TORRINGTON – The Torrington City Council met for their second August meeting on Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers. Present were mayor Herb Doby, councilmembers Dennis Kelly, Shane Viktorin, Dr. Richard Patterson and Wayne Deahl. Deahl led the council and community in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Moving on to the mayor’s informational items, Doby reminded the community to vote in the general election, which was held on Tuesday, August 20. 

“Today (August 20) is primary election day. Voting polls are still open until 7 p.m.,” Doby explained. “The Lord, God has blessed each and every one of us to live in a nation that is the greatest experiment in history of whether the people can govern themselves and maintain their God-given rights and liberties. Along with these rights and liberties, comes corresponding duties. In Wyoming, if you are age 18 and older, you have an official office. Yes, an official office. If you are 18 and old, you are by state statute an elector. Citizens have both a right and a duty to make themselves reasonably informed and then go vote for the candidates of their choice.”

Doby continued by thanking the electoral candidates who volunteered to serve and campaign. He also thanked the citizens who took the time to educate themselves and then exercised their right to vote on Tuesday. 

“According to the calendar, there is another month of summer remaining but many summer activities are winding down because the students at all levels, return back to school,” Doby said. “As the days of summer wind down, please continue to enjoy our golf course, voted the number one public golf course in Wyoming. Please continue to enjoy our many parks, ball fields and walking paths.”

Doby also reminded the community to pay attention while driving and even more so, with school children walking. 

Doby advised the community the previous county emergency system, CodeRed, has now been canceled and he informed the public at large to download the new program.

“Regarding the mass notification system. Our old mass notification system, CodeRed, is done. It is no longer functioning. We have our new mass notification system, known as CivicReady, fully up and running,” Doby explained. “IF you want to get on that mass notification system for notification, there is a link on the city website, and you can refer to the link on the county website.” 

The link to sign up for the new CivicReady mass notification system is: https://public.alertsense.com/SignUp/?RegionId=2237

Moving on to the consent agenda, which included minutes from the August 6, 2024, council meeting, Patterson motioned to approve the agenda which was seconded by Patterson and the consent agenda was approved. 

The council also approved the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, and they quickly moved on to the public forum where there were no speakers.

On the action items, the council heard from Torrington Police Department Assistant Chief, Patrick Connelly regarding a special event permit for the Torrington Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary which is requesting a Stop, Drop and Run/Walk 5K Color Run to be held on September 7 from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. The department auxiliary is requesting the council to waive the special event permit fee.

Connelly advised the council the event was on the same path as last year. 

“Chief Johnson has gone through the special events permit and plan that they have in place here and we have no objections to everything,” Connelly told the council. “Everybody is going to be staying on the running path or on the sidewalk. There will be minimal traffic interruptions. There are a couple of intersections where they have concerns about people crossing and they will have volunteers there in safety vests to help the runners get across the intersection.”

Connelly added the volunteers would be firefighters from the department and Deahl verified that the route was the same as the previous year. 

Next, Doby called on Brooke Gasseling with the Torrington Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary to discuss the plan in further detail. 

“We help out with fires that are going on for firefighters most importantly and then we kind of step out in the community and help them,” Gasseling explained. “This is a fundraiser for that and just a chance for the community to get together.”

Gasseling explained the event last year was fun and it was successful.

After a brief discussion with the council, a motion was made by Deahl to approve the special event permit and waive the fees which was then seconded by Viktorin. The motion carried and the event was approved with a fee waiver. 

Moving on to the second action item, the council heard from Doug Mercer and Connelly regarding the Scottsbluff Valley Street Rods’ request for a special event permit for a classic cars on Main Street event to be held on September 14 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event will close the public street on Main Street from the intersection of Main Street and Valley Road to 21st Avenue and on additional areas to the east and west as specified on the map submitted with the applications. The organization is also seeking to have the special event fee waived. 

Doby called on Connelly to give information on how the city would be impacted by the event. 

“This event again is one that has been hosted in the years past. It has always been a successful event. It brings a lot of people to the downtown area,” Connelly explained. “The footprint is essentially the same as what it has been in the past. A little bit larger than years past, to my understanding.”

Connelly advised the council the event would require more space this year to accommodate the event activities in junction with the classic car show.

“In addition to that, they will have a few additional activities this year. They are wanting to have a DJ that will be playing ‘50s and ‘60s music. We don’t anticipate there being any there being any noise problems with that. They had that last year and there weren’t any issues with that that I heard,” Connelly explained. “In addition, they will have a petting zoo for small animals, goat size and small and then they will have a bounce house for the kidos to play on.”

Doby verified all forms were addressed for the city and businesses which would be affected by the event. 

“Again, this is September, and we do our fall show in mid-September. As you guys probably recall, last year was our 50th anniversary,” Mercer said. “We have bounce houses a year or two in the past, but we have never had a petting zoo. This is our first year for it.”

Mercer explained the petting zoo company was from Kimball, Nebraska and he also advised the community the organization was seeking sponsors for the petting zoo this year. Mercer also noted there would be five different types of food offered during the event.

Patterson motioned to approve the permit and waive the fee which was seconded by Kelly. 

After a brief discussion, the council voted to approve the event and waive the special permit fee for the organization.  

The council then moved on to item number three, approval of the bills from August 7 to August 20, 2024. Doby called on Lynette Strecker, clerk/treasurer for staff reference.

Strecker noted there was an additional set of bills handed out to the council at the beginning of the Tuesday evening meeting for a garbage truck and trash compacter, which were both accounted for on the previous year’s budget. 

Councilmen Kelly motioned to approve the bills as presented which was seconded by Viktorin and the motion carried. 

Moving on to the public comment, Doby spoke on the Cottonwood Golf Course where David Dent introduced his maintenance crew, thanking them for their dedication. 

Dent explained the success of the golf course is attributed to the handful of employees it has. 

Luis Correa Chief of the Torrington Volunteer Fire Department gave the fire report stating the recent month had been quiet for the department. 

The council meeting was then adjourned at 6:16 p.m.