4/5/2024 A Message from First Selectman Bindelglass
Good afternoon,
Yes, we did have an earthquake today! It was recorded at 4.8 and was centered near Newark, NJ. Fortunately, there was no damage. The appropriate infrastructure inspections such as the reservoir dams are being carried out.
Tuesday night we held a combined meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance to discuss the EMS project. The first step is to purchase land next to the current building so that we can expand the septic system and open a pathway to the side of the EMS building so that ambulances can enter and leave there instead of having to pull out directly on to Sport Hill Road. The town has negotiated the purchase of the land and our attorney presented that agreement including how the town was safeguarded from any potential contamination of the land. This was so that everyone would have access to this information in keeping with the transparency you have come to expect. We will keep you updated on the completion of the purchase. I can assure you that I will do everything I can to safeguard the towns’ interests. The building committee will also be selecting an architect to design the renovation next week. The exterior structure must stay intact so the design is limited to rearranging the garages on the first floor, and continuing living quarters, meeting rooms, and offices on the second floor.
We anticipate that the total cost of the project is $3.7 million. The state has granted us $396,270 (the grant we just accepted unanimously at the recent town meeting), the EMS trustees have raised approximately $700,000, and we hope to be able to use $2 million of federal ARPA fund. That would leave the town to contribute less than $1 million which would ideally be voted on in the fall. This introduces significant complexity merging four separate funding sources, but if successful would give us a modern facility for less than one million dollars of tax payer money, while our neighbors have had to ask their taxpayers for 6 or 7 million dollars or more for modern facilities. With the complexity comes some risk as there is a tight time schedule for the utilization of the ARPA funds, so it is possible that a bigger town contribution will be necessary. If we went that route we would find a simpler use for the ARPA fund which we could expend before the year-end deadline.
The Board of Finance signed off on the budget which will be presented at the Annual Town Meeting on April 29, and voted on May 7. The total increase is 2.87%. I urge you to read about surrounding towns’ budgets and I think you will see that this compares quite favorably. In these inflationary times, I commend our department heads, boards of education and our board of finance for a responsible budget which meets our needs. A tremendous amount of work and a collaborative effort made this possible. Once this is accepted, the board will meet to set the mill rate.
We will be sending out applications from the Assessor’s office to all previous recipients of senior tax relief. The overview of the tax relief programs will be published in the May edition of the Senior Center’s newsletter. The information and links to print the applications are available on the Assessor’s age on the town website under Tax Relief Programs. This is a great benefit to our seniors and we hope to reach all eligible seniors so they can take advantage of the tax relief.
Just a friendly reminder, if you received a radon test from the health department, please make sure you complete the test and return it to the Aspetuck Health Department, 180 Bayberry Lane, Westport. The test is really only valid during the winter months when windows are mostly closed, so there is urgency in doing the test now. Many picked up the tests but few have been returned.
The Center for Family Justice invites you to its 12th Annual Walk A Mile In Her Shoes, on April 27th. Registration begins at 8:00am at the Downtown Fairfield Train Station and the walk will commence at 9:00am. Please visit www.bit.ly/cfjwam24 to register, $25 for adults, $10 for students and children 10 and under are free.
Save the date! On April 27, from 10 AM to 1 PM there will be a touch a truck event to raise money for our sister city of Sviatohirsk, Ukraine. There will be a food truck, games, raffle and plenty of trucks to view and explore.
It looks like we should get a pretty good view of the solar eclipse on Monday. Please be careful, and especially emphasize safety to your children.
Have a great weekend,
Dave