investigation itself. And now, while the Attorney General fired back last week, like we already got special prosecutors to look into this. The high court officially ended the case on Tuesday, saying George Powers, you didn't show that the Attorney General's office had shirked a clear duty here, so we're not going to make the Attorney General do certain things.”

The U.S. Department of Justice last year urged Gray to hand over unredacted voter rolls bearing driver's licenses or partial social security numbers. Gray did so, public records indicate. He’s since said repeatedly that Kautz’s office advised him in this, and approved the release.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"–"}]

At a meeting in Denver on Tuesday, Wyoming's state engineer said 2026 is “one of the worst, if not the worst, hydrologic years on record.” Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports the engineer added it’s due to the dire water situation in the Colorado River's Upper Basin states. 

“There's a representative from each of the four states, which are Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico. Our representative is our state engineer, Brendan Gebhart. Bottom line is looking really grim. I think Gebhart said, from a hydrological standpoint, it's one of the worst, if not the worst years we have on record for the Colorado River.  The commissioner from Utah mentioned that there's already towns there that have run out of water and are having to truck it in little towns in Utah.”

Members of the Upper Colorado River Commission expressed frustration during the meeting, saying water-management policy needs to shift away from legal wrangling and toward the realities of water availability. The commission didn’t make any policy decisions, and plans to meet again this summer.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"– "}]

The Wyoming group that launched a civility movement after the killing of Charlie Kirk has gotten candidates to sign a peacemaker pledge to love their enemies. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that includes gubernatorial candidates Eric Barlow and Megan Degenfelder.

“They launched in September after the killing of Charlie Kirk, calling for civility in politics. They, this candidate, see this election season, they released a pledge for candidates to sign if they wish, where they're basically promising to love their enemies, stand on their principles, but not resort to cruelty. And as of Monday, 35 candidates had signed it, including two running for governor.”

Three of the 10 Republican U.S. House candidates have also signed the pledge: Senate President Bo Biteman, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, and Casper-based veteran Kevin Christensen. U.S. Senate candidate Jimmy Skovgard is also among the signers.

I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":"–  "}]

Cheyenne’s City Council moved a massive 3,500-acre data center annexation closer to approval Monday night, rejecting an effort to secure a $50 million community benefits agreement. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that Mayor Patrick Collins recently described as “extortion.”

“What are the impacts of that? Councilman Wolf felt that the city should be looking to get more out of the deal, so that it could handle or deal with those impacts, but the council did not agree. There were three votes for such seeking an agreement and the rest were against. It's a nine-member council. The mayor was absent, and so you know that went down to defeat. Some of the councilmen pointed out that they can still seek annexation agreements.”

The tract, roughly one-fifth the size of Cheyenne and adjacent to Microsoft’s existing data centers, is envisioned as a long-term expansion site where it would build its facilities out over the next 10 to 20 years. 

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory confirmed Tuesday that a hydrothermal explosion occurred in Yellowstone's Biscuit Basin. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that Yellowstone authorities say they observed water spouting 30 feet into the air.

“When geologists went out there the next day, they found a 21-foot-wide crater filled with boiling water, a 60 foot long fissure, and several vents that were draining water into the nearby Fire Hole River.  I spoke with Mike Poland, the scientist in charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, and he said that this is evidence that these incidents are very shallow and they're very localized, that they only occur in individual thermal features rather than affecting an entire basin.”

Biscuit Basin has been closed since a similar explosion occurred at nearby Black Diamond Pool in July 2024.

Wyoming lawmakers started work on Tuesday to lift the upper limit on county prosecutors' salaries, topping out at $180,000. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the bill would raise Wyoming Supreme Court Justices’ salaries and district court judge salaries as well.

“A lot of these salaries for prosecutors, judges were set like 18 years ago in state law, so that's a hard figure that remains rigid in state law, even as inflation and other factors take off, and so they're having a look at raising those, those amounts, and also maybe tying them to some kind of an escalator that hinges on economic factors like inflation and cost of living.”

If it becomes law, the bill now being drafted would raise Wyoming Supreme Court Justices’ salaries from $187,250 to nearly $225,000, district court judge salaries from $171,200 to almost $202,000, and circuit court judges from $153,700 to $180,000. Those figures would change over time based on economic metrics, as they’d be tethered to federal judge salaries, which have built-in escalators.

A Colorado woman, accused of stealing $2,000 worth of pyrotechnics from Artillery World along Interstate 25 in Cheyenne, is headed to district court. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that the woman allegedly drove toward store employees at high speed to avoid being detained.

“61-year-old Sandra Bafia loaded up her cart at a fireworks stand at Cheyenne, and then left without paying. As she was putting the fireworks into her car, two employees tried to stop her. Bafia scratched one employee, and then she pushed off the other one, got into her car, and then turned the car around and drove toward the employees as if to hit them. She missed them. If convicted, Bafia faces up to 10 years in prison. Anything over $1,000 in the state of Wyoming is considered a felony.”

Sandra May Bafia waived her preliminary hearing on Monday in Laramie County Circuit Court, sending the case to district court more than a year after the alleged theft. If convicted, Bafia faces up to 10 years in prison. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"—"}]

And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on 

 - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our 

 channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

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<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Wednesday, June 24, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wednesday's headlines include:
* Cheyenne OKs Microsoft Annexation
* Kemmerer Lays Groundwork For Man Camp
* Explosion Creates Boiling Crater In Yellowstone

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Energy

Microsoft officials said the company is willing to talk about 

a $50 million community benefits agreement,

 but after Monday night’s Cheyenne City Council vote it won’t be necessary.

The council voted to advance the annexation of a 3,500-acre tract of land into the city, but rejected the idea of a community benefits agreement on an 8-to-3 vote. Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins was absent from the meeting.

The tract, roughly one-fifth the size of Cheyenne and adjacent to Microsoft’s existing data centers, is envisioned as a long-term expansion site where it would build its facilities out over the next 10 to 20 years. Supporters have framed the move as key to jobs and the tax base, while opponents have said the city is giving up leverage and reshaping the community without locking in enough concrete benefits or fully understanding water, traffic and neighborhood impacts.

Councilman Larry Wolfe brought the amendment that sought the $50 million agreement, saying it was necessary because of the extraordinary scale of the annexation. 

Wolfe’s proposal outlined collecting $10 million annually for five years starting July 2027 to fund permanent improvements to Cheyenne. The agreement should also spell out an expectation, Wolfe has suggested, that Microsoft will use state-of-the-art technology to minimize water use, eliminate emissions, and set contractual guardrails on as many as 40 different items ranging from traffic and noise to wildlife and affordable housing. 

Collins called the proposal for a $50 million community benefits agreement “extortion” the first time Wolfe mentioned it.

Wolfe asked Microsoft executives whether there would be any harm in a four-month delay so the city could negotiate terms of the annexation. 

Microsoft’s land-development manager Rachel Irwing indicated the company is “willing to work with the city in whatever way is beneficial for both the city and this project” and is “open to discussions,” but added the company does want to move forward on the project as quickly as possible.

Microsoft spokesman Jonathan Noble, meanwhile, said that while the company’s timeline for the development is 10 to 20 years, they don’t plan to wait that long to start.

“That’s the reason why we’re eager to really lay the groundwork, establish the rules, work with city staff, make sure that we are all clear on the investment that is going to require,” Noble said. “That’s investment by Microsoft in conjunction with the city, various other folks, to build out the sewer, water, power, etcetera, and to make sure we are shouldering that cost completely. That takes time to design. It also takes time to build. Our hope is to start building well before that 10-year mark.”

The company could, Noble added, move forward under Laramie County, but felt it was better for the project and the community to proceed under the city. 

Councilman Pete Laybourn, meanwhile, wanted to know if the company had considered an annexation agreement similar to the one made for Sweetgrass, the only other comparably-sized property the city has annexed. 

Noble said the company is not looking for any exemptions from the city’s normal development processes, saying its existing structure has worked for the city and will work for Microsoft.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Growth Isn’t The Issue"}]

Public comments on Monday underscored a divide over how — not whether — Cheyenne should grow. 

While some residents completely oppose growth, most said they want clearer evidence the city is grasping the pace of development and guiding it to an appropriate landing.

“I’m not here to oppose growth,” long-time real estate broker Wendy Volk told the council. “Wyoming has always embraced innovation, entrepreneurship and opportunity. Economic development matters, and our state has a proud history of powering the nation through agriculture, mining and energy production.”

But even she finds the speed and scale of incoming industrial projects disconcerting.

“I believe we must ask some … broader questions about how we grow and who bears the cost,” she said. “We experience (these projects) cumulatively. We experience increased demands on shared roads. We see growing demands on water systems, emergency services, housing and public infrastructure.”

A key question, Volk added, is the character of southeastern Wyoming left for future generations. 

“Growth itself is not the issue,” she said. “The issue is whether we have a long-term plan and whether growth is paying for its share.”

Volk said it’s fair for the community to ask companies that will benefit from the growth to be stronger partners in building out infrastructure and mitigating impacts.

“Once the character of a community changes, it is difficult to restore,” she said. “I’m not asking for us to stop progress. I’m asking for us to guide it wisely, with transparency, thoughtful planning, and a commitment to ensuring that growth strengthens our communities rather than placing new burdens upon them.”

For Harmony Meadows resident Heather Madrid the lack of a defined plan ahead of approving the annexation is a red flag that says the city isn’t doing it’s job to mind the store.

“The lack of a plan is not a legitimate reason to forgo any kind of annexation agreement,” she said. “In fact it’s quite the opposite. It’s a reason to wait until Microsoft has some idea what they’re doing here.”

Madrid also questioned how the city can claim the annexation will benefit residents when there’s been no examination of how much water will be used, how many backup generators will be necessary, and whether city services such as police, fire, and EMS will be reasonably available.

Without those details, the property is “not ready to be annexed, plain and simple,” Madrid said, adding that “corporate philanthropy is not a substitute for proper planning.”

Those speaking for the data center’s annexation and against any postponement mostly came from building trade groups and from Microsoft itself.

Rob Turse, business agent for Local 192, was among them.

Cheyenne’s City Council moved a massive 3,500-acre data center annexation closer to approval Monday night, rejecting an effort to secure a $50 million community benefits agreement that Mayor Patrick Collins recently described as "extortion."

One More For The Road: Thursday, December 26, 2024

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