Cheyenne Councilman Pulls Resolution, Questions Municipal Court Process
Cheyenne City Councilman Pete Laybourn on Monday night withdrew a resolution calling for the creation of a committee to review the municipal court building process.
Two weeks ago, the council voted to reconsider spending $275,000 on the long-blighted Carey Building for the purpose of building a new courthouse on the site.
"The action we took is definitely well-intentioned," said Laybourn. "But when you mix the purposes -- and the purpose of the specific purpose tax was the courthouse -- with downtown aesthetics, revitalization and remediation of damaged properties, you're really getting far off field."
"The main purpose of my withdrawing the resolution is to do what hasn't happened yet," he added. "That is determine what the court needs (and) what the court's future needs are."
Laybourn says the council may want to take another look at his idea down the road, as the city is facing some "major expenditures."
"We're going to have to be seeking several opportunities for people to propose on services to identify those environmental issues in the building itself," said Laybourn. "Not the property owner, we'll be doing that."
"Then we have the case of the expenditure to demolish the building if we purchase it, which is unidentified at this point, and then we have the cost of designing the building," he added.