Author: kathrynwboughton@gmail.com

An informational meeting about why Norfolk needs a new firehouse and how much it might cost prompted only two questions Thursday night, one about whether the proposed plan will meet future needs, and the second about whether solar panels were included in the plan.

The new structure would provide adequate space for training, storage and parking of the today’s much-larger fire engines, according to First Assistant Fire Chief Matt Ludwig. And the solar panels cut from the plant to save costs.

Ludwig said the current firehouse, which originally housed three fire trucks, was “perfect” 54 years ago but that, with seven trucks measuring up to 33 feet in length, the building is now inadequate.

He painted a picture of quarters so cramped that the doors of trucks parked side by side, cannot be opened simultaneously. Modern building codes require at least three feet of open space around fire trucks. Trucks have to be pulled out of the firehouse when meetings and training sessions are held.

“Firefighting has changed drastically over the last 50 years,” he said. “Because we are held to such high standards, we are continually training, about 20 hours a month.”

The current building has numerous building code violations and does not have a ventilation system to mitigate exposure to toxic fumes such as diesel exhaust. 

Ludwig said the design for the new firehouse addresses the current and future needs of the community even though the building committee “trimmed the unnecessary fluff.”

Barry Roseman, a member of the building committee with extensive experience in developing financing for nonprofit projects, said construction costs have escalated from 6 to 7 percent annually in four-plus years since Covid. “We have had to navigate the tension between cost, design and function,” he said. 

He described efforts to reduce the cost of the proposed firehouse. Preliminary estimates came in at $9.5 million. After deep cutting, the estimate was reduced to $8,263,000. Soft costs and a contingency fund pushed the cost back up to $9,263,000.

Funding will come from a $2.5 million grant from the state; $3,000,000 in private donations; $500,000 in town funds, and bond financing of $3,263,000. A federal grant of $1.25 million was caught up in the Washington budget cuts, but the town will reapply next year. 

Roseman said the town should not delay construction to a later time because it could lose the state grant and costs continue to rise. 

The issue will go to a town vote on May 12. Ludwig urged everyone to support the fire department.

—Newsletter Editor

The Norfolk Historical Society is preparing for its 2025 season with the launch of a new website and announcement of its summer exhibition. 

“We’ve added a few new features like ‘Architecture’ to the website,” said Director Barry Webber. “We’re planning to expand on that, especially about the 18th-century houses, for the 250th anniversary of the country in 2026.”

“I’m starting public access to the portal for the collections database,” Webber said. “The database lists documents that people can come research.”

The new site allows visitors to explore a number of sections, including one focused on the town’s rich Colonial past. A downloadable walking tour includes descriptions of historic buildings and the families that once occupied them. There are other sections on the town’s early history, historic personages, historic maps from 1853 to 1902 and genealogy. “The maps are new, and users can zoom in on them and see where their house was in 1853,” Webber said.

Also included is a section summarizing the deeply researched exhibitions created each summer and displayed at the historical society’s headquarters on the village green. This year’s exhibition, “A New Birth of Freedom: Norfolk in the War of the Rebellion,” looks at Norfolk’s participation in the Civil War and the attitudes toward slavery in the community. The exhibit will be on view weekends, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., June 7 through October 12. 

—Newsletter Editor

Crews were putting the finishing touches on River Place bridge this week, getting ready to pave the little street on Monday. That will put paid to a project that began in the summer of 2022 and stalled in November of that year when it was discovered that one headwall was not sitting on a firm foundation.

Construction did not begin again until last year after the bridge was redesigned. “They will pave on Monday and then it’s cleanup and landscaping,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska. The foreman on the work site predicted that finishing touches will take a month after the road is again completely open to traffic.

One of the workmen commented on the gracious quality of a neighborhood that has been inconvenienced for three years. “They have been so patient with us when we had our equipment in the way and one lady up the street even brought us cookies,” he said.

A few hundred feet away, on Route 44, crews continue to move forward on the massive project to reconstruct a century-old rubble retaining wall. The multi-year project still has two years to go before it will be complete. 

Riiska said that the DOT plans a public meeting in May at Town Hall to describe the progress of the project. Details about the meeting will be announced soon.

Finally, engineers from Cardinal Engineering are still working with DEEP to get approval of plans for a temporary bridge to replace the one washed out on Smith Road in summer 2023. 

—Newsletter Editor

Things have not gotten better for the Earth and its creatures since the first-ever Earth Day celebration in 1970, but the fight for environmental health continues. Next week, from April 25th through 27th, Norfolk will host its second Earth Day Forum focusing on “Our Glorious Northwest Corner: Celebrating the Connectedness of All.”

The three-day, eight-event, forum, initiated in 2024 by Norfolk’s Church of Christ Congregational, offers activities that bring together experts, artists and community members to address biodiversity challenges facing this region. 

The Hub is hosting an exhibition, “Imperiled Species in Our Community: The Biodiversity Crisis at Home,” on view at the Norfolk Hub through April 30th. The exhibit, on loan from the Salisbury Association, focuses on local endangered species. 

Forum festivities officially begin Friday, April 25, 4:00  to 6:00 p.m. at the Norfolk Hub with an opening reception and lecture by Tim Abbott, conservation director of the Housatonic Valley Association. The evening continues from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Norfolk Library with a screening of “A Road Not Taken,” a documentary on Jimmy Carter’s solar energy initiatives.

Nature enthusiasts can participate in three events on Saturday, April 26. A Books & Boots nature walk, inspired by Peter Wohlleben’s “The Hidden Life of Trees,” 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., will be led by Bina Thomson and Hartley Mead to explore the lives of trees in the South Norfolk Woodlands, 220 Bruey Rd.

At 1:00 p.m., Dr. Mike Zarfos, executive director of Great Mountain Forest, will lead a Spring Ephemeral Wildflowers Walk to observe ephemerals such as trillium and bloodroot emerging from the forest floor. Participants should meet at the Chestnut Grove, Undermountain Road, Falls Village.

Finally, at 4:00 p.m. at the Norfolk Library, Craig Repasz from Lights Out Connecticut will describe the Connecticut Bird Atlas project and the urgent need for bird conservation.

On Sunday, April 27, families can create toad houses, followed by a program on reptiles and amphibians, 1:00  to 2:00  p.m. at the Norfolk Library.

The weekend concludes with Paul Winter’s concert, “This Glorious Earth,” at the Church of Christ from 4:00  to 6:00 p.m.

Visit norfolkhub.org/norfolk-earth-forum for more information and registration details. 

—Newsletter Editor

Residents are reminded of the information session about the proposed new fire house scheduled for Thursday, April 24, at 6:00 p.m. at Botelle School. Members of the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department; the architect, Silver Petrucelli & Associates; First Selectman Matt Riiska, and representatives from the Fire House Building Committee will all be on hand to provide information and answer questions about why the town’s 50-year-old fire house should be replaced.

A vote to approve the firehouse plan will take place in conjunction with the annual Town Meeting in May.

An information booklet, paid for by donations has been mailed to everyone in town. 

To get the latest updates online, click on “New Fire House Updates” at the top of the homepage.

—Newsletter Editor

Two Norfolk organizations were among 30 area nonprofits that received grants from the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation. The 30 grants totaled $164,450.

Great Mountain Forest received $6,350 from the Carlton D. Fyler and Jenny R. Fyler Fund to support development of Next Generation Science Standards-aligned programs for K-12 students. The programs will be used for hands-on outdoor learning. 

Next weekend’s 2025 Norfolk Earth Forum will be all the richer for a $1,500 grant to the Norfolk Land Trust. The funds will be used to underwrite the free two-day event, which will explore a variety of conservation and outdoor/local environment topics and was provided by the Keroden Endowed Fund.

—Newsletter Editor

The Foundation for Norfolk Living has long worked to create a 10-house affordable housing development off Old Colony Road. Now it has the opportunity to add an 11th home nearby.

Foundation president Kate Briggs Johnson said, “The Foundation owns a single lot at the base of Haystack Mountain and we want to put a modular house on it. We’re just drawing it all together. It has not been officially permitted yet.”

While the 10 houses in the Haystack Woods complex have been designed to produce as much energy as they use, this new house will not be “net zero,” according to Johnson.

The Foundation for Norfolk Living is one of four Northwest Connecticut nonprofits joining in the Litchfield County Affordable Homeownership Program. Construction of this single affordable home in Norfolk and those in other towns belonging to the program, is funded through the Connecticut Department of Housing as well as through town and non-profit contributions. Program facilitation and construction loans are being provided through Capital for Change.

It is expected that the Norfolk house will be constructed in the fall or winter.

The program and application process were described at a Zoom meeting held last week to describe the program and the application process. Applicants’ total gross annual household income must be at or below 100 percent of the Litchfield County Area Median Income ($80,000 for one person up to $132,500 for six persons). Applicants must have had no ownership interest in a principal residence during the previous three years. There will be a strong preference for households of three or more people.

The homes are three-bedroom, Cape-style structures and will sell for between $250,000 and $280,000, including a forgivable downpayment assistance loan of approximately $25,000. Purchasers will own the building, but the land under it will be owned by the local housing non-profit and leased to the homeowner. 

“This is called shared equity,” Jocelyn Ayers, director of the Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunities, told those attending the Zoom meeting. Each house costs about $500,000 to construct, about twice the selling price. 

Those wishing to apply can download and complete the pre-application form here and submit it by emailing project manager Lindsay Larson.

—Newsletter Editor

The Planning and Zoning Commission has instructed its attorney to craft a resolution to approve with conditions the Manor House’s application for modification of its special permit.

The commission will continue its deliberations about the application at its May 13 meeting.

The Manor House, first approved for operation as a country inn in 1996, is seeking a modification of its special use permit to allow additional amenities, including a recreational building at the rear of the inn and enhanced meal service. The proposal for the five-acre property, located in a residential area, has prompted considerable public interest and resulted in more than nine hours of public hearing testimony.

Last Tuesday night, P&Z members sat down to consider the merits of the proposal. One member opposed the application because, in his interpretation, it goes beyond the zoning regulations’ definition of a country inn and “is out of scale” for the neighborhood. Other members of the commission found the application acceptable with the stipulations already made by the applicant, or said they could support it with additional conditions.

Several points need to be discussed further before the commissioners reach a decision, including the position of the new storage garage and the total number of guests to be allowed on the property at any one time.

The May 13 meeting will be hybrid with the commission meeting in person at Town Hall. Residents who are unable to be there can watch the deliberations via Zoom if they choose. The agenda and Zoom link will be posted on the town website.

—Newsletter Editor

Despite close questioning by board member Jeffrey Torrant Tuesday evening, the Board of Finance moved to approve as presented an $8,427,157 budget for 2025-26. It will be sent to a public hearing April 29 at 7:00 p.m. at Botelle School.

The budget includes $4,467,294 for educational spending at Botelle Elementary and Northwestern Regional School #7, as well as a $3,959,863 budget for town government. When reduced by $150,000 from the town’s surplus funds, the amount to be raised through taxes is $8,277,157, an increase of $260,848 (3.15 percent) over current spending. 

If townspeople vote to approve the budget at the town meeting in May, the mill rate will be 22.59, down from 28.40 this year, largely because of an increase in property values following last year’s revaluation. 

Torrant questioned the pay increases for Town Hall employees and wondered if a position could be cut in the Department of Public Works. 

He particularly objected to the $40,000 allocated toward City Meadow, saying townspeople had been assured that tax monies would never be asked for its maintenance despite its being town land.

First Selectman Matt Riiska assured him that significant funds have been donated over the years by people who envision City Meadow as a pleasant addition to the town center. “This is the first year the town has been asked to put money into it,” he said. “You have to maintain what has been done.”

In other business finance chairman Michael Sconyers asked the board members their feelings about asking tax exempt entities such as the churches and Yale to make contributions in lieu of taxes. “They may be tax exempt, but they still use our services,” he said.

Additionally, he suggested the formation of a fire district that could tax its citizens directly to offset some of the expenses of emergency services. 

—Newsletter Editor

For their annual theatre production, which opens Friday, 18 students at Botelle Elementary School have prepared a lively rendition of “The Jungle Book Kids!,” the Disney musical based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless tale.

They have been rehearsing since January under the guidance of parent volunteers Becky Keyes and Megan Schneider and the production features lively musical numbers, energetic performances and colorful costumes.

Featured performers are Elana Hunt, Adilyn Keyes, Nate Schneider, Abigail Bennett, Fiona Padua, Landree Sharack, Seth Dubecky, Shelby Kroehle, Ian Weaving, Lyko Whitaker, Moshe Santiesteban, Dalton Jeannin, Gage Padua, Ya’akov Saniesteban, Brayden Schneider, Julianna Brown, Amelia DeBecky and Lilyah Kochman.

The production opens Friday night at 5:30 p.m. in the school’s gymnasium. A second performance will be Saturday afternoon at 2:00. Admission is free.

—Newsletter Editor