TORRINGTON – The Torrington City Council met on Tuesday, Feb. 16, for their second meeting of the month and went over the renewals of 19 liquor licenses for various businesses.
All but one of the businesses received a renewal of their liquor license. The only one not to receive a renewal was KCAS, LLC doing business as Thrifty’s Gas & Liquor.
The reason given for the denial of Thrifty’s Gas & Liquor renewal was because of pending criminal charges filed against the license holder in Scotts Bluff County Court in Nebraska. The charges against Thrifty’s allege the transportation of liquor purchased in Wyoming under the local license to Nebraska for illegal sale.
“In the interest of providing due process for Mr. [Kuldip] Singh, I recommend the renewal for Thrifty’s Gas & Liquor not be renewed,” Police Chief Matthew Johnson said. “With the contingency that Mr. Singh be able to provide more information to the council as he wishes on or before March 16.”
The transfer of a retail liquor license from the Cigarette Corp doing business as Smoker Friendly-Gasamat to the Cigarette Store, LLC doing business as Smoker Friendly-Gasamat was approved unanimously. The reason for the change was due to the conversion from a corporation to an LLC.
After the approval of the liquor licenses, the next two Public Hearings were regarding Steven Rowland and Emeterio Escamilla who both were looking to expand their current driveways. Both were passed unanimously.
Third readings on the proposed R-2 zoning for the property located at 2002 Hillside Drive and the ordinance relating to Holidays were both passed unanimously.
The second readings on the Jirdon, Miller and Spear Airport Additions were all passed unanimously as well.
Mayor Randy Adams’s first information item of the night was regarding the request received Monday, Feb. 15, from the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska to inform residents of a likely shortage of natural gas and electrical power.
“The code red message went out to our customers shortly after 1:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon,” Adams said. “Today we learned from the Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska that the city of Torrington is not in the area affected by the energy shortages.”
Next, Adams gave an update on the COVID-19 numbers in Goshen County. From Feb. 1 through Feb. 15, there have been 11 cases reported with seven cases active. There’s also been no new deaths reported.
The final information item of the night was a thank you to multiple City of Torrington departments and their staff who have been vital in assisting the Goshen County Public Health with the administration of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Chuck Kenyon, City of Torrington Emergency Management Coordinator, Police Chief Matt Johnson and his staff and Ed Hawley Streets and Sanitation Department head and his staff have responded numerous times to calls for assistance in assuring the process runs smoothly,” Adams said. “We want to recognize them and all volunteers throughout the community who work to make this a great place to live and work.”
The next meeting of the Torrington City Council will be Tuesday March 2 at 7 p.m.
