Appeals Board Grants Relief
By Susan MacEachron The Board of Assessment Appeals held three sessions in March for Norfolk residents seeking to dispute the assessed value of their personal property or real estate. The three-member board lowered assessed values for 23 homeowners for a total reduction in the Grand List of approximately $750,000. Chair Walter Godlewski said 33 people […]
Selectmen Consider Motor Vehicle Valuations, Draft Budget
By Avice Meehan A new method for valuing motor vehicles for tax purposes, a first look at the budget for fiscal 2025-26 and the challenges of dealing with multiple bridge projects were all on the agenda for the March 5 meeting of the Board of Selectmen. See related stories in this issue about meetings of […]
Norfolk’s Regional School Assessment to Drop
By Avice Meehan Norfolk’s Board of Finance and other residents had a first-hand opportunity to dive into the details of the proposed Northwestern Regional 7 budget for 2025-26 during March 26 workshop presentation held in the Botelle Elementary School cafeteria. The proposed budget for the regional middle and high school is $22,629,264, an overall increase […]
The Manor House and a Tiny House- Two Public Hearings at P&Z
By Susan MacEachron The application by the owners of the Manor House to build a day spa generated a significant number of letters and emails to the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z). P&Z decided that the Feb. 11 continuation of the public hearing would be limited to reading all such correspondence into the record with […]
Budget, Road Projects, School Topics for Selectmen
By Ruth Melville The 2025/26 budget season is here, and at the Feb. 5 meeting of the Board of Selectmen First Selectman Matt Riiska reported that about half the departmental budgets have been received, along with several requests from outside organizations that the town supports. The next meeting of the Board of Selectmen,March 5, will […]
Design Changes Bring Firehouses Budget to $8.3 Million
Federal support no longer assured By Joe Kelly Instead of a metal roof, Norfolk’s new firehouse will likely be topped by asphalt shingles. The hose-drying tower won’t be so towering. Stone veneer siding along the base will disappear. Firetrucks will enter and exit through traditional (and less expensive) over-head doors. Carpeting? Furniture? It will be […]
Connecticut Still Counting on Federal Funds for Norfolk Projects
The long game of infrastructure funding By Avice Meehan The nuts and bolts of how the federal government reimburses the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CT-DOT) for road and bridge projects around Litchfield might seem an arcane topic. It might interest a first selectman or the Northwest Hills Council of Governments, but that’s usually all. Yet […]
Board of Education Hears from Former Consolidation Facilitator
By Avice Meehan Jonathan Costa had one piece of advice for Norfolk as a whole, and specifically for members of the Board of Education and the Board of Selectmen: speed is not your friend. Costa acted as a facilitator in the unsuccessful 2015 effort to bring Botelle Elementary School and the Colebrook Consolidated School into […]
Selectmen Discuss School Consolidation and Town Projects
By Ruth Melville The major topic of discussion at the Board of Selectmen’s first meeting of the year was the possible consolidation of the Botelle and Colebrook elementary schools. A previous plan to consolidate the two schools was rejected by Colebrook voters in 2015. Representing Botelle School at the Jan. 8 meeting were John DeShazo, […]
Cold Night – Brief Meeting for Wetlands Agency
By Susan MacEachron The Inland Wetlands Agency (Wetlands) meeting on Jan. 6 began inauspiciously with agency members standing in the frigid town parking lot, locked out of Town Hall. The only person with a key, Wetlands Enforcement Officer Stacey Sefcik, was on vacation. First Selectman Matt Riiska responded to a call for his assistance with […]
