Government/Town

A Visit to Suffield’s Police Department Dispatcher

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By invitation of Captain Christopher McKee and in support of National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, I spent three hours with Suffield Police Dispatcher, Lorraine Morelli. This visit demonstrated to me the seriousness and expertise of police dispatchers.  Between calls, she was able to offer basic explanations of all the technical equipment used by the dispatchers.  I felt fortunate to be observing an expert at work. Dispatcher Morelli sits in front of three sets of double screens. Above these are security cameras which display police station doorways, cells, and other vital access points. She has three computer screens in front of her and three “mice” to operate them.

Government/Town

Revaluation Update

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The State mandated Revaluation of all real estate is in full swing. The Town has partnered with Vision Government Solutions (Vision) for this project. A revaluation is undertaken every five years to secure a more equitable distribution of the tax burden and to bring the assessment level up to date. State Statutes also require that properties are fully inspected once in every ten assessment years. In many situations, a completed data mailer signed by the owner can count as an inspection.

Government/Town

Memorial Day Parade Details

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The Memorial Day ceremony and parade will be held on Memorial Day, Monday, May 28, beginning with the parade at 9 a.m. The parade will form at 8:45 a.m. on Ffyler Place and march up Mountain Road to Main Street to the Veteran’s Memorial. A Memorial Day program will take place at Veteran’s Memorial immediately following the parade to honor our fallen heroes. The Officer of the Day is Lieutenant Colonel William E. Moryto, USMC. Music will be performed by Joseph Migliore and the Suffield High School band as well as the Suffield Middle School band led by Amy Wilson and Corey Killian. All Suffield veterans are welcome to participate in the parade in uniform if possible.

Editorial

Kindness and Respect

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The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) and its  members, including the Suffield Woman’s Club, recite this ‘prayer for the day’ written by Mary Stewart in 1904 at each meeting. Also known as ‘the Collect for Club Women’ (but appropriate for everyone) it reminds us that we may disagree on some topics, but that doesn’t preclude us from being kind to each other. I believe if we ask each other why we disagree or how did we come to that conclusion or belief, we would gain a greater, deeper understanding of our fellow human beings. And wouldn’t that little step help seed a kinder world. A Prayer for the Day
Collect for Club Women
Keep us, O God, from pettiness;

Let us be large in thought, in word, in deed.

Editorial

Facebook: More Than It Appears to Be

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Mark Zuckerberg’s grilling in Congress about how Facebook treats personal information about data privacy and his responsibility to users caused me to also give this some thought. For some people, any amount of lack of privacy is bad on principle. I am closer to the other extreme: what does it matter if Facebook knows my preferences in books, movies, clothing, political leaning, food, group activities, friends, age, name, etc., etc. My major life dependencies, such as bank account, are secure. So what’s the big deal?

Government/Town

Proposed Budget Going to Vote

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As of this writing, the Board of Finance is in the process of reviewing various department budgets and capital requests in order to propose the FY 2018/19 budget for the Town Meeting on May 8. A public hearing was held on April 25, and the budget proposal outlined below may include changes as a result of that meeting and outside factors such as adjustments to state aid that we have seen in the past. What was presented at the public hearing is an operating budget of $58,009,479, which represented an increase of $2.3M over 2017/18. Due to the use of $2M from the Fund Balance and other changes in revenues, the budget represents an estimated tax increase of 0.86%. State aid, including payments from the Airport Authority, represents $12.2M which is a decrease from the $14.4M we received just two years ago.

Library

Contest Winner

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This photo, judged Best in Show in the recent photo contest at Kent Memorial Library, was titled “Autumn at 467 South Main Street” by its creator, Robert W. Lyons, who reported that it was taken a few years ago.

Schools/Sports

Aces High Aims to be World Champ

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In the six weeks allowed for designing and building, the Suffield/Windsor Locks High Schools’ team in the FIRST Robotics Competition created a sturdy, capable robot and developed good skill in operating it. Aces High did very well in their first three meets. In the team’s favor is the general high-tech environment of this region, and the very favorable circumstance that WLHS provides the team with a well-equipped meeting space and a competent machine shop including up-to-date computer-aided machines. This year the team’s chief mentor is Peter Davis, the WLHS teacher in charge of those facilities in his day job. There are about 40 students on the team – high school level and a few middle school – with a majority from Suffield.

Organizations

Scholarships Deadline Extended

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The Observer is looking for worthy high school students interested in a $1,000 college scholarship.  The Sam Fuller and Robert Warren one-year scholarships are for full-time students residing in Suffield and attending a four-year or accredited community college in the fall.  They should be planning to study history, communications, journalism, creative writing, political science or research and should have community service experience. The application can be obtained from the SHS or Suffield Academy guidance offices or online at http://thesuffieldobserver.com/scholarship-information/. The deadline for applications has been extended to May 15.

Organizations

Delayed Delivery

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Copies of the The Suf-field Observer destined for West Suffield Post Office box holders are customarily delivered by the printer to the Suffield P. O. and then forwarded to the West Suffield P.O. for the boxes there. That did not happen for the April issue. After receiving a number of complaints, we checked and confirmed the situation. When the West Suffield box problem was discovered, we carried a supply of papers to the West Suffield P. O., but it was more than a week later than the normal schedule. We are very sorry for the inconvenience.