Too busy to look up what’s going on in town? Here’s a recap right at your fingertips. This article covers selected information from minutes of various Town Boards and Commissions. If you want more detail, it can be found by going to suffieldct.gov, Agenda, Meetings and Minutes.
Board of Finance: A Public Hearing was held to discuss next year’s budget. Although costs are higher, the mill rate will not increase. Increased expenditures of 4.05% are due to wage increases, loss of grant revenue, and inflation.
The proposed Board of Education budget increased 5.69%. This is due to an increase in transportation, Special Education needs, and the expected $800,000 loss in grants.
At a Special Meeting, the mill rate was set. In addition, all Motor Vehicle tax bills regardless of amount, and all Real Estate and Personal Property tax bills under $100.00 will be due and payable in one installment due July 1, 2023.
Conservation Commission: Work on the maintenance building foundation at Sunrise Park is complete and the pavilion is booked on weekends until August.
Economic Development Commission: Chad Kuzontkoski, the new Suffield Economic Development Specialist, is currently updating the economic development page on the Town website. He also updated “How to Start a Business” and the list of businesses.
Properties located at 140 and 156 South Main Street have been purchased and no proposal has been received.
The former CVS location at 136 Mountain Road is being renovated into two units, one of which will be occupied by a physical therapy office.
An application has been submitted for a Local Transportation Capital Improvements Program (LOTCIP) grant for $1.2M to repave the Windsor Locks Canal Trail and a portion of Bridge Street while adding bicycle and pedestrian amenities.
It was noted that 98 acres at 380 North Main Street is being preserved with a DEEP OSWA grant, and a closing on the project is expected soon.
Planning & Zoning Commission: There was a Public Hearing for the Town’s proposal to opt out of the parking requirements set forth in the Connecticut General Statutes. They are looking to amend the current Suffield regulations to reflect that handicap spaces should be counted in addition to required spaces.
A request was received for a special permit/site plan modification to build a 21,600 SF multi-tenant commercial building at 1300 East Street South. A motion was made and approved to set a public hearing.
Former Town Engineer Gerry Turbet agreed to come out of retirement for ten hours a week as interim Town Engineer. The First Selectman intends to work with J.R. Russo & Associates to handle the engineering work as they do for other municipalities. J.R. Russo will not be taking on any new sub-divisions or site plans that would need to be presented before the towns’ regulatory commissions while they are acting as the Town Engineer to avoid conflicts of interest.
Police Commission: NexGen is in place and users are becoming familiar with the system. A few bugs have been identified and are being addressed. Work is being done to tailor the system to Suffield’s operations.
They are looking for a grant to train four resources to operate a drone that was donated. This would include FAA Part 107 licenses and hands-on training.