Author: Kathryn Boughton

A town meeting is being planned for Monday, April 6, at 7:00 p.m. at Botelle School to act on a proposal that the town join the newly organized Northwest Resource Recovery Authority (NRRA) and other issues.

NRRA is the Northwest Hills Council of Government’s response to the solid waste crisis in Connecticut created by the dissolution of MIRA (the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority). MIRA formerly received municipal solid waste from 72 municipalities at its Hartford waste-to-energy burn plant. The plant was closed in 2022, resulting in shipments by rail of millions of tons of solid waste annually to depositories in the Midwest.

The Northwest Hills COG has sought control of the existing Torrington transfer station for use as a central collection hub for Northwest Corner towns that still had contracts with MIRA. The MIRA Dissolution Authority entered into a non-binding agreement with the council in February 2025 to allow it to take control of the facility at the end of June that year. But on May 14, 2025, the dissolution authority accepted a $3.25 million offer from a large private firm, USA Waste & Recycling, to buy the transfer station.

That sale was derailed in June when the state legislature mandated that the Torrington transfer station’s permit be kept in public hands. The facility processes 25,000 tons per year of waste, recyclables and bulky items, and has a capacity to expand that to 60,000 tons. 

As of December 2025, only two towns, Torrington and Goshen, were official members of NRRA. Several NWCOG towns—including Salisbury, Cornwall, Falls Village, Sharon, Canaan and Norfolk—have expressed interest in joining and will take the issue to voters this spring. The goal, according to First Selectman Henry Tirrell, is to demonstrate to the state that there is local support for public control of the facility.

Other items on the agenda include whether to accept Haystack Woods Road, which leads to the new affordable housing complex, as a town road, and funding for construction of a new bridge on Mountain Road. The town will be reimbursed 100 percent for the bridge by the state and federal governments but must pay bills as the work progresses.

3/21/26
Meeting date corrected to April 6, 2026.

—Kathryn Boughton

Work is resuming on construction projects mothballed during the months-long deep freeze that enveloped the Northwest Corner this winter, and another will get started soon.

Last Monday saw crews return to the state DOT’s massive project on Route 44 west of the village. Even though this week’s day-time temperatures only struggled up into the 30s, crews resumed work applying panels of stone veneer over the corrugated steel retaining wall. 

The $37 million project, which began in April 2024, was originally expected to take five years, but the construction phase was shortened by two years and is now expected to be complete this September. 

The project, which involves replacing old masonry walls to prevent washouts, stabilize the slopes above the highway and to improve drainage, is funded by 80 percent funded by the federal government, with the state providing 20 percent of the cost.

In addition, First Selectman Henry Tirrell reported that construction of the new fire house will resume this coming Monday, with construction of the building expected to be complete in November or December. The old fire house will be demolished after the fire department moves into its new quarters, with landscaping taking place in spring 2027.

Finally, the state DOT’s construction of a new bridge on Mountain Road between the town ball fields and Westside Road will begin in April. Detour signs will direct traffic to Westside Road from its intersection with Route 44 near Immaculate Conception Church and from Route 272.

—Kathryn Boughton

After years of delay, the Rails to Trails Committee has finally received a general permit from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to construct the three-quarter mile-long North Brook Trail.

“This is really good news,” said committee secretary Matt Riiska. 

The committee has been working on the project since it was formed in 2015 and thought it had all the paperwork in place for a late-summer 2024 start. Then DEEP decided that the application should come from the state, which owns the land, rather than the town and internally revised it. 

During the delay, beaver activity along the trail changed the topography so much the state required a redesign, lengthening the boardwalk over water dammed up by beavers from 150 feet to 275 feet. Portions of the bridge and trail also had to be raised. 

The town received a $399,725 Recreational Trails Program grant from DEEP In May 2023. The grant then represented about 80 percent of the total cost of construction, with the balance to be covered by other grants, donations and in-kind services.

Riiska said that inflation and the redesign of the trail make this sum insufficient and an additional $226,000 grant is being sought. “We are supposed to hear in late March whether we got it,” he said. “The indications look good.”

If the town fails to get the grant in this round, the committee will set priorities for starting work with the money it has.
The trail will extend along the former Central New England Railroad right-of-way between a parking lot off Route 272 North to the Stoney Lonesome Trail parking lot on Ashpohtag Road. The ADA-compliant trail is designed for both pedestrian and bicycle traffic. It will also be firm enough for strollers and wheelchairs.

—Kathryn Boughton

The Norfolk Nature Alliance is sponsoring a year-long initiative focused on creating habitat for pollinators.

On April 4 at 4:00 p.m., Margery Winters, Roaring Brook environmental scientist and master gardener, will present “Native Woody Plants in a Pollinator Garden” at the Hub. The talk will highlight native shrubs and explain how each supports pollinators and other backyard wildlife.

Later in the month, on April 25, Bridghe McCracken, founder of Helia Landscape Design in Alford, Mass., will share practical strategies for converting lawns—or even parts of them—into meadows of native flowers, grasses and sedges.

On May 29, look for the Norfolk Conservation Commission’s plant swap during Friday Night on the Green, where nature alliance organizations will also host a table. In June, there is Moth Night (many moths are pollinators), co-sponsored by the Conservation Commission and Great Mountain Forest. 

More events are being planned for the summer and fall.

The Norfolk Nature Alliance is a loosely organized group representing the town’s conservation-minded organizations, including the Norfolk Land Trust, Conservation Commission, the Church of Christ’s Green Team, Great Mountain Forest, Aton Forest and Doolittle Lake Company, a 2,300-acre and forested owners association.

Those who missed its first presentation, a talk on the importance of healthy forests as pollinator habitat, can view it here.

—Kathryn Boughton

Special education costs have gone down in the proposed 2026/27 budget, Botelle Superintendent Kevin Case told Board of Finance members during the board’s monthly meeting Tuesday.

Even though the number of special education students (11) is the same, “the needs of the students have decreased,” he explained. “Most of the time, those numbers increase.”

Overall, special education for 2026-2027 is estimated at a total of $532,397, down $10,059 or 1.85 percent.

Despite that good news, the budget would rise $113,665, or 4.47 percent, school board Chairman John DeShazo told the finance members. The largest increases are found under contractual obligations to teachers, up about $25,000. The total increase for general education costs is $36,182, up 5.41 percent.

Library/media and computer services would rise $9,358, nearly 9 percent, to $104,499. The amount allocated for legal services is up $7,000 in anticipation of teacher contract negotiations, but consultant fees shrink by $4,000.

DeShazo said that the town’s portion of the $25 million Region 7 budget will increase by $81,170.

Case said he had gone “through every single line” of the budget looking for places to reduce it.

—Kathryn Boughton

Proposed text amendments governing family campgrounds and accessory dwelling units, as well as a draft regulation addressing blight in the community, absorbed the attention of the Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday night. 

The impetus behind the accessory dwelling units (ADUs) discussion came from a proposed amendment put forward by member Jordan Stern, who said that the current regulation confines the size of an ADU to either 1,400 square feet or 40 percent of the living space of the principal building, whichever is smaller.

He said the P&Z has to adhere to this formula even if the ADU is created in an existing structure such as a barn or large accessory building. He recommended that a more flexible solution can be found in Kent’s zoning regulations, which dictate, “An accessory dwelling or guest house shall not exceed 33 percent of the floor area of the principal dwelling unless otherwise approved by the commission due to a logical configuration of interior space.”

Zoning Enforcement Officer Stacey Sefcik said the commission had a “very initial discussion” of the issue and will revisit it at future meetings.

Likewise, no conclusions were drawn about the proposed blight regulation or the existing family campgrounds regulation. Both will be discussed further. 

The commission members discussed such basic concepts as what constitutes a family campground (i.e., should a family be defined by blood and marriage), how many units designed for sleeping might be allowed and whether owners should be allowed to rent the units.

For the blight ordinance, Sefcik provided definitions and a proposed regulation that would limit the number of unregistered cars that can be parked on a property, how long they can stay there, what constitutes blight conditions (such as how long construction debris can remain on a property) and provisions for junkyards.

She said she had gathered the draft regulation from various communities and remarked that she was open to discussion about different provisions. 

The impetus for a regulation controlling blight arises from instances of unregistered vehicles on properties. Indeed, Sefcik’s enforcement report included four complaints about properties on Shepard Road and Greenwoods Road West.

—Kathryn Boughton

Northwest Connecticut sugarhouses may see a short season this year, according to Russell Russ, forester for Great Mountain Forest (GMF).

Sap began to flow late this year as the deep freeze of winter hung on into early March. “It’s been a very strange season so far,” said Russ. “After a cold and snowy December, January and February—all three colder and snowier than average—you might have thought it would be a great sap year. But it stayed cold until early March, then turned very warm in a hurry.”

That kind of heat so early in the season is not good for maple syrup production. Sap flows when nighttime temperatures drop into the 20s and the daytime hours heat up into the 40s.

GMF first collected sap on Sunday, March 8, boiling it in its sugarhouse on Monday, March 9, and Tuesday, March 10, but had to cease production when temperatures skyrocketed. 

“I think most local sugar makers have had a slow start this season,” Russ said. “It must have been quite a shock to the trees to go from so cold to so warm in a relatively short period. The trees have definitely come out of their winter dormancy now.”

He said temperatures are predicted to be more seasonable through the rest of March and he hopes for predictable flows and a season that will be at least average.

“It had better happen in the coming two or three weeks,” he said, “because the season won’t last much beyond late March or very early April.”

Temperature predictions indicate the next boiling at GMF may not be until Monday, March 16. An Open Sugarhouse is scheduled for Sunday, March 22, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the GMF Sugar House, 201 Windrow Road in Norfolk.

—Kathryn Boughton

A “healthy number” of businesses have submitted responses to the survey sent out recently by the Economic Development Commission, according to Cheryl Heller, the commission member who designed it.

This week she provided some early findings from the survey and encouraged other business owners to weigh in on what they would like to see in Norfolk in the future.

The survey revealed that the age of businesses in Norfolk ranges from 13 months to 80 years, with one response of “Forever, it seems.”  

Of the topics business owners would most like to have advice or mentoring on,

publicity and communications has generated the most interest to date, followed by marketing, loans and grant proposals, financial management and new technologies for small businesses.

Forty percent of respondents said they would join an active community of business owners, and another 40 percent said they could be convinced.

Norfolk business leaders expressed interest in receiving communications from the EDC at levels ranging from “the more the better,” to “two times a year.”

Heller encouraged business owners to keep communicating with the EDC and provided a link to the survey for those who have yet to respond. To take the survey, click here.

—Kathryn Boughton

Another open house for prospective buyers will be held at Haystack Woods houses, a group of 10 affordable homes, are designed for first-time home buyers and are being developed under the auspices of the Foundation for Norfolk Living (FNL).

Construction at the site was expected to be completed this winter, but weather and illness slowed the crews. The houses are now expected to be ready for occupancy in May, although site work may continue after that.

As the winter wanes, the houses are beginning to take shape. Crews are finishing the buildings’ interiors and installing plumbing. Ruthann Olsson, a member of the FNL board and an interior designer, has worked closely with architect Kate Briggs Johnson and contractor David Jones of Revival Homes to select interior finishes, including kitchen countertops and cabinets.

“We are basically pretty pleased with where we are,” said Avice Meehan, a member of the foundation’s board of directors. “Five homes have committed buyers and that’s a great start. It’s a matter of reaching the right people at the right point in their lives and that takes time, as well as committed outreach.” 

Applications for the five remaining houses are being accepted on a first-come-first-served basis. 

NFL has created a virtual open house video posted on the FNL website. In addition, prospective buyers can view a recorded information session that outlines eligibility requirements and details about the homes by clicking here.

—Kathryn Boughton

The Norfolk Board of Education approved Superintendent Kevin Case’s proposed $2,658,868 budget for 2026-2027 during a 10-minute meeting Wednesday night. The budget would increase spending by $113,665 or 4.47 percent.

Case presented the spending package to the school board last week for review. Board members made no changes other than a couple of small math adjustments.

“I do want to point out that we are looking at an increase of $113,000 just to open the doors of Botelle School at the end of August without making any changes,” Case said before the board’s vote. “We are expecting the enrollment to be about the same, but it will cost us another $100,000. I have reduced it where I could without affecting the students.”

Case said, however, that value will be added to school programs through the addition of a part-time paraeducator who will provide support services to the students. “We will move the school forward where we can,” he concluded.

The budget will be presented to the Board of Finance on Tuesday for potential acceptance and inclusion in the final municipal budget package.

—Kathryn Boughton