January 26, 2012
Police Coverage To Be Discussed
On Wednesday, February 1 at 6:30 PM at Cragin Library, the Board of Finance will be hosting an open discussion on police coverage. Currently, Colchester has first and second shift coverage with local officers. The third (midnight) shift is covered by troopers on their regular patrol from Troop K. These troopers are not dedicated to Colchester and patrol other towns as well.
Last summer, we had the available manpower to run some occasional third shift patrols to see what activity is occurring during that time period. At the open discussion, the Police Commission will be presenting the results of those patrols and what their plan is for bringing 24/7 local police coverage to Colchester. Of course, there is a cost associated with this plan and it will take approximately three years to fully implement.
In 2005, the town formed the Police Task Force who was charged to look at these types of issues. One of their recommendations was that Colchester should strive for 24/7 coverage. We are now in a position where we have to determine as a town if we want to proceed and fund that objective.
The open discussion is designed to get feedback directly from the public. Residents and business owners all have a vested interest in the policing of our community and I hope we will have a good turnout. After all, this is your community and we need to know your opinion on this matter.
Potential Bond Items Discussed
The Board of Finance and Board of Selectmen have begun discussing some items for a potential bond question on the May budget referendum. We are scheduled to see a drop in our debt service, so this discussion is coming at an opportune time.
There are three pieces of fire apparatus being discussed. First is the refurbishment of the heavy rescue vehicle which responds to motor vehicle accidents and supports technical rescue operations. This vehicle is 20 years old and was designed to be refurbished at this point. This is a heavily used vehicle which is starting to show its age.
The second vehicle is an engine/tanker used for primary fire attack and would replace an older vehicle. The third vehicle is a tanker. Colchester is a rural community and only 10% of the town is supported by town water. This means that the fire department must move water to the scene of most fires and a tanker is critical to that operation. The proposed tanker would have a much higher capacity than the current one in operation.
Another item up for discussion is our roads. We have fallen way behind in our road maintenance due to many years of underfunding our road improvement budget. Over the last two years, we have made great strides in increasing the amount in the budget and we are almost where we need to be to sustain operations. However, the damage has been done and we are looking at a bond issuance to give us the funds to bring the roads to their proper level.
All of these items will be discussed over the next few months as we continue the budget process. I urge everyone to get involved by taking the online budget survey, coming to a meeting, or sending in your thoughts.
- Gregg Schuster
First Selectman
Previous Selectman Notes can be viewed at
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