Winter Kick-off

As you have probably read in the papers, we have signed a contract for replacing the Main Street bridge by the Old Town Hall. The construction kick-off meeting was this week and you can expect to see activity right away. As previously reported, 75% of the costs to replace the bridge will be reimbursed by FEMA.

If you have not done so recently, please check out the Town website. It has been refreshed and pull-down menus have been added to make it more user friendly. The home page has been streamlined and we are providing updates to ongoing projects (such as the bridge replacement) and breaking news. Click here to see: http://www.northstoningtonct.gov 

If you are interested in getting more involved with Town activities, the Selectmen show the following positions are vacant and available for appointment:

·        Affordable Housing Committee - 1 vacancy

·        Water Pollution Control Authority – 3 vacancies

·        Permanent School Planning and Building Committee – 1 vacancy

·        Conservation Commission – 1 vacancy

·        Historian

·        Deputy Emergency Management Director

·        Representative to Eastern Regional Mental Health Board

If you or anyone you know are interested in serving in any of these capacities, please let me know or contact the Town Hall for more information.

Last week’s P&Z meeting included an excellent presentation by the ad hoc volunteer committee to document the current Conservation Easements and Open Spaces in the Town. Kudos and thanks to Bob Fleury, Nita Kincaid and Bill Ricker for the commitment to months of hard work - which entailed inspection of all the easements and open spaces, map reviews, photography and document compilation to produce a comprehensive record for the Town. This record will be particularly useful in the updating of the Plan of Conservation and Development which we are just starting and is scheduled for completion in 2013. One aspect discussed at the meeting was the need to maintain the information current through the position of a Land Use Monitor. Anyone interested should contact the Town Hall or P&Z.

Don’t forget the Boards of Selectmen, Finance and Education will meet in their annual Tri-Board session on Wednesday, February 8th to discuss the state of the Town and the budget expectations for 2012-3. The meeting is at 6:00 pm in the Elementary School Library. Though not confirmed yet, State Rep Diana Urban and State Senator Andy Maynard usually attend to add a legislative perspective to our discussion.

Lastly, the informal Communications Study Group is tentatively scheduled to present their recommendations to the Selectmen on Tuesday, Jan. 24th regarding improvements to the Town Meeting process and the use of a Town Meeting Moderator.

The Start of a Big Year

Happy New Year to all – hope you had a safe holiday! And while many a New Year gone by has held the promise of being big – you can be sure this year will be very important for the Town. Why? Because we will be dealing with the following issues (listed in no particular order of importance or cost and by no means the only things on which we will be working):

•        Ad Hoc School Building Proposal
•        Hewitt Dam Repairs
•        Boombridge Road Bridge Repairs
•        Water Pollution Control Authority Sewer Evaluation
•        Main Street – Town Hall Bridge Replacement
•        Main Street – Village Green Bridge Repairs
•        Wintechog Property Gift
•        Affordable Housing Development Plan
•        Economic Development Plan
•        Plan of Conservation and Development Revision
•        Firehouse Construction

Decisions and choices made concerning these issues will not just affect the Town this year or next year but for generations of North Stonington residents.  This is very sobering considering we usually decide only expenditures for a year at a time and maybe approve acquisition of a couple of highway department trucks or something else we can pay off in three years. But many of these issues will impact the very nature and make up of our town. How do these all fit into our vision of what North Stonington should be? And how do we prioritize them, if at all?

The Boards of Selectmen, Finance and Education will meet in their annual Tri-Board session probably on Wednesday, February 8^th to discuss the state of the Town and the budget expectations for 2012-3. Several of these issues will affect how we plan our finances for many years to come. 

So stay tuned – this will be a very big year!