Summer has arrived. I hope that everybody has a great July and August as the Observer is issuing a combined July/August edition.
Retirements have continued here at Town Hall, and new hires are arriving quickly. Here are the updates for you:
Edward Flanders is retiring this July as our Building Official of over 20 years. Thank you, Ted, for your decades of service and dedication to this town. Ted helped us in our search for his replacement, and I am happy to introduce Kimberly Rogers as our new Building Official. She has previously worked for the Town of Bloomfield as their Building Official, and her years of architecture background will be a much added asset to this position. Welcome, Kimberly!
I wasn’t sure it was actually going to happen, but Mark Cervione, our Highway Foreman, will also be officially retiring this month, too. Your hard work and dedication to the community will certainly be missed Mark. Thank you for everything you’ve done. I am happy to announce that we have filled Mark’s position with a face familiar to this town. Chris Matejek has accepted our offer to combine his role as Facilities Manager and Highway Foreman into the Director of Public Works. By combining the two positions, the town can expect to save $70,000. We welcome Chris and the great potential and changes he will bring with this role. Welcome to your new role, Chris!
This September Paula Pascoe, our Senior Center Director, will be retiring after 20 plus years in the position. Paula has done a great job over the years, and we thank her for her hard work and service to the town. During our budget season, we combined the following departments: Senior Center, Parks and Recreation, Mini Bus, and Youth Services into one department, Community Services. Our new director is also a familiar face, Peter Leclerc, formerly our Parks and Recreation Director. Pete has big plans and great ideas for the department, and I look forward to the bright future the department will have under his leadership. Good luck Pete!
We have filled the Police Department Records Clerk position, and I would like to welcome Christine Meyerhans to her new role with the town. Welcome, Christine!
Our first annual Summer Fair is officially in the books. It was a great success and thousands of residents came out to enjoy a day amongst friends and community members. I certainly look forward to building off of it for next year, but I want to thank all those who helped because really, without these people this could never have been done. Thank you: Kris Lambert, Peter Leclerc, Liz Warren, Becky Tobias, Frank Campiti and Campiti Ventures, Mark Cervione, Ray Dalrympal, Klaire Bielonko, Suffield Music, ALL of our volunteers who helped at the event, the Fire Department, Police Department, Highway Department, Parks and Recreation, the IT department and the Suffield School District. Thank you to all of our sponsors whose generous donations helped to fully fund this event: PeoplesBank, Windsor Federal Credit Union, Suffield Academy and Artioli. Most of all, thank you to the residents who came out to support the event and showed why the time, effort and money are well worth holding more community events. Thank you to all.
We will be officially opening the Mountain Road Multi-Use Trail Friday, July 1. Please join us that day as we cut the ribbon and welcome a new walking path that will connect more of our community. This will also be my Friday with Your First Selectman for the month of July, so come down as we walk the trail.
Check out our Community Services and Kent Memorial Library pages for all the great events they will be coordinating throughout the summer months: summer concert series, children’s events and more!
We will be bringing back America’s Night Out (see flyer on page 2) with our First Responder Units August 2. The event will take place at the high school. Check out our town website for more information as we get closer to the event date.
Work on replacing the tennis and basketball courts between McAlister and the Middle School should be starting during the summer months. Please plan accordingly, as access to them will not be available.
I hope everybody enjoys their summer and as always, my door is open at Town Hall. Stop by anytime!