Author: Kathryn Boughton

Agreeing not to disagree, the Selectmen decided on the hours (12) and pay scale ($21 an hour) for an assistant town clerk during their meeting Wednesday afternoon.

First Selectman Matt Riiska had budgeted 16 hours a week for the position and an hourly rate of $25, but had encountered brisk opposition from Selectman Sandy Evans, who felt both the number of hours, and the pay were too much.

Additionally, Evans questioned whether the town should pay for classes for the assistant clerk to become certified, suggesting that, if the town paid, there should be a written agreement that the person would work for Norfolk for a given time following certification.

Riiska said he wanted the person to become certified and couldn’t demand that he or she take classes if not reimbursed. “How many times do people start and then decide they don’t like the job and drop out?” Evans asked. “It’s a waste of town money.” 

Certification for town clerks is not state-mandated but is desirable as the duties are becoming more complex. Even when employees complete certification, small municipalities often lose them to larger communities with deeper pockets. 

Riiska wants an assistant town clerk because the office is now closed on Fridays, which he sees as unfair to part-time residents who arrive for the weekend and cannot get stickers or permits for town services. He also wants to have a succession plan for when the current town clerk decides to retire.

Riiska and Evans eventually compromised on a schedule of two three-hour mornings or afternoons and a six-hour day on Friday. The town clerk currently works 24 hours a week, 9:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Riiska said the assistant’s hours should overlap to provide on-the-job training.

—Kathryn Boughton

Amy Hare, a transportation engineer with the DOT, reported Friday afternoon that the temporary signal at the construction site west of the village has been reported to be malfunctioning. Traffic is being flagged by the contractor until it can be fixed.

The Route 44 location, site of a multi-year construction project to install a new retaining wall and to slightly widen the passage, has been reduced to one lane and opposing traffic is controlled by lights that stop cars for up to two minutes at a time. Traffic frequently backs up for considerable distances in either direction.

The inconvenience and rough condition of the one-lane “chute,” as townspeople call it, was discussed at the Selectmen’s meeting Wednesday afternoon. Selectman Sandy Evans, a member of the town’s emergency services, complained about the uneven condition of the surface and the fact that the light’s cycle often catches drivers still in transit, causing traffic jams.

First Selectman Matt Riiska said he would confer with DOT engineers about the problems.

—Kathryn Boughton

Botelle Elementary School is about to lose a part-time social worker who provides 2.5 days of counseling each week, funded by a grant program that provides mental health services to roughly 7,000 students at 32 Litchfield County schools. Legislators and educators are calling on the U.S. Department of Education to reverse its decision to cut the program.

Jonathan Costa, executive director of EdAdvance, the agency that administers the grant, said everyone at Botelle has access to the counselor, including staff. 

“Most of time, the social worker interacts with staff in support of students,” he said, “but if there is a need, staff can use the service as well.”

He said that across the Northwest Corner, 17 mental health workers have had about 5,000 interactions with students since the grant was funded in 2022. “We’ve had 100 different episodes of acute crisis,” he said. “In general, the world is a complicated place and students today face challenges we never dreamed of; everything from anxiety about tests, to bullying—anything that knocks a student off equilibrium and affects their performance.” He reported great reductions in absenteeism in the schools with counselors.

The federal Department of Education, declaring that the program was “no longer consistent with its goals” cut the program short by two years, slashing $3.65 million out of the $8.7 million originally approved for Litchfield County.

“One of cruelest ironies of this cancellation is that the last year two years built sustainability into the scope of the work,” Costa said. “All the districts impacted had completed their budgets. All those ships had sailed and there was no way they could plan to continue the program.” 

County educators and legislators have drafted a response to the decision and are “pursuing every pathway to reverse the decision.”

In the meantime, EdAdvance has received a supplemental state grant to provide families with mental health services for their K to 12  students this summer. The service is free and includes individual or small-group counseling focusing on social/emotional wellbeing. Parents or guardians should contact Botelle Principal Lauren Valentino for a consent form.

—Kathryn Boughton

Aquarion Water Company has informed town officials that it will replace water mains on three roads starting July 7.

The first will be Shepard Road between John Curtis Road and Maple Avenue, a project expected to be complete in six weeks. Work will then shift to Sunset Ridge from its intersection with West Side Road to Number 34. Finally new pipe will be installed along Sunset Hill Road starting at Sunset Ridge and extending about halfway down the road. 

The other half of Sunset Hill Road was replaced earlier.

All the work is expected to be completed in September.

The jobs are being run by Aquarion, with Compass Enterprises doing the work. 

—Kathryn Boughton

The town has failed to secure a $500,000 Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant for 2025 from the state Office of Policy and Management. Town officials had hoped to use the money to defray some of the cost of the new $9.3 million firehouse approved last week during a town meeting. 

“The state doled out $30 million in STEAP grants, the majority of which were for between $500,000 and a million dollars and went for road improvements,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska, who was unfazed by the lack of funding for Norfolk. “All along, there has been discussion about how [construction] will be a two-year process, and we will keep turning over rocks until we find more money. We absolutely will apply for a STEAP grant next year, and I’ve already put in again for Congressional discretionary funding.”

The Congressional funding had already been approved for this year, but became entangled in Congress’ continuing budget resolution, which provided funding for the current year based on last year’s figures.

At present, the town has $3 million in pledges of private donations, $500,000 in town funds from when it closed out its defined pension fund, and a $2.5 million grant from the state.

The loss of the STEAP grant will not delay the start of the firehouse project. The building committee met May 29 with the construction management team and the architect to discuss the next steps in the construction process and to hear a report on finances.

—Kathryn Boughton

On Monday, May 26, the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department’s annual scenic 5-mile road race will start on Westside Road at noon (for runners) and 11:30 a.m. (for walkers), finishing at the Village Green.   This Memorial Day tradition, known as the William F. Kelley Memorial Road Race, is the sole fundraiser for the fire department’s higher education scholarship program with all proceeds going to Norfolk students.

At press time, 102 participants had signed up via the online registration portal. Online registration  closes on Sunday, May 25; there is no registration the day of the race. Donations to the scholarship fund are welcome via the signup portal or by mail to the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department, 20 Shepard Rd., Norfolk, CT 06058.

As in the past, parking will be on Mountain Road at the baseball fields. Because of a timed start for runners, Westside Road will be closed at Sunset Ridge at approximately 10:30 a.m. Runners should access the Mountain Road parking lot from Route 272 (Litchfield Road). 

Participants may pick up bibs and shirts at the intersection of Mountain Road and West Side Road on race day morning from 10:00 – 11:45 a.m. or on Sunday night from 5-7 p.m. in front of the Norfolk Hub in Station Place. 

Hot Chix Chicken, this year’s food truck, will be at the finish line; music and water stations will be found along the route.

—Kathryn Boughton

After years of planning, a new building for the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department received a resounding endorsement via voice vote from townspeople during a town meeting Thursday night.

The well-attended meeting lasted just five minutes. No comments were made, and no questions were asked about the plan for the new building, which it is estimated will cost $9.3 million dollars after factoring in contingency and soft costs.

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. 

Additional funding may become available, however. The town is waiting to hear whether it has secured a $500,000 STEAP grant to apply toward the project. Although a federal grant of $1.25 million was caught up in the Washington budget cuts, the town will reapply next year.

At an informational meeting held earlier, taxpayers learned that the new structure will provide adequate space for training, storage and parking for today’s much-larger fire engines. The current firehouse, built 54 years ago, originally housed three fire trucks, but today seven trucks, measuring up to 33 feet in length, are crowded into it.

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.

The firefighters hope to break ground this summer.

—Kathryn Boughton

On Monday, May 26, the annual Norfolk Memorial Day Parade will begin as usual at 9:00 a.m. at the Norfolk Town Hall on Maple Avenue. The parade route and program will vary slightly this year as a result of construction on Route 44.

From Town Hall the parade will cross Route 44 and circle the Village Green where the Honor Guard will fire volleys at the veteran’s memorial before proceeding down Route 44 to Memorial Green opposite Immaculate Conception Church. There, the names of Norfolk’s World War 1 fallen warriors will be read. 

Those attending will remain on the eastern side of the street and should not cross Route 44 because of the potential of traffic congestion.

Unlike previous years, the parade will not reverse direction and march back up Route 44 after the ceremony. 

Following the parade and ceremony, the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department will host an open house with free donuts and coffee at its firehouse on Shepard Road.

—Kathryn Boughton

The town has received approval from both the DEEP and the Army Corps of Engineers to build a temporary bridge at Smith Road and Route 272 in South Norfolk. The old bridge was washed away in a flash flood in July 2023 and a permanent replacement is not expected to be even begun until 2026 or 2027.

A second bridge on Old Goshen Road was also swept away.

The loss of the bridge has not only inconvenienced families living in the area, who must make a long detour to reach Route 272, but caused them concerns about safety. They have lobbied for a temporary bridge, citing those concerns.

First Selectman Matt Riiska said he will meet with the contractor and engineer Tuesday to go over a construction schedule. Depending on the contractor’s availability, he hopes the work can by early June.

He has sent a letter to the Department of Transportation asking, now that a temporary connection can be made for Smith Road, that it focus on a permanent replacement for the Old Goshen Road bridge. “If we put in a temporary bridge on Smith Road and they decide to rip it out to build a permanent bridge, it would be a waste of time,” he said. “We have to work together.”

—Kathryn Boughton