Torrington council authorizes use of CRCOG contract to advance Winstead Road force‑main work

Torrington city council members, meeting jointly as the Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA), voted Oct. 28 to accept the WPCA administrator’s recommendation and authorize the mayor to use a Capital Region Council of Governments cooperative purchasing contract to advance phase 1 of the Winstead Road force‑main replacement.

The action approves awarding phase 1 to Yield Industries Inc. of Torrington for a contract amount presented in the WPCA administrator’s memo as $246,658 and $70.16 cents. The WPCA administrator, Ed, told council members the contractor wants to begin work quickly to "get in front of the asphalt plants closing and getting it" and estimated materials and mobilization would take about one week, possibly two, after formal approval.

The WPCA administrator said the phase is separate from a future tunnel project and is planned to be about 8 feet deep. Crews will install casements through which the force main can later be pulled, which the administrator said will allow work on either side of Winstead Road and reduce state involvement in the immediate work. He told the council the contractor is prepared to encounter remnants of old bridge abutments and has demolition equipment on hand if needed, but that such encounters would not be a "show stopper."

Council members asked whether the contractor’s work on other local projects, including Midgett Avenue and Harrington Avenue, would create scheduling conflicts. Ed said he did not expect those projects to prevent the contractor from beginning Winstead Road work because Midgett was "winding down." He also confirmed the state requires maintaining half the road open at a time for traffic (single‑lane closures), and that the shallower depth of this phase reduces the need for long‑term full road closures.

The presiding official called the motion to a vote; council members voted "Aye" and the presiding official stated the motion carried. There were no recorded votes against or abstentions in the meeting record. With no further business, the council adjourned.

The WPCA administrator’s memo dated Oct. 23, 2025, and the cooperative purchasing contract from the Capital Region Council of Governments were cited as the basis for the recommendation in the meeting. The council noted a previous approval related to this contractor on June 17, 2025.