By Avice Meehan

The more than 100 Norfolk residents who gathered in the Hall of Flags at Botelle Elementary School made quick work of four major items at the April 6 town meeting.

Gaveled into order at 7 p.m. by Town Clerk Debbie Nelson, the meeting lasted all of 20 minutes once voters elected Richard Byrne as the meeting moderator. Three significant items were approved without discussion: temporary financing for the new bridge at Mountain Road; purchase of a $270,000 dump truck and a $130,000 downpayment on a new fire truck; and the acceptance of Haystack Woods Road as a new town road.

The only item that generated discussion was a non-binding resolution for the town to join the Northwest Regional Recovery Authority, an entity being formed with the goal of taking over management of the transfer station in Torrington. That facility is currently being managed by the state’s Department of Administrative Services, but that arrangement will end in July. Norfolk and the 12 other towns that rely on the Torrington transfer station thought they had until July 2027 to devise a long-term solution for solid waste and recycling.

Residents had questions for First Selectmen Henry Tirrell, who explained that Northwest Corner towns were endeavoring to show state legislators that there was considerable interest in developing a public option for managing the Torrington facility. It serves as a way station for solid waste being shipped to Pennsylvania or Ohio. He said USA Waste and Recycling, which also bid on the transfer station last year, had submitted a five-year proposal and that the company is already the major player in the region.
“Norfolk doesn’t have much bargaining power on its own,” Tirrell said, noting that the existence of a public option would give communities some leverage. He also said, in response to a question, that the transfer station had undergone a recent environmental assessment. In the end, the resolution passed unanimously.

The cost of replacing the Mountain Road bridge will be paid by the state, but the town was required to appropriate $3 million for the project and to authorize temporary borrowing of up to $1 million to pay contractor bills. The amounts will be reimbursed by the state on a rolling basis.

The dump truck is one of two that the town hopes to acquire during the next calendar year, but approval at the special town meeting means that the first one will be available by November—just in time for a possible first snowstorm. Funds for the dump truck and fire truck, which will carry a price tag of more than $1 million, came from unallocated funds from the dissolution of the town’s defined benefits plan.

The acceptance of Haystack Woods Road, which drew a handful of negative votes, marks the first new Norfolk road in many decades. It was funded through a $2.9 million Community Development Block Grant through the state Department of Housing. It connects the Haystack Woods affordable housing community, currently nearing completion, to Old Colony Road.