Hartford Balks at Norfolk-Colebrook Regional Plan
By Wiley Wood The current legislative session in Hartford lasts until June 3, but it seems unlikely that the State Department of Education will endorse a proposal between now and then that will allow the Norfolk-Colebrook regionalization plan to proceed. The two towns have worked for three years on an agreement that would allow them […]
Peppering Norfolk’s Roads With Chlorides
The high snowfalls and bitterly cold days of January and February have kept Norfolk’s snowplow drivers busy and made serious inroads on the town’s supply of road salt. As of mid-February, First Selectman Sue Dyer reports, the town had spent $130,000 on salt, or $30,000 more than budgeted. At $85/ton, the Public Works Department has […]
Funding Sought for Workforce Training Program
Young people leave the Northwest Corner because there are no jobs. And employers find the qualified workforce pretty thin. A new initiative, endorsed by the Board of Selectmen, would document the workforce skills needed by regional employers and coordinate with high schools, trade schools, community colleges and universities to see that appropriate training is available. […]
Town Starts Repair of Aging Sewer Pipes
The Norfolk Sewer District will reline the sewer pipes along Laurel Way this season. Green Mountain Pipeline Services of Vermont has been picked to perform the work, at a cost of $50–60,000, said Ronald Zanobi, chairman of the Sewer District, at a January 28 meeting. Norfolk’s sewer pipes are among the oldest in Connecticut. The […]
Back to Drawing Board for City Meadow Park
Construction faces at least six-month delay By Christopher Sinclair The project to transform the sunken wetland in Norfolk’s town center into a park and storm-water treatment site has been rebuffed by state and federal permitting authorities, according to Steven Trinkaus, the project’s consulting engineer. The plan received a $500,000 state grant in September 2014. It […]
It’s All About the Data
Consultant takes hard look at Norfolk market area By Wiley Wood No one opens a business these days—no bank will lend money to start a business—without taking a hard look at the existing demand. “The days of ‘build it and they will come’ are long gone,” says Michael Goman. Which is where the firm of […]
Norfolk Church Receives Grant
The Congregational Church of Christ in Norfolk has received a $1,500 grant from the Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut. The money will go into a discretionary fund, according to the Rev. Erick Olsen, the church’s pastor, and be used to restock the shelves of the Norfolk Food Pantry, housed in Battell Chapel. The grant will […]
Regionalization Effort Inches Forward
By Wiley Wood The Norfolk-Colebrook Regional Study Group met on January 15 to bring the neighboring towns a little closer to consolidating their primary schools under one roof, possibly as early as the fall of 2016. The process, endorsed by town referendums in the fall of 2012, is nearing the decision point. The study group’s […]
New Economic Development Consultants Named
Part of a Two-Year State Grant to Improve Northwest Corner Town Centers By Ruth Melville At the January meeting of Norfolk’s Economic Development Commission (EDC), Jocelyn Ayer, of the Northwest Hills Council of Governments (NHCOG), introduced the development consultants her council recently hired to consult with Norfolk, and seven other towns in this part of […]
Board of Finance Hears Fire Department Funding Request
Sconyers Calls for More Regional Coordination By Wiley Wood On January 13, at a regular meeting of the Board of Finance, the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) presented a request for $125,000 to replace an aging utility truck. Michael Sconyers, chairman of the Board of Finance, expressed his unwillingness to raise taxes or borrow money […]
