City Council Approves Dinneen’s Purchase

The Cheyenne City Council Monday night voted 6-4 in favor of purchasing the former Dinneen's Car Dealership in downtown Cheyenne as a location for the city's new Public Safety Building.

Voting yes were Mayor Rick Kaysen, Council President Mark Rinne, and council members Jimmy Valdez, Georgia Broyles, Sean Allen and Jim Brown. All four first-term council members--Mike Luna, Dicky Shanor, Brian Cook and Annette Williams--voted against the purchase. The council earlier this year voted against purchasing the property at a price of $1.98 million. The price approved last night was $1.886 million.

That was still more the the value attached to the property by an appraiser hired by the city ($1.68 million). Opponents of the purchase said the city shouldn't pay more than the appraised value of the property, while supporters cited the downtown location as well as the proximity to the Laramie County Detention Center as reasons for supporting the purchase.