Selectman’s Corner

By Matt Riiska

For those who operate businesses in Norfolk or have received notices of personal property, you must fill in the Declaration of Personal Property you will be receiving in the mail. It is your responsibility to complete the form and return it to the assessor’s office. If you feel that you received this in error, you still need to complete the form as best you can. When returning the form please include a note to the assessor as to why you are not required to complete the form or what changes you feel should be made. The only way you can have your property removed from the list is to discuss this with the assessor and to work with the assessor’s office so the list can be updated. This information needs to be received by the assessor by Nov. 1.

I apologize for the current situation regarding the assessor’s office. Our former assessor resigned from her position at the end of June. We are very fortunate to have Lucy Hussman, who is the assessor in Goshen, assisting us while we are trying to fill the position. Please, when you make your inquiries to the assessor’s office, know that Lucy is doing her best to understand the situation in Norfolk and working to get all our real estate, motor vehicle and personal property issues cleaned up. Thank you for your patience.

This summer there has been a lot of activity on our roads, including a water main replacement on Litchfield Road, the sewer relining and repair project, road repairs on North Colebrook and sidewalk repairs on Route 44. Like many of you, I often think things should get done much faster than they do. 

As an example, on May 13^, we met with Distinctive Tree to review the cutting of trees on North Colebrook Road. Although only lightly traveled, North Colebrook Road is the main bus route for the Regional 7 students from North Norfolk to Colebrook. In early June, Distinctive Tree cut the trees back to the stone walls to open the canopy so sunlight can get in to help dry the road out during the winter months. In late June and July, when the rains came, we put the project on hold to take care of all the storm damage and road repair that occurred. This was not planned, nor was the $60,000 we spent on repairs. At that point we made the decision to focus on doing the necessary road repairs from washouts, and to scale back our plans on North Colebrook Road. 

Because of the availability of vendors to assist us on the work on the sidewalk on Route 44, we shifted gears to get that project completed while the weather was good. There are those who do not like the asphalt. This was not our first choice either, but safety and cost unfortunately win out. We are planning on sealing the sidewalks next year with something that will be more aesthetically pleasing. 

We are now back on North Colebrook Road completing the drainage work and prepping the road for pavement. The road will receive a skim coat of asphalt before winter. Again, not our first plan, but we are on a very tight budget and the skim coat will get us through the winter with a decent road surface. We will apply the finish coat next spring and then chip seal the following year.

We did receive some good news. In August we heard that Norfolk’s solar project at the transfer station was chosen for the State/Eversource Shared Clean Energy Facility Program. We have met with our lawyers, and we hope to take this to a town meeting for approval in late October. 

If I keep yammering on, I know I will hear about it from John Funchion, but I must mention that the Phase III portion of the City Meadow project will be starting October 1. Weather put this project off for a few weeks, but it will be full speed ahead, at least until the snow flies. Let’s hope it is not too early this year.

There are still plenty of things to do this fall. The Norfolk Land Trust’s eighth annual trail race, The Haystack Mountain Challenge, will be Saturday October 2 and the Rails to Trails “Tour De Forest” will be on Saturday October 9. 

Also, on Saturday October 9^th there is a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day. Please contact the Selectmen’s Office for more information and to register. The collection station will be at the Torrington Middle School from 9:00 to 2:00.

Enjoy what we hope will be a gorgeous fall, take care & stay healthy.