City Council Study Session – October 13, 2025: Alley Agreement, Park Bids, Rezone, License Transfer, and Records Policy
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City Council Study Session – October 13, 2025
On October 13, 2025, at 5:30 PM, the Sheridan City Council held a study session to discuss six agenda items. No formal votes were taken; the session was for discussion and staff briefings. The meeting covered updates to the Smith Alley West use agreement, a bid award for irrigation at Blacktooth Park, a rezone request for multifamily development, a liquor license transfer, and a revised public records request policy. The session concluded with general discussion and future agenda items.
Discussion Items
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Smith Alley West Use Agreement – City Engineer Thomas Marnow presented a proposed five-year lease for the alley adjacent to Smith Alley Brewery (B Tree Partners LLC). The new agreement removes the previous rent of approximately $900/month (based on $1/sq ft between May 1 and December 1). The lessee is responsible for snow removal, maintenance, and ADA compliance. The enclosed area is for alcohol and food service; the northern 10 feet remains open for public access. Councilmember Patzik asked about clarifying language in paragraph seven regarding permanent alterations; staff noted the intent is already for permanent changes and no confusion has arisen. The council expressed support for the equitable treatment compared to the earlier Smith Alley East agreement.
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Bid Award – Blacktooth Park Phase Six Irrigation Project – Thomas Marnow presented the low bid of $222,478 from Highland Inc. for irrigation of approximately five acres around the all-inclusive playground. The project is funded by GPET and public benefits. Councilmember Weitzel asked about tree planting; Parks Director Steve Gage confirmed the city arborist has a tree plan integrated with the irrigation system, and two 24x24 foot shade shelters are planned. Construction is expected to start this fall, with seeding in spring. Staff recommended awarding the contract to Highland Inc. and authorizing the Public Works Director to act on all project matters.
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Rezone Request – PL-25-31, Ordinance 2299 – Planner Kelly Schroeder presented a request from Q Construction LLC to rezone 1 acre at 1039 2nd Avenue East from R1 to B1 to allow multifamily development. The parcel is adjacent to B1, B2, M1, and R1 zones. The intended use is three structures with 24 units total (eight per structure). Councilmember Patzik questioned why the applicant did not seek R3 zoning; staff explained that R3 only allows one multifamily structure per lot, while B1 allows multiple structures. The potential for spot zoning was discussed, but staff noted the property's adjacency to commercial zones makes B1 appropriate. No public comments were received.
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Liquor License Transfer – Cowboy Cafe – City Clerk Ashley Foster presented the administrative transfer of Restaurant License #12 from Cowboy Cafe LLC to KMR Enterprise LLC. The new owners plan no changes to the successful business. The deal is scheduled to close in November, and the new owners have applied for renewal. The council had no questions.
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Revised Public Records Request Policy – Ashley Foster presented an update to the city's policy, last revised in 2018. The policy clarifies processes, incorporates the Wyoming retention schedule, removes fees (to be placed in the master fee schedule), and adds a step-by-step outline for the public. The city's average response time improved from 9.6 days in 2024 to 8.4 days year-to-date in 2025. Common request outcomes: 60% fulfilled, 11% closed/no response, and the remainder referred to other agencies. The council commended staff for timely responses, and Councilmember White asked about the master fee schedule timeline; Foster noted it will be brought before council before year-end.
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General Discussion & Future Agenda Items – City Administrator Stuart reported on the upcoming joint meeting with county commissioners (October 14, 9:00 AM), an RFP for a Gillespie Draw study related to the West Beltway (with two public meetings planned), a quarterly budget execution presentation at the next regular meeting, and the Operation Greenlight initiative (November 4-11) to honor veterans with green lights and a food drive. Councilmember Weitzel raised a question from a high school student about the security of the fire department's residential hazard information program; staff clarified it is housed securely at the fire department with bank-level encryption.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; all items are expected to return for action at a future regular meeting.
- Staff will incorporate feedback on the permanent alterations language in the alley agreement.
- The Blacktooth Park Phase Six bid award is recommended for approval.
- The rezone application will proceed to a public hearing.
- The liquor license transfer and revised public records policy are expected to be approved administratively or at a future meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Well good everyone. Evening, everyone, and welcome to the October 13th, 2025 study session. It's 5 30. We have six items on our agenda. So we'll just get rolling. First is item number one, discussion of Smith Alley West use agreement. And with us is our city engineer Thomas Marnow. Welcome, Thomas. Thank you, Mayor and Council. Yes, this is the Smith Alley West updated use agreements. Back in June of 2025, we approved a new agreement for Smith Alley East. That was Bighorn Design Homes LLC and freshly minted properties LLC, the mint and Paul Del Rossi being the key players there. To uh utilize that alleyway, uh alcohol, do some improvements, etc. A new agreement was brought before this body and was approved where uh the big change from previous agreements is that we no longer require any rental renting of that space. So going forward, we wanted to make sure that our our Smith Alley neighbor to the west had the opportunity for the same agreement, and this is what's before you tonight. So here's our here's Main Street, here's our and here's uh here's Main Street. Here's uh Smith Alley brewery here. Here's the alleyway that they utilize. Half this alleyway here is an enclosed fenced area with uh picnic tables and outdoor seating. They can have alcohol in that area and service or food out there. And then the northern 10 feet here is open to ADA access to get to the back parking lot and to main streets. Uh the adjacent property owner maintains that that alleyway, snow, ice, anything like that. Uh improvements such as the uh the lighting and those the supports and stuff were all approved of by the public works uh director at the time. I believe this was in 2019. So B Tree Partners LLC has property adjacent to Smith Alley West of the Main Street and wish to continue to use the alley for its business and services to the public, being Smith Alley Brewery and alcohol and sales outside in that enclosed area. In May of 2018, an alley use agreement was approved for the applicant to utilize that alley alleyway. And at the time, the Lisi had to pay a rent of one dollar per square foot between uh May 1st and December 1st of each year, came out to about $900 a month. Here's the alley as it stands now. This is what was brought up brought forward back in 2018. Again, the enclosed area for alcohol sales, uh seating extension of the restaurant itself. It is it does have a fence around it, and they do put some uh nice flower planters along there in the summer. And then that northern portion there, that's open for all access. It's 10 feet, so ADA compliant gets to that back uh the alleyway and the backside there, Brooke Street, and then provides access to Main Street. Unfortunately, I didn't get a nice summer picture, so you're gonna have to deal with everything as it's uh getting there getting winterized, but you can see again. Here's uh some of the improvements, the string lighting, outdoor seating. They do have a small little chain fence that goes around the side there. They put planters down the middle here, and this enclosed area is where they can do food and alcohol sales. This area here, open to the public for access to between Main Street and that alleyway there. And again, the adjacent property owner maintains that area, snow shovels, etc. Keeps it clean of debris and all that. So the terms of this agreement, this is the same thing you saw back in June, but I'll uh reiterate it. The agreement is a five-year lease on the alley to the adjacent property owners. Uh the agreement allows for the lease leasey to establish the alley as a place for serving the sale of retail goods and provide benefit to the economic and cultural vitality of Sheridan's historic downtown, having outdoor seating and dining as well as alcoholic beverages in the enclosed area. Again, alcohol is only allowed in the enclosed area. They can't take a drink and walk onto Main Street or outside of that fenced area. Uh the leasey is responsible for snow and ice removal, keeping the premises clean, well maintained, and in good repair, not just the side that they're utilizing for their business, but also the adjacent 10 feet that is used for just true public access thoroughfare. Again, ADA compliance. Uh any improvements and alterations are required to get approval from the public works director. Uh obviously the improvements are done. Nothing's really changing at this time, but if they were to try to change or amend anything, that would go before our public works director.
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