Board of Selectmen September 26, 2016

Board of Selectmen Meeting September 26, 2016

I would like to bring to your attention that Simsbury voters on November 8 will not only be voting for President but there will be a Referendum vote for a professional Town Manager for the CEO of Simsbury. To add to the confusion, there will be 6 questions for changes to be added or deleted from the Charter. It is time that Simsbury is managed by a professional Town Manager as are both Avon and Farmington. Past First Selectmen Peggy Shanks, Anita Mielert and Mary Glassman are all in favor of changing the government to a Town Manager. SCTV and YouTube have an excellent documentary on The Town-Council Form of Local Government. This is worth watching.

With over one thousand housing units being built and two Assisted Living buildings with hundreds of units, Simsbury’s population will be growing by the thousands. Simsbury will need a professional Manager to provide a roadmap into the future. A professional manager will provide a strategic plan for the growth and services needed in the future. Simsbury’s increased population will demand increased services from the community, roads that are passable in a timely manner, increased public transportation, sewers that will provide waste management and clean water provided from the local wells. Change of this magnitude will change the character of Simsbury forever.

At the present time Simsbury has many privately owned sewer systems that were once part of the old Ensign-Bickford community. These clay pipes are about 75 years old and are somewhat comprised causing occasional back-ups. At the present time, several developments and businesses have acquired the clay pipes once owned by Ensign-Bickford. All the old clay sewer pipes must be brought up to standard from multiple communities before the WPCA can acquire them. Who will pay for the upgrades?

Under the direction of First Selectman Lisa Heavner, I was told that I could interact with all departments to have my concerns answered. Recently, I was interested in reviewing the proposal submitted by the Silverman Group on the density of the property. On many occasions, the Town Planner, Jamie Rabbitt was trying to limit my review of planning and zoning materials and interaction with his staff Town Planner, Jamie Rabbitt is not only paid by the taxpayers but he is also required to answer to the public, without any hostility to the public. The Planning Department is pivotal to Simsbury’s quality of life and the increase in development is or should be a concern for everyone. Town Planner Jamie Rabbitt does not live in town but his legacy will last forever. I am asking that First Selectman Lisa Heavner direct Town Planner Jamie Rabbitt to be more responsive to the public.

The Simsbury’s Women’s Club had a very successful Arts and Crafts Festival. There weren’t any entry fees. This festival has been an annual event. However, this year they had to compete with the PAC Blues Festival that was presenting concerts all day into the evening at a gate price of $40-$50 for an entrée fee. It became challenging for shared parking and use of the space on Iron Horse Boulevard. Why did the town allow the PAC to compete with the Women’s Club? This appears to be poor planning. The concerts were a concern to the public in the evening, with many people disturbed with the volume of the music in the evening hours. Maybe it is time to have a noise ordnance for the town since there are many times when the concerts are creating a public nuisance.

It appears from the increase in calls to the Simsbury Police Department that Simsbury is not immune to the increase in alcohol addiction, children with suicidal tendencies, many other addictions and the recent arrests of 19 year old residents selling and using Marijuana on Westledge Road, case #20089. Recently there have been several obituaries attributed to addiction deaths. It appears to me that the valley towns will have an opportunity for regionalization of services, by providing a Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services with many of the CREC schools repurposed for Mental Health and Addiction Services.

A memo from the State Library states, “due to limitations all libraries will restrict patrons-placed holds to 5 per person.” I recently was restricted from this regional service. Has the State placed this limit due to budgetary restrictions?

C-Tec Solar has not paid their taxes to date and should not be the provider for the solar system for the Board of Education school roof.

Since there is no longer any consensus for a Senior/Community Center on Iron Horse Boulevard, I would like to know if it will be removed from the Capital Projects Plan.

All of my comments will be posted on Simsbury Patch, News Feed on Facebook, Twitter@joancoe and Simsbury Forum/Topix.