Storm utility passed by council

Logan Dailey
Posted 7/7/22

The Torrington City Council convened for their first bi-monthly meeting of July

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Storm utility passed by council

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TORRINGTON – The Torrington City Council convened for their first bi-monthly meeting of July on Tuesday. Mayor Randy Adams, Councilmembers Dennis Kelly, Richard Patterson and Kate Steinbock were present. Councilmember Ted Kinney was absent and excused due to illness.

The council unanimously passed “an ordinance creating and enacting Chapter 13.18 of the Torrington Municipal Code, 2022 Revisions, relating to surface water drainage” on its third reading at Tuesday night’s council meeting. 

This matter will now be taken to the public for a vote in the November General Election.

Section .010 of the proposed ordinance reads, “the City finds and declares that absent effective maintenance, operation, regulation, and control; existing Surface Water drainage conditions in all areas within the city constitute a potential hazard to the health, safety and general welfare of the city. The City Council further finds that natural and manmade Surface Water Drainage facilities and conveyances constitute a Surface Water Drainage system and that effective improvement, regulation and control of Surface Water though formation, by the City, of a Surface Water Drainage Utility is required. Authorization for the City to create a Surface Water Drainage Utility is provided under Wyoming State Statute §15-7-101 (a)(iii)(B)&(C).”

Sections .060 and .070 describe the imposed fees on the public for the surface water drainage system. Residential parcels would be billed an additional $2 per month on their utility bill, mobile home parts would be charged per mobile home at the rate of $2 per month on their utility bill, commercial parcels without off street parking would be billed at a rate of $4 per month and commercial parcels with off street parking would be billed at a rate of $8.

However, under part B of 13.18.070, “these user fees shall be increased each year by 2% on January 1.”

Torrington utility customers will not see this as an item on their utility bill unless they vote in favor of the ordinance in the November election. The decision to enact the ordinance or not now lies in the hands of the voters.

The council unanimously approved Amendment No. 11 to the Agreement for Professional Services with Inberg-Miller Engineers. According to the agenda, “Staff recommends approval of Amendment No. 11 to the original agreement dated 08-21-13 for the purpose of providing well monitoring, testing, and state reporting WYDEQ for the landfill ($27,390.00), to complete the final CQA report for the closure of Cell #13 ($7,500.00), and for the continuation of the Baler Permit renewal ($4,500.00). The amount of the amendment is $39,390.00.”

Torrington Police Chief Matt Johnson presented three ordinances to the council, one repealing an outdated ordinance governing carrying concealed weapons and switchblades, the second amending an existing ordinance to allow different crimes to be tried in municipal court and the third pertaining to the offense of possession of a controlled substance.

Johnson explained how many people carry a spring-assisted knife as a pocketknife, which is technically illegal pursuant to Torrington town ordinance. He explained how switchblades were an issue around the nation in the past but aren’t nearly as prominent now. 

With regard to the concealed carry ordinance, Johnson recommended the council remove the concealed carry ordinance as state statute governs concealed carry weapons.

“It’s not a safety concern for our community,” Johnson said.

He told the council permits are issued by the state to any resident so long as they have been a resident for at least one year, show proof of firearms training and have no felony convictions or other convictions which would preclude them from owning or possessing a firearm.

He pointed out, regardless of whether one has a permit or not, they are not to carry concealed weapons into any federal building, governmental facility, banks or meetings of governmental bodies.

Torrington City Attorney James Eddington weighed in on the matter.

“Since 1990, I have not prosecuted any concealed carry case I’ve only prosecuted one switchblade case and it was a biker issue from downtown.”

Johnson explained the request to amend the ordinance pertaining to penalties and jail. He said they decided it was best to change some offenses to allow them to be jailable offenses, such as obstructing a peace officer and some drug charges. 

“I’m surprised those weren’t jailable offenses in the first place,” Mayor Adams said.

Councilman Patterson asked if they were creating new offenses or defining how existing charges could be handled. Johnson said they were not creating any new offenses, only allowing them latitude in how they handle existing offenses. 

The final ordinance presented by Eddington and Johnson was amending the existing drug charges to include all misdemeanor drug charges into municipal code. 

Johnson explained how they intend to move both possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia under the umbrella of the municipal court due to complications in charging cases in both municipal and circuit or district courts.

“We feel it will address the behavior more effectively,” Johnson said.

He explained how the municipal court is trying to work towards a concept which involves drug court and mental health court interventions.

“Sounds like that’s been needed for quite a while,” Adams said.

“We very much support it,” Johnson replied.

“We can’t arrest our way out of this problem, so it is good to see this movement,” Council Patterson added.

The council voted unanimously in favor of the ordinances presented.

Director of Public Works Jeff Harkins presented two ordinances to the city council requesting the annexation of the A-B Estates Addition and the Hills Irrigation Addition. Harkins said both additions up for annexations were on the grounds of the airport but had never been formally annexed into the city. With these additions, the airport would be entirely annexed into the city, Harkins explained.

The council approved the ordinances unanimously.

City Clerk/Treasurer Lynette Strecker presented an ordinance pertaining to city-recognized holidays. Strecker said the existing ordinance did not observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a holiday, despite town policy already reflecting the holiday.

The council approved the ordinance unanimously. 

Strecker presented two additional items to the council, one being the annual write-off of accounts and the other being the bills for June 22 through July 5. 

Strecker said there were $9,594.72 in accounts owed to the city which had not been paid. The city was unable to recover the money as the people had either moved out of state, were out of the 10-year statute of limitations or were now deceased and couldn’t have anything collected from their estate. 

Strecker said this amount was less than last year. Eddington told the council about the difficulty and costliness of chasing these funds. He explained how the costs could far outweigh what the city would receive, if anything, from attempting to chase down these debtors. 

The council approved the item.

Dennis Estes from the Torrington Volunteer Fire Department (TVFD) presented a request for a waiver of the Special Event Permit fee for the upcoming 2022 Goshen County Fair Parade scheduled for Aug. 4 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Main Street.

The council approved the waiver.

Mayor Adams, along with the TVFD Chief Lance Petsch and Goshen County Fire Warden Bill Law, asked citizens to be mindful of the significantly elevated fire danger as the potential is very high and will likely worsen as the summer continues. 

July is the wettest month and the hottest month, which creates a potential for thunderstorms and flooding in the area. 

“It’s going to be hot and dry for the rest of the summer,” Petsch said. “The cheatgrass is about knee high and it burns fast.”

“We appreciate your sacrifice,” Adams told Petsch and the TVFD. “Thanks for keeping us safe.”

Adams said COVID cases were on the rise with 27 positive cases in Goshen County leading up to the fourth of July. There were no hospitalizations. Adams asked the public to be safe and try to avoid getting sick as the potential is there.

He also asked citizens to put their phones down while driving and be cautious of pedestrians walking across streets or kids playing around streets. 

The next meeting of the Torrington City Council will be Tuesday, July 19 at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Community Complex, located on the 2200 block of East D Street in Torrington.