July 26, 2012
Prescription Drug Drop Box
Last week, a secure drop box was added to the lobby of the police office in Town Hall. The drop box is available during regular business hours for all residents to dispose of their old medications in a safe and confidential manner. The box can not be accessed by anyone other than the police. Once the box is full, the contents are driven to a collection point where they will be incinerated.
Old medicine left in the home can lead to serious issues. Many times, minors gain access to these drugs and it becomes their gateway into more serious, illegal drugs. In fact, prescription drug abuse often leads to heroin which is an extremely addictive drug.
We have had several successful prescription drug take back days. Since this is such an important issue, we have decided to make this an ongoing option for residents. Please take the time to gather up your old prescription drugs and dispose of them properly. Keeping these drugs away from children can help prevent exposure to these and other illegal drugs.
This would not be possible without the generous support of the Colchester Business Association and the Colchester Lions who jointly purchased the drop box. I want to thank them for their support for this endeavor and all the other support they give to the community.
Energy Savings Project
For the last several months, Colchester has been actively pursuing an energy savings project that would impact nearly all town and school facilities. The project utilizes performance contracting with an Energy Services Company (ESCO) which guarantees us a certain level of energy savings in order to cover our financing costs. If we do not achieve the energy savings guaranteed, the ESCO must write us a check for the difference. After going through an RFP process, the town has selected Honeywell for the project.
We have completed the latest phase of the project where an investment grade audit was completed. This audit details the potential areas of energy savings, the associated cost of the improvement, and the simple payback period. The Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, and Board of Education all met to discuss this project last month and hear the initial report from our consultant and Honeywell.
Overall, this is shaping up to be a good project. The next step is for the boards to identify the specific improvements we want to pursue. Inevitably, some of the potential energy savings options are not feasible or we believe would not be fiscally prudent to move forward on.
We also need to discuss how to finance this project. The overall project will be budget neutral as all savings go to the financing of the project. However, any savings above what is projected will go directly to the town and school.
In short, it’s a low risk project with the potential for cost savings, energy use reduction, and capital improvements associated with energy savings. I will keep everyone informed as we progress to a point when the town will have to decide if we want to proceed with the project.
- Gregg Schuster
First Selectman
Previous Selectman Notes can be viewed at
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