Community News

Two homeowners on Greenwoods Road East are seeking tax abatements or deferrals on their properties until it can be determined how the 2022 gas spill affected their values.

First Selectman Matt Riiska, who is conferring with the town’s attorney about the issue, reported to the Board of Finance meeting Tuesday night that one of the houses is occupied and the other homeowner lives in his house part time. Neither property is currently for sale.

The properties were affected when a truck turned over on Route 44, also known as Greenwoods Road, spilling 8,200 gallons of gasoline over the landscape. Extensive cleanup efforts have been made, but Riiska said there are still “low indicators” of gas in the area. Contamination in the area is monitored by the state.

Tax valuations are based on comparable market values in an area and Riiska reported that there has been only one sale on that street since the spill. That property was sold by a bank, “which is not a good indicator of value,” according to Board of Finance Chairman Michael Sconyers. Riiska added that there were issues with that property before the spill.

Since neither home has been put up for sale, Riiska said it would be difficult to determine whether values have decreased.

The parties have until February 20 to appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals.

Riiska also told the Finance board that he has yet to receive approval from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection or the Army Corps of Engineers to build a temporary bridge at Smith Road. The slimy sculpin, a freshwater species of fish that lives in rocky, cold-water streams, is present.

“Apparently, we can’t disturb it,” he said, adding that two varieties of protected bats are also in the area. Members of the board asked whether the bats need a bridge.

—Newsletter Editor

Great Mountain Forest is back online with a new automated weather station to replace equipment that failed last summer. Norfolk residents can now go to WeatherUnderground (KCTNORFO15), Citizen Weather Observer Program (GW5867) and WeatherLink (GMF Forestry Office) for local weather conditions and data.

The new automated station, a Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2, was installed January 14, replacing the automated station that had operated since 2003, according to GMF property manager and weather observer Russell Russ. 

Personnel at Great Mountain Forest started recording weather data daily more than 93 years ago. Today, GMF is home to Norfolk 2SW, an official National Weather Service (NWS) cooperative weather observer station.

Installed adjacent to the Norfolk 2SW equipment, the new station uses GMF’s old 10-meter tower for wind observations, which are expected to be very accurate except during freezing rain.

As with many other automated stations, the Vantage Pro 2 will not be able to measure precipitation when temperatures are below freezing. NWS observations include year-round precipitation observations and snow or sleet will continued to be melted to get an official liquid equivalent.

—Newsletter Editor

Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities (ECAD) in Torrington is seeking Norfolk residents to foster puppies for six months, offering the animals a warm social environment and basic training before they return to ECAD for more advanced training.

ECAD places trained service dogs in homes with both children and adults with disabilities in Connecticut and across the United States, according to Christina Canaletich, puppy instructor.

Canaletich said ECAD is both flexible and selective about the homes in which the puppies are placed. “We are looking for adults who have a car, are retired, work from home or can take the animal to work with them,” she said. “The training is constant, focusing on general manners. You are always with the dog.” 

Homes with children are acceptable and can be either houses or apartments.

Orientation is offered to foster families and supplies, food, medical attention and crates are provided. 

Perhaps the hardest part for the foster family is letting go, Canaletich said. “The puppies are 10 weeks old when they go into a home, and they come back to us at eight months for a year of advanced training. We push for people to do it more than once, but some people can’t.”

For information call Canaletich at 860-489-6550, ext. 529.

—Newsletter Editor

The Planning and Zoning Commission has scheduled a continuation of its January 14 public hearing on Three Stewards Real Estate’s application for the modification of an existing special permit and associated site plan modification for the Manor House Inn to February 11, its next meeting.

The move came Tuesday night after a three-hour-plus hearing that filled the Hall of Flags at Botelle School. 

The hearing began with a detailed presentation by Rachel Roth of Three Stewards; Andrea Gomes, her attorney, and the consultants who worked on the design.

Roth, who testified that she has been upgrading the inn since she purchased it in 2022, said she must modernize the structure to make it economically viable. The plans and other application documents are available on the town website. To view them, click here. 

During the hearing, numerous residents spoke, both favoring and opposing the application. The Commission received many written communications that will be read into the record at the February 11 meeting. It urged those who wish to send additional communications related to the application to do so in advance of the February meeting so that it has the opportunity to review them. Written communications may be sent to Zoning Enforcement Officer Stacey Sefcik [mailto:zeo@norfolkct.org]

Commissioners also listed their own areas of concern so the applicants can prepare responses for February.

—Newsletter Editor

Two residents turned out for the town meeting Tuesday night to approve the transfer of $100,000 from the Capital Reserve Fund into the general fund. Combined with $66,556 drawn from the Board of Education’s non-lapsing fund, the money will pay for two new oil burners at Botelle School.

The old burners are worn out and have been nursed along for years. Perotti’s Plumbing, the firm that services them, advised their immediate replacement more than a year ago when one or the other of the two burners failed on subsequent days.

The town received only one bid, from Perotti’s, to provide the new burners. 

The school board is allowed by state law to place surplus funds amounting to one percent of its budget in a non-lapsing fund each year.

—Newsletter Editor

A delegation from the Board of Education attended Wednesday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting and agreed that a public session should be held in February to discuss the desirability of a cooperative educational agreement between Colebrook and Norfolk. 

Last November, following months of talks between the two towns’ top officials, Colebrook held a meeting attended by both boards of selectmen, the Colebrook school board and some members of the Colebrook public. Notification of the meeting was spotty in Norfolk, however, and some school board members said they did not know of it.

Colebrook First Selectman Brad Bremer has called for volunteers from his town to sit on a two-town committee to discuss consolidation. The proposed committee would discuss the pros and cons of consolidation and would precede any formalized effort. 

But a public meeting should be held in Norfolk to give residents an opportunity to speak “before we even think of forming a committee,” Selectman Sandy Evans said Wednesday. 

Consolidation efforts have seen two previous defeats, most recently in 2015. Norfolk First Selectman Matt Riiska said past efforts focused on costs, but that he is focusing on educational and social opportunities for students.

Norfolk’s Botelle School has 59 students and Colebrook, 64. Botelle’s population is predicted to decline by 10 more students in coming years. 

Riiska noted that the town’s 2019 Plan of Conservation and Development predicts a decline in Norfolk’s general population (more than 1,700 in 2010) to about 1,300 by 2040. In addition, few young families can afford to live in Norfolk, so the current population is aging, with a median age of 54.1, and 13.8 percent of the population being 65 or older.

School Board Chairman Virginia Coleman-Prisco asked if tax incentives might draw younger families to town. Riiska said he would take the idea to the finance board but added that families today usually have only one or two children. 

“We would need to have 30 families with two children to bring the population of Botelle up to 120 kids,” he said. “It’s just not going to happen.”

—Newsletter Editor

The latest cost estimate for the new fire house is $200,000 higher than the first estimate of $9.3 million, despite reductions made to the original design.

At its Tuesday meeting with representatives of the architectural firm Silver Petrucelli and construction managers Newfield Construction, the Fire House Committee looked at removing even more big-ticket items to reduce the cost by a million or more dollars. 

Among the changes considered were changing bifold doors to overhead doors, changing flooring and roofing materials, and putting up only the shell of an ancillary building designed to hold ATVs and other supplementary vehicles. Lighting and heat would be added later, perhaps using local dollars to avoid prevailing wage requirements that come with governmental grants.

The committee questioned the $1.2 million in soft costs—non-tangibles such as design fees, permits, contingency funds and the like—but architect David Stein advised the committee not to adjust them now.

Instead, he said, the committee should seek alternate bids on the items it is considering changing. The committee asked for a list comparing the cost differences between the original and substitute materials.

First Selectman Matt Riiska spent Wednesday afternoon seeking information about USDA Rural Development grants and found that not much is available. At present, the town has been promised a total of $2.5 million in state grants and a local capital campaign, still ongoing, has garnered commitments of $2.2 million. Townspeople will have to approve bonding needed to cover remaining costs.

—Newsletter Editor

Edited 2/11/25 to reflect the facts that federal funding has not been promised and that the local capital campaign is ongoing.

The state Department of Transportation will hold an online public information meeting about the Old Goshen Road bridge replacement Tuesday, January 21, at 7:00 p.m.

Rights-of-way adjustments will be necessary, including permanent transfers, permanent slope easements and temporary construction easements on two properties.

The meeting, which will be livestreamed on CTDOT’s YouTube channel, will provide information and allow an open discussion about the proposed project. Comments and questions can also be directed to DOT-FLBP@ct.gov, 860-594-2020 or andrew.shields@ct.gov for two weeks following the meeting.

To register or to learn more, click here.  Townspeople can also request that information be mailed to them by contacting Andrew Shields andrew.shields@ct.gov; 860-594-2077. 

The former bridge was swept away by flash flooding in July 2023. Construction on the $3.46 million project is anticipated to begin in fall 2026 or spring 2027 and will be paid for by state and federal funds.

—Newsletter Editor

The Norfolk Farmers Market is considering a new idea: moving the market from Town Hall to Norbrook Brewery, where there would be more traffic generated by the brewery’s events. 

Market Committee Chair Liz Auclair and member April Carter, met with Norbrook’s John Auclair and reported back to the full committee. Members agreed that it seemed a promising proposal and Carter was asked to contact farmers and vendors for their input.

Meanwhile, Auclair has approached the selectmen to ask for the appointment of more members, First Selectman Matt Riiska said. At their Wednesday meeting he told his board that the committee proposes one market a month during the summer at Norbrook and one holiday event. 

“It’s not a bad idea,” Riiska said. “But we would have to consider our liability if we promote it on private property. I want to research it.”

—Newsletter Editor

The Norfolk Land Trust has created six new downloadable maps of the more than 20 miles of trails it maintains in the community. It is the first upgrade of the trail guides since 2009, according to Elizabeth Borden, president of the land trust.

“We have had a booklet with all the trails and maps in it that was published in 2009, but we have gotten new properties since then and it was time to bring it up to date,” she said. The new maps were made with the assistance of Stacey Deming, who does GIS and GPS mapping for the Housatonic Valley Authority.

The revised maps include additional information about the history of each area, where to park, popular trails and tips about distance and difficulty. The land trust has been working on the project for a year, Borden said. 

There are maps for Barbour Woods, Pine Mountain Reserve, Ells Crane, Tait Trail, North Swamp and South Norfolk Woodlands. The maps can be viewed and downloaded from the land trust website, norfolklandtrust.org/mapandtrailguide. 

—Newsletter Editor