10/7/2008
My report to the Board of Selectmen
Ed Farrell continues to make progress. He is emailing his opinion on Town matters as he reads about them. I’ve begun forwarding emails to the appropriate agencies when I receive them.
We have made significant progress in negotiations for both the Clerical and Police Union contracts. More to follow
We’ve received a number of applications for the Assistant Planner/Zoning Enforcement Officer. The Planner and I are meeting Thursday to set interviews and get someone to fill that position. We also have applicants for the Treasurer’s position. Deadline for those applications is this Friday, and expect to start the interview process soon. Lastly, we have put a notice on our website and the local Community Colleges’ websites for recording secretaries. We have a limited pool of recording secretaries and I’m trying to address the shortage before we have a serious problem.
Clean up at the Annex continues although it has slowed some because of the increased demand for Human Services services. Selectman’s files have been moved to a room that, at least for now, is planned to be used as a central filing area for Town records. We have someone coming in tomorrow to clean a room that had broken windows and a door to the outside that would not stay closed so it had become occupied by birds, etc, hence the need for professional cleanup.
Our seniors represented East Windsor very well in the Wii Bowling Tournament at the Enfield Senior Center a couple of Saturdays ago. The Senior Center received a $1750 grant from United Way of North Central CT last month and purchase of a computer has been approved so that seniors will have use of a computer while at the Center. The seniors I spoke with are very excited about the prospect. Our goal is to bring more in-house programs to the Center for a couple of reasons. The cost of gas for the senior buses is so much higher than last year; we may need to look at staying closer to home or going over budget. Also, with the cost of heating oil, seniors may want to turn down their thermostats and come to the Center more. We have to heat it whether there are one or one hundred people using it,
might as well use the free heat.
Bids were opened for the CIP project of new windows and doors for the Town Hall. We will be awarding the bid this week and expect the work to be done before year end, hopefully before the snow flies.
If you recall, Mary Szabo was hired after her retirement to prepare the financial records for the auditor; that is on track for delivery to the auditors in early November.
We have begun centralized purchasing of our maintenance supplies and our office supplies. Both seem to be successful.
The Town Seals are in and will be distributed to everyone that has a Town vehicle that does not currently have Seals on it.
Laurie Whitten, Rand Stanley, Len Norton, the Police Chief and Captain and I met with representative of the Mill at Broad Brook site to walk the site and check the condition of the buildings since remediation of the site is expected to begin in 2009. The site is beautiful; buildings have been kept in great condition by the present owners, Hamilton Sunstrand.
The Police Department will be receiving a new police car soon and will be turning a car back to the Town for our use. I will then sit with those that need use of a Town vehicle to discuss ideas for policy around Town vehicles and how to handle the sharing/prioritizing of use of Town vehicles. I’ve requested use of cell phones & radios of those staff members that have one or both so that we can address the Bd of Finance’s directive to create policy for providing those to items to Town employees. I’m also gathering information about comp time for both questions we and the Board of Finance have. More to follow on all three of those items.
Barktoberfest was a success last Saturday, they raised approximately $1500. The BMX Park Committee’s next fund raiser is an October Fest this Saturday. Also this Saturday, a winetasting to benefit the Hal Kresge Foundation.
And finally, tomorrow is International Walk to School Day. All of you are welcome to walk from the Middle School to the Broad Brook School – walk begins at 9 am.
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