CHEYENNE - It's expensive, and it's long.

Tuesday's special election ballot in Laramie County for a sixth-cent, specific-purpose sales tax lists four propositions for 31 projects for Cheyenne, Laramie County, Burns, Albin and Pine Bluffs. The total price tag is $105 million.

The highest-profile item by far is $55 million for a recreation center in north-central Cheyenne. It stands alone as Proposition 4.

A political action committee, Citizens for the Recreation Center, is sponsoring radio and TV ads and multiple direct mailings. "YES on 4" yard signs are visible in nearly every block in Cheyenne.

Opponents are not organized but make their views known in letters to the local newspaper, on talk radio and in a couple of ads. Their common complaint is the cost and the potential negative impact the center would have on private health clubs, particularly the YMCA.

Supporters say Cheyenne needs a family recreation center like other cities have.

Todd Feezer, special projects manager for the Cheyenne Parks and Recreation Department, said he has made about 50 presentations on the recreation center. He said there has been a lot of misinformation circulated which he tried to combat with a recent question-and-answer guest editorial in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle.

One example of misinformation is the assertion in one letter to the newspaper that said the new recreation center would have more square footage than facilities in Boulder County, Colo. Feezer said Boulder County has 11 municipal recreation centers and three YMCAs, so the assertion was way off the mark.

Another erroneous�claim was that the recreation complex plan is not "green" because the entrance faces north. Feezer said the purpose of the north entrance was so the south-facing glass can absorb solar energy.

The entire building would be energy efficient, including electrical systems that turn on and off according to the level of activity, he said.

"It's been fun. It's been my first time through it. I'm kind of enjoying it on one level, but I'm also extremely nervous about it," Feezer said last week.

Opponents also contend the city's south side was shorted again because the recreation center site is in north Cheyenne.

Feezer said the 17.3 acres for the 170,000-square-foot recreation center are about a half mile from the Cole Shopping Center, which is the center of Cheyenne. Moreover, the city department is building a youth activity center in south Cheyenne to open in June in David Romero Park.

The city won't close Johnson Pool on the south side unless another pool is available in the new youth activity center, a few blocks away.

"It's hard for me to believe we're shorting anybody because of location," Feezer said.

Detractors

One of the opponents of the recreation center is John Mewes.

"I personally and a lot of other people feel it's a lot of money for something that's not going to used by the average person," Mewes said.

He noted that there are several gyms, the YMCA, and the community college available in the city.

"A convention center now would be nice like in Gillette, but to have something that's nothing but a workout station, golly," Mewes said.

He added that he believes the recreation center will pass.

"We've got quite a bit of propaganda in the mail about it, and it's constantly on the news and in the newspaper,� Mewes said.

The center would have a senior/community wing, indoor and outdoor pools, a climbing wall, fieldhouse, gymnasium, basketball courts, cardio and fitness areas, an arts and crafts room, a woodworking shop, party rental rooms and community gathering space.

Fees for Laramie County users would be $30 per month for adults, $20 per month for youths, $25 per month for seniors, and $45 per month for families.

Citizens Opposing Spendthrift Taxation has run a couple of ads that claim the recreation center would lose about $1 million per year because the fees would not cover the operating expenses.

Jack Quirk, a COST member, said he has studied the 2005 feasibility study and a 2007 construction guide and believes the numbers don't add up and some equipment costs are excessive.

He also said the ballot is not a true menu ballot.

For example,�a $2.8 million project to extend the Cheyenne Greenway and $750,000 for the Botanic Gardens project are lumped under Proposition 1 with money for Burns, Pine Bluffs and a new $2.98 million shooting sports education center

Supporters

The Citizens for the Recreation Center PAC, meanwhile, spent�$53,000 so far on the �YES on 4� campaign.

Matt Pope, the chairman, said�the money came from donations. It was spent on three mailers, yard signs, a couple of ads and a professional survey at the beginning of the campaign that showed 62 percent of residents said they were definitely for or probably for the recreation center.

Joe Ahern, chairman of the advisory council for the center, said his group got the ball rolling three years ago with the original feasibility study and devised a strategy to make�the recreation center�a reality.

This strategy included letters to the editor, working with the political action committee, putting out yard signs and answering questions from the public.

The committee will continue to answer questions from the public until the center is built, he said.

The center wouldn't compete against other facilities because nothing exists like it in Cheyenne currently, he said.

Also, he said the council will work on a scholarship and grant program for underprivileged youth who can't afford the fees.

Will it pass?

"Most definitely,� Ahern said.

The Laramie County clerk's office, meanwhile, said absentee voting was running slightly ahead of 2003, the last time a sixth-penny tax proposal was on the ballot. Voters then approved the new county library in Cheyenne.

About 100 people a day have been casting absentee ballots, a spokesperson said last week, and the county clerk's office mailed out 2,200 absentee ballots.

Contact Joan Barron at joan.barron@trib.com or by phone at 307-632-1244.

* Last we knew: Laramie County officials approved 31 projects costing $105 million to be financed with a proposed sixth-penny sales tax.

* The latest: The�most vigorous campaign has been for a controversial new $55 million family recreation center.

* What's next:�The special county election is Tuesday.]]->