First Selectman’s Report as Delivered January 23, 2012

Simsbury Honors Martin Luther King Day with Ceremony at Eno Hall

The Town of Simsbury took a moment to reflect on the remarkable life of Dr. Martin Luther King last Monday, Jan. 16, in a ceremony at Eno Hall attended by more than 100 of our residents. In addition to an actor’s portrayal of Dr. King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, the ceremony featured music from our high school’s jazz ensemble and choir, as well as readings and remarks from local residents and local clergy.

Our students have been working hard to raise money to erect a statue to Dr. King, and their efforts took a major step forward Jan. 16 with a gift of $20,000 for the statue from Cigna. I’d like to congratulate the students for their role in raising awareness of the significant contributions Dr. King made in the battle against racism and discrimination in our country. Dr. King spent some formative years of his life here in Simsbury, and it is particularly appropriate that our community is committed to remembering him.

I’d like to thank John Hampton who chaired the 2012 MLK Jr. in Simsbury Committee, and the committee members, including:

Angela Griffin

Pam MacDonald

Sara Batchelder

James Flynn

Tara Willerup

TJ Donohue

Nicole Beyer

Rick Wagner

Amy Zeiner

They organized and presented a very successful remembrance.

Town of Simsbury Moves Forward to Identify Specific Action Items in Response to the Recent Storms

Two events last week the Town of Simsbury focused on what steps can be taken at the state and local level to better prepare for an emergency.

Gov. Dannel Malloy chose Simsbury as his venue to announce, on January 11, 2012, his state-level initiatives to improve storm readiness and response in both the public and private sectors. The governor’s visit here demonstrated his personal recognition that Simsbury and the Farmington Valley were the hardest hit areas in winter storm Alfred, and that we also faced significant flooding and power outages with storm Irene only weeks before.

Last week our own public safety committee took the necessary steps to ensure that our review of the town’s emergency response efforts — which included a public hearing to make sure our residents had a meaningful opportunity for input — will be translated into action steps.

Specific initiatives have been identified and members of the public safety committee will be working directly with town staff to prioritize those initiatives and see that they are implemented.

I would like to thank the members of the public safety committee and a much larger community of employees, dedicated public servants and town residents for helping us to ensure that our review and recommendation process has been well-informed and designed to identify meaningful opportunities for improvement.

2012-2013 Budget Process is Underway

Town of Simsbury department heads have submitted their budgets to the director of finance and our internal review process is underway. Later on this evening we will confirm dates for budget workshops designed to give this board a meaningful opportunity to review and respond to proposed budgets.

(2012 Budget Workshop Calendar — all meetings in Main Meeting Room at 6 p.m.:

• Feb. 15 – Review of Capital Improvement Plan         
• Feb. 27 – Review Library, Social Services, Land Use/EDC         
• Feb. 28 – Review Parks and Recreation, Public Works         
• Feb. 29 – Review Public Safety, General Government         
• March 1 – reserved if needed)

Town staff is taking the opportunity to do some goal-setting as part of this process — an exercise to ensure that we’re focused on doing the right thing with taxpayer funds even as we continue to struggle with tough economic conditions.

As budget information becomes available, it will be posted on the town’s website budget page. You can find the budget page link on the bottom of the website’s front page, and I would encourage residents to visit the site as we move through the process.

CL&P Schedules Work on Transmission Lines in Simsbury

CL&P recently informed Simsbury residents that it is resuming work on the repair of the town’s electric transmission structure that it began in 2011. According to CL&P, work resumed last week and is expected to be completed by late March, 2012. 

The letter CL&P sent to residents states that electric service to homes and businesses will not be affected. There is the possibility of some disruption as a result of the construction, and if you have any questions about the work, you can call CL&P’s transmission information line at 800-793-2202 during regular 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. business hours, or you can send an e-mail to transmissioninfo@nu.com.

(The work is planned for sections of a transmission right-of-way in the north east corner of Simsbury. The line runs from the town border with Bloomfield, near Hayes Road, and Firetown Road.)