First Selectman Weekly Update 12-13-2019

Hello North Stonington!

A bit of a cold week here in town as winter is now upon us in full force! It was another busy one here in town.

This weekend our talent was on full display at Wheeler Middle & High School with the production of A Christmas Carol. It was a stunning performance by all. If you have a chance to see any of the productions at the school, you will not be disappointed. Next up for the students is their winter concerts next Wednesday evening! 

Our tree lighting last Sunday was a great success! Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate this annual tradition of the town. The town did a great job decorating the tree that we were so fortunate the Breidingers provided to us at our Village Green! Special thanks to Nancy Weismuller for leading us in song along with some members of our local Cub Scout troop and the Wheeler High School Choir. We also were so lucky the North Stonington Volunteer Fire Company have a connection with the Big Man Santa! We appreciate him coming to town this busy time of year to spread some cheer. The event was proceeded by an open house at Wheeler Library and ended with song by our Wheeler band and Chorus at the Congregational Church along with cookies and cocoa. If you haven't made it to this festive occasion, please mark your calendar next year.

Monday, I had a chance to meet with Wendy Bury from the Southeastern Connecticut Cultural Coalition. We discussed the opportunities for North Stonington to highlight our arts and culture and things happening around the region and the state including the formation of cultural districts coming in the near future. More to come on this over the next few months. 

Speaking of our North Stonington Volunteer Fire Company, this past Wednesday we were so happy that State Senator Heather Somers, State Representative Kate Rotella, Selectman Robert Carlson, & Selectwoman Nita Kincaid were on hand to recognize the work of Chief Charlie Steinhart V and the entire company for their hard work in the community with a State Citation. Over the past two weeks we have had 3 structure fires in town among the many other calls they regularly respond to. We are so fortunate to have our volunteer emergency responders in North Stonington and happy to have taken a moment to recognize their dedication to the community.

This past Tuesday Emergency Management Director Gary Baron, IT director Jim Russell, & I took part in a Region 4 Emergency Management exercise with leaders from around our area. These exercises generally happen annually, and the purpose is to simulate a major disaster and our response to such an event. It is always a good opportunity to prepare and be ready to execute operations of our emergency command center should such an event occur. It is also important each one of us is prepared especially for weather related events as winter is now here. This week Gary Baron joined me on my weekly video but due to technical difficulties the footage is lost at this time. If we can’t retrieve it, we will have him back again in the future to chat.  Please sign up for ct alerts if you have not yet done so to be informed on all emergency updates in town https://www.ctalert.gov/ctalert/site/default.asp

Our tri-board meeting Tuesday evening with Economic Development, Water Pollution Control Authority, & the Board of Selectmen went very well and we all became a bit more informed as to our sewer/water needs and vision for the industrial zone (off of exit 92) in town. We will soon be sending out an informational mailer to help share some of this information with residents.

Progress continues to move rapidly at the new elementary school with insulation and even paint going on the walls in some areas. The crews continue to work expedisously to meet our deadline of a spring completion in 2020.

Wednesday Senior Center Director Teresa Pensis and her team hosted our Seniors for the holiday luncheon. The Rotary of the Stonington provides funding for this special occasion and much fun was had by all in attendance! 

This week the highway crew sanded and plowed during Storm #3 of the season which, started Wednesday early morning and ended Wednesday afternoon. They also sanded the following day due to icing conditions overnight. Some truck repairs and catch basin clean outs took place along with road repairs throughout town. 

That’s it for today! Have a great weekend!

Mike Urgo

First Selectman