From the First Selectman's Desk

Grand Opening Block Party-Full Pen Fabrication-new business in the industrial park-5/4; 11-3 pm

DRES and DRFD- 2nd annual pasta dinner- 5/4

Essex Steam Train-“Day out with Thomas” 5/4 & 5/5

Final Region 4 BOE Public Hearing on proposed 2024-2025 budget- Monday, 5/6

Region 4 Budget referendum-Tuesday, 5/7 12:00pm- 8:00pm

Winthrop Cemetery Volunteer cleanup day-50th year! - 5/11

DR Parks and Recreation Fishing Derby-5/11, ages 5-15

Deep River Congregational Church hosts a baby shower to benefit the women’s shelter- 5/18, 3-5pm. 

The Nest’s, Lantern Illumination Celebration-5/18 @ Valley Regional

Tri-Town Youth Services- “Free the Stigma, Scoop the Solution”- Free ice cream social, 5/18, 2-5 pm.

Honor Run- supporting Stand Down for Veterans 2024-5/18. Registration begins @10 am @ the Sobieski Club  

Town Meeting to Vote on Deep River’s budget-Monday, 5/20

*Winthrop Memorial Day Parade-Sunday, 5/26 @1pm.

*Deep River Memorial Parade -Monday, 5/27 @ 9 am.

*DR P & R Music Festival- ‘Route 154 Fest’-6/22-6/23 more details to follow

 

What a great week weather wise and work wise. I saw many folks out and about around town and many more at our annual town meeting where the proposed fiscal year 24-25 budget was presented. A big shout out and thank you to the Board of Finance who worked so hard and made some tough decisions in putting together next year’s budget.

Sunday-A wonderful bus trip to NYC with so many friendly folks on a trip sponsored by Deep River P & R. I was able to catch the Broadway Show, “A Beautiful Noise”; music and story by singer/songwriter, Neil Diamond. P & R once again did a fantastic job and the weather cooperated so that we could all enjoy the day in the city. Please support these trips so that P & R can continue to offer them.

Monday-Met with two residents and attended the WPCA budget meeting. The official job offer made to the new Part time Assistant Social Service Director was made and accepted. I met with our building official, Dick Leighton about the deteriorating plaster ceiling on the stage of the town hall auditorium. He performed a visual inspection and deemed the area a safety issue and closed it for future use. I reached out to Jerry Roberts at the DRHS for assistance in finding a qualified person who specializes in historic buildings who could do a more thorough inspection to determine the scope of repairs necessary. Stay tuned for more on this. If you are, or if you know of, someone who could help out in this area, please call my office.  The Public Works Director discussed the RFP’s that were received and publicly opened on Friday @ noon for the spring paving projects. He will be awarding the contract shortly.

Tuesday- I attended via Zoom a meeting with state personnel who presented the draft statewide Plan of Conservation and Development. It was quite interesting. Deep River is currently working on their own plan as required. I had a meeting with our Town Attorney and Finance Director; and later with one of the newly appointed members of the transfer station committee. Tuesday evening, we held the annual town meeting to present the proposed fiscal year 24-25 budget.

The meeting was well attended but always room for more! This is a tough year; difficult decisions had to be made in order to keep the impact to our residents to a minimum. Even with all of the cuts that each department was asked to make, we are proposing a 1.5 mill tax increase. It pains us to have to raise taxes but costs have gone up in every department plus the impact of the Region 4 school budget is hitting us hard. The total education expenditures for Deep River PreK-12, is a 4.13% increase over last year which equals $579,692.00. This is essentially a 1 mill increase. However, the budget for DRES expenditures is relatively flat at 0.02%. It is the Supervision District budget coming in at 8.97% over last year that is driving these numbers. Your voice can still be heard to get the Supervision District budget reopened and possibly reduced. There is one final chance, on Monday evening, May 6th, the BOE will have a final public meeting on the budget before voting to take it to referendum on Tuesday, May 7th. Please plan to vote on Tuesday and tell your friends. Typically, a budget referendum draws only about 200-300 people from Deep River. The ‘pay as you throw’ proposal drew about 400 of you out to share your views and vote. Let’s turn out for the Region 4 budget meeting (5/6) and vote (5/7), and again for our town budget vote (coming up on May 20th) in these larger numbers. Your voice matters! Review the various school budgets here: http://2024-2025 Budgets - Regional School District #4 (reg4.k12.ct.us)

Following the Town meeting, the BOF and BOS held a quick meeting and voted to move the budget to the May 20th town vote. You may find the complete proposed town budget here: http://2024-2025 Proposed Budget Now Available To View | Deep River CT

Wednesday-We held a staff meeting to welcome our new Parks and Recreation Director, Mike McDowell. Each department gave an update and we enjoyed some fruit and bagels brought in by our tax collector. Thank you, Kate! My weekly meeting with our Resident State Trooper, Steve Krause was productive. We spoke about the ongoing issue with speeding on town roads. He mentioned a specific issue with a motorcycle spotted by many residents traveling at a high rate of speed at sporadic times of day and night. To date, no one has been able to grab a license plate to help law enforcement with tracking down this individual. If you are able to gather more specific information, please call Troop F to report it. I also mentioned that I am working with our public works department to install ‘no parking signs’ on the corner of Village and Main as folks parking their cars on both sides of Village very close to the intersection is a real problem and is creating a safety issue.  And, it is against the law. Please remember that you should always park at least 25 feet from an intersection. The Deep River police has been asked to start enforcement. Union Street was also discussed; I will be reaching out to residents on this street shortly.

Also on Wednesday, I had a meeting with RiverCog personnel about State and Federal grants such as CTDOT grants. That evening, I attended the Deep River POCD committee meeting. That group has done so much work and is putting their finishing touches on the Plan of Conservation and Development. The mission of Planning and Zoning as listed on the town web site “has two distinctly different but closely related responsibilities: maintaining our Plan of Development and monitoring zoning regulations. Every ten years, preliminary to updating the Plan, we ask residents to respond to a questionnaire. With those results and our experience as a guide we work with planners from RiverCOG (Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments) to revise this document, which sets forth our goals for orderly growth, an appropriate ratio of residential, commercial and industrial zones and proper use of our open space and riverfront. In between Plan revisions we see to the nuts and bolts of our work, which consists of approving applications for subdivisions and commercial development, as well as fine tuning our regulations to see that their focus ensures adherence to the Plan…”  Once the plan is complete, it will be presented to the town for input and comment. The P & Z meetings, like all town meetings, are open to the public

Thursday – finishing touches were put on Memorial Day plans; much time spent answering emails, returning phone calls and speaking with our department heads about budget concerns. Warrior in the Community Day is approaching, 5/24 (RD 5/23) so plans were reviewed with the public works department. I took a walk at lunch and enjoyed catching up with some residents and shop owners.

Friday- worked on coding bills, answering emails and completing paperwork for DEMHS, as well as so much more to bring me to 6:30 pm when I am typing this. Time certainly flies.

 

                Reminder to learn about the regulations and definitions for recreational freshwater and saltwater fishing in Connecticut. Free print versions of state guidebooks are available in the Town Clerk’s office. Digital versions can be found on the DEEP Fisheries Division web page (http://CT Fishing) or download the free app ‘FISHBRAIN’, where the regulations are geo-referenced by waterbody.

 

          A reminder that revaluations are completed every five years in conformity with the Connecticut General Statutes and Revaluation Performance Standards. A revaluation will begin this summer. Development and updating of information are conducted on an ongoing basis, including modernization of computerized records of real estate, personal property and motor vehicles. Duties are performed in compliance with State of Connecticut mandated General Statutes.

       The Assessor’s office also administers many other programs. Please go on the town web site to the assessor’s page, to see you if you qualify for any of these programs such as veterans’ exemptions, farmland exemption, or renter’s rebate to name a few. As these programs come up throughout the year, their office provides information in the Town’s local newsletter as well as updated on the website. The Deep River Town Assessor is available to explain and discuss assessments, revaluations and available programs.  Please email them at  http://assessor@deepriverct.us or call the town hall.

 

Yes, the work has begun on the much-anticipated solar farm which will be installed on the left side of the driveway leading to the highway garage. The installation will be ongoing with plans to be operational by October. Exciting news. The town has entered into a 20-year lease arrangement with Verogy and will realize a monthly rent payment totaling some 44K a year in revenue.

The Deep River Elementary 6th grade class raised OVER $7,600.00 to drill a well in Uganda. THEY DID IT!! The village of Akwondongi, Uganda will have access to clean water because of 22 DRES students who gave their time, dedication and diligence to the cause. They would like to thank the amazing Deep River community for coming out and showing up- in the cold, in the rain, online and in-person. Because of everyone’s efforts, the students were able to achieve this incredible feat. I, along with the whole Deep River community, am so proud of these young adults for being part of project that has such a powerful, positive impact! With all of the bad and negative news out there, it is so refreshing to hear about these awesome students and their teachers. Thank you!!  

 

Congratulates Chef Andrew in his new role as Head Chef! Andrew has been in the industry for over 10 years and has been at the Red House for about a year. He is passionate about cooking and creates delicious recipes and food! Make sure you stop in and congratulate Andrew on his new position and grab a seasonal drink and a meal. You won’t be disappointed. The Red House is also exited about their new Spring/Summer Menu additions. Go check it out!

 

Plan to be in town and help pay tribute to all of the members of the military who have served and who are no longer with us. The two annual parades will again be held; one in Winthrop on Sunday, 5/26 @ 1:00pm and the other, downtown on Monday morning, 5/27, @ 9 am. Please plan to attend the parades as a way to honor those who have served our great country. More information will be shared as the dates get closer.

 

The 2nd annual pasta dinner fundraiser is back. Join in the fun and support these two great causes. Saturday, May 4th dinner will be served in three seatings: 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30 pm. The cost is $20 per adult, $15 for Seniors, and kids eat free.  To-Go plates are available. There will be a 50/50 raffle as well as a silent auction. The dinner will be held at the Deep River Fire House @ 57 Union Street. Questions? Please call 860-304-3132.

 

Tri-Town Youth Services- as part of prevention week is holding a “Free the Stigma, Scoop the Solution”- ice cream social on May 18th from 2-5 pm. This is a free event and will be held at the Tri-Town Youth Building at 56 High Street.     

 

Patch and T-Mobile are partnering to http://celebrate local Star Students who make life better with contributions big and small. Do you know an outstanding student you’d like the rest of Essex-Chester-Deep River to know about, too? http://Nominate them using their simple form, and they'll take care of the rest!

 

This popular event returns on Saturday, May 18th @ 6:30 pm at Valley Regional High School. The event is held to ‘Light the Way for People of all Abilities.’ Plan to join in this magical evening of creativity and light. This year’s celebration includes:

The event will take place at Valley Regional HS in Deep River and culminate with a massive display of lit lanterns folks can view close up! Bonus this year is that all lanterns can be taken home to display for years to come!
More details can be found at http://Lantern Illumination Celebration – A Little Compassion

 

All are invited to a baby shower, hosted by Deep River Congregational Church’s (DRCC) Board of Christian Service, to support Safe Futures women’s shelter in New London. The shower will be held on Saturday, May 18, from 3-5pm at the church. The public is invited to participate in this community effort to help moms and their babies who are being protected at the shelter. DRCC will provide food, games, and fellowship.

To attend, please RSVP by May 11 to Andrea Chiappa with DRCC at http://andreaeva3@gmail.com.

The event is free. However, participants are asked to bring one or more items from the following list:

Deep River Congregational Church is located at One Church Street in Deep River, CT.  For more information, visit http://deeprivercc.org.

 

River Valley Dance Project (RVDP) is inviting the public to join them for an afternoon of dance! RVDP students will perform a beautiful concert for friends and family on May 4th at 2 pm. No tickets required but they kindly ask for a donation which will go towards their student scholarship fund. Due to the issues with the DR Town Hall Auditorium Stage, the event has been moved to the Chester Meeting House, located @ 4 Liberty St, in Chester. To learn more about RVDP please visit their web page @http://www.rivervalleydanceproject.com

There will be an Honor Ride on Saturday, May 18th to support Veterans who served and who need our help. $20.00 per person includes live music and a picnic lunch. This event will benefit ‘Helping Hands of Deep River’, a 501(C)(3) non-profit supporting homeless and low-income veterans. Registration begins at 10:00 am @ the Sobieski Club, 10 Woodland Road, Deep River. Kickstands up @ 11:00 am for the Poker Run. Stops include the American Legion in Old Saybrook, the Landing & Main restaurant in Deep River, Docs Bar & Grill in Clinton and Road Runners in Higganum. Live Music will be provided by Jackhammer. There will also be vendors and raffles. The picnic will begin at 2:00 pm.

 

Hazardous Waste Collection-

These events are free to Deep River residents. Be prepared to show id for proof of residency. For more information or questions about what is accepted, please go to http://www.rivercog.org

 

I wanted to offer this information now that we are all starting to enjoy the great outdoors again and starting up our grills. Some ground beef sold at Walmart stores is being recalled over E.Coli concerns. The following was taken from a news article, “Officials are concerned that some of the recalled products, sold at Walmart’s nationwide, may be in consumers' refrigerators or freezers. A Pennsylvania-based company has recalled more than 16,000 pounds of ground beef products shipped to Walmart locations nationwide due to concerns the meat may be contaminated with E.coli, the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service has announced. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase",  the agency said in its announcement. The raw ground beef items were produced by Cargill Meat Solutions on April 26 and 27; the following products are subject to recall [http://you can view labels here]:

 

Finally, a big thank you to a very generous donor who stopped into the Parks and Recreation office earlier this week and presented the staff with a check for 5000.00 dollars to be used solely for camp scholarships. They asked that it not be used all at once but rather spread out over several years so that more children could benefit from our youth summer camp. They asked to remain anonymous. Their child had a great P & R camp experience and they wanted to make sure other children had the opportunity to attend camp. Gifts like this mean so much to our town as budgets are tight and with this generous donation, and the price of camp, some 25+ children will be able to attend camp in the years to come. Thank you so much! 

 

Please enjoy your weekend. Spring weather is promised although Sunday may bring rain.

 

Carol