East Windsor Selectman's Report - June 21

EAST WINDSOR, CT - Here is the latest Selectman's report from Jason Bowsza, from the meeting of June 21, 2016:

I apologize for missing tonight's selectmen's meeting. I am recovering from surgery and will be out of commission for a little while.

I want to start off by thanking Police Commissioner Bob Leach for his efforts in putting out signs announcing the budget vote on 6/14. He certainly did more to reach out to the public than any other person or group that I am aware of, including the town.

Since our last selectmen's meeting, the Pension Board has met twice. We have adjusted our return assumptions downward from 7% to 6.5%, adopting a more conservative assumption based on market trends and actuarial projections.

John Burnham and I have made several visits to the subdivision concerning Barber Hill School. At this point in time, we have secured deed restriction releases from 13 of the 16 property owners. Two we have not been able to meet up with in person (they haven't been home on the several occasions we've stopped by) and one is not inclined to sign the release after having had a conversation with First Selectman Maynard. At this point in time we are not sure if 13/16 is sufficient, or if the three that we are missing (including the one gentleman who indicated he won't sign) will derail the project. We're still hopefully of ultimately getting 15/16.

We'll need Josh's help in satisfying the title insurance company's request for releases if we don't get them all.

On 6/16, Bob, Bill Thym and I attended a meeting of the Tolland Celebration Committee to pick their brains about things that worked well and didn't work well in their recent 300th celebration. I took more than 4 pages of notes, and they left of with a number of examples of publications and advertisements that we can take a look at. I'm very excited to work with anyone who is interested in putting together a fantastic celebration to commemorate our 250th.

Discussion of the Plan of Conservation and Development is listed on today's agenda. I have attended most of the POCD workshops over the last two and a half years. The Planning and Zoning Commission has done a remarkable job putting together a 10 year plan for the town that is truly a vision for how we should move forward as a community. Their process has been incredibly inclusive, allowing anyone to participate and to weigh in on the formulation of the plan. I fully support the work that they have done thus far, and would suggest that, in that some spirit of inclusion, a public hearing be scheduled as soon as possible to solicit feedback from the general public one more time.

Another item on tonight's agenda is a discussion of the Warehouse Point Fire District tax situation. I am extremely concerned that the Board of Selectmen is not aware of any discussions that have taken place between the Town and the WHP Fire District since April 1st. If there have been conversations, it is important to bring the full Board of Selectmen into the loop as quickly as possible, to avoid another year's worth of problems. If no such discussions have taken place, they should commence as quickly as possible to ensure that enough time remains available to address the issues that are currently in place.

I believe that there is a parity issue now in place between the two sides of town, and the pathway forward should be as inclusive, open and transparent as possible. Most of the board was kept out of the loop far too long last time, and that led to issues in reaching a final resolution.

At this point in time, there are options available to address the problem, but they would all take time to discuss, agree to, and ultimately implement. Those options include, in my opinion, at least the following options: Create a Special Services District to include the non-WHPFD sections of town; Expand the WHPFD to include the entire district; Eliminate the WHPFD and turn over the responsibility to provide fire protection to the town government I am not endorsing any of these options at this point in time, but they are options and should be discussed. Other options that I have not thought of should be discussed and considered as well. All of these would take time and open communication to enact, and I am very willing to help achieve the common goal of fairness in any way that I can.

Several months ago we'd talked about a potential noise ordinance update. Has anything become of that? I hopeful that by this point in time there would be something for the selectmen to review.

There are a couple of outstanding issues that I'd ask the first selectman to update us on: where do we stand with the South Road delinquent rent issue? Where do we stand in terms of the Broad Brook mill site remediation? Has an offer been extended to DEEP or the property owner to attend a selectmen's meeting? I'd appreciate the answer to these questions from Town Hall ahead of the next selectmen's meeting on 7/5.

Respectfully submitted,

Jason E. Bowsza
Selectman

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