First Selectman Weekly Update 6-21-2019

Happy Friday North Stonington,

With school vacation taking place we will transition to our written updates rather than videos for the summer break.

You may have heard we have moved our 2nd rendition of the budget forward as the first attempt did not pass. This time the budget will be split into 3 questions. We will discuss the budget at the town meeting which will take place June 29th at the Wheeler Library at 9am. Please join us to learn about the revised budget. We will also look to streamline the presentations to keep them short and concise and offer the ability to ask questions after the meeting for those who prefer not to stand up and ask questions at meetings. Please come at 8:30 for coffee and donuts.

Progress on the Boombridge Road bridge continues. The agreements have been signed by both States and should soon be signed by the Attorney General. We are at this point anticipating the project to go out to bid in early fall with construction next spring. We will continue to work with both states and all agencies to keep things moving along and we look forward to seeing this project completed within the next year!

Our recreation commission at their last meeting unanimously agreed to fund the remainder of funds needed to construct the new pavilion over at Hewitt Farm. They are excited to be able to utilize the farm with this new pavilion for expanded recreational activities and events for our community. Keep an eye on the farm as the pavilion should be completed by the end of next week! Thanks to our recreation commission for working hard on creative new ideas for events and activities within our town! Additionally, we were able to make repairs to the roof at the “1750’s house” at Hewitt Farm where there had been some issues. It is fixed now. We will be looking to do other minor repairs to the house once the budget passes and have it once again occupied.

You may have noticed we are in full swing with demolition at the Elementary school. We are currently working on the abatement of PCB’s and other hazardous building materials in the schools. Once this is completed the renovations will commence. We hope to have all abatement done by the early fall and are looking forward to next March with the new school being complete! We will not have our elementary “move” in March however, they will spend the entire school year in the current existing middle/high school to keep things less chaotic during this school year.

The bridge at 49/216 will soon begin construction which will result in road closure. Detours will be marked. This work will be completed over the summer. We apologize for the inconvenience for this however these bridge updates are crucial for the safety of everyone traveling the roads. We expect the road to be closed sometime within the next two weeks as they are still working out the official start date.

This week the highway crew mowed Billings, Miller, Button, Wintechog Hill and Swantown Roads. They also mowed grass and landscaped the recreation property and town hall property. They repaired a failing headwall and erosion issue on Billings Rd. The head mechanic repaired a damaged section of the railing at the transfer station as well as installed new brooms on the sweeper. Our second phase of the guardrail project is progressing with work on Pinewoods, Dennison Hill having been installed. We will now begin installing guardrails on Wyassup Rd. The eversource tree crew continues to cut trees around town and are currently working on Ryder Rd. The excavator at the landfill broke down on Saturday causing trash to pile up on the floor. The excavator was repaired on Monday and trash was cleaned up. A new tennis court backstop was built and installed along with some refurbished benches donated by a resident. Sweeping was conducted on Lantern Hill and Boom Bridge Rd.  Next week we will continue our mowing and other summer preparation tasks.

There is approximately one month until the two major parties (Democrats and Republicans) will put forth candidates for town positions. For a list of positions currently up for election please see this link… https://www.northstoningtonct.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif4806/f/uploads/...... check out this list and then go to the town website to see what each board and commission does. Should you be interested in serving in any capacity feel free to email Antoinette our Town Clerk at townclerk@northstoningtonct.gov for guidance on how to get involved or our Registrars of Voters (Gladys and Joan) are in the office Mondays and Thursdays from 9:00am-11:30am. Please consider lending a hand if you feel called to do-so. You do not need to be a part of a major political party to get involved so feel free to contact either the Town Clerk or Registrars with your questions.

That’s it for today. Looks like we are in for a great weekend weatherwise! Enjoy the sunshine!

Mike Urgo
First Selectman