Cheyenne City Councilman Dr. Mark Rinne is hoping an ordinance creating a management team will give the West Edge Civic Center Commons project a push forward.

The City Council passed a resolution on December 27 supporting the expedient completion of the project, but Rinne says the council has "not seen the movement on it" that they want to see.

"It's just kind of been slowed down, tied up, bound up in the Engineer's Office," said Rinne. "We want to get it off dead center and get it moving forward because there is a deadline to the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) grant and we don't want to lose out on that."

Rinne says the seven-member management team would be comprised of representatives from the City Council, Parks and Recreation, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Planning Services Department, the Engineer's Office, the Downtown Development Authority and a citizen at large.

"The idea is just to get a little broader representation," said Rinne. "I mean, essentially the project's paid for if we can just get it going."

The roughly $5.9 million drainage project, which is being funded by the sixth-penny sales tax, FEMA, State Loan and Investment Board and Wyoming Business Council grants, will be located just west of the Municipal Building.

Not only will it bolster flood protection to surrounding downtown properties, it will also provide an outdoor space with amphitheater-like seating where people can gather in the heart of downtown.

"Yes it's a drainage project, and that's the main focus of doing Civic Center Commons, but it's more than that," said Rinne. "We think that it's an asset to the West Edge and to this area and we're pretty confident it will stimulate some private development if we go ahead with the project."

The ordinance will go before the Public Services Committee on March 21 and be on second reading when the council meets on March 27.

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