Community News

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

Voters swiftly approved five housekeeping items on the agenda for the annual town meeting Monday night, but things turned contentious when a $40,635 allocation toward the restoration of City Meadow and a move to make the Town Clerk’s job an appointed position made their way to the floor.

The budget provoked little discussion except for the City Meadow line item. Since 2011, thousands of dollars in state and private funds have been invested in the site to create a stormwater collection system and to turn it into a natural landscape. Over the years, the meadow has become overrun with invasive plants and the Friends of the Meadow Committee is working to reverse this trend. 

Some residents said townspeople were assured in the past that no tax dollars would ever be spent on the meadow and objected to the money being included in the budget. First Selectman Matt Riiska countered that the funding would not become  an annual amount, and that private donations continue to support most of the restoration effort. 

Using the example of a $220,000 home, he said keeping the $40,000 town contribution in the budget would add only $24 in taxes for the homeowner. 

The vote was 71 to 36 to approve the budget as presented. 

The final item on the agenda, making the town clerk’s job an appointed position, drew even more opposition. Riiska suggested the move, noting that many positions—such as the treasurer, land use administrator, tax collector and assessor—are key to a town’s operation and now require certification. Connecticut offers certification for town clerks, but it is not yet mandatory. Norfolk’s town clerk, Deborah Nelson, earned certification last year.

Riiska said he wanted to bring the issue to the floor to hear the public’s opinion because so many town hall jobs are changing and becoming more technical, but townspeople objected strongly to the proposal. Several said it would remove townspeople’s democratic right to choose their own officials. One person termed it “a power grab”; another said it was a “scary executive move.”

The proposal was rejected overwhelmingly.

Following the meeting, the Board of Finance convened and set the mill rate on the $8,241,889 budget at 22.49, down from 28.40 this fiscal year.

—Kathryn Boughton

The Planning and Zoning Commission approved the Manor House application for modification of an existing site plan and special permit Tuesday night with a vote of 4-2. The action closed a five-month saga that saw many hours of public hearing testimony. 

The P&Z found that the application, as revised and with the 18 conditions stipulated by the commission, complies with all applicable provisions of Norfolk’s zoning regulations, including requirements specific to country inns.

The conditions imposed restrict maximum occupancy levels and the number of overnight guest bedrooms that can be in the main building without further review and approval by the P&Z Commission. The owners cannot create new guest bedrooms in additions to the existing building or in additional structures without submitting a future application. 

A new one-story, 1,500 square-foot amenity building with indoor pool, rest area, restroom, elevator, changing and shower rooms and the like was allowed, as were alternations to the existing first floor, including a massage room, laundry, staff areas, reception and office. Site improvements include a heated terrace, cold pool, heated pool, beverage station and sauna building.

A restaurant on the first floor of the main building that can seat 44 patrons, a 720-square-foot storage garage and a 45-space parking area with a new exit onto Mills Way were also okayed. 

Non-resident guests have limited access to the amenities, but no more than 150 persons can be on the premises at one time. No more than 12 large outdoor events per year can be held on the site without approval from the P&Z Commission.

All non-essential outdoor and interior lighting in the amenities building must be turned off by 9:00 p.m. and any other lighting essential for safety is to be motion-activated. No amplified outdoor music is permitted after 8:00 p.m. and the applicant is required to monitor sound levels at the property lines to ensure compliance with state and local regulations.

If the country inn ceases to offer overnight accommodations, all other uses must also cease.

To review the full decision, click here.

—Kathryn Boughton

Road issues again captured the attention of the Board of Selectmen Wednesday when resident Bart Wenrich questioned the board about progress on building a temporary bridge on Smith Road. 

The bridge would replace one swept away by flash floods in July 2023 while the DOT plans a permanent replacement.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is “in the final stage of approval” for the temporary structure, according to First Selectman Matt Riiska. “I told them this is not a matter of convenience for residents, it’s a safety issue,” he told Wenrich. 

He later said he is “pretty hopeful” that the issue will be resolved soon.

Meanwhile, the DOT is about a third of the way through a multi-year project to replace a large retaining wall on Route 44. Motorists too impatient to sit through the traffic light controlling alternating traffic there have been using Old Colony Road as a bypass.

The town’s Department of Public Works is located on Old Colony, a narrow town road, and “it is very dangerous for the town’s workers when cars are flying by,” Riiska said. “We have thought about making it a dead-end, but we have to talk to the fire department and emergency services.”

He said the situation will worsen as construction activity increases at Haystack Woods, located off Old Colony, where 10 affordable homes are being built. “It’s going to get congested,” he concluded. 

—Kathryn Boughton

Townspeople will not decide Monday whether to build a new firehouse. 

The item was supposed to be on the call for the Tuesday, May 12, annual budget meeting, but First Selectman Matt Riiska told his board Wednesday that a special town meeting will be needed instead.

Construction of the new building is estimated at $8.3 million, with another million dollars budgeted for soft costs and contingency funds.

Riiska explained that the funding for the firehouse includes $500,000 to be taken from the $1.2 million the town received when it closed out its defined benefit plan. He was advised by bond counsel that the Board of Finance, which does not meet until the day after the town meeting, must pass a resolution to that effect. The Board of Selectmen then has to act on its own resolution.

The special town meeting will be held May 22.

At present, the town has $3,000,000 assured for construction of the firehouse. An additional $3 million is expected from a capital campaign and Riiska is waiting to hear if the state has approved his $500,000 STEAP grant application. 

Federal grants totaling $1.25 million had been approved but were caught up in Congress’ budget reconciliation process. Riiska has been advised to reapply for those funds. 

“We will keep chipping away at that,” Riiska said.

—Kathryn Boughton

Transfer station stickers will increase by $10 in the coming fiscal year, the selectmen decided Wednesday. Currently $90 for the first vehicle, and $80 for the second, the primary permit will now increase to $100, while the second will remain at $80.

The selectmen noted that it costs the town $290,000 to run the transfer stations and costs are going to rise. Permit fees do not cover the expense. 

“People have to realize they have to stop buying so much junk and throwing it away,” First Selectman Matt Riiska said. “I can only say, ‘Please purchase wisely and recycle as much as you can.’”

—Kathryn Boughton

A contingent of firefighters attended Wednesday’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting to ask for restoration of $6,600 that was cut from its 2025-26 budget request.

The $9.2 million proposed municipal budget currently includes $125,750 for the fire department.

After discussion, First Selectman Matt Riiska said he would confer with Board of Finance Chairman Michael Sconyers, adding that restoring the money would increase the expected 22.49 mill rate only fractionally.

A proposed budget can be reduced or increased following a budget hearing (Norfolk’s took place April 29), but the figure presented at a town meeting cannot be increased. Norfolk’s town meeting is May 11, and any additions would have to take place this week and be posted quickly.

The firefighters complained that Riiska had not given them notice of the reduction. “That conversation never came down the hill,” said Fire Chief Brian Hutchins. 

The department has six new members, all of whom will need turnout gear and training and fire chief Brian Hutchins said two trucks need extensive repairs. “That amounts to two sets of turnout gear; that’s one truck’s repairs.”

Riiska countered that the budget was presented in public meetings and had been posted online for more than a month. 

During budget preparation Riiska cuts where he believes numbers can be reduced. With only two months left in the fiscal year, 25 percent of the fire department’s budget is unexpended.

NVFD President Paul Padua said that many of the department’s expenses are incurred at the end of the fiscal year. “We spent two hours going through projected cost increases and came up with a responsible budget, which we presented to you,” he said.

Last year, $17,000 worth of fire department bills were not submitted by the end of the fiscal year and the payment was rolled over into the 2024-25 budget. That, combined with the budget cut this year and escalating costs since Covid, is creating “a snowball effect” in the department’s ability to keep up with mandated costs, Hutchins said.

First assistant fire chief Matthew Ludwig said additional cost increases are pending in more mandates from OSHA.

The firefighters noted that the company has received a half-million dollars in grant awards for apparatus over the past couple of years to help control costs. “We’re doing our due diligence,” Hutchins said.

The majority of discussion at last week’s budget hearing centered on dissatisfaction with $40,635 being budgeted for the continued restoration of City Meadow. That concern carried over to the Board of Selectmen’s meeting Wednesday when Ken Ludwig asked if the money is being cut from the budget. 

“A lot of people felt it has been stated many times [over the years] that the taxpayers would have nothing to do with paying for it,” he said. “I would hate to see the entire budget voted down because of that.”

First Selectman Matt Riiska said he has not been instructed by the Board of Finance to cut the funding. He said there is no reason to believe town funds will be needed every year.

Townspeople can make a motion at the town meeting to reduce the budget’s bottom line by the amount of the City Meadow funding. That would not guarantee that the money would be taken from that line item, however.

Since 2011, thousands of dollars in state and private funds have been invested in the site to create a stormwater collection system and to turn it into a natural landscape connecting Station Place and Shephard Road. But over the years, the meadow has become overrun with invasive plants. The Friends of the Meadow Committee is working to reverse this trend and enhance the Meadow’s role in the social life of the community. 

Last year, a $110,000 private donation was dedicated to invasives removal and developing a restoration plan. Many invasives were cleared and 400 woody plants of 21 different species were installed. 

Planting costs are estimated at $304,220, with three years of maintenance estimated at $33,600. The Friends of the Meadow Committee anticipates having to raise $150,000 to $250,000 to complete and maintain the work being done.

“Up to this point, including $500,000 from the state for the initial work, we’re looking at $1.5 million plus, all of it from private funds,” First Selectman Matt Riiska said. “Do the townspeople want to abandon it and let it rot? It’s up to the people.”

—Kathryn Boughton

A series of workshops will be held from May through September at Great Mountain Forest (GMF). The series features several curriculum modules of GMF’s Woodland Academy and will be held at the Yale Forestry Camp in Great Mountain Forest. 

The first workshop, a full-day session on strategies and funding opportunities, is slated for May 22. GMF will host “Game of Logging I and II” sessions June 12 and 13, during which chainsaw skills will be taught. And on August 8, Star Childs of GMF and Dave Beers of the DEEP will teach land navigation and mapping skills. 

A three-day intensive course is scheduled for August 1, 15 and September 12, beginning with tree and shrub identification and moving on to creation of wildlife habitats. The workshops conclude with an exploration of management resources such as technical assistance programs, cost-share opportunities and tools of the trade. Each workshop combines classroom learning with field experience.

Visit the GMF Woodland Academy website page for more information and to apply for a spot.

—Kathryn Boughton