Weekly Update 8.14.2020 - Monday evening Equality and Inclusion event, EEE makes a return, voting move, & congrats to our Town Clerk Antoinette Pancaro

Happy Friday everyone,

Another very busy week comes to a close here in North Stonington.

This week was a historic one as voting took place at a new location. Republican and Democratic voters were able to cast their ballots at the North Stonington Education Center (the old middle high school) on Tuesday. We are happy to report it went very well. The new location provides much more space for safe distancing for both voters and poll workers. We are thankful to all of the poll workers who worked Tuesday and are especially thankful to Gladys Chase and Joan Kepler, our Registrars, for all of their efforts during the move to the new location. It’s never easy to move and they were very active and helpful in this process. If you need to visit our registrars that is their new permanent home so feel free to call or check out the website for office hours and information https://www.northstoningtonct.gov/registrar-voters

In June, Marge McIntosh and her brother Bill closed on the sale of their family’s North Stonington property to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, contributing the first piece of land in Connecticut for the Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge. The property was acquired with funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, created in 1965 and permanently funded through a landmark bill signed into law on August 4, 2020. Established in 2016, Great Thicket is something of an avant-garde refuge. Rather than protecting land in a single location, the Service aims to acquire up to 15,000 acres of shrubland and young forest habitat from willing landowners across focal areas in New York and New England. This is a wonderful transaction for conservation within our town and a full article about their story can be read here… https://medium.com/usfishandwildlifeservicenortheast/a-familys-refuge-for-four-generations-a-wildlife-refuge-in-perpetuity-507023ac7a39

USDA has announced that organic producers and handlers can apply for federal funds to assist with the cost of receiving and maintaining organic certification through the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP).  Applications for eligible certification expenses paid between October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020 are due on October 31, 2020. https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/occsp/index

On Tuesday the Board of Selectmen received and reviewed proposals related to the rental of the old middle school wing. We were fortunate to receive proposals from two very qualified educational facilities. Currently we will be working on ironing out details through the negotiation process. More to come at our next meeting. Remember all town committee meetings are online and can be accessed by simply going to the town website, looking at the agenda, and calling or “zooming” into the meeting with the info provided on the agenda.

EEE (Eastern Equine Encephalitis) has reared its head once again. This is not surprising as these mosquitos arrived early last year as well and this was expected. A pool tested positive in Stonington. Everyone should take precautions outdoors around dawn and dusk when mosquitos are more active. Do not be surprised to see more pools test positive in the coming weeks. The town will be putting mosquito dunks out in catch basins to help combat the mosquitos just as we did last year. For anyone interested, your local Health District Ledge Light will do site visits and provide dunks if you feel there is an area of concern on your property. See their flyer about the program here…  https://llhd.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/LLHD-2020-Larvicide-Flier.pdf

We have an incredible team working for our town and for anyone who has visited the Town Clerk’s office you know what a special and professional person we have in Antoinette Pancaro our Town Clerk. This week Antoinette was awarded with a very prestigious honor, MMC designation through the Master Municipal Clerk (MMC) Program of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks (IIMC). This was no small accomplishment and the culmination of years of work. We are truly blessed and grateful to have such a capable, hardworking, and smart Town Clerk in our town. Congrats Antoinette on this accomplishment!

This week Deputy Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto of the Department of Transportation came to tour the town. We toured different areas and discussed possible areas of improvement and projects on State roads and properties. It was time well spent and we look forward to actions in the coming months and years. 

Speaking of State roads, the paving project on Route 201 is completed and came out great! 

On Wednesday the town hosted a webinar about 5G. It was very informative. If you were unable to attend please feel free to watch the video here. https://youtu.be/0_WthVU7M0s

Our school board and a special task force dedicated to the safe reopening of Wheeler has been working incredibly hard over the last several months to assure the best plan for our students. I am happy to report they met Wednesday and moved their plan forward. The whole plan of their work is located here for anyone interested http://www.northstonington.k12.ct.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/North-Stonington-Reopening-Plan-July-29-2020.pdf . In short here is a summary sent to parents from Superintendent Peter Nero..

The North Stonington Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously (6-0) last evening to approve the second option in our original reopening plan.  We will begin the 2020-2021 school year by phasing in with the “hybrid plan.”

Teachers and staff will be reporting to work on Monday, August 24th for a week of training and professional development as we prepare for our students. The student school year will begin on Monday, August 31st. Beginning on that date ALL students whose last name begins with the letters A through K will attend school on Monday and Tuesday. Students whose last names begin with the letters L through Z will attend school on Thursday and Friday. Wednesday will be a virtual learning day for ALL students to allow for deep cleaning. Deep cleaning will also take place on Saturdays. Every day during the first week of school will be an early dismissal day. Students attending Wheeler Middle/High School will be dismissed at 12:05 and students attending North Stonington Elementary School will be dismissed at 1:00.

Important: Parents of students in grades Kindergarten and grade 1 will not be on a half day schedule which would have been the case had we had a full reopening to school. In the hybrid plan, your child will follow the hybrid model like all other students. 

At the end of September, based on the conditions and data available, the Board will consider whether to have a “full return” to school or continue with the hybrid plan.

We want to thank the North Stonington Public Schools community for their contributions and patience as we continue to adjust in the “new normal.”

Our Highway crew has been as busy as ever. Clean up continues after the storm. Repaving of the section where the pipe was installed on Babcock occurred. The crew supported the set up of the Registrars so voting could take place this past Tuesday. Mowing took place throughout town.

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Please join your neighbors this Monday 8/17/2020 at 7pm for an honest discussion on equality and inclusion. This online panel will be composed of North Stonington residents with diverse experiences and perspectives on the topics of equality and inclusion. The goal of this conversation is to build understanding amongst people of different perspectives through respectful dialogue. If there are questions you have had about recent events related to equality and inclusion, this is your opportunity to ask. Use this link https://forms.gle/Q3zk7QoNJALLiNt58 to submit your questions in advance. We look forward to seeing you then!  

Please click the link to join the virtual event: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82378568549   

Or call 13126266799, meeting ID 82378568549#  or +16465588656 meeting ID 82378568549#