By Henry Tirrell

Another busy summer is upon us. Tobey Pond is open, we have a new place for dinner in town, Friday Nights on the Green are in full swing. The season promises a number of other fantastic activities around town, but don’t forget that it’s also the season for new stickers to access both Tobey Pond and the transfer station.

The road crew has been out working hard, and some improvement projects will be taking place here and there this summer. Construction of the bridge on Mountain Road is moving along quickly. Work on the new firehouse and the Route 44 retaining wall are making forward motion after some delays.

At Town Hall, we are implementing updated permitting software to coincide with the arrival of a new building official. The assessor’s database will also get a fresh look. We hope that these new features will make navigating these tasks easier in the long term. We also plan on holding meetings this summer and fall to discuss the possibility of using automated traffic enforcement safety devices. Some of the speed data that we have gathered from Route 44 in the center of town is alarming. There is a process that we need to follow to have the state allow Norfolk to utilize them, and the first steps will involve us as a community deciding if it is something we want to do or not. I hope we can come together to do what we think is best for our town. Please stay tuned for more on that soon.

A number of milestones have been reached in the past few weeks. I was honored to attend the Northwest Regional 7 graduation and the Botelle School moving up ceremony, both of which brought me a great deal of joy. It was amazing seeing the wonderful students from our town honored for their great achievements. Congratulations to all the graduates and good luck in your next endeavors.

I was also fortunate to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony for Haystack Woods. It was great o see and hear the many people from all over Connecticut and Litchfield County who put in so much time and energy to bring this to fruition. They deserve a major congratulations. The event showed that we should all be very proud of in this town. Leaders from other towns came to see what a special feat this is and I was especially moved to hear a new resident’s path to ownership, what the Haystack Woods home will provide and how wonderful Norfolk is.

Norfolk is a special place, and I can’t stop thinking of how hard so many people work to keep it that way and continue to improve  it. I hope you all have a fantastic summer and enjoy all that summer in Norfolk has to offer. Please join us July 3 on the Village Green to celebrate the birth of our nation 250 years ago. Special thanks to the Norfolk Hub and the Historical Society for organizing and especially the volunteers planning to help out. I plan on sitting atop a dunk tank, so come throw a ball and, while you are there, grab some food, enjoy the music and the great company of this community.