TORRINGTON – Mayor Herb Doby called the meeting of the Torrington City Council to order at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17. Present at the meeting were council members Rick Warren, Shane Viktorin and Wayne Deahl. Dennis Kelly was excused. 

Warren led the community in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance and Doby presented the mayor’s informational items thereafter.

“We have all been blessed by the recent rains. I have heard reports of hail damage to crops around the area, but I don’t think we’ve had any hail here in town,” Doby began. “Last year’s fire season was devastating to many in Wyoming and even in parts of Goshen County but we hope and pray that recent rainfall will help mitigate the heat of last year’s fire season. Of course, the downside to wet weather is weed growth. There’s a reason for the saying, ‘It grows like a weed.’ With this wet weather, I know the weed growth is tremendous. Thank you to all the residents working so hard to keep up with the weeds. I know our code enforcement officers are out and about, warning and even issuing citations for failing to manage the weeds.”

“Summer is here, school is out and there is increased pedestrian, motorcycle, bicycle and scooter traffic. Please exercise extra caution while driving. Please slow down while driving,” Doby said. “As always, please do not use your cell phones while driving.”

Doby also gave accolades to Ed Hawley, supervisor and department head of streets and sanitation noting the city landfill received recognition from Tim Reed, District One Supervisor from the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. Reed noted in an email he was “very impressed with the landfill operations during their inspection.” Doby further thanked Hawley and the landfill staff for their hard work. Doby also congratulated the Torrington Volunteer Fire Department on a successful first and second place time during the Wyoming State Firemen’s Association Convention held last week. 

A motion was made by Deahl to approve the consent agenda, including the June 3, 2025, council meeting minutes, which was seconded by Viktorin. When Doby called for a vote on the motion, the motion carried.

Moving on, a motion was made by Viktorin to approve the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, which was seconded by Warren. The motion carried by vote and the agenda was approved. 

Next, the council entered the public forum where non-agenda items may be discussed for no longer than two minutes. No action will be taken, Doby noted. 

Denise Estes spoke to the council regarding the Wyoming State Firemen’s Association, which was held in Torrington last week. 

“This past weekend, we did hold the Wyoming State 92nd Annual Fire Convention here in Torrington. We haven’t had a convention here in 17 years. It used to be pretty regular to run around here about eight to ten years, depending on how many teams we have. We had a great convention. Cody Scott was the president of our association this year. He did a great job here and his team did a great job putting that on. We hosted 10 drill teams. I think we had maybe 150 to 200 people down at the fire drill field all week,” Estes explained. “Had some barbecues, had interesting dinner Thursday night with some alligator and crawdads. Very interesting. It was good.”

Estes reported Afton placed third, Torrington rural team and the Torrington city team took first. 

“It all went pretty well and I don’t think we had any major problems. Everybody loved coming to Torrington,” Estes said.

Next, Torrington Planning Commissioner David Cronk spoke to the council during the public forum.

“Every mayor and council member took an oath of office, probably with their hand on the Bible, swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, the Constitution of the State of Wyoming, all the laws and ordinances of the city of Torrington,” Cronk said. “Apparently, sometimes this oath can be taken perhaps without reading all those statutes before we swear to uphold them. But at any rate, this planning commission that was adopted, there’s a little bit of ambiguity there, but perhaps 1984, that seemed like 41 years ago. I have a lot of people ask how, when was that adopted?”

Cronk continued, stating during his time as president of the committee, the commission had settled a lot of issues. 

“I’ve been on it for a lot of years. We’ve settled a lot of issues. We’re kind of part of the checks and balances of proactive checks and balances of city government. We can kind of hash things out with the public. We do our very best to present to the council the will of the public on these issues,” Cronk continued. “We’re only an advisory committee and the city council has every right to override our suggestion. That being said, this document was when you swore to uphold it, you swore to uphold it. You didn’t swear to tinker with it, change it, neuter it – whatever it might say. But I went over the ordinance that’s going to be read on the first reading tonight. When ‘will’ is scratched out and ‘shall is overwritten and changed to the word ‘may’, that changes everything. We no longer have a – basically it makes us ineffective.”

“What was brought forth at the last go around was that we can’t find seats, people to fill the seats but I digress, I don’t think people know that the seats are open,” Cronk added.

Moving on to action items, item one, Dennis Estes, building and grounds superintendent, spoke to the council regarding the swimming pool boiler. The council discussed options for repairs/replacement. 

“Most of you know, but I’m going to update to the public what we’ve done at the pool. Most everybody here in this room knows, especially you folks know. Last fall, when we shut this pool down, the surface of the pool was a major disrepair. People were cutting their feet on it. They’re having issues with tiles that have been shipped for years that they’ve been fixing. It was just to the point where our pool manager and I decided that we have to fix this. So, this winter we went through the budget and thanks to all the supervisors and the city, made some major cuts to their budgets to fulfill this contract for this company to come in and totally take the plaster off the pool, take all the tile off of it, take all the gutter stones off that I don’t think in my life have ever been off in 53 years, see what’s going on underneath that gutter,” Estes said. 

Estes went on to explain the pool repairs were completed however now, the broiler is having issues.

“We told everybody up front that we’re working on the surface. We’re not working on the mechanical end of a 53-year-old pool. We continue to work on the mechanical end of this pool every year. The heater has been an issue for us for some time,” Estes said. “We’ve been piecing it together and piecing it together.”

Estes went on to report the heater could not be started until the pool was filled. It was working, the temperature reached near 85 degrees and then it quit working, Estes noted. He also explained he had been working with contractors and tech support for the company who made the boiler to resolve the issue. 

“They told me the other day, Wednesday, when they were here again, that they needed to either replace the wiring harness and all the electronics or we need to replace the boiler,” Estes said. “The estimate on the replacement, they’re still figuring out is upwards to $100,000. I’m not sure we have that.”

Estes continued to say he also wasn’t completely sure the boiler had gone out so he has been doing “homework”. He also noted he had spoken to a person who works on boilers in Scottsbluff who was coming to look at the pool boiler Wednesday. He further explained other contractors couldn’t get to Torrington for weeks. Estes also noted if the city buys a new heater, it would take weeks to install. 

“If we were to go ahead and replace this heater and you get the money somewhere, it’s going to be at least eight or nine weeks when you get it here and realistically that’s summertime. It’s done. We don’t have a heater for the pool,” Estes said. “There’s been a lot of misinformation going around about what’s going on with this pool. I want everybody in the public to know that we’re doing our dangest to get it going. We’ve had people in here – we spent through the city of budgets and through donations from local companies in Torrington and the Rotary Club, Community Gas, Wyoming healthcare folks they spent $365,000 this winter we’re doing that pool.”

Estes explained so far, they had spent $14,000 trying to get the heater going. He stated he would continue to work on and evaluate the boiler. 

Viktorin spoke up.

“I don’t necessarily have any questions,” Viktorin said. “But I’ve been at the pool with Dennis [Estes] a few times since the opening of the pool. I share the public’s frustration. I share the staff’s frustration. I too would like to utilize the pool for lap swimming. So, I understand for the swim team and the water aerobics folks, it’s frustrating. I mentioned to a constituent over social media last week that the city needs two things, more money and more time to fix this issue and this issue or those two things rather are something we never have enough of. So, I’m hopeful based upon what Dennis has presented, in talking with him today, that we will get a fix one way or the other hopefully sooner rather than later,” Viktorin continued. “I do want the public to know that we hear the frustration, we hear the concerns. We want it fixed just like you want it fixed.”

“But again, I just want the public to know from the governing body standpoint, I think also from the mayor’s office, his standpoint, we want nothing but the pool to be heated. We want nothing but kids to enjoy their time at it this summer. We want nothing but the swim team to practicing and competing. We want nothing but exercise to be happening. We want the pool to be utilized. If we didn’t want the pool to be utilized, we wouldn’t have sunk almost $400,000 into it. But we want that asset for this community and we’re committed to seeing that its life continues to be expended over time,” Viktorin said. 

Doby expressed his understanding of community frustration. 

“I know folks that use the pool are frustrated. I assure you that staff is frustrated, council is frustrated,” Doby added. “I agree with what Mr. Viktorin said. This town needs a swimming pool.”

Doby reiterated the city is doing everything they can to fix the pool.

“Keep hoping and praying that we can get a fix on this,” Doby said. 

Doby noted the renovations done on the pool were solid. The boiler issues were not connected to the recent repairs. Deahl noted the pool was important to the community which is why the city spent money to fix it. 

Next, the council moved on to action item two where they entered into a public hearing regarding the 2026 fiscal year budget. Doby called on Lynette Strecker, clerk/treasurer.

“I want to thank the staff and the mayor and council. We had several work sessions and we worked really hard to get where we are and I appreciate all the sacrifices that the department heads had to make to make this budget balance this year,” Feagler said. “We did have some challenges, as you said, I won’t repeat those. But it was challenging, as it is every year. I just kind of wanted to go over some highlights with you. So, we also are dealing with a little bit with supply-chain issues but it has improved. We’re still waiting on one bucket truck for the electric department that I was hoping would be here before the end of the fiscal year but it doesn’t look like it’s going to be. So, we will be seeing that, hopefully, in the next couple of months.”

Strecker noted last year, the city had a problem with property and liability insurance. 

“This year, it went significantly better. We had several quotes to look at. I don’t think the council is aware of this but we ended up getting a better offer from HUB or after we told them we would be switching so Travelers agreed to separate the liability and the property/casualty so we will go back to an LGLP, like we talked about but we will be staying with Travelers for the property and casualty insurance. They did come down to quote significantly and we felt like we got the best of both worlds there,” Strecker said.

Streck noted one of the goals for the city was to keep enough operating cash on hand to maintain for 90 days for emergency purposes. She also explained another goal was to maintain a qualified workforce. She noted in highlights there was a significant increase in the budget this year of 12 million dollars. Strecker noted the increase was mainly due to capital projects. The operating budget went up a little over a million or 4.78% compared to last year’s budget, Strecker stated. Strecker stated the increase was due to inflation and wholesale power costs. Wholesale power increased in April she explained. She noted the vehicle budget decreased. Strecker noted major equipment purchases of two mowers, a backhoe, a mini excavator, a bucket truck, a one-ton pick-up and two used patrol cars.

After a brief discussion and presentation from Strecker, the council moved into the public comment portion of the public hearing. There were no speakers for or against the budget and the public comment session was then closed and the meeting returned to the regular business meeting.

Under action item three, Strecker presented the third reading of the 2026 fiscal year budget. 

Deahl made a motion to approve the third reading of the 2026 fiscal year budget which was seconded by Warren. Doby called for a vote and the motion carried.

Moving on to action item four, Amy Bomgardner with the Torrington Lions Club requested a special event permit for the Lions Club Festival of Sight to be held on July 19. Bomgardner requested the permit to run from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Pioneer Park. She also requested the special event permit fee to be waived. Torrington Chief of Police, Matt Johnson, provided background information for the event. 

“This has been a successful and safe event for several years now and the Lions Club brings in a full crowd of folks to support sight for folks who need. Pretty limited impact from a city resource standpoint. They’re using the essential the drill pad area, south fire hall at Pioneer Park. This year they are looking at bringing in a couple of campsites there near the bounce houses so they can have access to electricity and water,” Johnson said.

Bomgardner and Tina Garrelts from the club spoke to the council. 

Viktorin motioned to approve the special event permit and waive the special event permit fee and evaluate the fees for city expenses for the Lions Club which was seconded by Deahl. The motion was carried by vote, approving the permit. 

Next, Tiffany Leslie with the Broncho Bar requested a special event permit for a street dance which is scheduled to be held on July 12. Leslie requested the permit to run from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. She further requested approval to close the public street on Main Street between 19th Avenue and 20th Avenue. A map was also submitted with the permit application.

“This is essentially the same events plan that we utilized last year with the same street dance. This has been again as successful and safe for number of years,” Johnson said. 

“This year, we are having the Martian Manhunters as our band. They are a local band right here from Torrington in Goshen County. Three of the members currently live in Torrington,” Leslie said.

A motion was made by Viktorin to approve the special event permit with no waiver of the special event fee and $203 assessed for city expenses, which was seconded by Warren. Doby called for a vote in which the motion carried. 

Under item six of action items, Christine Guzman with Maid it Clean requested a special event permit for the Hometown Hustle 5K. Guzman noted the event was scheduled for August 9, 2025, from 7: 30 a.m. to 1 p.m. She furthermore requested the special event permit to be waived. 

“We’re going to do the hometown hustle. Matt Richardson and I – he owns The Compound gym – we wanted to do something that was healthy, and fun that we could build, and bring the community together. We are asking for the $200 to be waived as this is something that we’re going to plan on to do annually to bring in the technology to time everyone,” Guzman said.

Guzman said she hopes to be able to purchase what is needed to time each of the runners in the race for the next year.

Deahl made a motion to approve the special event permit and waive the special event permit fee, which was seconded by Viktorin. The motion was carried by vote. 

Next, the council moved on to item seven under action items, a motion tabled during the June 3 council meeting, the ordinance first reading relating to planning commissions. 

Deahl motioned to remove the item from the table, which was seconded by Warren. The motion to remove an ordinance’s first reading relating to planning commissions from the table was carried by vote. 

Under action item eight, the council heard the first reading of an ordinance relating to planning commissions.

“At the last council meeting, they did decide to table it and suggested some changes. Councilmen Viktorin suggested that we move the membership around and I think that Mr. Eddington did that in 220B. Other than that, on D there were some changes to how long they’ll serve. Really, other than that, it’s just typos that we fixed and everything else pretty much stayed the same with the exception of K, ‘All committee members’ signature shall be required on – no committee member’s signature shall be required on any plat ordinance plan or any other official document of the City of Torrington,” Estes said, standing for questions.

“All that big discussion we had before it got tabled June 3, all those suggestions by council have been placed in this current ordinance on first reading, right?” Doby asked Estes.

“As near as I can tell,” Estes said. “Attorney Eddington probably could tell you that for sure.”

“That is certainly my intent. I believe Mr. Estes’ changes are yellow and mine are blue,” Eddington explained. “I tried to follow every note and direction that we received from the council the last meeting.” 

Doby then asked Estes if the planning commission ordinance had been visited since 1984, to which Estes concurred, the ordinance had remained untouched for 41 years. 

“Mr. Cronk is correct but I do know in ’82, I have a document in my office where there was a big planning commission that rezoned the whole town, took it out of the districts, put it into rezoning and that’s the current zoning we’re at,” Estes said. 

Estes stated the rezoning was a big job and the planning commissioners were probably worn out and were replaced on the board. Doby reminded the community, by law, ordinances must have three readings before they become law. Doby stated he felt all the changes had been made by both Eddington and Estes regarding the suggestions which came from the June 3 meeting. 

“One of the main things I want to say is that under state law and city ordinance on zoning issues and those sorts of issues, this council when it’s in session will leave regular session and become to the board of adjustment for certain issues and we have final say, as council, on zoning and conditional use permits and those sorts of things,” Doby explained. “There was an expression of interest and intent on this council that I observed last time we met on June 3. They want to continue a planning commission. They like the planning commission serving in an advisory capacity. Council considers it a useful commission to have.”

Doby continued, noting the planning commission meets in the at the city hall and uses the same council area. He further stated the area has five chairs, which would work great if the council reduced the number of members the planning commission to five members instead of the original seven members. 

Before calling for a vote, Doby asked the council members if they had questions or comments.

“As I stated last time, I think all of the issues that were presented to us on the original first reading (June 3), if you will, I think all of those could be satisfied if we had the full board seated. It’s my opinion, I think we need to give them a task, the members of the planning commission, give them a duty, a job to do. With the caveat of that, there are people that want to do that job and I think that everything else will fall into place,” Viktorin explained. “I like some things about the new ordinance. This is my personal opinion, some would probably disagree, I don’t think it needs to be as a seven – is it currently seven members?” Viktorin asked Doby. 

“Yes, and there are four currently on there,” Doby said.

“The ultimate governing body of the city is five, four plus the mayor. I personally like that,” Viktorin said. “I can see it from both angles. I’m just of the opinion that we need to give them a task and if we substitute the words ‘will’ with ‘may’ it won’t give them much of a job per se.”

Doby noted he understood Viktorin’s concern.

“Mr. Mayor, I understand that too and certainly would not be my intent or concern to do away with the planning council and make it some sort of pro forma thing. But indeed, they should have a task and that task is to advise city council and the board acting as the board of adjustment,” Deahl said.

Warren noted he didn’t like the wording changes from ‘will’ to ‘may’ noting the change was ambiguous.

“Okay, so, you’re with councilmen Viktorin on the don’t want to change the ‘will’ to ‘may’. I see problems if not changing them. If I look at this list of responsibilities, okay, and you put ‘wills’ in there, you guys will have a full-time and then some job,” Doby said. “If you put ‘will’ in there where all those ‘mays’ are, ‘committee will review and recommend to the council’ blah blah blah. And item B, item F, the ‘The committee will undertake a regular and continuing review of zoning ordinances, make such recommendations for changes to the council as it deems appropriate.”

After discussion, a motion was made by Deahl to approve which was seconded by Warren. With no further discussion, Doby called for a vote where and Deahl voted for the motion and Viktorin and Warren voted against it. The motion failed. 

Under item nine, the council heard an agreement with the City of Wheatland for the disposal of municipal solid waste. Doby called on Jeff Harkins, director of public works.

Ed Hawley, streets and sanitization superintendent spoke to the council. 

With nothing further to discuss, Viktorin made a motion to accept the agreement which was seconded by Warren. During vote, the motion carried.

Viktorin made a motion to take a five-minute recess, which was second by. 

Next, the council moved on to action item 10, resolution number 2025-5, amending the 2025 fiscal year budget. 

With nothing further to discuss, Doby called for a motion. Deahl motioned to approve the resolution which was seconded by Viktorin. The motion was carried during vote.

Moving on to action item 11, the council heard from chief Johnson who spoke on supporting the submission of a grant application to the US Department of Transportation for the development of a joint county-wide safety action plan. 

After a bit more discussion, a motion was made by Viktorin to approve resolution 2025-6, which was seconded by Warren. The motion carried by vote.

Under action item 12, the council heard from Strecker regarding employee policy handbook amendments. 

A motion was made by Deahl to approve the policy handbook amendments, which was seconded by Viktorin. During the vote, the motion carried. 

Next, the council moved on to the approval of the bills from June 4 to June 17, 2025.

After a short presentation, a motion was made to approve the bills by Viktorin which was seconded by Warren. With no further discussion, Doby called for a vote which approved the motion to pay the bills. 

Under public comment, Torrington Volunteer Fire Department Chief Luis Corre reported to the council. 

Johnson also spoke to the council, recognizing Strecker for her hard work on the budget. 

With no further business to discuss, Doby adjourned the meeting at 8:26 p.m.

As of press time, the Dale Jones Municipal Pool is anticipating the delivery of parts to repair the boiler within the next few days.