First Selectman Weekly Update 12-6-2019
Hello North Stonington!
Another busy week comes to a close here in town…
This week I had the opportunity to spend some time with leadership at Yale New Haven/L & M Hospital where they discussed their future plans and service to our area. It was great to talk with them and their CEO Patrick Green. They also reviewed their local community needs assessment which has much interesting information about our area. For those interested here is a link to it… https://llhd.org/healthy-communities/health-improvement-collaborative-of-sect/community-health-needs-assessment-cha/
On Monday we held our capital project workgroup meeting where members of the different departments and organizations in town who have larger purchasing needs reviewed requests. This meeting is meant to vet the capital requests prior to the start of the budget process. Our intent with this group that was started in 2017 was to be thoughtful about large purchases and think holistically about them. Our 5-year plan has been updated and these requests will now be incorporated in to the draft budgets as we begin the 2020-2021 budget discussions.
Governor Lamont was in our area this past week and I had an opportunity to see him on two occasions. After his address I was able to speak with him and plan to have him come to town to talk about our wonderful community and happenings here. Stay tuned for this soon.
Bids were received back on the RFP we issued for the new phone system needed at town hall. Our current system has been antiquated for some time and often fails due to outdated technology. As a reminder this item was budgeted for in this years budget. Most bids received were well under what was estimated and we will be reviewing them soon and look to have the new system installed in the coming months.
This week Connecticut Conference of Municipalities held its annual conference and our Admin/Finance Officer, Planner, and I were able to take part in some trainings they held. It is always a very informative event. It was extra special this year as North Stonington was recognized for achieving Bronze status as a sustainable community through the SustainableCT program. Alexis Kahn joined us for this recognition as she was a great help in us gaining this prestigious recognition.
Things were busy with the highway crew this week. Our Town Hall is decorated for the holidays and our tree is up in the Village Green! We also had two storms to manage and some late nights keeping the roads clear. We had a couple of mechanical issues with two trucks that have since been repaired. We also did some crack sealing in the recreation parking lot. It is a good time to remind townspeople of a couple of things related to snow removal. First, we are very thoughtful about when to dispatch the highway team for snow removal. Many factors must be considered including and not limited to temperature, climate in different parts of town (i.e Northwest corner may differ in weather from Kingswood or Clarks Falls), weather predictions, and time of day. We always make decisions based on the safety of our residents. When you see the crew out please use caution, so everyone remains safe. I also would like to mention contractually when there is a large storm, we do feed the crews that are working depending on the timing of the storms. If you ever see them somewhere eating during a storm, please thank them for the work they are doing to keep our roadways safe.
At our Selectmen's meeting two weeks ago we discussed the need for two volunteer opportunities. The first is the formation of a "complete count committee" for the 2020 US census. We are looking for a few people in town who can help be trusted voices in the community to insure everyone in town is counted for the census in North Stonington. This committee is not charged with doing any counting of people, just encouraging participation in the census. For more information on this please see this link...
https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/newsroom/press-kits/2018/ccc-g...
The second is we are looking for are folks who are interested in becoming trained to be moderators and/or facilitators at town meeting and events. We are putting together a training to help those interested become well informed to do this job. If you are interested in either of these opportunities, please email townclerk@northstoningtonct.gov
I was honored this week to be joined by the Principal and Associate Principal at Wheeler to talk about the exciting happenings in our school. Please take a few minutes to watch this video to hear from our school leaders… Click Here to view this weeks video.
Finally, please consider joining your neighbors for the annual town tree lighting event this Sunday December 8th. It begins with an open house at the Wheeler Library anytime between 4:30-6pm and then tree lighting and carols on the village green right down the road. Refreshments and song at the Congregational Church afterwards. Santa will be stopping by as well! Hope to see everyone there.
Please remember to keep an eye on the town website for updates at www.northstoningtonct.gov . Here you can find meeting calendars, our weekly updates, and lots of very informative information about the town.
That’s it for today, have a great weekend!
Mike Urgo
First Selectman