From the First Selectman's Desk

This is my 4th attempt to send this as it would not post last evening (4x)...internet issues at town hall.

Another storm moves through our area this weekend bringing moderate to heavy rainfall. The forecast is predicting a wide band of 2-4 inches of rainfall across our area Saturday into Saturday night. The entire state is expected to get anywhere from 2.0 to over 4.0 inches of rain, so please take precautions and drive slowly if you find yourself on the roads tomorrow. Flooded areas are expected. 

Monday began with an inspirational talk by UCONN women’s head basketball coach Geno Auriemma, who was the keynote speaker at the Middlesex County’s Chamber of Commerce March breakfast meeting. He certainly knows how to motivate his players as listening to him speak had the entire audience inspired! I hope you have both the UCONN women and UCONN men’s teams in your final four and of course, as Champs! Go UCONN!

Tuesday evening before attending the (long) Board of Finance budget workshop, I had the honor of participating in the grand opening celebration of Deep River Garden Club’s Free Seed Library. I was the official ribbon cutter! What a wonderful addition to the town; another great example of volunteers at work to make Deep River a better place. Garden club co-presidents Sarah Layton and Nicole Desrosiers, worked tirelessly to make their vision a reality. Past president Roberta Sciacca and her husband John, contributed their time and talents to make the box container and Kayla Howard added the graphics. The box itself is repurposed; made from a former end table! Sarah explained that the idea came about as they had seen all of the free book libraries springing up around town and thought a seed library where people can take seeds and donate seeds was needed. So far, I am told that they have received seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co., 3 Porch Seed, and Burpee via the UConn Master Gardener Program. If you have any seeds to donate, all types and varieties are welcome. The seed library is located in the back parking lot of the library. For all the gardeners out there; please consider planting an extra row in your garden to give away. Remember the Deep River food pantry by donating your extra fresh produce. For more information on the seed library go to the DR Garden Club’s web site. http://Deep River Garden Club

Wednesday evening, although I was late, I headed to the Deep River Historical Society members’ potluck dinner. The spread of food, desserts and beverages was amazing. Congratulations to the newly elected president, Jerry Roberts. The keynote speaker was DRHS member Veronica Makowsky, who spoke about the life of Ada Southworth Munson, who donated her family home to the DR Historical Society. Veronica did a wonderful job inviting the audience to know this woman that lived in town and gave so generously to preserve our history. However, it was discovered that we do not know a lot about her life as no actual writings, letters, or correspondence have been found. The historical society would love to speak to anyone that has more information on Ada Munson so that they can ‘fill in the blanks’ of her life. The DRHS is an integral partner in our community, however, it is a private non-profit corporation that receives no funding from the town. They survive on donations and fundraising efforts. Please consider becoming a member and helping preserve our town’s history. Learn more about how you can get involved by visiting their web page.   http://Home - Deep River Historical Society

Thursday, was the meeting of the Lower Connecticut River Land Trust. Their mission is to work to conserve, study, steward, and promote the unique values and scientific significance, natural and working lands, and historic, ecologic, cultural, and scenic resources of the communities of the Lower Connecticut River Valley. They support the Conservation Needs of the Land Trusts and Communities of the Lower Connecticut River Region which consists of 13 land trusts and the Gateway Commission, 17 member municipalities of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments (RiverCOG), and all other conservation and community organizations that serve the conservation needs of the lower river region who wish to become members.https://www.lcrlt.org/

I attended the final DRES Board of Education budget meeting. They will be presenting their budget to the Board of Finance and BOS in early April (4/2). They are requesting a 4.39% increase over last year’s budget. Read all about this on the Region 4 web site.https://www.reg4.k12.ct.us/

Speaking of the BOE: The referendum for the John Winthrop Mold remediation project will take place on Tuesday, March 26th. Please come out and vote. We need to take action to get the 7th and 8th grade students back into their school.

On April 1st @ 7 pm, there will be a Region 4 public hearing on their proposed budget. Region 4’s budget request is 6.02% (1.3 million) over last year. The Region 4 public hearing will take place @ 7pm at VRHS. Come let your voices be heard.

After leaving the BOE meeting, I hurried back to Town Hall and caught the last half of the Planning and Zoning meeting. I am always amazed at the amount of knowledge and dedication that these volunteers have who are serving on the various boards and commissions. We are so lucky.

I ended my week with a ‘First Selectman Fridays’ morning get together. I enjoyed chatting with the Deep River residents who joined me at The Nest as part of the monthly gathering.  It is always so great to have a chance to sit down for a casual conversation. I will be scheduling another one of these early gatherings for April. If you can’t get in to the Town Hall during regular business hours, please plan to stop by at one of these morning ‘meet and greet’ sessions to say hello. Usually they run from 7:15-8:30 am.

As I was writing this, I had the good fortune to catch Deep River Girl Scout Troop 61050, selling cookies in front of Pizzeria DaVincis. Of course, being a former Scout and a cookie lover, I had to run over and make a purchase! They have plans to set up at other local locations, so plan to stop by and support the troop. They were planning to be at the Rusty Rail tomorrow, but due to the rain, have canceled. They will be outside the Old Saybrook Hardware store on 3/30 and 4/13, and then will return to Deep River locations on 4/19 @ DaVincis and 4/20 @ the Rusty Rail.

Carol