TORRINGTON – Mayor Herb Doby called the Tuesday, August 19 meeting of the Torrington City Council to order at 5:30 p.m. In attendance were council members Rick Warren, Shane Viktorin, Dennis Kelly and Wayne Deahl. Council member Warren lead the community in attendance and the council in the Pledge of Allegiance and the mayor moved on to his informational items. Doby announced Lynette Strecker was absent and Rhonda Estes would be filling in for her.
“Well, by the calendar, there’s about a month left of summer. For many of us, the start of the school year signals summer’s end. School started yesterday for all city and county schools as such, please yield for school buses, especially loading and unloading children and please obey all traffic laws. Watch for the lower speed limits in the school zones,” Doby said. “Please yield to pedestrians and keep a sharp look out for motorcycles, electric bikes, electric skateboards, scooters and even the old fashioned bicycle.”
Doby noted most of the town’s residents had done a great job keeping up with the weeds on their property.
“For these folks, I thank you for your service but there are still many properties around town that are in violation of the city weed ordinance. Overgrown weeds diminish the quality of life for all of us, provide habitat for vermin and create a fire danger. Please take care of the weeds to avoid a visit from the code enforcement officers,” Doby said. “As the warm weather does continue, please continue to enjoy the following municipal recreational venues: the municipal golf course, the municipal swimming pool, the municipal ball field, the municipal walking paths, the municipal parks and the new pickleball courts.”
Next, the council moved on to the approval of the consent agenda, which includes the meeting minutes from August 5. A motion was made by Deahl seconded by Kelly and carried by vote. The council then moved on to the approval of the agenda. Viktorin motioned to approve the agenda and Warren seconded the motion. The motion carried by vote and was approved.
Then, the council moved on to the public forum portion of the agenda where Doby explained the forum was for non-agenda items. He further noted participants must sign up before the meeting and they were to be given two minutes to speak to the council. He also explained, no action would be taken.
Under action items, the council moved on to ratify special event permit addendum approved on August 7, 2025. It was noted Matthew Richardson with The Compound submitted an additional request for the closure of East M Street for the Hometown Hustle 5K event which was held on August 9, 2025 from 7: 30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“I would just mention to council that Mr. Richardson had agreed to reimburse the city for the case I think to close off part of East M Street that morning,” Doby said as he called on Torrington Chief of Police, Matt Johnson.
“The additional request of the including closure of East M Street. It sounds like there was some miscommunication on that. We were asked to try to make that accommodation so that they could host the fun event,” Johnson said. “By all the reports I received it was a safe and fun time and Mr. Richardson was easy to work with on it.”
A motion was made to ratify the special event permit addendum by Deahl and it was seconded by Kelly. The motion carried by vote.
Next, the council moved on to item number two, an ordinance relating municipal parks hours of use. Doby called on Dennis Estes, building and grounds superintendent after city attorney Jim Eddington read the ordinance aloud. Eddington noted there had been no changes made. Viktorin inquired about the signage indicating the hours of the pickleball court. Estes advised the council the signs would be here any day. A motion was made by Kelly and seconded by Viktorin to approve the ordinance on the third reading. The motion carried by vote.
Under action item number three, the council considered awarding the bid for the FY26 airport terminal building. It was noted staff recommended awarding the bid to Dietzler Construction Corp of Yoder in the amount of $1,198.377.15, contingent upon the final approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Wyoming Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division (WYDOT). Doby noted the corporation was located in Berthoud, Colorado and he then called on Jeff Harkins, director of public works.
“This project includes the construction of a new 1,885 square foot terminal building at the airport. It also includes the relocation of the ratio and weather equipment, the bidder route system and the automated surface observing system or ASOS, to that new building. The bid opening was held on June 26, 2025 for the project. We had three contractors that submitted bids in conformance for bidding requirements and those are shown below and also on the bid tab attached,” Harkins said. “Dietzler Construction was the low bid at $1,198,377.15 which was about 48.7% over the engineers estimate of $806,050.”
Harkins stated the contractors have been given 110 working days for the date of the notice to proceed to be substantially complete with the project.
“The engineering for the project was previously approved by council on January 21, 2025 to M.C. Schaff in the not-to-exceed amount of $135,650.21. So, the total cost of the construction of this project comes to $1,359,027.15. That’s what you can see on the second page of your handout in the agenda,” Harkins said.
According to Harkins, funding for the project had been challenging.
“We are taking five years of bill apportionment money that was split 95% FAA, 2.5% WYDOT and 2.5% city for a total amount of $760,000. We have a WYDOT state only grant which is a WYDOT percentage of 80%, city for a total of $250,000. We have a WYDOT state apportionment FAA 95%, WYDOT 2.5%, city 2.5% came out to $33,247.15,” Harkins explained. “Then we are going to borrow for two years future airport entitlements at the 95% FAA, 2.5% WYDOT, 2.5% city for a total of $315,708. So the total funding available comes out to that, $1,359,027.15, with FAA paying 77.5%, WYDOT paying 16.8% and the city paying 5.7%.”
Harkins noted funds were set up in the fiscal year ’26 budget for the project.
“However, the amount that was established in the budget was $1,242,660, which is $116,367.15 short of the actual award amount that we are asking for,” Harkins said. “So, I talked to Lynette [Strecker] and it will probably either do a budget adjustment or we might be able to take care of it in the fiscal year ’27 budget as this project will likely not start until the spring and probably continue into the summer past the beginning of next fascial year.”
“This is complicated but you’ve explained it well and I appreciate your oral explanation and your explanation that was in the handout,” Doby stated. “So, whatever council does tonight, if the council approves the awarding of this bed, it’s contingent, so it would be approved contingent upon final approval by the FAA and WYDOT Aeronautics Division?”
“That’s correct,” Harkins responded.
Harkins also noted it would be a single-story metal building. Viktorin also noted he was on the airport board and the board had mixed opinions about the project.
“One thing that the committee is really pushing for is more projects that will help bring revenue to the airport,” Viktorin said. “There’s probably the argument that this new building could increase traffic at the airport but we all know there’s a deficit with the airport’s budget. So, I think hopefully in future projects we can look at those – some of those types of projects that could bring some more revenue to the airport. Basically, the main revenue earners up there are hanger rent and fuel sales. We kind of have no available space for hangers or I shouldn’t say no available space. We don’t have any available hangers. We have space for them. Then we’re limited on fuel storage and we have an aging fuel tanker farm. So, it’s hard for us to compete because we can’t store tanker loads of fuel at a time. Those types of things but overall, I would say that the airport board is mixed. Certainly, I think everybody is in favor of a new building. That’s recognizable – the air field is in need of a new building.”
Harkins noted the airport would remain functional during the construction phase. Harkins also explained WYDOT and the FAA want a commitment from the city to complete the project.
After a short discussion, Deahl moved to make a motion to approve awarding the contingent bid to Dietzler Construction Corp. to which Kelly seconded. The motion then carried by vote.
Next the council moved on to item four where they discussed awarding a FY26 sewer and manhole lining improvement project to the winning bid of $684,747.73 and reserve of $115,252.27 to Insituform Technologies of Chesterfield, Missouri. Doby called on Harkins.
“This project will consist of lining about 14,071 lineal feet of eight-inch-cure-in-place pipe. It will have 307 lateral reinstatements and 441.63 vertical feet of manhole protective coating material and all incidentals associated with the project bid items,” Harkins explained. “The bid opening was held on July 23, 2025. We had three bids again that were submitted in accordance to the bidding requirements. Insituform Technologies was the low bid. Contractor’s been given the option on when to start and 90 calendar days to complete the project. The project must be substantially complete prior to November 28, 2026.”
According to Harkins, the good news about the sewer manhole lining improvement project is the project is completely funded through the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG).
“We did receive a grant in the amount of $932,171 and this funding was established in the 2026 budget under account 52-9100,” Harkins explained. “As a result of the very favorable bid, we are looking into contracting the private inspector for this project. Our plan would be to advertise for these services through a RFP and then select the most qualified candidate at the lowest cost for the services. This cost would also be reimbursable using that CDBG grant.”
Harkins noted this was the same company who did the lining work for the city for the last several years, noting they were “very reputable and have done a pretty outstanding job for the city.” Harkins explained the lining part of the project is centered in the Vistas and south of the area. He also stated the manhole project would be along the prison corridor. He further explained there had been a high concentration of H2S in the pipes which leach into the manholes. Harkins also stated the manholes have eroded to the point where rebar has been exposed.
“This project will cover that back up and then put a liner over the top of it so that the H2S no longer causes us any issues with the manholes,” Harkins said.
After a bit more discussion, Viktorin made a motion to approve and award the bid for the sewer and manhole lining improvement project to Insituform Technologies, which was seconded by Warren. The motion then carried by vote.
Moving on to item five, the council considered approving the bills from August 6 to August 19, 2025. In absence of Strecker, clerk/treasurer, Estes presented the bills to the council. Estes advised the council there was a charge on the bills for the dishwasher sanitizer for the daycare. She also advised the council the water company had a new name. After a few additional questions from the council, a motion was made to approve the bills as presented by Kelly. The motion was then seconded by Viktorin and it carried by vote.
Next, the mayor moved on to item six, public comment. Doby called on Torrington Volunteer Fire Department Chief, Luis Correa.
“As far as calls go, we’ve been pretty slow. We’re thankful for that. Although we did have two, two just today. But before that, in between council meetings we only had about three of them,” Correa reported. “One grass fire, an electrical fire and then a carbon monoxide detector going off, I believe. We’ve been grateful that we haven’t been running on large grassfires like a lot of the country is.”
Correa due to the lower number of calls, the department has been able to be more engaged with the community through events.
“The first of those being on September 4. We will be doing a joint training with the Department of Corrections at the prison. So, we’re looking forward to doing that with them and helping them out and checking out availability and how we’d be able to get into some of the locations at the prison,” Correa said. “The next one would be on September 6 with the Safe Kids Day out at the fairgrounds. Again, another one that we’re looking forward to – spending some time with kids, educating them on fire safety and handing out some goodies to them.”
“Then another one that we’re looking forward to and excited about is our Guns and Hoses Blood Draw with the help of the police department,” Correa explained. “Hopefully, we’ll get lots of blood donated and make a difference out there in the world.”
Correa noted the blood draw will be held Friday, September 12 at the firehall.
Viktorin spoke in gratitude to the Goshen County Cattlewomen.
“I just have a public ‘thank you’ to make to the Goshen County Cattlewomen. I have wanted to thank them for quite some time for their beautification efforts in the downtown area and hopefully, folks have seen it now,” Viktorin said. “Their are banners recognizing Goshen County is the cattle capital of Wyoming and their billboard that’s above the Class Act – that billboard faces south but northbound traffic on (US Highway) 85 can see it as they come into Torrington. That billboard was kind of unsightly for some time. I think that was a well thought out and well received addition to downtown Torrington and I just wanted to thank them for their work in prompting beef here in Goshen County.”
With no other public comments, Doby asked for a motion to enter into executive session. Deahl made the motion, which was seconded by Viktorin. The motion then carried by vote and the council entered into an executive session to discuss personnel. The meeting adjourned thereafter.
