Author: kathrynwboughton@gmail.com

There is a new threat to Connecticut forests as beech leaf disease spreads rapidly and Great Mountain Forest is playing a role in fighting it.

Plant pathologist Robert Marra, lead investigator with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, is using a plot in GMF as one of 11 stations in Connecticut to monitor the progression of the newly diagnosed disease, which was first identified in Ohio in 2012.

The Great Mountain Forest plot is one of two in Litchfield County. Trees there are measured annually to see how they have changed and what can be determined about regeneration. 

Dr. Marra appeared at the Norfolk Library last Sunday in a program sponsored by the Norfolk Conservation Commission. “By 2022, we realized we had big, big problem,” he said. “We were seeing a beech leaf disease Hell-scape and knew we are dealing with a disease that is not going away soon.”

Beech leaf disease causes mortality in saplings as well as mature beech trees, which Marra described as a foundational species in some forests. 

It has now been determined that an invasive nematode (a microscopic round worm) is responsible for the disease, which is spread when the nematode population burgeons in late summer and fall. The leaves fall into puddles and the nematodes exit through the leave’s stomata into the water, where they can be carried to other trees by insects, birds or mammals. 

Finding a cure is a long way off, but trees can be treated with phosphite products. Researchers have had encouraging results by drenching the soil around beech saplings with the products twice a year. Phosphites are inexpensive, do not need a certified applicator and do not harm other creatures.

Marra said phosphites reduce tree mortality, sustaining a large enough population for genetic diversity once a cure is found.

—Newsletter Editor

The Norfolk Land Trust is applying for a second renewal of its national accreditation, a hard-to-obtain badge of honor bestowed on land trusts that demonstrate that they protect the public interest with sound and sustainable land transactions and stewardship, operate ethically and are accountable to donors and the public.

Accreditation is a mark of excellence and helps to provide credibility to donors and grantors. The Norfolk Land Trust was originally accredited in 2013 when only six of the then 104 land trusts in the state had achieved the distinction

Public comments may be submitted through September 20 and must relate to how the Norfolk Land Trust complies with national quality standards (see full list here.) To submit a comment click here or email the Land Trust Accreditation Commission. 

The Norfolk Land Trust, created in 1982, protects more than 4,000 acres of open space through conservation easements and owned preserves and maintains more than 20 miles of trails, all of which are open to the public. 

—Newsletter Editor

 

Representatives of the state Department of Transportation traveled to Norfolk Thursday to answer the public’s questions about a major reconstruction of Route 44 just west of the village center. 

The project, which is expected to consume five construction seasons, will widen the road and its shoulders, improve drainage and reconfigure the steep hillside above.

The project has been under consideration by the DOT ever since a 2010 washout of part of the wall shut off the main traffic artery for a full day. Several years ago, a precast block wall was installed in front of the historic stone wall to prevent further rockslides. The old wall has a noticeable three-foot bulge caused by more than a century of water movement and repeated freeze/thaw cycles.

According to DOT project engineer Amy Hare, Section 1 of the redesign stretches for 1,034 feet. Route 44 in that section is narrow and curvy, with shoulders that vary in width from three to four feet with no snow shelf. The new design provides for traffic lanes of 12 feet and shoulders of five feet, with an additional six-foot buffer zone between the shoulder and the front face of the new retaining wall.

Above this section of road lies Center Cemetery, one of the most historic burial grounds in Norfolk. The DOT’s plan calls for its protection, with no heavy equipment operating within its borders except on paved surfaces or heavy construction mats. Stones will be protected by fencing. Construction activity will stop during funerals.

The town will decide the appearance of the new retaining walls, which will be decorative cement with a stone appearance.

The first phase of the project is already underway. Water, sewer and power lines are being relocated and traffic on the heavily used road is being regulated by flaggers. Hare said that when reconstruction begins, probably next year, one-lane traffic will be controlled during the April-to-Thanksgiving construction season by portable traffic lights. Emergency vehicles will be equipped with signals that will trip the lights to let them move through virtually unimpeded.

It is expected that there will be two-way traffic during the winter months.

The DOT will attempt to divert commercial traffic onto a 45-minute detour that will take it from Canaan to Goshen, over to Torrington and back up Route 272 to Route 44. Hare agreed that the detour “is not good” and said the state cannot make truckers use it.

Old Colony Road will not be used as a detour and, indeed, will be closed during the later stages of the project. 

Extensive soil analysis has been done and it is not anticipated that blasting will be needed, Hare said. “Aquarion Water Company has been encountering rock, but they have been excavating it,” she observed. 

Originally estimated at $24,000,000, project cost has now risen to $37,000,000. Eighty percent of that will be funded by the federal government and 20 percent by the state. It will not cost the town anything except five years of stops and starts.

— Newsletter Editor

Registration is open for the 45th annual Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department’s Memorial Day Road Race, set for May 27 at noon. The scenic 5-mile race starts on Westside Road and finishes at the village green. 

Also known as the William F. Kelley Memorial Road Race, it was named for a 19-year veteran of the NVFD who died in 1996 at the age of 42. The race is the sole fundraiser for the fire department’s scholarship program.

The race predates the fire department’s management of it, however. In the 1970s, a group of Norfolk runners always ran together, going to various regional races. In 1978 they were inspired to create their own race in Norfolk and decided that Memorial Day would be a good day to hold it. 

The event attracted 56 runners the first year and grew rapidly to include hundreds of athletes. It was run informally for more than a decade before being turned over to the fire department as a fundraiser.

There are eight age divisions ranging from Junior (12 and younger) to Exalted (older than 70). A walkers’ division will start at 11:30 a.m. and will not be timed. A total of 58 awards will be presented during the closing ceremonies on the green. 

Registration is $35 until May 23 and increases to $50 from May 24 through May 26. There is no registration on the day of the race. To register online, click here.

Donations are needed to support the scholarship and can be made online or by mailing a check to Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department, Attn: Scholarships, 20 Shepard Rd., Norfolk CT 06058.  

—Newsletter Editor

In a brief Monday evening town meeting, voters quietly passed six items, including the Board of Finance’s proposed $9.1 million budget for fiscal year 2024-25. Following the meeting, the Board of Finance convened and set the mill rate at 28.4, an increase of .71 mills, or 2.5 percent. 

The budget was passed with one dissenting vote.

Board of Finance chairman Michael Sconyers moderated the meeting. He said the reason for the budgetincrease is a $230,000 rise in the Botelle School budget, of which $181,000 is for educating a special needs student. At the same time, the town’s assessment at Regional School #7 increased $342,000 because Norfolk is sending more students to the school next year.

The general government portion of the budget was reduced $52,500.

Kim Crone, who currently represents Norfolk on the Region 7 Board of Education, was unanimously elected for another four years.

Housekeeping issues—such as setting the town’s fund balance at no less than 15 percent of the budget, approving expenditures to maintain plantings in town, authorizing the selectmen to apply for and expend state and federal funds, and authorizing the selectmen and the town treasurer to issue notes in anticipation of the receipt of taxes—all passed unanimously. 

—Newsletter Editor

The Yale Norfolk School of Art gets underway this Saturday on the Battell-Stoeckel Estate in the center of Norfolk and continues through June 29 with 25 students participating in the undergraduate program.

As always, there will be community outreach, both through a series of lectures centered around this year’s theme of “Making Light” and through Community Drawing, two-hour live model drawing sessions that are open to the public. The drawing sessions are held in the Art Barn on the estate Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday mornings at 10:00 a.m., starting May 25.

The Thursday Night Lecture Series begins May 23. All lectures take place in the Art Barn with a wine reception to follow.

Yale also will seek to engage with Norfolk residents through its Community Art Project. Open Studios and the Community Art Project reception are scheduled for June 23 from 1:00-6:00 p.m.

—Newsletter Editor

Work is progressing on the restoration of City Meadow. Tree work was completed during the first week of May and the vegetation has been cut back in preparation for application of herbicides to the phragmites and invasive cattails as they start to grow back. Discussion at the May 7 meeting of the Friends of the Meadow Committee centered on future maintenance, including removal of unwanted woody plants on the hillside, applying herbicides to tree stumps, cleaning out the forebay, fixing drainage and maintaining the walkways. 

A special meeting of the committee has been called for May 22 at 6:00 p.m. in Town Hall.

A $500,000 state grant originally funded conversion of the five-acre wetland, meadow and hillside into a native habitat for birds and wildlife with boardwalks that allow visitors to observe them. A private donor has provided $110,000 to help with the current restoration.

—Newsletter Editor

Two sixth graders were the recipients of four awards Tuesday night at the Board of Education meeting. Principal Lauren Valentino introduced the students to the board and made the presentations.

Kallyn Hagarty received the Frank C. Reilly Award, which is given to a student who has done outstanding work in creative writing. The Munch/Langendoerfer family, of which Reilly was a member, annually sponsors the $25 award.

Kallyn also took home the Adele Winn Service Award for being the student who, in the opinion of school staff, goes the extra mile. Winn was a former Botelle teacher and the $25 award is provided by the Adele Winn Endowment Fund.

Robertson Bazzano was given the Jean S. Keiller Memorial Award, established in 1991 and named for another former Botelle teacher. This award, also $25, recognizes a child who shows sensitivity and compassion toward fellow students, who exhibits a caring and sharing attitude and who demonstrates respect for each person’s differences. 

The award is provided by Jean Keiller’s daughter, Ann O’Brien, and family.

Robertson also received the Susan A. Bruso Memorial Award, given annually to a student who shows good sportsmanship and exemplary character and leadership in athletics. Bruso volunteered at the school for many years as a basketball and softball coach. The winner of the $50 award is chosen by the physical education teacher.

Another award is slated to be presented at the June school board meeting and additional awards will be given out during the June 10 sixth-grade promotion ceremony.

—Newsletter Editor

Just in time to encourage prospective lenders, the town has received an AA Stable bond rating.“That is just below an AA Plus, and is a very good rating,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska. A “Stable” rating is encouraging to lenders because it means the designation is unlikely to change. 

The rating matters to the town right now because town leaders are seeking to refinance the $4 million loan taken out last year for the reconstruction of Maple Avenue and replacement of the Botelle Elementary School roof. Both projects are currently underway. That loan was taken out at 5.87 percent interest.

The selectmen expect to receive bid packages next Tuesday and hope that a new rate of about 2.25 percent can be obtained. If that is achieved, the town would save $50,000 a year, or $1.2 million over the remaining 24 years of the loan. 

At the same time, the town has banked the $1.2 million left over after it closed out its defined benefit pension plan. “We’re getting a very good rate on it, so it will stay where it is for now,” Riiska said.  

—Newsletter Editor

The Firehouse Building Committee is reviewing the plans for the new Shepard Road facility, looking into the details of the design as it prepares to get final cost estimates. “We have a design, now we are looking at the components of that design,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska. “We’re looking for economies—if it is more than we think we want to spend, is there something we can do without?”

He mentioned such things as windows and doors, radiant-heated cement floors in the truck bays and exterior décor as areas where adjustments could be made. 

“There are no frills in this building,” he said. “It’s a very open plan for the truck bays, with rooms for equipment storage, mechanical rooms, a big meeting room and one small conference room.” There is also a shower room and an adjacent decontamination room where firefighters can launder and dry their sooty turnout gear per state regulations and a tower for drying hose. “That’s it,” Riiska concluded. 

While final figures are not yet developed, the cost is expected to be more than the $6 million originally thought and the committee is looking at various avenues for funding, including state and federal grants. The town is already earmarked for a $2.5 million state grant secured by State Representative Maria Horn (and State Senator Lisa Seminara (and approved by the state Bond Commission last fall.

Riiska said he has communicated with the offices of Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and that both have responded looking for more information. “I don’t have any more information on it than that,” he said, “but I hope it means they are looking at it in a positive way.”

The building committee is composed of Matt Ludwig, Ron Zanobi, Marc Morgan, Sandy Evans, Grant Mudge, Lou Barbagallo, Jeff Torrant and Riiska. Tony Kiser has volunteered to chair fundraising and Fire Chief Brian Hutchins and NVFD president Paul Padua frequently attend committee meetings.

—Newsletter Editor