The residents of South Torrington gained allies in their search for funding when the Torrington City Council approved a letter Tuesday night showing their support for a $7-8 million State Loan and Investment Board grant request for a new water and sewer system.

At their regular meeting Tuesday, South Torrington Water and Sewer Board Chair Pat Pickerel appeared before the council to ask for approval of the letter, which will be included in the grant application she is submitting. The SLIB grant will be used for a complete overhaul of the outdated sewer and water system in South Torrington. Pickerel said the overhaul is sorely needed.

“It’s a problem,” Pickerel said. “It’s going to become a bigger problem if it’s not addressed.”

South Torrington received $270,400 from the 2008 Consensus Block Grant and has $50,000 from the 2007 grant. Pickerel said she is hoping SLIB will accept this as South Torrington’s contribution, since the unincorporated community has not been able to amass enough savings for the normally required 25 percent match.

Pickerel said that engineering for the project has not been completed so she does not currently have an exact figure, but the project has been estimated at $7-8 million.

The council also heard a report on the city’s new street sweeper. The city contracted with CAT for the sweeper but has not yet received it. The contract specified that the sweeper would be delivered by July 7. City Attorney Jim Eddington said he had spoken to CAT, who said there might be as much as a six month delay.

Eddington recommended the city go to the second bid that, while more expensive, could be delivered very quickly. Mayor Leroy Schafer said the city will need the street sweeper for upcoming chip sealing projects.

In other business:

n The council rejected a bid for a portion of the airport taxiway renovation project. The estimate on the project had been $168,505 and the only bid received was for $538,659, close to the estimated total cost of the project.

City Engineer Bob Juve recommended the rejection, saying he would have a negotiated contract with a new contractor for a lower amount by either the next council meeting or next month’s first meeting.

n The council awarded a contract to LL Johnson Distributing Company of Denver for a Toro Grandmaster Articulating Rough Mower for the golf course for $44,900. The city received another bid and an alternate bid from Lathrop Equipment Company of Casper. While these bids were lower than the LL Johnson bid, they did not meet all of the specifications.

Golf Course Foreman Gardy Pyle said the mower will be replacing a 1987-88 model that the golf course currently uses. That model was used when it was purchased by the city.

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