First Selectman Weekly Update 6-5-2020

At Wednesday nights joint meeting with the Boards of Finance and Selectmen, the Board of Finance per the Governor’s Order adopted the 2020/2021 fiscal year budget. In this 4 hour meeting, much debate and discussion took place with the Town Attorney helping to guide the Boards through their actions. If you are interested in the preceding please feel free to watch the video here…https://youtu.be/sSB6XJvvZwk

To be clear, no one on the Boards took the action lightly. While it is easy for everyone to come up with scenarios why a budget referendum could, should, or might have taken place; the Governor’s Orders were clear, the 2020/2021 must be passed by the Board of Finance. Every town in the State is dealing with the same issue and towns are moving forward the best they can. With this being said the Board made a couple of changes based on the public comments offered at the town hearing by adding back into the budget one per-diem paid firefighter at $50,000.00 and weed control for our lakes at $15,000.00.

While we realize some people would have liked to see the budget approval pushed to a later date, it was explained to the Boards that voting on this budget by the public would highly unlikely given the pandemic and uncertainty surrounding it. While many people are out shopping and living life normally, there are equally as many people who are vulnerable to this virus, fearful, and are not leaving their homes. We are certainly in unprecedented times and to that end the Board of Finance put forth a budget that will result in a .50 mill rate increase which is less than what had been proposed at the hearing. The mill rate will be 29.5. Funds will be taken from the “rainy day” fund which has a healthy balance to offset the impact to the taxpayer.  The Boards would like to thank you for your participation and understanding in this unprecedented year. Please know all Elected and Appointed Officials in Town are taxpayers and for those who have payed attention to the proceedings you would have seen strong debate and discussion resulting in the best budget for the people of North Stonington.

Now that the budget has passed, those in need of a 90 day tax deferment due to COVID-19 may fill out the deferral application and drop off, mail, or fax to town hall. Here is a link to the application...https://www.northstoningtonct.gov/tax-collector/pages/covid-19-deferral-application

Our Covid-19 infection rate in North Stonington continues to be low. The virus has not disappeared and all signs do point to an uptick as things reopen and protests ensue around the area. The best thing everyone can do is wear a mask if you can’t keep 6 feet of distance between you and others. We have updated our signs in the area to reflect this advice. Remember you can be asymptomatic and be passing this virus to others who may end up with deadly symptoms. Please take care of yourself and your neighbor. 

As a reminder, Town Hall has remained open to serve everyone during the pandemic. Anyone can simply call 860.535.2877 and make an appointment to come into the building.

Great job to some our our fellow residents for beautifying some areas of town. Pictured here are the “pocket park” at the corner of Route 49 and 184 and the planters at our recreation center! Thanks to Conservation Commission Chairman Bill Ricker for maintaining the pocket park and Rec commission members Meghan Perkins and Lori Umphlet for keeping up with our planters at the Rec Center! 

Town Clerk Antoinette Pancaro wants to remind everyone that June is dog licensing month.  Dog license reminder postcards will be going in the mail today.  It is strongly encouraged that dog license renewals be done through the mail or dropped off in the locked drop box at Town Hall.  The dog license renewal will be processed promptly and returned by mail.  Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage.  If you have any questions, please contact the Town Clerk at (860) 535-2877 Ext. 121 or at townclerk@northstoningtonct.gov. 

I will be resuming in person "drop in" hours once again. They had previously been at noon Wednesdays and then the third Monday evening of the month from 6:30-7:30pm. The best thing to do is simply call the town hall to make an appointment and I am happy to meet with anyone at these or really any other hours convenient for you.

June 18th at 6pm Wheeler High School will be holding its version of graduation this year. We are so excited for the very unique way our community will come together to celebrate the class of 2020! Details were described in this recent article in the Westerly Sun..https://www.thewesterlysun.com/news/covid-19/stonington-north-stonington-unveil-graduation-plans-to-honor-seniors/article_1e1461d2-a125-11ea-be8c-5becd28b8218.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share&fbclid=IwAR2Z34MAa0VqekDuIpzovqG722TKmWbIByDDAIXEdUc1W1jgsrPkn21xGXU

The North Stonington Recreation Commission is presently in the process of organizing the seven week Summer Camp (mornings only) scheduled to start on Monday June 22nd.   This Summer Camp will follow Safety Guidelines recommended by the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) and the CDC.  There may be limited availability for this program due to Covid-19 social distancing restrictions so it is recommended that you register early to guarantee a spot.

Visit northstoningtonrec.com for further details and / or to register.

I'm happy to report we sold out of compost kits last weekend and more were secured. They are for sale at the transfer station for 40.00 each and the tabletop scrap buckets are also available. Please see our recent video with SCRRRA discussing composting and these units are great for those who have smaller areas to work with... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ApIusL9CXw&feature=youtu.be    

North Stonington is at 69% completion for the census. Please help us make sure the funding our State and Towns need is acquired by doing your part to be counted. www.2020census.gov 

In closing, this has been a horrific week for this country. A lot of people are choosing to speak out regarding the horrible events surrounding George Floyd's murder. As someone who grew up in Ashaway and now living here in North Stonington, I'm not going to pretend to be immersed in diversity. In a town that is 86% white many of us may not have a clear perspective of this terrible tragedy. As a white male in this country I recognize I have no clue as to the plight of my black friends and neighbors. I won't pretend to. With compassion though I know it is real and serious. With love I can open my heart to help grieve with humankind and try to help the healing. With an open mind I can try to understand all sides of these issues and be a part of the solution. Compassion, love, understanding; three areas humankind is struggling with immensely right now. I would like to humbly offer one small piece of advice for those looking for something they can do to help.  Growing up I remember some people making little jokes about color, or a small sarcastic remark here and there. This is how it starts. When we allow this type of "humor" we are planting the seeds of racism. We must stop it here and now. Racism is no joke. We need the youth of today to know a different future than currently exists. I admit I was blind for a while. I naively thought when President Obama was elected that racism would be behind us. I thought it was the beginning of a new and kinder world. This was obviously not the case. As a call to action I urge anyone who hears racist "jokes" or undertones in conversations to please call it out. This may not be easy to do but this is something each and every one of us can do to inspire change if the opportunity arises.

Today I stand with the peaceful protesters.