Selectman’s Corner

Tirrell Enthusiastic About New Norfolk Role By Henry Tirrell First off, I want to thank Matt Riiska for his eight years of service as first selectman and for his previous and ongoing volunteerism in the town of Norfolk. I know how much time and effort he put into the job, especially through some challenging times. […]

Selectman’s Corner

Adding up the Numbers for Norfolk By Matt RiiskaAs my time as first selectman winds down, the projects go on. And on. The water main replacement project on Shepard Road has been completed, but the replacement work will continue Sunset Ridge and Sunset Hill. Other projects that are on the schedule are the Mountain Road […]

Selectman’s Corner

Speed Surveillance in Norfolk and Project Hand-Offs at Town Hall By Matt Riiska Traffic speed and road work have been the major talking points of many of my submissions for almost eight years. Speed bumps are not the only answer for reducing speeding on our roads. No matter how much I plead with motorists to […]

Selectman’s Corner

An Announcement and Lots of Work Still to be Done By Matt Riiska I have made the decision not to run again for first selectman this fall. This was not an easy decision, but being three months shy of my 70th birthday when I complete my fourth term, I have decided it is time. The […]

Selectman’s Corner

Smith Road Bridge Ready for Traffic  By Matt Riiska By the time you read this, the Smith Road temporary bridge will be open. I want to thank the Old Goshen Road and Smith Road residents for their patience during this long, and sometimes frustrating process. Our contractor Will Sweeney of Evergreen Construction did a fantastic […]

Selectman’s Corner

Lining Up Summer Projects  By Matt Riiska Summer is here and with that we have a number of projects to take care of. Good news, we have received approval from the CT-DEEP and the Army Core of Engineers to install the temporary bridge at Smith Road. This is great news. I want to thank the […]

Selectman’s Corner

Spring is Here and the Projects Never Seem to End One of the big projects for the town is the new fire house. The Fire House Committee has been working extremely hard to create a functional building that serves the needs of the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD), while being aware of the costs. Since […]

Selectman’s Corner

It’s a Waiting Game for Federal Funds By Matt Riiska With all the projects we currently have in process in Norfolk, I am asked if the federal budget cuts will affect our plans and what we can expect in the future. Federal funds received by the town are filtered through the State of Connecticut, so […]

Selectman’s Corner

Pondering the Town’s Financial Future By Matt Riiska It is budget time again, and for the next few months the selectmen and the Board of Finance will be drafting the budget for fiscal year 2025-26. There are many components of the budget, but the main items are the General Government, Botelle School, and Regional 7. […]

Selectman’s Corner

Blur of 2024, Resolutions for 2025 By Matt Riiska 2024 has been a blur. Many of our planned projects were completed, but too many are still ongoing. We hope that the new national administration coming will have little effect on the many projects we are planning or are currently working on. We will see. The […]