TORRINGTON – The Torrington City Council convened for its first February meeting on Feb. 7 at the Torrington Council Chambers. Mayor Herb Doby was present with council members Richard Patterson, Dennis Kelly, Wayne Deahl and Shane Viktorin. 

The meeting began with Chief of Police Matt Johnson performing a swearing-in ceremony for newly appointed Police Officer Tim Cross. 

“We’re really excited to have Tim Cross join us,” Johnson announced. “He brings a lot to the table and we’re excited to have him. We’re also excited to have him complete his oath of office or swearing-in, in support of our community this evening.” 

Johnson continued by saying they look for a lot of things when hiring a police officer, like character, integrity, a heart for service and passion for the community. The Torrington Police Department will now be fully staffed, with the addition of Cross.
After Cross took his oath and his wife, Paige, honored him by pining on his police badge.

Continuing on, Director of Public Works Jeff Harkins presented the winning bid for the new facility maintenance garage. The winning bid was by Goshen County Construction of Torrington in the amount of $218,000 with a reserve of $10,900 for contingency for a project total of $228,900. The other bid that was received was from Paul Reed Construction in the amount of $257,344. 

This project consists of the construction of a 40’ x 60’ garage. The garage will be steel construction, insulated and lined and will have two doors with windows. The building will also be set up for future installation of electrical, water and sewer utilities.

Last year, the building that was used by this department was sold with the intention of using the funds to build this garage.

Buildings and Grounds Superintendent Dennis Estes explained that this bid is only for the building and its immediate construction.

“We knew that we were not going to have enough money to finish the entire building with water and sewer utilities at this point,” Estes said. “We’re estimating that we’re going to need an extra $30,000 more in the budget to totally finish the building.”

Estes explained that they would like to order the building now because of the long delivery time.

The council unanimously approved the bid.

City Attorney James Eddington read the new ordinance relating to the airport’s ground lease. 

Harkins explained the amendment to this ordinance lowers the ground lease at the airport to $0.07 per square foot of the platted lot area per year. This rent will be adjusted each year according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

“I did some research at the request of Dean McClain, who’s interested in building a hangar up at the airport, about the current rate,” Harkins explained. “He was of the opinion that the current rate we were charging through our program lease was inconsistent with what was being charged around the state. After a lot of review, I tend to agree with him.”

Harkins continued by saying, that Torrington’s current rate was one of the highest rates in the state. The hope is that by reducing the rate, it will increase the interest in those considering building their own private hangars. While this not only brings in revenue from the ground lease, it will also increase the airport’s fuel sales.

McClain addressed the council explaining that in years past the contract used to be that if an individual would build the hangar, they would get to use it for free for 25 years. After that time was up, ownership would go to the city and the individual would get to lease the building for a low price. However, this agreement not only failed to be cost-effective for the city, but it has also failed to attract new people. 

“My goal has been to try to get this airport to be self-sufficient,” Harkins said. “It’s not happening yet and it’s probably going to be a while still, but we’re trying to make progress in that direction.”

The council unanimously approved the first reading relating to the airport ground lease. This is the first of the three readings required for this ordinance to take effect. The last reading will be on March 7.

Estes presented the final plat for Lot A of the Southwest Wyoming Mental Health Center to the council. This plat was originally discussed and approved by the council at the meeting held on Nov. 15, 2022. The goal of this plat is to approve replating the health center into three separate lots.

“During the preliminary plat, about the only questions that came up were from our utility people,” Estes explained. “(The alley at the north side of the property), was pretty sketchy on utilities and easements, legally. When they platted that, it was just an easement for utilities and service trucks.”

Estes said the owners of the easement did approve designating it as a public right away. At this time, the owners have not made any specific plans for the undeveloped third lot.

For this item on the agenda, there was a public hearing held, which allowed any members of the public to speak up for or against the issue. However, no one in the audience made any comments. 

The council unanimously approved the final plat.

Johnson introduced the final approval for the vehicle lease agreement between the city of Torrington and the Goshen County sheriff’s office. The vehicle will be used by the School Resource Officer (SRO) assigned to the Southeast School. This is a zero-dollar lease agreement and the fuel and maintenance costs will be covered by the school district. 

This lease was previously discussed and approved by the council at the Jan. 3 meeting. This approval is for the final details involving the lease. The council approved the lease agreement.

Tom Troxel, the city’s water/wastewater supervisor, presented the bids for a new one-ton extended cab work truck. According to Troxel, none of the bids were favorable and were significantly out of budget. For this reason, Troxel recommended that the council reject all bids and consider re-bidding in April of 2023.

The council approved rejecting the bids.

The council approved the mayor’s appointments for committee assignments and boards. 

Eddington read the ordinance for resolution no. 2023-6 pertaining to the appointments of director and alternate director to the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) board of directors. 

“This is to certify that on Feb. 7, 2023, in the city of Torrington, state of Wyoming, I duly appointed Dana Youtz to serve as director to represent the city of Torrington on the board of directors of the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska,” Eddington read. 

“This is to certify that on February 7, 2023, in the city of Torrington, state of Wyoming, I duly appointed Herb Doby to serve as alternate director to represent the city of Torrington on the board of directors of the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska,” Eddington continued.

The council unanimously approved the resolution. 

The council approved two catering permits at this meeting. The first permit was for Julie Miller-Harshberger with the 307 Sports Bar & Grill for a ladies’ night event to be held on Feb. 10 at Torrington Cinemas. The second permit was for Ethan Fitch with the Mint Bar for a Torrington Volunteer Fire Department Awards Banquet to be held on Feb. 18 at the Pony Express Room.

The council also approved Doug Mercer’s request to reserve Sept. 16 and the use of Main Street for the Scottsbluff Valley Street Rods classic car show.

During the mayoral informational part of the meeting, Doby gave city updates. 

“I want to acknowledge former Councilman Bill Law who was recently honored by the Wyoming Legislature for 60 years of service in Torrington and Yoder as a volunteer fireman,” Doby said. “Thank you, former Councilman Law, for your service as a volunteer fireman and your continued service.”

The city of Torrington held a public meeting on snow removal on Jan. 30. Those interested can go to the Torrington Police Department’s Facebook page or the city’s website torringtonwy.gov for more information or meeting highlights.

The next meeting of the Torrington City Council will take place Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Torrington City Council Chambers at 436 East 22nd Avenue.