By Avice Meehan

The Board of Selectmen has called a special town meeting for Monday, April 6, to consider four items, including the purchase of a new dump truck for the Department of Public Works. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. in the Hall of Flags at Botelle School.

First up is a request to appropriate up to $3 million to replace the Mountain Road bridge over Spaulding Brook near Westside Road. The appropriation covers the cost of the project, but the town will be fully reimbursed by the state Department of Transportation. To manage cash flow while awaiting reimbursement, the selectmen are seeking approval for short-term borrowing of $1,050,000. Second, the town is seeking $270,000 to acquire a new dump truck and to set aside $130,000 toward the purchase of a new pumper truck for the fire department. As approved at the March 24 BOF meeting, these would be paid for using funds from the closure of the town’s defined benefits plan. The selectmen said the truck order needs to be placed in April for it to be ready for service by November. This would begin the process of replacing vehicles acquired since 2007.

The third item asks approval for the town to join the Northwest Regional Resource Recovery Authority (NRRA), a consortium being formed with the assistance of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments. The non-binding vote would be a step toward developing a long-term solution to managing solid waste in Litchfield County and the future of the Torrington transfer station. A bill is currently pending in the General Assembly to transfer ownership from the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) to the NRRA. Finally, the Board of Selectmen is recommending that voters approve the acceptance of Haystack Woods Road as a new town road. The road was built to town specifications as part of the development of the Haystack Woods affordable housing community and was funded through a $2.9 million community development block grant. The application has been reviewed and approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission.