Fire truck, Wetlands fees up for vote

By Avice Meehan

A special town meeting will be held Sept. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Hall of Flags at Botelle Elementary School to consider appropriating money for a new fire truck, approval of $125,000 for a garage at the new firehouse and a restructuring of fees charged for work in wetlands areas.

Voters earlier voted in favor of setting aside $260,000 as a deposit on a new pumper truck for the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department. The fire department has since elicited bids to replace the current truck, now 31 years old, and voters will be asked to appropriate up to $1,252,490 for the new truck.

First Selectman Henry Tirrell said the town will not be required to pay the balance owed on the new truck until it is delivered, which will be approximately 33 months after the order is placed. He is optimistic that a combination of grants and fundraising will reduce the impact on taxpayers. He noted that U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy both support an $885,000 federal appropriation for Norfolk, but that many steps remain in the appropriations process.

The $125,000 appropriation for the slab and related infrastructure is the first step toward building the three-bay garage. Voters will be asked to increase the overall appropriation for the new firehouse to $10.525 million, but to leave the $4 million on town borrowing unchanged. The building, originally priced at more than $800,000, had been cut from plans for the new firehouse in order to save money. A new design brought price down to an estimated $350,000, and the Firehouse Committee will use the next few months to raise more funds and refine cost estimates.

The final item on the agenda, to amend Section 84-I.A of the Town Ordinance, may sound like a snoozer but reflects considerable discussion among members of the Inland Wetlands Agency and Stacey Sefcik, who serves as the wetlands enforcement officer. The proposed ordinance would simplify the permit structure, set a sliding scale for activities that occur in wetland areas, and penalize those who file for permits after the fact. It also sets fees for public hearings and identifies cost parameters for expert review.