September 2, 2010
Board Vacancies
Now that children are going back to school and summer vacations have come to a close, I am hopeful that some of you will find some spare time to help serve your community. Colchester has several boards and commissions that need volunteers to step up and serve.
Having talked to many people about serving on an appointed board or commission, I can tell you that there is a preconceived notion that you need to be an expert on a subject to be qualified for a particular board. Please be assured that nothing is farther from the truth. The Board of Selectmen looks to appoint a diverse range of talent to all boards and previous experience is not required in most cases.
We currently have some openings on the Sewer and Water Commission that need to be filled. You do not have to be part of the sewer and water district to serve nor do you have to have experience in this area. Even if you are not served by the town sewer and water system, it still has a large impact on your community.
If more economic development is to be achieved in Colchester, it will likely require an expansion of the sewer and water system. The Sewer and Water Commission plays an integral part in any potential expansion and therefore has a key role in our economic future.
I am asking anyone who wants to help Colchester design and build our infrastructure to meet the needs of the future to consider applying for the Sewer and Water Commission. There are other boards with openings as well. Anyone interested in applying or finding out more information can go to the town website at www.colchesterct.gov or call my office at 537-7220.
Infrastructure
One of the areas often ignored, but vitally important is our infrastructure. In order to provide necessary services to the town, we must utilize vehicles, equipment, and facilities. Just like with your vehicle or home, these assets must be maintained in order to ensure they remain functional. We also need to plan for the eventual improvement or replacement of vehicles and facilities.
Over the last several months, we have been working hard to develop a comprehensive vehicle plan that will determine what our needs are, when vehicles should be replaced, and a financial plan to support this. We have an aging fleet of vehicles which have not been able to serve us as well as we would like. Additionally, our cost to maintain this old equipment has skyrocketed to a point where we must address the issue.
A few weeks ago, we presented the first part of our vehicle plan to the Board of Finance. Although we still have a lot more work to do on the entire fiscal plan, we were able to make some decisions that will have an immediate impact. I recommended a downsizing of our highway and parks and recreation fleet of vehicles through selling eight older vehicles and purchasing 5 new ones. Fortunately, we have been putting away some money for exactly these types of purchases and now was the time to act. In addition to downsizing our fleet, we will see sizeable savings by not having to maintain the old equipments and increased efficiency by giving our employees the tools they need to do their job.
There are other areas of our infrastructure that I want to address in the near future, particularly our facilities. As I make progress on those areas, I’ll be sure to keep everyone informed.
- Gregg Schuster
First Selectman
Previous Selectman Notes can be viewed at
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