A Busy and Productive Week!

Residents at the Special Town Meeting Thursday night voted unanimously to accept a gift of 100+ acres located off Wright road near Wintechog Hill Road. During the meeting, attendees reviewed background information, legal correspondence and documents, the environmental engineer’s assessment, assessor’s maps and property information, the property tax summary, aerial photos and a slide show of recent photographs of the property. The deed was signed after the meeting and the Town attorney will be concluding the rest of the paper work this week. It is planned that an additional parcel of approximately 8 acres will be voted on in January.

Tuesday evening, the Selectmen held a regular meeting at the Volunteer Fire Company to hear a presentation on the status of their facilities and a proposed new firehouse. A tour of the facilities followed the presentation. The Selectmen requested cost estimates for initial engineering and site preparation work as an input for evaluation of the proposed project.

Selectmen have reviewed the comparative bid analysis from our engineer and chosen the low bidder for replacing the Main Street Bridge in the Village. Absent any final issues, it is expected that a contract will be signed and work started by the first week of January if not by the end of next week. 

Monday night, the Economic Development Commission heard the final three presentations for formulating an economic development plan for the Town. The Commission plans to select one consultant shortly.

The Ad Hoc School Building Committee continues to work with their consultant in assessing the current school facilities. Short term schedule milestones are completion of the Educational Specification from the School Administration in early January, report to the Board of Education towards the end of January and kickoff of the design concepts immediately after that.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! Have a safe holiday.

Town Meeting for Accepting Land Gift

Thursday 12/22 at 7:00 in the New Town Hall Meeting Room we will hold a Special Town meeting to discuss and decide whether to accept an offer of 100+ acres to the Town. You can view photos I took during inspection of the property here: 

https://picasaweb.google.com/107897503286520535906/WintechogProperty12311?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPfHr-3qzJLYCw&feat=directlink

Included in the photos are some shots of miscellaneous trash and buildings which will need to be cleaned up or demolished should we decide to accept the land. Having walked the property, however I can tell you the amount of debris is minimal and the condition of the land is quite good. There will be maps and background info on the parcels available at the meeting to facilitate discussion. Please plan to attend.

The Ad Hoc School Building Committee continues to work on developing the School Building Feasibility Study. A preliminary schedule reviewed last Monday night proposes a Community Presentation and Planning Workshop in mid-February with a final report in mid-March, followed by a series of public presentations in March and April. Then depending on the sequence of Town Commission and Board reviews, a public hearing might be held in early May with an eye to going to a referendum in early June. To be included in the 2011-12 State’s review for funding consideration, any approved building project must be submitted to the State by June 30^th.

As you probably read in the papers, Wednesday night saw the Board of Education deadlock on a resolution recommending a direction for maintaining and improving the current school facilities in support of the Wheeler education program – in essence taking the option of closing Wheeler and outsourcing the high school students off the table. Consequently BOE has more discussion and work to do in reaching a final resolution. In the meantime though, please weigh in with your concerns and perspectives – contact your BOE members and advise them of your desires concerning this important issue.  

Thursday, the Economic and Development Commission interviewed one of four consultants they are considering to award a bid for developing an economic development plan for the Town. The remaining three consultants will be interviewed next Monday, December 19^th at the Senior Center starting at 6:00 pm.  This project will be a crucial input to the revision of the Town’s Plan of Conservation and Development which we are undertaking between now and 2013. If you are interested in helping to shape the future of the Town and have suggestions for crafting a vision, your participation is encouraged.

Boards Working Together

Last Tuesday night, members of the Boards of Finance and Education attended the Selectmen’s meeting to discuss the coordination of efforts regarding the evaluation of the School Building Feasibility Study. A series of Town hearings, meetings and ultimately a referendum are planned over the next 6 months.

Bids to reconstruct the Main Street Bridge are due to Town Hall by Monday, Dec. 12^th. We expect to complete reviews of the bids and determine the low cost proposal by early January, if not by the end of the December.

Evaluation of the offer to donate to the Town 5 parcels of land (108+ acres) off Wintechog Hill Road is progressing. Planning and Zoning Commission was notified officially of the offer last week, in accordance with Sec. 8-24 of the General Statutes. The Selectmen and some residents walked the property last Saturday (Dec. 3^rd) along with our environmental consultant. While the buildings appear in very poor condition and need to be demolished, very little other debris and refuse was found. The property title search continues and an update is pending. Stay tuned as we may try to bring this proposal to a Town Meeting before the end of this year.

Work continues on other repair projects also, specifically the Hewitt Dam and Boombridge Road Bridge.

Just a reminder, the Board of Education will be addressing the “School of Choice” feasibility study this Wednesday (Dec. 14th) at their regularly scheduled meeting.

This week, the Assessor reported to the Board of Finance that the revaluation process is almost complete. Some additional photos of property need to be taken but the data collection is done and hearings have wrapped up. The contractor, Vision Appraisal is revisiting the basis of some assessments, particularly in the Blue Lake area to ensure they are consistent with surrounding areas. In general, the Assessor reported that the Commercial portion of the Grand List has declined about 7% and Residential properties are down about 17% in assessed value. A more complete report is due the end of January when we will have the annual Tri-Board meeting to discuss the economic condition of the Town and the budget guidelines.

Economic and Development Commission is scheduled to interview Planimetrics on Dec. 15th about their proposal to help the town develop an Economic Development Plan. Three other consultants will pitch their proposals on Dec. 19th before the Commission awards the work. Such a plan will be coordinated with the Affordable Housing Committee’s study, likewise being developed this year, so that we can consolidate them into the overall update of the Town’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) which is due to the State in 2013.

Mark

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Needs More Funding

The Selectmen have been advised that Federal funds currently available for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program are significantly less than last year and consequently will provide only a fraction of the support some citizens may need this winter.

The Senior Center Coordinator/Agent for the Elderly, Teresa Pensis, has advised us that many town residents may be at risk this winter because the high cost of heating oil will strain their budgets.

Today’s news contains reports of New England (but not Connecticut) US Senators advocating a bill to prevent the deep spending cuts in the home heating assistance program. In conferring with our State Rep, Diana, she indicates she is working on a delegation letter to encourage our national officials to likewise support the opposition to deep spending cuts in home heating assistance.

While “politics” is often considered a dirty word and “government offering to help” frequently makes folks leery, I think it behooves us as a society to advocate for the less fortunate against adversity and in doing so, we exercise an important government function in providing for the commonweal. Therefore, if you have not already done so, I urge you to contact our national officials and request their support to maintain funding levels for this program (see links below). Given the state of the economy and heating oil prices near, if not at, an historic high, this program can make a difference. Our residents and neighbors with limited means should not have to choose between food, medicine or heat in a hard winter.

As we progress through the winter, please be mindful of your neighbors and others you know who may be at risk. Please refer any seniors who could benefit to Teresa, as Agent for the Elderly – she can help them with applications for heating funds and other arrangements, such as registration for Social Security. If you become aware of a severe situation, please do not hesitate to bring it to the attention of the Selectmen. The Town budget has provision for very limited assistance to severely affected residents – but it cannot be used unless we know who needs it. This is not meant to suggest developing a welfare program in town – but to allow us to intervene in a threatening situation when no other recourse may be available. We can also try to bring other community assistance to bear.

As always, thanks for your support.

Mark

Click on the link below to access our national officials and provide input:

http://blumenthal.senate.gov/contact

https://courtneyforms.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=148

http://lieberman.senate.gov/index.cfm/contact/email-me-about-an-issue

Day One (11-23-11)

Very full agenda last night for the first night on the job - we actually ran through a status on just about everything happening in town (about 50 topics) and it allowed me a chance to get a good start.

Some things to pass along;

The Town has been offered approximately 108 acres off of Wintechog Hill Road. The Selectmen agreed to forward this to P&Z for discussion at their next meeting so we can get to a Town meeting before the end of December. The offer must be accepted and the deed executed by Dec. 31^st.  This appears to be an opportunity for a significant Affordable Housing development – so those interested should attend the P&Z meeting.

The BOS is assessing whether to challenge the sale of the former YMCA property off of Button Road insofar as it appears the property should have defaulted to Town ownership. Please let me know your thoughts about this. This is the property which is being developed as an organic fish farm.

We are looking at shifting Town Hall hours of operation such that services would be available Thursday evenings (another day would have shorter hours to offset or Thursday would have a late start – still to be determined). Please let me know if making Town Hall hours more accessible is agreeable.

Ice rink at the Rocky Hollow Recreation Grounds is completed and will be operational for the cold weather.

I am concerned about the timetable for completing the school feasibility study for the building project, taking the question of a building project to referendum and getting the application into the State by June 30. I expressed my concerns to the Board of Finance last week as they start to look at budget preparations. Consequently, BOS will schedule a tri-Board meeting, if BOE is agreeable, to discuss the timetable and what assistance may be useful to ensure a full vetting of any proposal for a school building project and subsequent Town referendum. It is my understanding that BOE will clarify the purpose of the “school of choice” report at their next meeting (Dec. 14^th) and attempt to vote that option down – or so it has been reported in the Westerly Sun this month. Not successfully submitting a building project to the State by June 30^th will delay the project another whole year because of the State’s review cycle.

We will be scheduling  a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) training seminar for Town Boards and Commissions especially to help new members become versed in the requirements. It is expected to be open to the general public, also.

BOS is discussing expanding the Town website to provide a dedicated webpage for information about ongoing projects and planned work (e.g., bridge repairs, highway department work schedule, etc.). The website is currently undergoing a refresh which will include pull-down menus and the ability to make some applications online rather than file paperwork at Town Hall and you will see that soon. We are also exploring the use of a Town Facebook site to improve emergency, as well as routine, communications to residents.

You should be aware that the Volunteer Fire Company is preparing a proposal for a new station house to be located across the street from the current one. They have asked for time on the BOS agenda and requested BOF attendance, too. While the cost is still to be determined, this will obviously entail several million dollars and necessarily involve a discussion of utilization of the Ambulance Association, other emergency services and the current fire station building (once it is vacated – possibly to be used for other Town offices and departments, voting poll or Town meeting venue).

As I said we covered a lot of ground last night and there are plenty more items to share updates on and discuss (such as sewer connection plans at the Rotary/Rt. 2 corridor, ongoing storm damage mitigation work, road maintenance schedule, the bridge and dam projects and regionalization efforts). Stay tuned – we have many important decisions to make this year.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Mark