First Selectman Weekly Update 6/29/2018

Selectman’s weekly update- Ambulance to be ordered, highway updates, excessive heat warning Sunday evening to Monday, town hall holiday hours.

Happy Friday everyone!

As mentioned in the last video, we will have a short break on video updates while school is out. We hope to broadcast again in August.

This past week meetings of the Hewitt Farm committee took place on Monday, Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Affordable housing committee on Wednesday, & Conservation commission on Thursday.

This week we received bids back for our ambulance which we will look to order it sometime in the next couple of weeks. We have been waiting for years to order our new ambulance as it would not have fit in our old building. Now with the new facility we can upgrade the 20-year-old ambulance which had been approved for purchase three years ago.

The steel on the new Middle/High School addition is all up. Soon the Elementary school addition steel will be going up. Keep an eye on buildingwheeler.com for updates on this exciting project!

The town is exploring renewable energy solutions and a presentation was made to the Board of Selectmen at our meeting this past week. We will continue exploring these options and will look to have town forums on this topic in the coming months.

This week the highway team began milling and grading Pinecrest Rd in preparation for new asphalt. They responded to a road block on Jeremy Hill Rd, cleaned up the tree and reopened the road. They began cutting trees on Swantown Hill Rd to prepare for milling to be placed from the end of current asphalt roadway to last house on dirt road section. They also saw cut sections of Wyassup Rd in preparation for removal of damaged asphalt and replace with new asphalt. Mowing continued on Putker Rd, Tom Wheeler Rd and Boombridge Rd. One of the two roadside mowers is down for minor repairs and is expected to return to service shortly.

As hurricane season is now upon us we would like to encourage people to sign up for CT Alerts. In the event of a widespread disaster it may be the only way you could receive communications. Google CT alerts and sign up for State of Connecticut’s Emergency Alerting and Notifications system so when disaster strikes you are well informed.

Next week the highway team will be removing and replacing areas of roadway on Wyassup Rd. On Monday 7/2/18 expect delays in the area of Babcock Rd intersection and Main St intersection during the AM hours. Mowing is expected to begin on Dennison Hill Rd. The tree trimming will continue on Swantown Hill Rd and the Pinecrest Rd project is expected to be finished.

We have registration space available for several camps. There are some great activities happening! Please see the town recreation website or call town hall for further information.

The town hall and the transfer station will be closed on July 4th in observance of the Independence Day holiday and Town hall will close on 1pm on Tuesday as well.

Tax bills will soon be going out in the mail. Please pay by the due date to keep your town running smoothly.

With our budget passing on the first time we are excited to begin the new fiscal year next week and close out this fiscal year. Thank you again to all of those who voted helping to keep the town moving forward.

An excessive heat watch is in affect from Sunday evening to Monday. Seniors and those with chronic health problems or mental health conditions are at increased risk. Homes without air conditioning can be much hotter than outdoors. Please take care of your neighbors and pets.

We will be back with videos hopefully in a month or so but we will continue to provide updates via news and announcements on the town website. If you are interested in getting town updates go to the town website and click on “sign up for news”

Please check the calendar for upcoming meetings. We hope everyone enjoys their week!

Mike Urgo

First Selectman