It’s That Time of Year Again
Budgets dominate discussions at Town Hall
By Wiley Wood
With town budgets to be drawn up in March and voted on in April, discussions at Norfolk’s town hall this month were largely about projected spending for the coming year.
On Feb. 5, members of the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department urged the Board of Selectmen to purchase a new utility truck. The present one, a 1995 Dodge, has responded to 400 calls over the past five years, transporting equipment to and from accident sites and fire scenes.
Under the Fire Department’s proposal, the Dodge would be converted to a truck hauling brush at the cost of $20,000, while the old brush truck, a 1989 Ford, would be dropped from the fleet. According to the Fire Department’s Matt Ludwig, a new utility truck, with four doors and a five-person cab, is expected to cost $160,000. First Selectman Sue Dyer agreed to transmit the request to the Board of Finance.
Plans for a new firehouse have long been under discussion, but protracted deliberations within the Emergency Services Building Committee over design, and lengthy negotiations with the Board of Finance over cost, are likely to keep the project from figuring in this year’s budget.
At its Jan. 9 meeting, the building committee passed a motion asking the Board of Selectmen to replace Ken Ludwig, the fire department’s representative on the committee. Dyer scheduled a meeting in late February to air the matter.
Noting that the town has no way to contact residents in an emergency, a group of citizens approached Dyer offering to compile a telephone and e-mail contact list. Residents would be asked to supply the information themselves. Participation would be voluntary. The list would be used by the town to notify residents of town meetings and emergency procedures. Leo Colwell expressed reservations about possible costs for text messages. The selectmen agreed to investigate the idea further.
The pension plan for town employees has been under study by a specially constituted pension committee. The present system, a defined benefit plan, left the town exposed to market volatility. The committee proposed a new plan, known as a defined contribution plan, which is expected to cost the town less while preserving employee benefits. The selectmen voted to adopt the committee’s recommendation.
On the school front, Dyer reported that the state’s education grant to Norfolk figures in the state budget at last year’s level, or $381,414. However, Governor Dannel Malloy has proposed increases to the Education Cost Sharing grants that would allot Norfolk an additional $90,000, although passage by the state legislature is uncertain.
The Board of Education for Region 7 will present its budget at the Botelle School on Wednesday, March 20 at 7 p.m.
The Connecticut Department of Education has been informed of appointments to the Norfolk-Colebrook Regional Study Committee but has not yet announced its own appointee or set a schedule for further action.