This past month, our FY 24/25 budget was approved at Town Meeting. The mill rate has been set at 22.63. Once again, thank you to those who attended and those involved in development. When looking at other neighboring and comparable municipalities in the area, Suffield is extremely fortunate to have a Board of Finance, Board of Education, and department heads that are able to keep our budget and taxes at the level they are. Thank you again!
Congratulations to our graduating seniors this year! I wish you the best of luck in all of your future endeavors, and it has been a pleasure having the opportunity to work on projects or speaking with you over the past few years.
To our departing Superintendent, Tim Van Tassel. I wish you the best of luck at your new school district and feel fortunate to have worked with somebody so dedicated to our school district and its students. Thank you for all you’ve done. Our 3rd Annual Summer Fair is June 21, 22, and 23!
We moved the fireworks show from Friday night to Saturday night. Our 50/50 raffle this year is sponsored by the Dustin Doyon Memorial Scholarship Fund. All proceeds will go to them, and tickets can be purchased ahead of time on the Town website, or in person at the Fair.
If you would like to volunteer for any days at the Fair, please reach out to the Selectman’s office or sign up online under our “Volunteer” section. Interested craft and food vendors can reach out to the Selectman’s office. I look forward to seeing everybody there!
A thank you to Gayle Demko, Chad Kuzontkoski, and the Economic Development Commission for organizing the Art Trail last month and bringing the Seward Johnson statues to Suffield. The statues will be here for 2 more months.
Thank you to the entire Sustainable Suffield task force for their work in organizing another successful Clean-up Day and our first town-wide tag sale last month. A reminder, the community compost bin is by the DPW garage for those interested in dropping off food scraps. We collected over 800lbs in our first month.
June is dog license month. Stop in at the Town Clerk’s office to get your new tags.
Don’t forget to check out the great events and programs offered by the Library, Community Services, and all of our other organizations this month. All event and program information can be found on the Town website.
Employment:
• With the larger number of attendees at Community Services over the last two years, we’ve hired a full-time Assistant to the Community Services Director to oversee the senior center programming. Welcome, Bethany Sullivan!
• Our new Finance Director begins June 1. Welcome Mandy Moore who comes from Windsor Locks with 10 years of Director experience.
The Board of Selectmen Updates:
• The BOS just appointed a new Charter Revision Commission and tasked them to review three of our elected positions and to consider whether those positions should be employed rather than elected: Town Clerk, Tax Collector, and Treasurer. Our hope is to potentially have this on November’s ballot for residents to decide.
• Landfill permitting will be reinstated starting July 1 of this year. The permit fee is $25, and it can be obtained at either the landfill or Town Clerk office. Further information can be found on the Town website under the DPW Department’s section.
Enjoy the start of summer and, as always, my door is always open.