Author: kathrynwboughton@gmail.com

First Selectman Matt Riiska Tuesday night gave the Board of Finance a first peek at a proposed $8 million-plus 2025-26 municipal budget. Because of a post-revaluation increase in property values and conservative spending, he predicted that the mill rate would drop to 22.5 from this year’s level of 28.4.

“But don’t get excited about that decrease,” he told members of the Board of Finance. Following the recent property revaluation, he is still trying to get a handle on the actual value of properties. Property values are said to have increased between 24 and 35 percent, “but 24 percent to 35 percent is a big range,” he said.

“If you paid taxes on a $250,000 home last year, your taxes would have been about $7,100 [at 28.4 mills],” he explained. “If your property value increased 24 percent, you would pay about $7,200 at 22.5 mills. But if it is 35 percent increase, you are going to pay a lot more.” 

He said the October 1 Grand List totals $366,409,204, of which $331,129,480 is in real estate. There is about another $15 million for personal property and more than $19 million for motor vehicles. “Originally motor vehicles were $17 million,” Riiska said, “but last week the Governor signed a bill that allowed municipalities to change the way they assess motor vehicles.”

The new bill allows towns to use manufacturers’ retail prices for the vehicles rather than the National Automobile Dealers Association’s annual appraisal guide, which usually assigns lower values to vehicles. 

Under the new system, if a car is a year old, 90 percent of its value is subject to tax. That goes down 5 percentage points every year until the car is 20 years old or older, when the tax bill is based on 15 percent of the car’s value or $500, whichever is greater.

Riiska said he is still refining budget figures, but that with decreased budget demands from Regional School #7 and Botelle School in the coming year, the total municipal budget should be “$8,250,000-ish.”

—Newsletter Editor

Tuesday night the Planning & Zoning Commission again continued the public hearing on modifications to the special permit and site plan for the Manor House until a March 25 special meeting as it awaits more information from both the applicants and those opposed to the plan.

March 25 will be the fourth session for the public hearing, which has already heard more than nine hours of testimony during the first three meetings. 

The Manor House, located in a residential zone on Maple Street, has hosted guests for nearly 50 years and was granted a special permit to operate as a country inn in 1996. A site plan is referenced in the minutes of the meeting that approved the permit, but it cannot be located, complicating the current P&Z Commission’s ability to judge what exactly was approved 29 years ago.

The application currently under discussion seeks to modernize and enhance services at the inn by adding recreational facilities at the rear of the main building, constructing a new storage garage, expanding their current food service, and upgrading the parking area. Earlier plans to construct two Nordic-style guest cabins and their associated walkways and lighting have been removed.

Click here for links to the proposed plan and other application documents.

—Newsletter Editor

The Army Corps of Engineers has given finally its imprimatur to the town’s plan to construct a temporary bridge on Smith Road. Approval has been sought since last summer.

“Now it is up to DEEP to approve it,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska. “I have been on the phone with our engineer, and I sent an email to DEEP to let them know we are prepared to move forward.”

Still, he was uncertain when he might get a green light from the state. “The point that I push with all these people is that the permanent replacement for the bridge won’t be done for two years. I just want to build this temporary bridge so the people on Smith and Old Goshen Roads can have some comfort.”

The Old Goshen and Smith Road bridges were swept away by a flash flood in July 2023.

The $1.25 million in federal funding the town hoped to get to assist with building a new fire house appears to be on indefinite hold. 

A representative of U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes met with First Selectman Matt Riiska at this week’s Northwest Hills Council of Government’s meeting and told him that the continuing resolution passed Thursday in Washington, D.C., provides funding to keep the government running but does not include discretionary spending.

Riiska had hoped to get $750,000 through a grant from the Senate and another $500,000 from the House to assist with construction of the fire house. Riiska said the money was approved late last summer, but only through a temporary budget. 

“The earliest it could be approved is September and it could easily get pushed out again,” he said. “And now, with the climate in Washington, it might not get through.”

The cost of the firehouse was recently estimated at more than $8 million, but, again, the financial turmoil in the country is making it difficult to pin down costs. “The plans for the firehouse are 95 percent complete,” Riiska said, “and we are getting another estimate together, but it will be difficult to figure costs. The stock market is fluctuating, and we don’t know what interest rates will be. And how the tariffs will affect steel prices is a huge consideration for us.”

Still, he said, plans are pushing forward. He expects to hear in April whether the town’s application for a state $500,000 STEAP grant is successful and a local fundraising campaign continues to receive pledges. He estimates that the town has promises of about $5.5 million toward the cost.

“If the town had to borrow 3 to 3.5 million, it would cost about $240,000 a year for 25 years at 4.25 percent,” he told the Board of Finance Wednesday.

—Newsletter Editor

There will be a total lunar eclipse this coming Thursday, March 13, and astronomer Matthew Johnson plans an eclipse viewing event at the town baseball field on Mountain Road, beginning at 11:30 p.m. 

Johnson will be on site at 11:30 p.m. but the eclipse will not be noticeable until about 1:00 a.m. At that time, the Earth’s umbra will begin to shadow the moon, turning it red. 

The total eclipse will occur at 2:26 a.m. when the entire moon becomes dark red. Its maximum effect occurs at 2:58 a.m., when the moon is in the center of the Earth’s umbral shadow. It ends at 3:31 a.m. The whole celestial show is over at 6:00 a.m. 

Attendees are advised to dress for a mid-March night and to bring handwarmers, hot beverages, snacks, a chair and their own optical devices to view the heavens.

Johnson will hold a second observation opportunity on the morning of March 29 when there will be a partial solar eclipse. Particulars about that event will be announced later.

The events will be cancelled by inclement weather, high winds, if the skies are 75 percent or more covered by clouds. 

The event is sponsored by Aton Forest.

A just-released update to Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation’s demographic report on the 20 towns that it serves (including Norfolk) reveals stark realities. 

In short, birth rates continue to be low—Norfolk had the lowest average birth rate with six births per year on average, and death rates are high because of an aging population, home costs are astronomical and young home buyers and renters are being frozen out throughout the region.

In Norfolk, between 2017 and 2023, the increase in the median value of a home was $183,274 (up 66 percent). The annual increase of combined mortgage and utilities costs was $24,996 (up 93 percent), while the median increase in household income was only $7,718 (up 10 percent). [

Norfolk’s median home values are between $401,000 and $500,000. 

The report is estimated that to provide the basics necessary to live and work in Litchfield County requires an annual income of $50,679 for one adult and one child. This ranges up to $97,875 for a family of four with one child in childcare and one in school.

Data for each of the 20 towns was analyzed and compared to the data from the 2017 report to determine what has changed. The new report reveals that trends identified in 2017 have not only come to fruition but are more pronounced today than seven years ago. 

The full report can be found here.

—Newsletter Editor

It’s official: the Norfolk Farmers Market, a once-popular weekly venue where townspeople could shop for fresh produce, artisan foods and crafts, is no more.

The Farmers Market Committee voted at its March 4 meeting to end the market’s long run and to focus its attention instead on the community garden at Botelle School. Earlier, the committee had discussed the possibility of having a pop-up market at Norbrook Brewery this summer but decided against that because of the amount of work involved.

“It just felt like it was time to hang it up,” said committee chairman Lisa Auclair. “With new farms in town and CSAs available, we don’t think the town will want for fresh foods.”

The community garden behind Botelle School operates under the umbrella of the market committee. In the spring, students from Northwestern Regional School #7 come to Botelle and work with the younger children on planting seedlings. The Botelle kids then tend the seedlings and the market committee and guest gardeners take over the plots all summer long. 

Some of the food is used for personal consumption and some is donated to the Food Pantry.

“We have a master composter working with us and it is a great community builder,” said Auclair. “We have some very talented gardeners, and it is fun to work together.”

The Farmers Market Committee has $4,700 left in its account and wants permission from the town to transfer it to the garden project to pay for needed capital improvements. 

People interested in working in the community garden can reach out to Auclair at 860-806-3679 or email lisaauclair@sbcglobal.net.

—Newsletter Editor

At their February meeting, the Botelle Board of Education members learned that the proposed education budget for 2025-26 stands at $2,703,690, up 4.29 percent from current spending of $2,649,086. 

In presenting the budget to the board, John DeShazo said the main drivers of the budget increase are contractual salary increases, special education and health care benefits. “There’s not much you can do about those,” he said.

He said the more than $37,000 figure for health benefits is not yet firm but is based on the maximum increase of nine percent.

The board delayed action on its budget proposal until its March meeting as several members were absent.

On the municipal side, First Selectman Matt Riiska is buoyed by a reduction in the town’s portion of the Northwest Regional School budget this year. “It’s a huge help,” he said. “Last year, it was $2,146,683 and this year it’s down $155,555 to $1,991,128.”

The reason for the reduction? Norfolk is sending 10 fewer students to the school, shifting its proportional share of the regional school’s budget.

In addition, several large-ticket items are all or partly completed. The new boilers for the elementary school have been ordered and paid for; the new fuel tanks at the school have been installed, and the roof has been replaced.

The cost of a new firehouse remains on the horizon as Riiska expects to pay no more than interest on the cost of the project in the 2025-26 budget. The full budgetary effect of the new construction will be reflected in 2026-27.

Riiska will present his proposed budget to his board next week during their March 5 meeting.

—Newsletter Editor

A lack of salt to treat icy roads forced the closure of Botelle School on February 18, leaving many residents disgruntled, but town officials hope there will be no repeat of that experience this year.

“It wasn’t a matter of money,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska. “The salt had been ordered for two weeks, and they just didn’t deliver.” 

Normally, salt is delivered within 10 days of when Public Works foreman Troy Lamere puts in an order to Morton Salt of New Haven. But despite a second order and repeated calls, the town’s supply was not replenished until February 18.

Problems with salt deliveries started in 2021 when the Connecticut Port Authority prepared to use the State Pier in New London for wind turbine development. New London and New Haven were the only ports in the state that received shipments of salt. DRVN, a New London salt supplier, was forced out of business by the move and all salt deliveries were routed through New Haven. DRVN’s closure put pressure on deliveries as contractors waited in long lines.

Riiska said that three consecutive weeks of storms aggravated delivery problems and that even the state was short on materials. Norfolk, known as the Icebox of Connecticut, was more affected than most because it is colder than other towns.

When the Presidents Day storm struck, the town had very little salt left. So, the Norfolk town crew mixed the salt on hand with sand and road grit swept up from roads that were milled in the summer. 

Norfolk can store only 500 tons of salt and, since it uses between 100 and 160 tons per storm, each delivery prepares the town for only four or five storms.

“Now, they [the salt companies] have been told by a power higher than me, that they have to deliver,” Riiska reported. “People were upset because the school was closed, but Troy was on the phone with the Region 7 and Botelle superintendents at 3:00 in the morning, and he had to tell them the roads weren’t safe. That’s his job. Safety is the main concern.”

—Newsletter Editor

Botelle students “knocked it out of the park” during February’s Kids Heart Challenge, Principal Lauren Valentino said. They raised almost $1,390 for the American Heart Association, far surpassing the school’s $1,000 goal.

During the month-long initiative, children learned about healthy living and eating, engaged in heart healthy activities and gathered pledges from family and friends. The event culminated with students taking part in a rope jumping challenge. 

The PTO provided grapes, clementines and water to refresh and hydrate the children during the excercise.

Valentino said the children were paired with their “learning buddies” during the challenge. Under the learning buddy system, children from upper grades are paired with younger children. 

“The older kids coach the younger ones,” she explained. “It brings out their best effort and creates a positive environment.”

The rope-jumping session was organized by Winter Thorne-Kaunelis, a Botelle graduate and now its physical education teacher.

—Newsletter Editor