City Council - Regular Meeting

Torrington City Council.

This is Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026. Good evening and welcome to all. Tonight we have with us here Ryan Kaith from KGOS KERM Radio. This council meeting is being broadcast live on both radio stations and on YouTube, and then it'll be up on YouTube thereafter. We also have from the Torrington Telegram, Ms. Brenna Ralston. So welcome to the press. Our first order of business is the Pledge of Allegiance, and I've asked Councilman Deal to lead us. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Next item on the agenda are the mayor's informational items. The Dale Jones Municipal Swimming Pool officially opened yesterday, June 1, 2026. Mayor and council are excited about the refurbished pool that is now 55 years old. It has been 55 years that the city of Torrington has provided a great pool resource for our children, youth, adults, and visitors to our city. The hours of operation for Monday through Friday will be 5.30 a.m. to 6.30 a.m. adult lap swim slash aerobics, 6.30 a.m. to 8.00 a.m. swim team practice, 8.30 a.m. to 11.40 a.m. lessons, 1.00 to 4.30 p.m. open swim, 4.30 to 5.30 p.m., adult lap swim slash aerobics. And 5.30 to 6.30 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, BOGA fit water aerobics. And then 5.30 to 6.30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays is shallow water aerobics. 6.30 to 8.30 p.m., night swim. The hours of operation for Saturdays and Sundays is 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for open swim. The pool will be closed on Saturday, June 13th, 2026 for the annual Torrington Sharks swim meet. More information for group swimming lessons and private lessons plus daily admission fees and season passes can be gained from these three sources. Torringtonpool-dgdjmp Facebook page, the pool website at www.torringtonwy.gov slash 22 slash dalejones-municipal-pool and the phone number for the pool during pool hours is 307-532-7798. So the phone number during pool hours is 532-7798. Thank you. Happy swimming. Mayor and council are very pleased with that pool and look forward to a good season. Put on your thinking caps for a minute, if you will. This is the 200th, 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain issued in Congress on July 4th, 1776. In celebration, I wish to read from the first and last parts of the Declaration. I submit that all citizens should review the entirety of the Declaration to be reminded of the political theory and the political philosophy that established the greatest country on the earth. This is the document that sets forth the purpose of the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence in Congress, July 4, 1776. When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitled them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes. And accordingly, all experience has shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. The document, like a court petition, goes on to list the American grievances against the King of Britain, George III. The last paragraph reads like the prayer for relief in a legal complaint. it reads as follows, we therefore the representatives of the United States of America in general congress assembled appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions do in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies are of right ought to be free and independent states that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved, and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pled to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. The declaration was signed by 56 delegates to the Continental Congress from the several colonies. Here are some of the most well-known signers. John Adams, Massachusetts. Samuel Adams, Massachusetts. Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania. John Hancock, Massachusetts, and Thomas Jefferson, Virginia. Again, happy Independence Day to all and happy 250th anniversary. Semi-quincentennial, if you want to sound smart. Celebrate our founding with great gusto. School is out for the summer. Many more motorcycles, bicycles, electric scooters, and electric bikes are out and about. Please take extra care to watch out for them. Please yield for pedestrians and please slow down. Do not use your cell phones while driving. Let's all work to have a safe, healthy, fun summer season. Please note, Parks Department is looking for one more seasonal employee. One can apply for that position. Down at the east end of this building at the front office, they have applications for a position with Parks for the summer. Also, there will be a public meeting on our walking path at next council meeting. I want to announce that this evening. That is on June 16th, 2026. The council meeting starts at 5.30 p.m. Thank you. Next item on our agenda is approval of the consent agenda, which includes minutes from the May 19th, 26th council meeting as published. Mr. Mayor, make a motion to approve the consent agenda. I have a motion from Councilman Deal to approve the consent agenda. Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Councilman Kelly. Any further discussion, gentlemen? Hearing none, I'll call for a vote. All those in favor of approval of the consent agenda, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, signify by saying nay. Hearing no nays, the consent agenda is approved. Next item on our agenda is the approval of the agenda itself.

Mr. Mayor would move to approve the agenda as presented.

Motion from Councilman Victorin to approve the agenda as presented. Do I have a second? Second. Second from Councilman Warren. Any further discussion? Hearing none, I'll call for vote. All those in favor of approval of the agenda as presented, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, signify by saying nay. Hearing no nays, the agenda is approved. Next item on our agenda is what we call the public forum. I see that there are no takers this evening. If there were, I would see a forum in that black box in front of Councilman Warren. But I always like to explain it. In the future, if someone wants to take advantage of this section, they may do so. It is for non-agenda items. There is a time limit of two minutes, and the speaker must sign up before the meeting. This is a time for the council to listen. No action will be taken. So in the future, if you wish to take advantage of that, it's there for the taking. We are now down on our action items. The first item under action items is item number one, a proclamation proclaiming the month of June as National Safety Month. And I will read that proclamation. City of Torrington National Safety Month, June 2026. Whereas the rate of unintentional injuries and deaths in the United States remains at unacceptable levels, whereas educating on moving safety forward, roadway safety, holistic worker health, and mitigating slips, trips, and falls remain critical to preventing injuries and death in the United States, Whereas the cost of unintentional injuries to the U.S. economy is approximately $176.5 billion nationally and causes great suffering among individuals and their families. Whereas the city of Torrington, Wyoming residents and all workers deserve to live in a community that promotes safe and healthy living. Whereas preventing unintentional injuries and deaths requires the cooperation of all levels of government, employers, and the public. whereas the National Safety Council, founded in 1913, was congressionally charted chartered in 1953 to lead this nation in injury prevention through safety and health information, education, training, and advocacy in the United States, whereas the National Safety Council and the Wyoming-Montana Safety Council work to promote policies, practices, and procedures leading to increased safety, protection, and health in business and industry, in schools and colleges, on roads and highways, and in homes and in communities. Whereas the National Safety Council and Wyoming Montana Safety Council in 2026 will provide this nation with a month-long public education campaign, whereas the summer season is a time of increased rates of unintentional injuries and deaths, it is an appropriate time to focus attention on injury risks and prevention. Therefore, be it resolved that I, Herb Dobie, Mayor of the City of Torrington, Wyoming, do hereby proclaim June 2026 as National Safety Month in the City of Torrington, Wyoming, and strongly urge the citizens and businesses of Torrington, Wyoming, to observe National Safety Month by practicing safe and healthy behaviors in all aspects of their lives. In witness whereof, I have here unto set my hand and signature as mayor of the city of Torrington, Wyoming, this second day of June, 2026. Herb Dobey, mayor, attest Lynette Strecker, clerk treasurer. So that's the reading of the proclamation. Speaks for itself, I think. Safety is key to healthy communities. And with that, I would entertain a motion regarding the proclamation.

Mr. Mayor, I would move to accept the proclamation and your signing thereof.

All right. I have a motion from Councilman Deal to accept the proclamation and approve my signing of the proclamation. Do we have a second? Second. Second from Councilman Kelly. Any further discussion? Hearing none, I'll call for a vote. All those in favor of approving or accepting the proclamation and approving my signing of the proclamation, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, signify by saying nay. Hearing no nays, the proclamation is indeed accepted and I will indeed sign it. Next item on our agenda is item number two, resolution number 2026-07, authorizing the submission of an application for federal funding through the Transportation Alternatives Program administered by the Wyoming Department of Transportation for the City of Torrington for the purposes of the Walking Path Reconstruction Project. And with that, Mr. Eddington, would you please read the resolution by title?

Resolution number 2026-07, City of Torrington, TAP attachment G, colon resolution. A resolution authorizing the submission of an application for federal funding through the Transportation Alternatives Program administered by the Wyoming Department of Transportation for the City of Torrington for the purposes of the Walking Path Reconstruction Project.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Eddington. And I see we have some members of Rotary here tonight. I think we have Bob Taylor and Kobe Romig and Dr. Tim Pieper. If you gentlemen want to come up and speak to this.

TIM PIEPER Yes, sir. Thank you, honorable mayor and city councilman. I just want to give a little history of how the concept came about. When I was president-elect, I attended a president-elect training conference in Denver. And Rotary is very big on health and activities outside and things like that. And it dawned on me that most towns and cities and wherever you go have hiking, biking trails around town. And we had small section that covered the canal that went through town and our concept was to expand on it and I think you're all aware that the city has been very helpful and involved in expanding that trail Torrington Rotary Club has probably expanded through grants and giving probably 250,000 at this point and the city I know has contributed as well in time and energy and all of that and help with the project. So when the Torrington Rotary Club decided that that was a great project for us, we had a feasibility study done by Bob Taylor and Kobe Roeming and they put that together so that we might apply for grants such as the TAP grant that we're talking about this evening. And with that, we're hoping to get a loop south of the railroad tracks and then over the overpass and then a big loop north of the overpass so that we could have probably an excess of five miles hiking, biking, trail for people to use in a safe environment so that we can get people out there moving. So this year we have I think 45,000 that we've gotten through a grant that we're hoping to connect the end of the trail that we've got now with the overpass so that we can get started on a section by the river because we were hoping to get something that is pleasant, like people not just going through streets in town, but they can enjoy the river bottoms and then get that south project done. And so that's our project for this year. However, we're also wanting to improve the section through town. that has been there for many years to get it up to code. It's rather narrow compared to what we have code-wise. So with that, I'm going to turn it over to whoever wants to give you more specifics.

Thank you, Dr. Pieper.

All right. Just give a little background, I think, gentlemen, of some of the projects. that we worked together with the city on for the last actually five years pretty much with Rotary, but the year before that and we also worked with Mark Weiss and the city engineering department on a piece that you guys put in. That's kind of where it all started with Rotary getting involved. That piece was, it's off of that map, but on the little map you have in front of you is over there. It takes off initially from Jordan Park and go southeast, clear down to 22nd Avenue. That was done really before our involvement. And then starting at 22nd Avenue there and going down southeast to 20th was the first project that we worked together with the city on, a little bit on that. But the city did most of the work on that. They did a really good job. It was fun to get things started. That was our kind of beginning. The first project that we did together down by the trail elementary school on the east boundary of that. There is a walk path section in there. To do that, a major part of the expense there, one of the major parts was building an eight foot high fence around there at the school's request to protect the children and so on and so forth. That was fun. The second project was just north of that. Extended. clear up to M Street from 17th there. A pretty long stretch and there's homes on the north side, nothing on the south side. It was a lot easier to build. There was less interference, less sprinklers, less so on and so forth to deal with. So we got a little more done and plus money went a little further back in the day. And the third project was mostly signing and signage and so on. amounted to seven wayfinding signs spread throughout that district, which are basically the map that you have in front of you, part of it at least, and shows where you're at, and indicates where the schools are, where your town is, where the churches are, so on and so forth, and it's all able to identify where you're at on the trail, there's mileposts listed on the trail, it tells you where you're at, so on and so forth. Also involved lighting the two crosswalks on Main Street, the crosswalk there with push button lighting for safety purposes and of course the thermoplastic cross and the other area was on East D Street where we put lighting and that thermoplastic crosswalk and that same project we put in 14 other crossings throughout the town with thermoplastic crosswalk delineation and signs pedestrian signs on both sides and that was a pretty big project and the city did a lot your crews did a lot of work for it because thermoplastic crossings are complicated you have to grind off an area for them and thermal got the melt the plastic into place and that's a lot of work takes a lot of time and man we appreciate it but it does give everybody a crosswalk and something that's actually enforceable for the police department it's not a guest people know instead the drivers should know et cetera et cetera i think it was very good project very worthwhile Our fourth project was over on 20th, close to M Street there. You folks have a couple little parks. The city has two little parks there that have kind of been ignored. I don't think anybody in town knew there were parks. You guys take care of them and plant the grass and mow the grass and so on. We fixed that area up with standing walk path through it, and then put picnic tables and benches and garbage cans and so on and so forth in there, and I think that's being used a lot more now that we have that in place. It was a fun and good project, I think. The last project we worked on last year was in Jordan Park. We extended that from the end of the older existing walk path through Jordan Park and over to connect to First project that I started out with that you guys did a long time ago. And I want to just emphasize how much help the city crews have been. Your street department, your park department have been excellent. I mean, it tends to be a joint effort. So you can maintain it as easy as you can. And that's something people need to appreciate.

Well, I thank you for that compliment, Bob. I appreciate it.

It's a lot of work. I know it is. A lot of responsibility. And I think Kobe now can tell us about this year's project in a little more detail than I can, which is what's outlined up there on your screen.

Yeah, Mr. Mayor and Council, thank you for your time and consideration tonight. Kobe Romig here representing Torrington Rotary Club. Appreciate your consideration in this resolution and continuation of the partnership with Rotary on this pathway. As Bob noted, what we have highlighted up here on the screen in blue with the E5 around it is where we're considering our new pathway improvements for this particular project. Right now, it's an existing pathway. The grassroots trail is what it's referred to. It's only five foot in width and currently has a lot of cracking, heaving, ADA, accessibility issues at all the intersections. As you can see, there's multiple. But the particular pathway trail that we wanted to bring to your attention tonight runs from basically Torrington High School to Jordan Park. This aims to, like we said, widen it to an eight foot width, which would meet the minimum requirements or standards to be considered a walking or biking path. Right now, when it's only five foot, we lose that viability to be called technically a biking path or a trail. And with the completion of this one to eight foot, as Bob and Dr. Pieper had mentioned, we would then be eight foot in width with ADA considerations, basically from high school all the way over to behind Lincoln Elementary. So we would literally connect through those avenues. And through those means, we would connect Trail, Lincoln, to Torrington High School, Central Administration, your city park, the pools. We'd also pick up crossing Main Street where we'd have a thoroughfare right into downtown Torrington. And it'd just be a nice little continuation of what we're trying to do and what Dr. Pieper's overall vision of the pathway system in Torrington would be. It is part of the TAP program, which is administered through YDOT and the Federal Highway Administration, which makes it seem a little daunting. But although there's a few extra T's and I's to DOT, it's not terribly problematic in that regard. uh you know a lot of our neighbors like lagrange if anybody's ever been there they've they've had a long history of about 20 years to complete all of their pathway system through this program guernsey has a nice pathway through this same program chugwater has a couple of them through this same program and so it's nothing new it's been around a long time it's recently just changed to the tap program which just meant that it could bring a lot more a lot more types of pathways, like safe routes to school, et cetera, into the program. But it's been around a long time. It's nothing new. It's a 90.49% grant, 10.51% local match, which would be provided exclusively by Rotary. And Just in taking it on, the only thing that they're going to ask of the city of Torrington would be to continue the maintenance, snow removal, et cetera, which is already provided by Mr. Estes and staff. Certainly could keep rambling on about this program, but I think I'll stop there and let you guys ask questions if you have any or if anybody else has any comments. We'd certainly entertain them and appreciate them.

Some of us in this room, probably Bob and me for sure, remember when the open ditch ran a trencher across town to put in the sprinkler system when they first put a sprinkler system in.

One particular aspect that Chief Johnson just reminded me of that I was remiss in bringing up in my ramblings there was that this particular grant that we're going after right now and currently would be for design and environmental clearance only. uh about a year and a half to two years ago y dot just kind of switched gears and they they stopped kind of funding the design build method through this avenue and so just because the federal highway was really crunching down on them in terms of the time frame that they gave these communities to get these projects done And when they were audited, they'd have issues trying to explain why they weren't done in the allotted time frame. So now they expect these communities to kind of get on board, be approved, have a good project in mind, and then complete the design and environmental clearance initially, and then come back in a second or subsequent grant and actually request the construction funds thereof to complete the actual boots on the ground building thereof.

I appreciate that clarification, because I was kind of confused at about $110,000 being enough to get your project done.

Yeah, that's probably only about, if you're looking at the project as a whole, that's probably only about roughly 9% of the total project funds that we have to get this kind of work done for an eight foot path. So overall project costs would be in the million dollar ballpark.

And Mr. Mayor, if I could digress for a little bit, too. If you're looking for future funding sources, you might talk to the Office of Outdoor Recreation for the state. They do have grant funds for this sort of thing, as well as Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Yes, sir. I appreciate that. Both of those entities are mentioned in the Comprehensive Pathway Plan that Bob and I completed a few years ago for Rotary. But yes, sir, 100%.

Who actually owns the right of way and the pathway?

Mr. Estes addressed that, just so it's coming from a reliable source.

Councilman, from the high school over to Jordan on this project, the city of Torrington owns all that property. They maintain the right of way. They do all the work on it, all the sprinklers, all the mowing maintenance. Of course, across the park, the city owned across Jordan. And then when you got east of Jordan, All that land was never really dedicated to the city or sold to the city or given to the city. So every time somebody sold a house over there, we had an issue with their property being on that ditch right away, that 50-foot right away. So through the years when people bought and sold those houses, I made sure that I got a hold of them. And when they sold them, I worked with Mr. Taylor, and we got quick claim deeds. We quick claimed all our interest. that we had in it to those folks. And we've now got a clear path throughout there. I think we got all the houses done. I think so. There were some that were complete.

There was also another little transaction I worked with Jim on where we worked with the New North Platte Ditch Company, if you remember that, Jim. Absolutely. And Jim wrote up a document that defines our rights to that. They gave us what rights they had, basically. Correct. Correct.

So actually, the ditch company has right of way in all of it. They can get in and do whatever or to maintain it. And I'm sure if something would happen, we'd have to fix it. We've had an issue over by the LDS Church in the street where it caved in, and we had to fix that in the street.

Answer your question, Councilman Kelly? Yep. Thank you, Dennis. Any further questions for these gentlemen?

Just one, Mr. Mayor. I would assume that the design, and you called it environmental clearance, right? That would cover anything that would involve the city's adjustment or relocation of our sprinklers and stuff like that within those mini parks.

Yes, that's correct. They would be taxed. The consultant selected would be taxed with providing full-blown plans, specifications, and documents.

And Rotary will oversee this? Who's going to oversee this?

I think Rotary will probably. That's what's happened in the last. Okay. Basic parts of all components of the projects. Okay. In the last six years.

Somehow the city has to be involved, right? As a political subdivision?

Yes, you guys are the grant sponsor. Torrington Rotary Club being a nonprofit is not viable for those funds. That's where the partnership comes in.

I'm just thinking, and it's a good point, the practical, some engineer gives you a study, who's looking at it? Our engineering department and you guys, but I know you're an engineer, Bob. Yeah.

Yes, sir. And I would review it too. So would Bob. Your engineering department would also review it. And also as a part of the Federal Highway Administration and their checks and balances, an independent consulting or Wyoming engineer would also review the plans completed by this consultant.

Okay. All right. I think that that answered my question. All right. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. We are on item number two, resolution number 20, 26 dash 07 regarding the walking path reconstruction project. I would entertain a motion to approve the resolution and my signing of the resolution. I would make that motion, Mr. Mayor. All right. I have a motion from Councilman Deal to approve the resolution and my signing of the resolution in item two. Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Councilman Kelly. Any further discussion, gentlemen? Hearing none, I'll call for a vote. All those in favor of approving the resolution number 2026-07 and my signing of it, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, signify by saying nay. Hearing no nays, that resolution is approved and I will sign it. Thank you. All right, we are down on item number three, special event permit. Pauline Plemons and Ronald McKee are requesting a special event permit for a truck show to be held on June 27th, 26th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at City Park. The applicant is requesting that the special event permit fee be waived. And initially I would call on Chief Johnson.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. This is a request from Pauline and Ronald related to a Trucks and Tikes show that they'd like to host in City Park on June 27th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Had a good conversation with them about what that would entail It would be probably up to 30 pickup trucks They have kind of a specialized interest in show trucks that they would like to host their City Park along with some food and kid events their respect requesting that we allow them to essentially close all of the diagonal parking on the south side of City Park for the car show. They may also ask to utilize the private property just west, excuse me, just east of City Park for additional parking. If they do so, that private property use would not be subject to the special events permit. They can do as they wish on the private property. And then they'd also like to look at parking trucks along West 22nd in the eastbound side of the roadway. They would like exclusive use of the picnic shelter and the parking space next to the picnic shelter for either a food truck or for food cooking. This really doesn't require any additional expense for the city. We're not setting up barricades or doing anything else crazy. It's just allowing them the use of the park. At the date and time that they're asking for that, this is pretty limited traffic impact. No real high parking demand. The park will remain open for public use and for use by their folks. So if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

I know they're requesting waiver of the fee, and my understanding that's based on this is a nonprofit event, and I think it's got a community benefit because I think that's the magic. Aren't those the magic words we have under our special events ordinance?

Nonprofit or community event, I believe, is the wording.

Then the council is allowed to waive a fee if it's not for profit and it benefits the community.

Yes, sir.

And there is no cost to the city. Because oftentimes we have barricades set up and police presence necessary and so on.

I mean, they're forecasting 60-ish people there. I mean, that doesn't create a significantly more impact than we would have. On a regular day of I mean if a family hosted a birthday party at the park Which they could do without any special events permit that would not be substantially different in park usage or cleanup the only real reason that this event requires a special events permit is that we're looking for the closure of those parking spaces on the south side and then their exclusive use of the picnic shelter and that area parking area right next to the picnic shelter and And it's from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon? Yes, sir. Well, I think the official event is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but I believe they had a setup time in there. Let me double check. Yeah, setup begins at 9. The event itself runs from 10 to 4. 10 to 4, okay.

All right, gentlemen, do you have any questions for Chief Johnson?

Mr. Mayor, it's not a question for Chief Johnson. Well, it could be, but I see Cody Scott is here. Should there be a fire called during this time period? Are those parking spots used by members of the volunteer fire department? Sorry, Cody.

Good question.

Mayor and council, no, I don't believe that should be an issue. We have plenty of parking on the south side of that street there next to the fire station, plus the front apron, plus we have a small little lot in the back between the radio station and Verizon there.

Thank you. Thank you. Good question, Councilman Deal.

Councilman Deal, if it's helpful, I did talk to Chief Schick about that very issue, and he was in agreement with what Cody stated.

Thank you. All right. Any questions for Chief Johnson? I see Pauline Plemons, and I think that's James McGee back there. Ronald. Ronald, I apologize. I know Pauline. I'm sorry. Ronald McGee, do you want to speak to the issue? You can if you want.

I don't need to.

OK. All right. Thank you. All right. We are on item number three, special event permit for the truck show at the city park on June 27th from 9 to 4. I would entertain a motion.

Mr. Mayor, I would move to approve the special event permit as presented.

All right. Point of order.

Oh, if you would indulge and waive the permit fee. All right. Thank you.

All right. I have a motion from Councilman Victron and item number three to approve the special event permit and to waive the special event permit fee. Do I have a second? Second. Second from Councilman Warren.

Any further discussion?

Hearing none, I'll call for a vote. Item number three, all those in favor of approving the special event permit and approving the waiver of the fee, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, signify by saying nay. Hearing no nays, that special event permit is approved and the fee is waived. Thank you, folks. All right, we are on item number four, ordinance on third reading. establishing I-1 zoning for Lot 1 and C-1A zoning for Lot 2 of the DSI subdivision. And Mr. Eddington, would you please read that ordinance by title?

It's an ordinance amending and reenacting Section 18.16.020 of the Torrington Municipal Code, 2026 revisions relating to the City of Torrington, Wyoming, amending the zoning district map, by establishing I-1 zoning for lot one and C-1A zoning for lot two for attractive land to be known as the DSI subdivision.

Thank you, Mr. Eddington.

Mr. Estes. Mayor, we've had no public comment, and we would recommend approval.

Thank you. And gentlemen, any questions for Mr. Estes? We are on item number four ordinance on third reading. I would entertain a motion.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion to approve the ordinance on third reading, establishing I-1 zoning for lot one and C-1A zoning for lot two of the DSI subdivision.

Thank you, Councilman Deal. I have a motion from Councilman Deal to approve this ordinance on third reading, establishing I-1 zoning for lot one and C-1A zoning for lot two of the DSI subdivision. Do I have a second? Second. Second from Councilman Kelly. All right. Any further discussion, gentlemen? Seeing none, call for a vote. Item number four, approve this ordinance on third reading, establishing I-1 zoning for lot one and C-1A zoning for lot two of the DSI subdivision. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, signify by saying nay. Hearing no nays, that ordinance is approved on third reading. Thank you. We are now on item number five at the very bottom of the first page of the agenda. That is ordinance on second reading regarding the 2027 fiscal year budget. And Mr. Eddington, would you please read that ordinance by title?

It's an ordinance providing for the appropriation of money by the city of Torrington, Wyoming to meet its general fund requirements and obligations, to meet its enterprise fund requirements and obligations, for the 2027 fiscal year commencing July 1, 2026 and fixing the sum to be raised by taxation.

Thank you, Mr. Eddington. All right, with that, I would call on Clerk Treasurer, Lynette Strecker.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. This is the second reading of the budget. And this is a process, as you all know. There are still a few items left to do on this budget. I need to verify the cash carryover one more time. I need to do the administrative fee study and any other carryover items. I will also be doing the final review for edit. So editing all my formulas, everything in the budget. And then we should be ready to go by third reading on June 16th. So the total budget is $41,150,442.77. And I did get an estimate from the county assessor on our assessed valuation and what our property tax Is estimated to be and I did make that change in the budget. So it is three hundred and eighty five thousand six hundred dollars We are estimated to receive in property tax revenue So it's up slightly from last year. The assessed valuation is up slightly She's still waiting on a few more numbers and should have me the final number before third reading I I'd be glad to answer any questions that you might have on the budget. For now and future, we'll have one more budget work session to go over the finalized budget before third reading on June 10th.

Well, you're not off the hook yet. But I just want to say thank you, Mrs. Strecker. I know how much work you put into this, and I greatly appreciate it. So thank you.

Thank you, everyone, for all your cooperation. It's definitely a team effort.

Mayor, if there are no further questions or comments, I would move to approve the ordinance for the 2027 fiscal year budget on second reading.

All right. We're on item number five. I have a motion from Councilman Victorin to approve the ordinance on second reading related to the 2027 fiscal year budget. Do I have a second? Second. Second from Councilman Warren. Any further discussion, gentlemen? Hearing none, I'll call for a vote item number five. All those in favor of approving the ordinance on second reading regarding the 2027 fiscal year budget signify by saying aye aye any opposed signify by saying nay. Passed on second reading, thank you. On page two now. Item number six approval of the bills from. May 20th, 26 to today, June 2nd, 2026. And again, I would call on Clerk Treasurer Lynette Strecker.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. Attached to your agenda were a list of bills. I also handed out an additional set tonight for your consideration. I'd be glad to answer any questions on any of those bills. Thank you.

I just have one quick question on the second set, page 1, 21st century equipment. The extended warranty for the electrical department's new skid steer, how many years does that get us? Does anybody happen to know?

I'm not sure.

Or hours. Maybe it's hours. I don't know. Page 1. Page 1, extended warranty. Very first item.

We just got that in today and I hadn't had a chance to look at it. It goes by hours. So 2,000 total hours, 60 total months, and there's a $200 deductible.

That's a pretty good deal.

OK.

Thank you, Mrs. Drecker.

Well, if there are no more questions on the bills, I would make a motion to approve them, pay the bills as presented.

All right. We are on item number six. I have a motion from Councilman Kelly to approve the bills as presented in item number six. Do I have a second?

Second.

Second from Councilman Deal. Any further discussion? Seeing none, hearing none, I'll call for a vote. All those in favor of approval of the bills in item six, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, signify by saying nay. Hearing no nays, the bills in item six are approved. We are now on item seven, public comment. And I appreciate Assistant Chief Cody Scott coming. I spoke to Jeff Schick, the chief, and he's out on the railroad, I think. And if you'd just give us a brief report, we'd appreciate it, Assistant Chief.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council. Chief Schick actually had prayer commitments tonight. They have a countywide chief's meeting at the same time, so he had to be there to kind of coincide with some of that stuff. It's been pretty quiet over here, which is good for the city and the community. We haven't had too much to worry about fire-wise, so that's good. We do have a couple guys going to Cheyenne this weekend to take a class that's taught from some firefighters out of Colorado coming up. Fireground operations, it's three days of intense, hands-on fire ground operations taught by Poudre Fire and South Metro instructors. So they'll be down there this weekend to get some training and then come back up with that. Recently, we just implemented a new software system called I Am Responding that integrates an app on our phones with dispatch. When they create a call and assign us, it sends an alert to everybody's phone. That person can then click a response button that they're either available and responding to the station or they're unavailable. It gives us the option to see how many people we have responding for a call or not responding and if we need a call for mutual aid. We've been working on that about the last month to get that set up with that system. Luckily, we're up and running for the last 10 days or so.

That's an app on each member's phone?

Every member's phone has it.

How does that work in the dispatcher's duty to

so when she and i don't know all the ins and outs but basically when they assign torrington fire to an incident that sends something to im responding servers that then pushes out basically the cat information that they have typed up onto our phone with an alert so and then it's got a mapping feature so like if we're going out in the county we can map the direction to where we're going In town, we have a hydrant overlay. Brandon with the water department worked with us. And so we have all the hydrants in the city on the map now. So in town, if we're going to a fire, we can pull up that on our phone or the iPad in command and see where the nearest hydrant is for that fire.

It doesn't sound like too much more of a duty for the dispatcher in that. From my understanding, Chief.

Bailey did a nice job putting it together and training the team on it. I am not a technological wizard on that stuff by any means, but my understanding is it's part of the paging and dispatch system where when it goes out, it just loops in on the IM responding and automatically sends. I don't think it requires a lot of additional work on their part.

Very neat. Yeah, it's nice. I know, uh, Yoder and Lingle have been using it for a couple of years now. And so if we mutual aid, it will integrate their service with our service so we can see each entity where we're going and everything like that. So just in today's world with volunteers and people working out of town, it's hard to judge what you have necessarily available. And so this is a quicker way that we can judge if we have enough resources in town or if we need to be getting help coming.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

That's all I have for the council. I'll stand for questions. Cody, . Oh, yep. So state fire convention is coming up June 18 through the 20th. It's in Wheatland this year. We have one team that will go over to represent the city and county. And then Mr. Estes has been invited over to be an official timer for events. So we should have a good showing over there, and hopefully we can repeat.

So what days of the week is it?

It starts on a Thursday. It runs a Thursday, Friday, Saturday. In Wheatland this year? In Wheatland this year, yep.

Well, I'm glad Torrington's got a team, and I'm glad Dennis is going to go be the ref. All right. Thank you, Assistant Chief. Appreciate it. All right, we are in public comment section. Does anybody have a public comment, including council?

I might add Mr. Mayor I appreciate your comments about the nation's semi-quincentennial and to encourage folks to take advantage of all the festivities that will happen across the community and the nation and so forth. I want to commend the cemetery folks for the nice showing and presentation and everything that went into the effort of the Memorial Day service at the Valley View Cemetery. And I appreciate all their work to get the cemetery ready for that event.

I second that. It was a nice memorial service up there. I appreciate you mentioning that. Anybody else? All right. Summer is here. Enjoy that pool. All right. Since there's no more public comment, we have item eight, which is an executive session to discuss potential litigation. I would entertain a motion.

Mr. Mayor, I would make a motion that move the council into executive session for purposes of discussing potential litigation.

All right. I have a motion from Councilman Deal to move this council into executive session to discuss potential litigation. Do I have a second? Second. Second from Councilman Victor. Any further discussion? All right, I'll entertain a vote. All those in favor of moving this council from regular session into executive session to discuss potential litigation, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, signify by saying nay. Hearing no nays, council is moved into executive session to discuss potential litigation.