Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Equipment Capital topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council authorizes $50,131.18 from BOE capital reserve to buy Bobcat for sidewalks and snow removal
Summary
The Torrington City Council voted to allow the Board of Education to use $50,131.18 from its capital reserve fund to purchase a Bobcat tractor with a sweeper attachment to maintain sidewalks and remove snow at the new TMS/THS campus.
The Torrington City Council voted to authorize use of $50,131.18 from the Board of Education Capital Reserve Fund to purchase a Bobcat tractor with sweeping and snow-removal attachments for the school campus.
Council authorization transfers the funds from the district's capital reserve to buy equipment intended for sidewalk sweeping, cleaning and snow removal at the new TMS/THS campus, officials said. The board moved the authorization at a regularly scheduled meeting and the motion carried.
The purchase was introduced by the mayor and presented in the meeting by Dean Prigola, a school staff member, who said the school’s current equipment is worn and cannot reliably clear the expanded sidewalks added with the new project. "This is for sidewalk, snow removal, sidewalk cleaning," Prigola said, adding the unit will sweep sidewalks and remove snow; current contractors handle parking lots but not sidewalks. Prigola said the district briefly borrowed a supplier machine this winter at no charge and that, without additional equipment, the district would have faced school closures or dangerous conditions.
Council members pressed whether the district had considered renting equipment for winter months. Prigola said the district had not pursued renting and defended the purchase on the basis that the Bobcat’s sweeping capability would be used year-round, not only for snow. Council members also asked whether the purchase price included necessary attachments; Prigola confirmed the price included the sweeper and related attachments.
Councilwoman Straub, who moved the motion, and Councilwoman Pesky, who seconded it, said they had reviewed the reconciled capital reserve spreadsheet before voting. Council members noted the equipment item had appeared on past board of education lists under "district-wide" equipment and that the capital reserve had been earmarked previously for similar items.
The motion carried on an oral vote recorded as "Aye" with no named opposition in the minutes.
The authorization directs the Board of Education to proceed with purchase. The meeting record does not specify delivery date, warranty terms or vendor name; those details were not provided during the discussion.
