The Cheyenne City Council will hold a work session Aug. 7 at 6 p.m. to discuss the future of the Belvoir Ranch.

The city bought the ranch in 2003 for $5.9 million, and spent another $525,000 in 2005 to buy the "Big Hole" property from The Nature Conservancy.

When they bought it, officials wanted the ranch to expand the city's water supply and for a possible landfill site, but the landfill option didn't materialize.

"It's been sitting there for 15 years," said Councilman Scott Roybal.  "We need to get somebody on it."

Roybal has been working to open up the Belvoir with bike trails, and says the city is currently working on a land swap with Dyno Nobel.

"There's a 520-acre strip that comes in off of Harriman," said Roybal.  "I think Dyno Nobel is going to buy that property and then the city has some property behind Dyno Nobel that we're going to swap that with them."

"That'll open the southwest corner so that we can get a trail or two up to where the Big Hole starts," he added.

Roybal says NextEra Energy, who's leasing part of the Belvoir for a wind farm, is going to give the city "some funds to start putting this into a reality."

"They have not broke ground yet," said Roybal.  "They were looking at September-October and being something moving by the spring."

The public is invited to attend the work session, which will be held in room 104 of the Municipal Building at 2101 O'Neil Avenue, but no public comment will be taken.

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