First Selectman Weekly Update 1-24-2020

Hello North Stonington,

We hope everyone had a great week.

Last Friday I had a chance to meet with our local legislators at the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments meeting. We discussed the priorities of the 21 towns that make up our local SCCOG.  Many priorities identified were environmental issues, such as requesting a comprehensive bottle bill be passed to help with our recycling crisis. This has both environmental and financial implications for our towns. This is one of 4 priorities the SCCOG looked at for this legislative session. Thanks to our delegation for being there to hear from local leadership.

Thanks to Avalonia Land Conservancy and Kelly Allen for hosting a group hike at the tri-town trails off of Miller Road on Monday. I would encourage anyone who has not yet had a chance to explore the 10+ miles of scenic trails to do-so. This is a great gem here in town and we are very thankful to Avalonia for their investment in our community. 

The elementary school building interior work continues to move along at a swift pace. Much of the drywall is complete and many of the walls have received their first coat of paint. Kitchen equipment is beginning to be delivered and flooring will start this week. Our continued thanks go to the Building Committee as well as the staff at the school for their patience with this process. 

Speaking of our great staff at the school, this week I was joined on our weekly video address by Mrs. Wilkinson - Principal of the North Stonington Elementary School to give an update on what is happening with our littlest learners! Click Here to watch this weeks video.

In highway news we had winter weather to contend with Saturday evening. Since then we have done repairs to some of the trucks with some new tires, hydraulic lines, and plow blades. Tree work continued on Ryder, Chester Main, and Princess Lane and more work by Eversource continues on the east side of town. We also cleaned up trees downed during the wind storm event. Next week more road and tree work will continue.

We were very sorry to see the fire that took place at Red Onion today. We were thankful to our Volunteer Fire Company and mutual aid throughout town as well as the CT State Troopers and North Stonington Ambulance Association for their speedy response. Thankfully no one was injured. 

On Wednesday Congressman Joe Courtney was in town to discuss progress on federal initiatives. Some of these exciting accomplishments include the Middle-Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal, the TRACED Act (preventing robocalls), and Wild & Scenic Rivers funding. We thank Congressman Courtney for his continued work on our behalf in DC and here at home. 

Finally, 2020 marks the Centennial Anniversary of the 19th Amendment extending the right to vote to women. The struggle for women’s suffrage was a national movement that spanned seven decades and was sustained by multiple generations. It teaches us important lessons about our democracy, specifically that our nation is stronger when all of us can participate in choosing our leaders. The goal of universal suffrage was not fully achieved until Congress passed the National Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Secretary of State’s office has sent posters to commemorate this important and historic event. Feel free to stop by the old town hall to see the posters or visit VotesForWomenCT.com for more information. The posters will move throughout town over this calendar year. 

Thank you and have a great weekend!
Mike Urgo
First Selectman