Author: kathrynwboughton@gmail.com

Refinancing the River Road bridge loan will be up for a vote at a town meeting called for Wednesday, November 20. 

Because completion of the work has been delayed so long, the lender, NBT, asked the town to close out the original loan, which was at 2.25 percent interest, and to refinance at a higher rate.

First Selectman Matt Riiska told his board that the cost of the bridge increased during the two-year delay from $2.25 million to $3.7 million. The state DOT has pledged to pay the cost increase, leaving the town responsible for the remainder of its original loan.

Riiska said the town would have a one-year revolving $1.9 million line of credit to use while it awaits reimbursements from the state. After all funds are received, some $287,000 in indebtedness will remain. That could be financed for 10 years at a rate of 4.25 percent, he said, or the Board of Finance could decide to retire the debt immediately using residual funds from the town’s retired pension plan. The latter decision could save the town some $65,795 in interest.

The second item up for a vote will be an ordinance requiring property owners or occupants to clear their sidewalks of ice or snow following storms. The ordinance wording is not final yet but could also require that owners or occupants trim back branches overhanging walkways.

The meeting will be held in Town Hall at 6:00 p.m. For an explanation of who can vote at town meetings, click here.

—Newsletter Editor

Whether Norfolk and Colebrook should consolidate their elementary schools is back under discussion. Previously in this series, we looked at how town leaders and school administrators feel about this subject. This week, we asked parents for their opinions.

Selectmen in both Colebrook and Norfolk point to the social, financial and educational benefits that would derive from combining the two schools, which currently have student populations of 59 (Norfolk) and 64 (Colebrook) in grades pre-k through 6 despite yearly budgets that add up to $2.2 million for Colebrook and $2.6 million for Botelle.

But a school is more than a building, and some stress the loss of a sense of community and question whether a town without its own school can attract families.

Parents contacted this week reflected these thoughts. 

Becky Silver, mother of two Botelle students, finds that having so few students curtails enrichment programs. She directs the annual musical presented at Botelle and laments, “We have an issue with not having enough kids to do a show. We may have to open auditions to Colebrook.”

She also noted that sports are really lacking, reporting there have been instances where there were not enough students to field sports teams.

Silver believes the children benefit from small classes, but she thinks things have gone too far. “Last year’s graduating class had only four students, which is not good,” she said. “If we could consolidate and keep class sizes to 12 or 13, we could pool resources and there would be more money for extracurricular events.”

In her minds’ eye, the consolidation would take place in Norfolk, however. While she is only an eight-minute car ride from Botelle, her 5- and 9-year-old ride the bus for 40 minutes, morning and afternoon. 

“Unless we were to open a new building halfway between, you’d be looking an hour’s ride to get to Colebrook,” she said.

Chelsea Bottum head of the Botelle PTO, also approaches the issue with mixed feelings, seeing “something to be said” for larger, single-grade classrooms, rather than the multi-age model used at Botelle. But she also sees the benefit of ultra-small classes “where the staff knows every student.” 

Ultimately, she endorsed the concept of merger. “I think the fairest way is consolidation with a combined staff,” she said. But she believes that sending students to Colebrook on a tuition basis would decimate the Botelle staff.

Andrew Bakulski of Colebrook, assistant principal at Region #7, is both an educator and parent and states flatly that he favors consolidation—but in Colebrook, not Norfolk. “If we could remove the territorial aspect, the kids would really benefit,” he said.

Paying $25,000 per student tuition would save Norfolk a million dollars a year, he asserted, and would enable Colebrook to provide such things as a full-time language instructor and interventionists to work with students. “It would be really good if done right,” he argued. 

In 2015, the last time consolidation was discussed, the largest class would have had 19 students, he reported, not too many for a single teacher. He asserted that that research shows multi-age classrooms are not optimal. 

Would Colebrook, the smaller of the two facilities, ever run out of space? “We have the room,” Bakulski said. “There is no [population] bubble coming down the pipe.”

He did not favor regionalization for the two schools, with lower grades attending one school and grades 3-6 the other, saying that it would not result in significant savings.

Regionalization, consolidation or a tuition plan have been discussed for decades by the towns and the need for action continues to grow. But Colebrook, which celebrated the 75th anniversary of its consolidated school Friday, is happy with things the way they are, and Norfolk residents are cautious about the effect of consolidation on their children and their town.

—Newsletter Editor

New Norfolk property assessments were put in the mail Thursday and residents may be in for a surprise when they receive them. 

Assessor Rae Ann Walcott said it has been six years since the last revaluation “and the market has really changed.” Although she said she has not run Norfolk’s percentages yet, neighboring towns that completed revaluations last year saw property values rise by as much as 40 percent.

Walcott noted that the assessments that landowners will receive are based on 70 percent of the retail market for similar properties. She also stressed that the assessments do not predict the tax rate.

“When the Grand List is signed, my half of the job is done,” she explained. “The Board of Finance decides how much money the town needs to operate and sets the mill rate. I can’t predict taxes.”

She cautioned property owners against trying to determine how much their taxes will increase by using the current mill rate. The rule of thumb is that if valuations go up, the mill rate goes down.

For those concerned about their new valuations, there is a process in place. Their first stop is with E-Quality Valuation Services, LLC, the company the town hired to assist with revaluations and do property inspections for the October 1, 2024, Grand List. The landowner should be able to provide documentation as to why they feel their assessment is inaccurate.

They can also contact Walcott at the assessor’s office Tuesday, November 12, and Wednesday, November 13, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., or Friday, November 15, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.; call 860-542-5287, or email assessor@norfolkct.org.Assessors/Reval.

If neither of those avenues proves fruitful, residents can appeal their valuation to the Assessment Board of Appeals, which will hold meetings to consider grievances and incorrect data next March.

“Everything they need to know is included in the letter we sent out,” said Walcott. 

—Newsletter Editor

Alarmed by drastically declining enrollments in their two elementary schools, the first selectmen in Norfolk and Colebrook have again raised the topic of consolidation. Last week, we looked at the reasons they advocate for some kind of cooperative arrangement between the towns. This week, the educators respond.

School administrators in Colebrook and Norfolk have differing views about the future of their institutions. Both schools have far fewer students than in previous decades, but Colebrook is happy with its educational direction, while Norfolk is looking for solutions to small class sizes and the challenges of providing enrichment on a limited budget.

In Norfolk, the 2024 graduating class had only four members, the same number as this year’s fifth grade. In Colebrook, class sizes are very slightly more robust—no class has fewer than six students. Colebrook currently has 64 students enrolled in pre-K through grade 6, while Norfolk has 59.

But Colebrook, which has committed to maintaining one teacher for each grade, has consistently scored higher in standardized testing than Norfolk, where a multi-age classroom model requires only four regular classroom teachers. 

Colebrook Consolidated Superintendent Robert Gilbert believes that not having a range of ages and skill levels in a classroom gives students an advantage. “Teaching is challenging enough with one grade,” he said.

Botelle Superintendent Mary Beth Iacobelli argues that multi-age classrooms provide students with a better social milieu. “In a larger group, [a child] is more likely to find a peer with similar interests,” she said, “and they can work together with others of the same learning level.”

Both school superintendents agree that classes can be too small and both towns have engaged in sporadic talks since the 1990s to discuss some kind or merger. In 2015, the most recent effort ended with an emphatic rejection by Colebrook of a proposal to send its children to Botelle.

Iacobelli reports that since then overtures have been made to Colebrook, “but Colebrook does not want anything to do with sending their kids to Norfolk.”

“Colebrook is happy where it is,” confirmed Colebrook school board chair Sarah Robichaud. 

The two towns do share some programs and teachers for special subjects such as art and music. Field trips and cultural events are also sometimes shared.

Gilbert does not favor consolidation. He said the school board hopes to attract tuition students to solve the paucity of enrollment.  “If Norfolk wants to pay tuition to send its kids here, we’re happy to have them,” he said.

But both Iacobelli and Norfolk school board chairman Virginia Coleman-Prisco see a problem. “What if we signed a contract with them and then things changed?” asked Coleman-Prisco. “What if they couldn’t take our kids any more or we have a special needs child that needs an expensive program, and they don’t want to take [him/her]?”

Coleman-Prisco said, “As chairman of the school board, I must take into consideration what is good for the town. It’s a complex issue that needs data and research. It impacts the town, the students and their families. 

“But, speaking personally, if a town does not have a school, it is like not having a library or a post office. If you don’t have [amenities] there are plenty of towns that do where families can buy homes.” 

Jonathan Costa, the consultant who worked with the towns on the unsuccessful 2015 merger, suggested informally that each town keep its school, but send combined grades pre-K to 3 to one school and grades 4 to 6 to the other.

“Both towns would have their schools, but class sizes would increase,” Iacobelli said. “We thought it was very exciting, but Colebrook said they don’t want to send any kids to Norfolk.”

Colebrook’s Robichaud confirmed this, saying she did not see many benefits to the proposal.

Next week, we look at how parents feel about any attempted consolidation.

—Newsletter Editor

Three events will highlight Veterans Day on Monday, November 11. The day starts with an 8:00 a.m. veterans’breakfast and ceremony at Northwestern Regional School # 7, where Norfolk students attend middle and high school. Veterans planning to attend should reply to 860-379-8525, ext. 2100

The Regional 7 event will be followed at 10:30 by a program at Botelle Elementary School commemorating the sacrifices made by veterans in all wars. The children sent veterans and their families hand-written invitations to the assembly. After the program, the PTO will provide luncheon for the veterans, their families and some students. 

Then, at 4:00 p.m., townspeople are invited to gather at the intersection of routes 44 and 272 for a relighting of the 1921 war memorial, which honors the valor of the town’s World War I veterans. The lighting ceremony culminates a three-year restoration of the monument initiated by the Norfolk Community Association.

It had been hoped that the monument would be rededicated on its 100th anniversary, November 11, 2021, but work was delayed by Covid and its after effects. 

NCA member Barry Webber said the monument is being professionally lit by the same company that designed lighting for the library and town hall. “There were lights on it before, but they were pretty basic and didn’t accent the structure,” he said.

The new lights will conform to current standards and will not contribute to light pollution, he said. The eight evergreens on Memorial Green, which commemorate the eight Norfolk natives who died in the First World War, will be lighted at the same time.

Webber could not give an exact cost of restoring the memorial, saying it is included with the work done on the Eldridge fountain on the village green. 

—Newsletter Editor

The Fire House Committee continued trimming the proposal for the new facility on Shepard Road Wednesday evening when it met with James Nall, an architect with Silver Petrucelli.

Substantial reductions have been made to the early estimate of $9.3 million. For instance, a three-bay utility shed at the rear of the firehouse will now be a prefabricated Morton building, reducing its cost by about half.  

“We’re trimming constantly, taking things out to get the cost down,” said First Selectman Matt Riiska.

Similarly, the hose-drying tower has been reduced in height to 26 feet, its windows have been removed and a ventilation system substituted. Nall told the committee that 26 feet will be sufficient for drying hose, but that the space beneath the peaked roof can also be employed if the firefighters want more height.

The interior of the firehouse will now be barebones. “There is no carpeting anymore and furnishing will be something the firefighters will have to take care of, unless there is money left over at the end,” said Riiska. “We have cut quite a lot out. It’s very utilitarian.”

There is no estimate yet of how much the cutbacks will save.

—Newsletter Editor

A kind motorist, who recently had a close encounter of a scary kind with a dark-clothed pedestrian on a dark road, has asked us to remind walkers that drivers do not always see them in the shadows. 

As the days shorten, she suggests walkers wear something reflective—even an arm band—or carry a flashlight to alert drivers to their presence. 

Even after we set back our clocks to Eastern Standard Time next Sunday, November 3, we can soon expect darkness to descend in late afternoon, making vigilance even more critical.

—Newsletter Editor

This is the first of a three-part series on renewed discussions about consolidating the Norfolk and Colebrook elementary schools.

Since August, Norfolk and Colebrook’s first selectmen have renewed talks about consolidating the two communities’ elementary schools. Colebrook now services just 64 students and Norfolk’s Botelle Elementary, 59

When Colebrook First Selectman Brad Bremer served on the Board of Education 15 years ago, Colebrook had 125 students and Norfolk had 175, he reported. That would have created a combined enrollment of about 300 students. Now it would be 120. “That makes conversations imperative,” Bremer said.

Norfolk’s first selectman, Matt Riiska, who kicked off the current round of discussion with his August column in Norfolk Now, sees the situation as urgent, and not just financially. “We are doing a huge disservice to Norfolk kids,” he said. “We are doing the minimum we can educationally. The Board of Education doesn’t raise its budget, which is fine financially, but that’s not good enough. We need to think out of the box to see what we can do to provide the best education, socialization and diversity for the kids. Something has to be done.”

It is not the first time that some kind of cooperative arrangement has been discussed by the towns and, indeed, there are some mutual agreements already in place. But regionalization has been a hot-button issue through the years.

In the 1990s Region 7 member towns studied, developed and rejected a plan to combine grades pre-K to 12. The plan would have reduced layers of administration and have provided a coordinated curriculum program. In 2011, another study was developed and rejected; it would have combined grades K through six in the region. 

The issue resurfaced in 2013 when a committee was formed to discuss regionalization or consolidation of the Colebrook and Norfolk elementary schools. Considerations covered what a consolidated board would look like, which school building would be used, what the administration would look like and how a budget would be developed for both daily operations and long-term capital improvements. That consolidation effort was voted down in 2015. 

The situation has only worsened in the decade since with actual enrollments falling significantly short of theprojected 2024 enrollments of 84 students in Norfolk and 78 students in Colebrook.

“I felt even when there were 125 students that, socially, the students would have benefitted from larger class sizes,” said Bremer. 

For his part, Riiska sees three possibilities: 

First, that the two boards of education could reach a cooperative agreement that would not require a public vote, which he said state statute allows. Second, that the towns vote to regionalize or consolidate. And third, that grades pre-k through 12 be folded into Regional School District # 7, with the Region 7 Board of Education as the governing body for the high school, middle school and elementary schools.

The two selectmen have committed to talk and explore possibilities but, as Bremer said, “It will take hard work and open minds.”

Next week, we will look at educators’ responses to the renewed discussion.

—Newsletter Editor

First Selectman Matt Riiska is perplexed. Why, he asks, if the firm designing the permanent replacement of Smith Road bridge for the state DOT has given him the data he has used to apply for DEEP and Army Corps of Engineers approval of a temporary structure, can’t the DOT use the same information to get approval for its bridge? 

The DOT has suggested that permanent bridge construction may not start until spring 2026, but Riiska said once he sends in a more detailed plan for the temporary bridge— which he expects to do by November 1—the Army Corps has just 60 days to approve or disapprove the plan. 

If the Corps demands a hydrology report, that would extend the timeline.

Riiska will continue to work toward building a temporary bridge but will simultaneously contact the DOT to see why work on the permanent span cannot begin next spring. 

“I want to move this along to the point where they can put shovels in the ground,” he said. “They already have a design, they did the test borings months ago, so they know what the ground is like underneath. What are they waiting for? They should be able to complete the design and get it out for bid soon.”

If the permanent work can be done by next spring or summer, Riiska said he will won’t spend $150,000 of the town’s money on a temporary bridge.

—Newsletter Editor

Residents lined up early to sign in for early voting Monday, the first day they could cast ballots in the upcoming presidential election.

Democratic Registrar of Voters Danese Perron said that she was struggling to get her computer ready at 8:00 a.m. Monday and looked up to find a line already forming. “Turn-out was pretty consistent all day,” she said. 

Monday brought the most voters—65 electors, followed by 38 on Tuesday, 22 on Wednesday and 17 by 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. Three persons availed themselves of same-day registration.

Early voting continues upstairs in Town Hall each day from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. through Monday, October 28, including Saturday and Sunday. Polls are open Tuesday, October 29, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Wednesday, October 30, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Thursday, October 31, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 1, 2 and 3, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

On Election Day, November 5, voting will be from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

—Newsletter Editor