Happy Spring! Warmer days have finally arrived.
We are midway through our Fiscal Year 22/23 budget season. The Board of Finance (BOF) has already begun meeting with department heads. The Board of Selectmen (BOS) approved the Selectman’s Budget which came in at modest 1.89% increase over last year, a dollar value of $324,598. The main drivers associated with this increase are the following three items: $125,000 increase in our Public Utilities costs, $130,000 revaluation and a $98,000 increase in the Police Department due to factoring pay increases that were settled in a four-year arbitration process this past winter. I have asked for a part-time economic developer within this budget to help move our economic development in a more positive direction. I’d like to thank all the members of the Board of Selectmen for their words of support on the budget at our February 24 meeting to approve the budget and refer it to the BOF. Public hearing is set for the end of April. All meetings are open to the public through in-person and Zoom, so please feel free to come and listen in or give your input during public comment.
Our American Rescue Plan Commission has started meeting with hopes to be able to make recommendations of where to best use the funds to the BOS and BOF throughout the spring and summer months.
The Carnival Committee has begun regular meetings. Our hope is to have everything organized and set up by the beginning of May so we can start advertising for our June 17-19 event days. For those interested in volunteering with this event, reach out to the Selectman’s office.
Please join the Suffield Rotary Club April 9 at Sunrise Park for the Day of Service as they clean and complete projects around the park.
The Tree Committee is hard at work completing the 10-year tree plan and will soon be looking to collect donations for trees around our Main Street/town green area.
Welcome back Jackie Hemond as our interim Library Director as our search continues for a new director. Happy to say that the library hours are back to normal. Check out all the great programs and resources they have to offer.
We’ve narrowed our search down to three candidates for our open Finance Director position. We have made a final offer and hope to have somebody on board by mid-April.
I had the opportunity to check out the new café, Barista Café, being completed next to Webster Bank. It looks great, and they should be opening within the next month. I am personally excited for the gelato, but check out all their other options.
Speaking of small businesses, check out the new “Support Local” tab on our town webpage for all the great businesses you can support in our community. It should be up and ready to go in April.
We had another good turnout for our Veteran’s Breakfast hour this past Saturday. Thank you again to VFW Commander, Bill Moryto and Post 9544 for allowing myself and our Municipal Veterans Representative, Fritz King to cook and use the facilities. All veterans are welcome to join us the first Saturday of every month for breakfast. No complaints about my cooking yet!