TORRINGTON – On Tuesday, March 2, the Torrington City Council met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the Torrington City Hall. During the meeting, the council unanimously approved an event in May.

Taryn Kilty with Old Moose Mercantile, LLC, requested a special event to be held May 8 from 7 a.m. till 6 p.m. The event is called Old Moose Market Days and will be located in the public parking lot at 119 East 21st Avenue.

“Events get people excited and bring in more business for all businesses in the community,” Kilty said. “Because a lot of events were being canceled, I get multiple calls a day about people wanting to sell things in the store and I thought hosting an event would be the best idea.”

The plan is to set up early in the morning and have the gates open to the public at 9 a.m. There would be a VIP shopping event for an hour. Kilty also plans to have three food trucks at the event and live music as well.

Kilty also plans to speak with Goshen County Public Health to ensure the event is safe for people to attend and that all local health guidelines are met.

“We like to see this kind of entrepreneurship,” Mayor Randy Adams said. “People stepping out of their normal roles to improve business downtown and businesses in Torrington is a good thing.”

After the approval of the special event, the next three action items were all third readings on the new airport additions. The Jirdon, Miller and Spear airport additions were approved unanimously.

The next items were the second readings on the water and sewage fees. Both of the items were approved unanimously.

After approving the second readings on the water and sewage fees, City Clerk-Treasurer Lynnette Strecker presented the council with the Financial Report, an amendment to the 2021 fiscal year budget and approval of the bills from Feb. 17 to March 2. All three items were approved unanimously.

During the informational item portion of the meeting, Mayor Adams wanted to remind people of the snow removal policy in Torrington.

“Our code enforcement officer informed me that she gave out 150 warnings to those residences whose sidewalks were not cleared within 24 hours of the end of the last snowfall,” Adams said. “If you are unable to clear your walk, give us a call and we’ll get someone to help you out.”

Adams also gave an update on the COVID-19 numbers in Goshen County. Since Feb. 22 there have been four new positive cases in the county with seven total active cases. Two weeks ago, Public Health did attribute another death to the virus.

There is also another COVID-19 vaccine available. It was produced by Johnson and Johnson. It has a reported 86% effective rate and only requires one dose instead of two like the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

“We continue to appreciate your understanding as we work through this concern and encourage all of our citizens to remain diligent in protecting each other and the community by wearing your masks and doing all those things we’ve been advocating for over a year now,” Adams said.

The City of Torrington is beginning its budgeting process for fiscal year 2021-22. It is still uncertain how much will be cut from the next legislative session. The city has received another round of CARES-Act funding, which should help with some of the expenses and losses over the past year.

The next meeting of the Torrington City Council will be held on Tuesday, March 17, at 7 p.m. in Torrington City Hall.