Post by Dr.Ken Sokolowski on Oct 1, 2008 17:36:46 GMT -5
Apparently, Bonnie, who did not offer a Manager's Report last week, decided that, since Town Hall will be migrating back to its original northern wing starting tomorrow, Friday would not be a convenient time to try to create, disseminate and post her Report.
There is some meaty stuff in this report; as always: read between the lines.
1. COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS
1. Manager
* We will be moving back to Town Hall on Thursday and Friday. All phones and computers will be off, although all phone calls will be rerouted to a general message, saying we are closed for business. Town Hall will be up and running Monday at 8 a.m.
2. Upcoming Events
* The MDC and the Connecticut River Watershed Council are sponsoring a "Source to Sea Cleanup" on Saturday, October 4, 2008. This is to clean up the CT River shoreline areas. Contact Melissa Bengtson at 278-2850 ext. 3221 to sign up.
* The first annual statewide Italian American Celebration will be held October 10-12, 2008 in Hartford. The parade will be held on that Saturday and more details will be coming from the Committee. Please mark your calendars so you can march in the parade.
* The Redevelopment Commission's second forum will be held on October 15th at the Silas Deane Middle School from 7 - 9 p.m. The speakers will include members of the Redevelopment agency, Linda St. Peter, a representative from the local commercial real estate community, a speaker from the State Responsible Growth program, the Town Planner and I. A flyer on this event is attached.
* A group of three businesses in Old Wethersfield are working together, with assistance from Cindy Hughes, to organize a fund raiser for the Wethersfield Fuel Bank. They are planning an event, including food and wine for Thursday, October 16th, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Bean and Grape. Tickets will start at $25 with higher levels of sponsorship available. If you wish to attend, please call Gale at 721-2801 or Lori Schroll at 721-2977 and we will get you tickets for the event.
* The Mikey's Place 5K will be held on Sunday October 19, 2008 at 11 a.m. in Old Wethersfield.
* The Wethersfield Library Board and the Friends of the Wethersfield Library invite you to a reception on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 between 5-7 p.m. at the Keeney Center to honor departing Library Board members and welcome the new members.
* The Conn. Urban Forestry Council will hold its 20th Annual Conference on October 23, 2008 in Wallingford, CT.
* On Tuesday, October 28, 2008 the Consumer Advisory Council of the UCONN UCEDD will present a workshop on the "Promise of Partnerships: Combining Resources for Success."
* Green Summit II - This Energy Fair and Informational Session will be held on Saturday, November 8th from 11 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Wethersfield High School. A flyer is attached to this report.
* The National League of Cities (NLC) will hold its 2008 Congress of Cities, November 11-15, 2008 in Orlando, Florida. Please let me know if you are interested in attending. More information can be found on NLC's web site.
* 1000 Friends of CT will hold its 2nd Annual Statewide Smart Growth Conference on Thursday, November 13th at the Omni Hotel in Hartford
* EDIC's Salute to Business will be held on December 3rd at the Wethersfield Country Club. Please mark your calendars.
3. Council and Board/Committee Dates
* Fire Side Chat: Monday, October 6, 2008. A light dinner will be served at 5 p.m., followed by the meeting at 5:30 p.m. This will be held in the Silas Deane Auditorium.
* Budget Committee: (Kotkin, Roberts, Walsh and Console) - October 20, 2008 - 6 p.m. - Agenda will follow.
4. Department/Division News
* Central CT Health District: The District will be presenting a six-class program entitled "Diabetes: Taking Charge" at no cost beginning October 1st. A flyer is attached.
* Building Department: The August 2008 Monthly Report is attached for your information.
* Library: The Library recently sent a letter to the Literary Landmarks Register expressing interest in applying for the Town of Wethersfield to be listed as a Literary Landmark site, based on the Town's use as the setting for the Newberry award winning book The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare. The letter is attached for your information.
* Economic Development: Attached is the October 1, 2008 Available Property List.
* Assessor: Governor Rell and the Office of Policy Management are notifying each local tax assessor of a change the federal government made in the procedures for filing local veteran's tax abatement paperwork with their local tax assessors' office. The Governor is asking that tax assessors allow disabled veterans additional time to submit their disability verifications this year. Our Assessor, Chandler Rose, said that he had spoken to the Hartford Courant reporter on this yesterday and according to the State Statues, the filing for disability forms with our office is December 31st. Also, anyone over 65 or 100% disabled no longer needs to file the paperwork with us. Our office has already received a number of letters from the VA going back to August 28,. 2008.
* Fire Department: Fire Chief Chuck Flynn announced that the Department has been selected by the Volunteer & Combination Officers Section of the International Fire Chiefs Association (VCOS/IAFC) and Volunteer Fireman's Insurance Services Inc. (VFIS) to receive their 2nd Annual 2008 Vehicle Safe Operations Achievement Award. Congratulations to all!
5. Board/Commission News
* Nothing this week.
6. Council Questions/Answers:
* At your last meeting, Mr. Petrella from Brimfield Road came to discuss his long standing road issues in front of his house. We have fixed the problem on a temporary basis (lasting about a year or so), until we can permanently address this in next year's budget.
7. COST
* Town Leaders' E-Bulletin concerning the new FOI law and websites. Town Clerk Dolores Sassano has devised a short form for minutes that can be easily placed on our web site to comply with the new law. This will go to the Rules and Procedures Committee for their review. Because we have to comply by today, we will start using this short form and then make amendments if necessary.
8. CRCOG
* Nothing this week.
9. CCM
* Municipal Management Bulletin on Regional Meetings with State Legislative Candidates
10. MetroHartford Alliance
* More information on events and the newsletter at www.metrohartford.com.
2. MISCELLANEOUS
* The September Newsletter from the Ombudsman for Property Rights is attached for your information.
* Following is a link to a website that has places where CT businesses or homeowners can obtain incentives for renewable energy: www.dsireusa.org/library/includes/map2.cfm?CurrentPageID=1&State=CT&RE=1&EE=1
* The residents of Westledge Road submitted a petition requesting their road be paved. Attached is an email from Public Works Director Mike Turner with the Road Manager data for this street.
* The CT Department of Labor reports that for August 2008 the unemployment rate for Wethersfield was 6.0% compared to the State average of 6.4%.
* Attached is a copy of an article from the October ICMA News Briefing on the municipal bond market and the effect of the stock market over the last two weeks.
3. PROJECT UPDATES
* The funding for the Phase 2 window project at the Community Center will be on the State November Bond Commission Agenda. We will ask the contractor to hold the price until then.
* VRAD Boxes: Town Attorney Jack Bradley forwarded the attached press release to us concerning the final decision of the DPUC concerning the placement of VRAD cabinets.
* Tourism: The CT River Valley Tourism District is assisting Wethersfield in developing a short video marketing the Town. Paul Mayer of the CRVTD will be shooting the video on October 9th and 10th. They are hoping to capture scenes of the scarecrows on Main Street, people enjoying Pattycakes, Main Street Creamery, etc. If anyone has any other ideas for the video shoot, they'd love to hear them. Information is attached.
4. ATTACHMENTS
1. Redevelopment Flyer
2. Health District Flyer
3. Building Dept. Monthly Report
4. Library Letter to the Literary Landmarks Register
5. Available Property List
6. Veteran's Exemption Announcement
7. Memo from Fire Department
8. COST Bulletin
9. CCM Bulletin
10. Property Rights Newsletter
11. Westledge Road Petition
12. ICMA New Briefing
13. DPUC Press Release
14. Tourism Email
There is some meaty stuff in this report; as always: read between the lines.
Town Manager's Office
Weekly Management Report
TO: The Honorable Mayor and Town Council Members
FROM: Bonnie L. Therrien, Town Manager
DATE: October 1, 2008
Weekly Management Report
TO: The Honorable Mayor and Town Council Members
FROM: Bonnie L. Therrien, Town Manager
DATE: October 1, 2008
1. COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS
1. Manager
* We will be moving back to Town Hall on Thursday and Friday. All phones and computers will be off, although all phone calls will be rerouted to a general message, saying we are closed for business. Town Hall will be up and running Monday at 8 a.m.
2. Upcoming Events
* The MDC and the Connecticut River Watershed Council are sponsoring a "Source to Sea Cleanup" on Saturday, October 4, 2008. This is to clean up the CT River shoreline areas. Contact Melissa Bengtson at 278-2850 ext. 3221 to sign up.
* The first annual statewide Italian American Celebration will be held October 10-12, 2008 in Hartford. The parade will be held on that Saturday and more details will be coming from the Committee. Please mark your calendars so you can march in the parade.
* The Redevelopment Commission's second forum will be held on October 15th at the Silas Deane Middle School from 7 - 9 p.m. The speakers will include members of the Redevelopment agency, Linda St. Peter, a representative from the local commercial real estate community, a speaker from the State Responsible Growth program, the Town Planner and I. A flyer on this event is attached.
* A group of three businesses in Old Wethersfield are working together, with assistance from Cindy Hughes, to organize a fund raiser for the Wethersfield Fuel Bank. They are planning an event, including food and wine for Thursday, October 16th, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Bean and Grape. Tickets will start at $25 with higher levels of sponsorship available. If you wish to attend, please call Gale at 721-2801 or Lori Schroll at 721-2977 and we will get you tickets for the event.
* The Mikey's Place 5K will be held on Sunday October 19, 2008 at 11 a.m. in Old Wethersfield.
* The Wethersfield Library Board and the Friends of the Wethersfield Library invite you to a reception on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 between 5-7 p.m. at the Keeney Center to honor departing Library Board members and welcome the new members.
* The Conn. Urban Forestry Council will hold its 20th Annual Conference on October 23, 2008 in Wallingford, CT.
* On Tuesday, October 28, 2008 the Consumer Advisory Council of the UCONN UCEDD will present a workshop on the "Promise of Partnerships: Combining Resources for Success."
* Green Summit II - This Energy Fair and Informational Session will be held on Saturday, November 8th from 11 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Wethersfield High School. A flyer is attached to this report.
* The National League of Cities (NLC) will hold its 2008 Congress of Cities, November 11-15, 2008 in Orlando, Florida. Please let me know if you are interested in attending. More information can be found on NLC's web site.
* 1000 Friends of CT will hold its 2nd Annual Statewide Smart Growth Conference on Thursday, November 13th at the Omni Hotel in Hartford
* EDIC's Salute to Business will be held on December 3rd at the Wethersfield Country Club. Please mark your calendars.
3. Council and Board/Committee Dates
* Fire Side Chat: Monday, October 6, 2008. A light dinner will be served at 5 p.m., followed by the meeting at 5:30 p.m. This will be held in the Silas Deane Auditorium.
* Budget Committee: (Kotkin, Roberts, Walsh and Console) - October 20, 2008 - 6 p.m. - Agenda will follow.
4. Department/Division News
* Central CT Health District: The District will be presenting a six-class program entitled "Diabetes: Taking Charge" at no cost beginning October 1st. A flyer is attached.
* Building Department: The August 2008 Monthly Report is attached for your information.
* Library: The Library recently sent a letter to the Literary Landmarks Register expressing interest in applying for the Town of Wethersfield to be listed as a Literary Landmark site, based on the Town's use as the setting for the Newberry award winning book The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare. The letter is attached for your information.
* Economic Development: Attached is the October 1, 2008 Available Property List.
* Assessor: Governor Rell and the Office of Policy Management are notifying each local tax assessor of a change the federal government made in the procedures for filing local veteran's tax abatement paperwork with their local tax assessors' office. The Governor is asking that tax assessors allow disabled veterans additional time to submit their disability verifications this year. Our Assessor, Chandler Rose, said that he had spoken to the Hartford Courant reporter on this yesterday and according to the State Statues, the filing for disability forms with our office is December 31st. Also, anyone over 65 or 100% disabled no longer needs to file the paperwork with us. Our office has already received a number of letters from the VA going back to August 28,. 2008.
* Fire Department: Fire Chief Chuck Flynn announced that the Department has been selected by the Volunteer & Combination Officers Section of the International Fire Chiefs Association (VCOS/IAFC) and Volunteer Fireman's Insurance Services Inc. (VFIS) to receive their 2nd Annual 2008 Vehicle Safe Operations Achievement Award. Congratulations to all!
5. Board/Commission News
* Nothing this week.
6. Council Questions/Answers:
* At your last meeting, Mr. Petrella from Brimfield Road came to discuss his long standing road issues in front of his house. We have fixed the problem on a temporary basis (lasting about a year or so), until we can permanently address this in next year's budget.
7. COST
* Town Leaders' E-Bulletin concerning the new FOI law and websites. Town Clerk Dolores Sassano has devised a short form for minutes that can be easily placed on our web site to comply with the new law. This will go to the Rules and Procedures Committee for their review. Because we have to comply by today, we will start using this short form and then make amendments if necessary.
8. CRCOG
* Nothing this week.
9. CCM
* Municipal Management Bulletin on Regional Meetings with State Legislative Candidates
10. MetroHartford Alliance
* More information on events and the newsletter at www.metrohartford.com.
2. MISCELLANEOUS
* The September Newsletter from the Ombudsman for Property Rights is attached for your information.
* Following is a link to a website that has places where CT businesses or homeowners can obtain incentives for renewable energy: www.dsireusa.org/library/includes/map2.cfm?CurrentPageID=1&State=CT&RE=1&EE=1
* The residents of Westledge Road submitted a petition requesting their road be paved. Attached is an email from Public Works Director Mike Turner with the Road Manager data for this street.
* The CT Department of Labor reports that for August 2008 the unemployment rate for Wethersfield was 6.0% compared to the State average of 6.4%.
* Attached is a copy of an article from the October ICMA News Briefing on the municipal bond market and the effect of the stock market over the last two weeks.
3. PROJECT UPDATES
* The funding for the Phase 2 window project at the Community Center will be on the State November Bond Commission Agenda. We will ask the contractor to hold the price until then.
* VRAD Boxes: Town Attorney Jack Bradley forwarded the attached press release to us concerning the final decision of the DPUC concerning the placement of VRAD cabinets.
* Tourism: The CT River Valley Tourism District is assisting Wethersfield in developing a short video marketing the Town. Paul Mayer of the CRVTD will be shooting the video on October 9th and 10th. They are hoping to capture scenes of the scarecrows on Main Street, people enjoying Pattycakes, Main Street Creamery, etc. If anyone has any other ideas for the video shoot, they'd love to hear them. Information is attached.
4. ATTACHMENTS
1. Redevelopment Flyer
2. Health District Flyer
3. Building Dept. Monthly Report
4. Library Letter to the Literary Landmarks Register
5. Available Property List
6. Veteran's Exemption Announcement
7. Memo from Fire Department
8. COST Bulletin
9. CCM Bulletin
10. Property Rights Newsletter
11. Westledge Road Petition
12. ICMA New Briefing
13. DPUC Press Release
14. Tourism Email