Eye on Town Government

By Bridgette L. Rallo
Norfolk’s Town Hall, the public works facility and the sewer plant will undergo an energy audit performed by Source One, a firm recommended by the town’s Energy Task Force after reviewing several applications from competing firms. Funds to pay for the audit will come from a state energy block grant. First Selectman Sue Dyer told Board of Selectmen (BOS) members that the audit will help officials “see where the town is deficient and then we’ll look to correct the deficiencies by redirecting some (operating) funds.”
The question of whether or not to allow outside boats on Tobey Pond this summer has been resolved; BOS members decided that the threat of an non-native zebra mussel infestation is too great to allow pond access by private watercraft to continue.
Said Selectman Leo Colwell, “That’s going to be a problem if those mussels get in there. It will be a shame if they went in and the town was blamed. We could lose our privileges (to use the lake).”
Selectman Jim Stotler reluctantly agreed. “I don’t like it, but if you infect the pond, that’s it,” he said. The Great Mountain Forest Trust, which owns the lake, allows Norfolk residents to use Tobey Pond for recreation during the summer months.
Landscaping around the new Emergency Services Building may include three Dawn Redwoods donated to the town by local landscaper and Emergency Medical Technician Marc Tonan. The trees, which were once thought to be extinct, are deciduous conifers that can grow to a towering height. They can also be trimmed into a hedge formation. Sue Dyer and Jim Stotler agreed that a planting plan specifying the location of each tree should be prepared to guard against the possibility of encroachment on neighboring properties.
Economic Development Commission (EDC) members are thinking of adding a panel discussion to the August ArtWave! schedule. The recent publication of a book on the late James Laughlin, a famous editor and part-time Norfolk resident, spawned the idea. EDC alternate Francesca Turchiano suggested that the discussion should focus on the “richness of this town in the arts.”
Commission President Elizabeth Borden asked EDC members to think about re-opening the debate on a possible use for City Meadow, the wetlands property located behind Infinity Hall. Borden believes there are some non-invasive uses which are possible even though the parcel has a wetlands designation. A nature walk is one example of a use that would not have a negative impact on the habitats of native wild species.