TORRINGTON – The Torrington City Council convened for its first December meeting on Dec. 6 at the Torrington Council Chambers.  Mayor Randy Adams was present with council members Ted Kinney, Richard Patterson, Dennis Kelly, and Kate Steinbock.

Buck Klemola presented his argument to have the stop signs recently placed on Albany Avenue removed.

This was a topic that Klemola brought up for discussion at the last council meeting. At the last meeting, he said as a resident who lives on Sheridan Street, just off Albany Avenue, it was his opinion that there was no need for the new stop sign. The council had explained the stop sign was the most recent response to the safety concerns and excessive dust in the area.

“Thank you, Mayor and council, for indulging me yet one more time,” Klemola began. “At the last council meeting, we discussed the placement of the signs and most of the conversation took place between Mayor and I, as far as the rationale behind that.”

Klemola explained that before the meeting he had sent the mayor and council a letter addressing his concerns from an engineering standpoint and specific ordinances from the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. This manual is a guideline that is used to help keep laws and regulations similar across state lines.

Klemola argued that according to the manual any changes made with the intent to regulate traffic should be announced beforehand and supported by an engineering study or recommendation.

“In my experience, I have talked to a number of people in the community, except for you, and I have yet to find one single person that thinks that putting a sign there is a bad idea,” Patterson responded. “There is a need for traffic control there. There are lots of problems there in the summer and we need to slow things down.

Patterson continued by saying the manual is not binding law; it is used for guidance. As the city grows and changes, traffic plans have to change with it, especially, when safety concerns arise.

“We couldn’t possibly do a full engineering study for every placement of a stop sign,” Patterson added. “When there’s a big (change) then a study would be justified, but we’re talking about one street where there is a clear problem. All you have to do is go over there to watch the soccer games and watch the kids running back and forth with the cars zipping back and forth.”

Klemola read off a few studies in an attempt to support his argument.

“I’m guessing the stop sign was another reaction to the fact that people weren’t abiding by the 15-mph speed limit sign,” Klemola continued. “The traffic was still going faster than 15 mph, and as this study pointed out, people tend to look at ridiculous things and completely ignore them, and even go the other way. When you have a speed limit of 15 mph and there’s not a soul in sight, it’s really hard to justify that speed limit.”

Among the others, Chief of Police Matt Johnson, Vickie Zimmer a resident of the area, and Councilwoman Steinbock spoke about the need for the stop sign and the safety concerns in the area.

“I don’t feel that adding a preventative measure, getting people to stop and slow down, outweighs the inconvenience that it causes,” Steinbock said.

There was a considerable amount of discussion and debate on the topic. The council unanimously approved leaving the stop signs where they are.

City Clerk and Treasurer Lynette Strecker announced that Deputy Clerk Silvia Anaya earned the Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC) designation award from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks.

“The Certified Municipal Clerk Program is designed to enhance the job performance of the clerk in small and large municipalities across the globe,” Strecker explained. “To earn this designation a municipal clerk must attend extensive education programs, Silvia attended 120 hours of education for this certification. It also requires pertinent experience in the municipality. The CMC program prepares you to meet the challenges of a complex role of a municipal clerk by providing you with quality education and partnership with institutions of higher learning as well as local clerk associations.”

This program has been in existence since 1970, certifying a total of 4,500 municipal clerks worldwide.

“I am so proud of her. She has worked very hard, and she’s earned this from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks,” Strecker added.

The council congratulated Anaya on her achievement.

The council heard a request by Strecker and the Streets and Sanitation Superintendent Ed Hawley to award a bid for a new crane and dump body to Shell Equipment, LLC in the amount of $90,625.

“We opened bids Nov. 30,” Strecker explained. “We have two bids, one from Shell Equipment, LLC for $90,625 and one from Kois Brothers Equipment for $123,938.  There were two factors we looked at. First, it was the loaded and then the delivery time of 45 to 60 days, compared to 450 days from Kois Brothers.”

Strecker continued by saying that this piece of equipment is an important need of the streets and sanitation department and with the uncertainty in the supply of equipment they recommend moving forward with ordering it. The expense for the truck will not be recorded until the next budget year.

The council unanimously approved the bid.

Strecker also presented the performance evaluation and merit increase request. She explained that they have done the annual evaluations of all city employees and are ready to approve next year’s increases.

“There were 91 evaluations, the average performance score was 3.94 out of 5 and the median was 4 out of 5,” Strecker said. “The average merit increase was estimated at $0.71 per hour.”

The council approved the request.

Attorney James Eddington read the ordinance for establishing C-1 Zoning for Lots 9 and 10, Block 5. This is the second ordinance reading to change the zone of the Wagner’s Floral building and parking lot from residential to commercial.

Eddington also read the ordinance approving the changes to the city’s sanitation fees. These changes were made to simplify the rates and make other necessary adjustments. This was the second ordinance reading relating to these sanitation fees.

The council approved both ordinance readings. These ordinances need to be approved three times before they can take effect. The last readings will be at the meeting on Dec. 20.

Fire Chief Lance Petsch provided a few updates on the department’s recent and upcoming activities. On Dec. 2, the department helped the police with the Parade of Lights. Moving forward, they will be helping with Shop with a Cop and the Santa Claus visit to the schools.

Adams reflected on the Torrington Volunteer Fire Department’s service to the community and said, “It is an incredible gift to the community that the Volunteer Fire Department sacrifices their time and volunteers to do all kinds of things for the community.”

During the mayoral informational part of the meeting, Adams gave updates on the number of COVID-related illnesses in the county.

“As of noon today, Dec. 6, there are 24 new positive COVID cases that can officially be reported this week and another eight reported since noon today,” Adams said. “There are currently two people being treated at Community Hospital for a COVID-related illness. Also, the medical community is being inundated with people diagnosed with influenza A.” 

Adams announced a vaccination clinic on Dec. 20 at the Pony Express room. For more information or to make an appointment call Public Health.

Also, Adams announced the VFW is changing the name of their post to Paul A. Johnson/Harold Bandemer Post No. 2918. Recently, they became aware that Bandemer was the first Goshen County service member to die in World War 2 during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The next meeting of the Torrington City Council will take place Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Torrington City Council Chambers at 436 East 22nd Avenue.