Community News

Ever wondered about the “castle” on Westside Road? Who built such an extravagant estate amid a New England village? The Norfolk Historical Society’s 2024 exhibit delves into the history of the property and celebrates one of its most distinguished early summer residents, Mihajlo Idvorski (Michael) Pupin.

Pupin, a brilliant physicist, professor and inventor, held 34 patents that brought him world-wide fame. He came to Norfolk at the suggestion of Dr. Frederic Dennis, a Columbia University colleague, who thought the climate and beauty of Northwest Connecticut would be a tonic for the bereaved Pupin, who was mourning the untimely death of his wife.

Pupin, who had already revolutionized medical science with his inventions, found Norfolk to be his “Haven of Happiness,” and soon considered it to be his home. 

He built two significant residences here: The Knolls on Westside Road, which became the talk of the town in 1898; followed a decade later by Hemlock Farm, the European-style “castle” reminiscent of his Serbian homeland (today used by the Connecticut-Asia Society).

Hemlock Farm was a far cry from the circumstances that confronted the 16-year-old peasant boy when he disembarked in America in 1874. With five cents in his pocket and no knowledge of English, he started his hard scrabble toward world renown. He worked days in fields and factories while studying at night. So successful was he, that he earned a scholarship to Columbia, later studying at Cambridge University and receiving his doctorate from the University of Berlin in 1889. 

Pupin cared deeply about Norfolk and contributed financially to several important projects, including the construction of the Royal Arcanum building in 1903 and the Center School in 1915. 

The exhibit is open to the public Saturdays and Sundays, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., through October 13.

—Newsletter Editor

A contingent of concerned South Norfolk citizens met with First Selectman Matt Riiska July 19 to urge construction of a temporary bridge across Hall Meadow Brook. The neighborhood has been cut off from direct access to Route 272 since a flash flood last July swept away bridges on Smith Road and Old Goshen Road.

Since then, the state DOT has promised to replace the bridges at a cost of $5.8 million dollars, but the timeframe for the work could extend into 2028, according to Riiska.

Residents attending the meeting expressed frustration that no progress had been made in a year to provide convenient access to their homes by emergency and other services. They were adamant that their isolation is a safety issue and that moves should be made to provide a temporary bridge to their community. They suggested several options that could provide temporary access in two weeks for as little as $20,000.

Riiska said he has held discussions with Guerrera Construction about how a temporary connection could be established. “I understand how nauseatingly slow it is for the DOT to make a decision,” he said. “I pleaded with them to stop work on Mountain Road and to put their efforts into Smith Road, but it has fallen on deaf ears.”

But he added there is no a clear-cut answer to the problem. “Herein lies the problem,” he said. “Once you get within so many feet of the stream, everyone wants you to go by their rules and regulations. All we really need is a one-lane that can handle 50,000 pounds, but you have to get back away from the river. You can’t just put a pad in, level it off and say good enough.”

He looked at temporary bridges in Scotland, Conn., and received information that that town paid $440,000 for a temporary bridge. “Realistically, we are looking at $125,000 to $150,000,” he said. “We have to build to specifications that satisfy the insurance company and the DOT. Those organizations, in this day and age, are not going to let you put in something they don’t approve. They will shut you down.”

Thursday, Riiska said he understands the residents’ frustration. He has looked at options this week, but added, “It’s not as simplistic as people think it is.”

He bemoaned the bureaucracy of the DOT, saying a meeting about Smith Road the day before included 38 people. During the meeting, he expressed concern about why it was taking so long to restore the area.

Meanwhile, he is seeking quotes for a temporary bridge and has set an Aug. 2 date to again meet with the residents of the area. There is money in the town’s surplus funds, but before it can be tapped, he needs approval from the Board of Finance and a town meeting.

—Newsletter Editor

The ninth annual summer Weekend in Norfolk, a three-day town-wide festival, returns August 2 through August 4 with activities for all ages and interests.

There will be familiar events—concerts, art shows, open studios and art lessons; a historical society exhibit on one of Norfolk most important summer residents; a historical walking tour; stained glass window tours; hiking opportunities and even a chance to be married or renew your vows on the village green.

And there will also be some new additions to attract visitors, such as a chance to visit the historic one-room schoolhouse on Ashpohtag Road, a yarn sale at the HUB, and a sound installation in Barbour Woods that is looped to play every 10 minutes.

Click here for a full schedule of events and times.

—Newsletter Editor

The town has launched a search for a new Zoning Enforcement Officer following the resignation this week of Karl Nilsen. 

Nilsen had held the position since early winter and was the second ZEO appointed since Michael Halloran resigned December 30.

When Halloran resigned, the position was briefly offered to a younger, inexperienced man who never actually took over the office. 

The position is part-time and Nilsen attended Planning and Zoning Commission and Inland Wetlands Agency meetings and had brief office hours at Town Hall twice a week. He was paid $40 an hour.

First Selectman Matt Riiska said the town is looking for someone with experience “who will work with the town.”

Finding candidates for positions such as the ZEO, assessor, treasurer and the like is becoming more difficult for small towns as the training and demands of the positions become more intensive. Many small towns have trouble attracting candidates because larger communities can pay more.

“We have couple of people currently looking for us and one that might be interested,” Riiska reported. “We’ll get through this.”

—Newsletter Editor

Town finances may get a boost from an anticipated insurance payout and a possible federal grant. With construction on Maple Avenue complete, First Selectmen Matt Riiska said, “Now is the time we have to start negotiating with the insurance company.”

He explained that, although Maple Avenue had been slated for a major overhaul anyway, the gas spill of November 2022 created substantial damage that had to be remediated. He met Thursday with representatives of Guerrera Construction, the company that did both the remediation work and reconstruction of the road, “to review some of the extra work charges and the remediation work to see what goes to the insurance company,” he said. He estimated that more than $500,000 was expended on the cleanup portion of the project and should be paid to the town by the insurance company.

With Maple Avenue complete, the town has turned its attention to routine maintenance of other roads. Riiska said Mills Way was milled and paved this week, and work on Old Goshen Road is expected to be complete today (Friday). Wheeler Road was also on the list of roads to be paved this summer. 

In other good news, Riiska received notice from Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy that Congress has passed the Congressional Directed Spending component of its budget. Congressional Directed Spending is more commonly known as “earmarked” funds for projects in legislators’ various districts. 

Riiska applied for a $1 million grant to help with construction of the new firehouse. The town is not assured of the money, but Riiska said “it is one more hurdle we have passed.” He added that he also applied for a $500,000 grant through U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes’ office to help with the construction.

Looking at the North Brook Trail project, he said the town has most of the money needed to complete the project, which is estimated to cost around $500,000. The town received a $399,000 matching grant from the state to build the nearly one-mile long multiple-use trail, which received approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission last week.

The town must provide 20 percent of the cost of the trail and Riiska said that percentage will be met through donations already in hand and in-kind services, which can include donated materials and work by the town crew. “We have the majority of the funds for the boardwalk and the access component,” he said. Work is expected to begin in late summer or early fall.

—Newsletter Editor

The Board of Finance voted Tuesday night to invest the $1.2 million remaining after the termination of the town’s defined pension fund in a one-year Treasury bill, earning 4.88 percent, or about $49,000 (less an approximately $2,000 management fee). Susan MacEachron, head of the Pension Committee, said that investing for only a year gives the town access to the funds to meet expenses expected next year. 

The town terminated its defined benefit plan—which had about $1.8 million in it—in January and has since purchased annuities for the few town employees still receiving retirement benefits. When obligations to employees were satisfied, the town was left with about $1.2 million, McEachron said, and a custody account was opened at Union Savings Bank.

A small portion of the money, about $135,000, is needed this November to pay this year’s installment on the debt on Botelle School windows and doors, and toward at the ambulance building. That money has been transferred to the National Iron Bank and invested in a five-month CD earning 5.125 percent. 

—Newsletter Editor

The Planning and Zoning Commission set two public hearings for its August 13 meeting during a session held Tuesday. Slated for discussion in August are an application from William G. Gridley for a subdivision of land at 59 Sandisfield Road, and an application for a text amendment to the zoning regulations from the Friends of Norfolk Community Dog Park, Inc.

The text amendment requested by the Friends seeks reduction of the area required for the dog park from 20 to two acres. When the original application was considered in May 2023, there was no provision in the zoning regulations for a dog park. The commission considered the dog park to be a recreational facility, which carries with it the requirement for 20 contiguous acres.

The approval stipulated, however, that while 20 acres must be set aside, only the two acres detailed in the site plan can be used for the dog park.

Members concurred with P&Z member Jordan Stern’s suggestion that the Friends be required to submit a definition of a dog park in the application. After the meeting, P&Z chairman Tom Fahsbender explained that it would be up to commission members whether to accept the provided definition, amend it or devise their own.

The Gridley application seeks to divide a plot of slightly less than 15 acres into two lots. There is currently a large home on the land. 

An application for a zoning permit/special permit for construction of a new maintenance shed at the Norfolk Country Club was removed from the agenda because Zoning Enforcement Officer Karl Nilsen had issued a zoning permit for the project.

Neighbors of the Manor House, an inn located at 69 Maple Avenue in a residential zone, brought their concerns about expansion on the property to the P&Z. The Manor House owners have sought a zoning permit to construct a garage and install a hot tub.  

Joseph Kelly, who lives opposite Manor House, said he was unclear about what was being accepted or approved despite efforts to meet with Nilsen. “I do have concerns and want more clarity,” he said. 

He contended that as “a large business in our residential neighborhood” operating under a special permit, changes should require a public hearing.

Fahsbender said that a special permit allows certain uses and that operation within the original permit does not require another second hearing. Nilsen, who issued a zoning permit for the garage, explained that it would be for residential and not business use and is replacing one that will be razed. 

Also questioned was the addition of a hot tub. Nilsen said he considered it to be a recreational use allowed within the special permit. He issued a zoning permit for that as well. Both projects are pending.

Both Fahsbender and Nilsen advised the neighbors that they should take their concerns to the Zoning Board of Appeals. 

—Newsletter Editor

Work on the North Brook Trail is expected to begin in August, according to George Johannesen of Allied Engineering Associates, who designed it for the Rails to Trails Committee.

Johannesen appeared before the Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday night where he secured approval of the site plan for the project, which follows the former Central New England Railroad right-of-way and will extend about three-quarters of a mile to the Stoney Lonesome Trail parking lot off Ashpohtag Road. An easement from Norfolk Center Cemetery Association will allow parking on the Norfolk end of the trail.

Johannesen said the entire trail meets ADA requirements and is designed for both pedestrian and bicycletraffic. It will also be firm enough for strollers and wheelchairs.

The Inland Wetlands Agency has approved the plan, as has the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, owner of the land. “We have all the letters of authorization,” said P&Z Chairman Tom Fahsbender.

Johannesen said that most of the trail traverses wetlands and that several beaver dams in the area have created pools of standing water. A 150-foot-boardwalk, constructed of pressure-treated lumber, will span the pools. The remainder of the trail will be surfaced by compacted aggregate, which is permeable. 

The Rails to Trails Committee has labored for more than a decade to bring the project to fruition. In May 2023 it received a $399,725 Recreational Trails Program grant from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The grant represents about 80 percent of the total cost of construction. The balance is to be covered by other grants, donations and in-kind services.

—Newsletter Editor

Restoration of City meadow, which was reclaimed several years ago as a wildlife habitat, will be an ongoing effort, cautioned Elizabeth Borden, co-chair of the Friends of the Meadow Committee, at its recent meeting.

Invasive species have already mowed twice and will be treated with herbicides in August. Woody invasives will also be cut and have herbicides applied. 

Restoration could be accomplished within two years, Borden said, but would be more expensive if the group does not try to preserve native cattails growing there.

Looking forward, the group discussed where sculptures could be placed along the sculpture trail proposed by the Norfolk Community Association. Doreen Kelly, co-chairman of the association, said they usually work in a two-year timeframe for installations and asked when the Friends anticipate having the meadow ready for a sculpture. Borden predicted three years. 

Discussion then turned to seating on Robertson Plaza, which overlooks the meadow from Station Place. The group talked about various ways of rearranging the seating and providing shade but did not reach a conclusion.

—Newsletter Editor

A group of South Norfolk neighbors is waging a battle against a cell tower being erected in their midst.

Last spring letters were sent to South Norfolk landowners from Smartlink, a leasing agent for telecommunication companies, seeking property on which to place a cell tower. None of the homeowners in this residential neighborhood responded and thought that ended the matter.

However, Sloane Klevin, who owns a house at the corner of Old Goshen Road and Route 272, recently noticed trucks and people on vacant land opposite her property. Inquiring, she found there is a pending lease on the land and that the people were verifying that the parcel could support a cell tower, which could be as tall as 120 or 130 feet.

Investigating further, Klevin discovered that the land is owned by Michael Farrington, a Florida resident who inherited it and who has never set foot in Norfolk. “He didn’t even know there were neighbors,” she said. “It’s literally smack in front of everyone, but he sees this as a windfall.”

The neighbors contacted him to see if he would consider selling them the property. Klevin said the neighborhood includes environmentally sensitive elements such as a heron rookery and residents harbored the idea of donating it to the Norfolk Land Trust. “I told him his land is on a natural diversity map and we offered $100,000 for it,” she said.

Farrington responded with a figure of up to $300,000, beyond the reach of neighboring property owners.

Since that exchange, the neighbors have sought additional funding to procure the land, but even an offer of $200,000 has met with no success. “We realized he is playing us off Verizon,” said Klevin. 

The group approached an environmental lawyer, who advised that their best chance of forestalling the development is to find an alternate site for Verizon. Two less intrusive locations nearby, accessible from Route 272, have been identified but, to date, Smartlink and Verizon have not responded.

“We’re willing to file an intervention with the Siting Council and to propose other sites, but we can’t get through to them,” Klevin said. “Once they have found a site, they are not reachable.” 

—Newsletter Editor