By Henry Tirrell

It’s busy for the town this time of year. Our public works crew has been out sweeping, patching and cleaning up after the long and snowy winter. The major projects in motion are the retaining wall on Route 44, the firehouse and the Mountain Road bridge, each in various stages of construction. The town will be meeting on Monday, May 11 to vote on the budget for the upcoming year, along with some other items.
I am grateful for the collaboration on this year’s budget and that the result is no tax increase. Given all the variables, it seems like quite the achievement. This process includes multiple boards of education, various departments, the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Finance and, finally, the town. Hard work and strong planning from many people over many years have left our town in good financial standing and in the rare position to be able to present a budget with no increase to the mill rate. While this will not be a common occurrence in the future, given the current economic pressures we all face in other areas, the ability to create this budget is something we can all be proud of.

I also want to reflect on the April 6 special town meeting. It is always impressive to see the town gather to discuss and decide important matters together. The questions you all had about the future of solid waste disposal beyond Norfolk were fantastic. I’ve had many of the same questions myself over the past six months. The answers can be more complex and uncertain than one would think. With help from our neighbors, lawmakers and many others we hope to come up with both short- and long-term solutions for the future of the Torrington Transfer Station and how our waste gets handled once it leaves Norfolk.
In a recent discussion at Botelle School we talked about the “5 Cs”: Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Communication and Compassionate Citizenship. The staff at Botelle try to teach these skills to the students with the goal of preparing them for the 21st century. These are skills that I see applied throughout our town every day. Problems around things like solid waste, the budget and improving infrastructure are solved with the 5 Cs. Day in and day out, this amazing community is showing the best it has to offer by utilizing these skills.

I look forward to seeing many of you out and about as the weather continues to improve and we get ready for what is sure to be a busy spring/summer!