From the First Selectman's Desk
Posted on: April 5, 2024 - 9:47pm
What a week! It started sunny and warm, got rainy and cold and ended today with an earthquake! I was sitting down
in a meeting around 10:30 am in the conference room and felt the rumble and shake. Always nerve-racking,
especially with a building that is so old. I hope that none of you were negatively impacted. The local news reported
that the earthquake was a 4.8 and the epicenter was located in New Jersey.
This weekend:
Alan James, local artist, open house-Sat. 4/6
A few things coming up:
Solar Eclipse- Monday 4/8 @about 2 pm (**wear eye Protection**)
DR Club 60 author talk- 4/9 @ 2 pm (DR Ambulance Barn)
Con Brio Spring Concerts- 4/12 & 4/14 (tickets 860-526-5399)
DRFD Lime Sale- 4/13
The Whistle Stop Cafe is opening on 4/15
Harbor master News- all mooring applications due -4/15
Deep River P & R DR Land Trust-Earth Day hike -4/13 @10 am
DRCLL-Opening Day -4/20
Earth Day event-Pandemonium, DR Garden Club & DR Sustainable -4/21
Friends of the Deep River Library, psychic event -4/21
Annual Winthrop Cemetery Membership meeting -4/25
The Week in Review:
Monday, ‘April Fool’s Day’, there was a town meeting where we presented residents with three items to consider. The
first item requiring action was to approve the expenditure of $21K to cover the annual fee for the new accounting
software. The other action items were to approve and ratify two interlocal agreements; the first, the Regional Animal
Control officer and the second, the Household Hazardous Waste collection collaborative. After a short discussion, all
three items were approved.
After the town meeting, I headed up to the WPCA board meeting to request that the WPCA consider, in the spirit of
being a good neighbor, assisting the town financially by contributing to the annual sewer expansion bond payment.
The board will take a formal vote at a later meeting. The other Selectman attended the Region 4 public hearing on the
proposed budget for FY24-25. Please get yourself informed about the proposed budget and other Region 4 news by
frequenting their web site.
Tuesday, was the Presidential Preference Primary. I hope you all had a chance to get out and vote. This was the first
election with the state’s new Early Voting component. I want to personally thank our two Registrars of Voters, Lori
Gregan and Michael Harris who along with our Town Clerk’s office, (Amy Winchell and Paula Weglarz), spent many
hours of training and preparation to ensure the integrity of the Early Voting process in town. This will now be the norm
at all future elections.
On Tuesday evening, the Board of Selectman attended the Board of Finance Budget workshop where the DRES
school budget was presented by Superintendent Brian White, Region 4 Finance Director, Bob Grissom and DRES
BOE chair Pat Maikowski.
Wednesday, brought many in-house meetings; one with the Resident State Trooper, two with Deep River residents,
and one with the building official. On Wednesday evening, The Nest held an open house event. This event was held
as a way to thank their supporters and to give all attendees a chance to meet some of the employees, artists and
staff and to learn about their mission. Under the umbrella of ‘A Little Compassion, Inc.’, the coffee shop employs
individuals with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities. I enjoyed meeting Abbey, who is an artist who
works with sea glass to create scenes featuring sea glass animals, people and objects. A favorite of mine, was birds
on a wire. Tali, taught me how to measure and weigh the perfect amount of coffee beans to make the most delicious
pot of coffee. She enjoys her role as a barista. Alec spoke to me about upcoming social gatherings that he has
helped to plan. There are several, so make sure you go to their web site to learn more and to register. I enjoyed my
conversation with Aaron, who is the baker of ‘Doggie Barks’, all natural dog treats! The dog treats are found now in
16 stores, and are made right here in Deep River at The Nest. Laura and Murray, who is a wood worker, offered up
free hot cocoa mix to go and helped serve as ambassadors, with so many positive things to say! Make sure you
check out The Nest’s web site to read all about the events and activities coming up.
Dodging the many rain drops, I poked my head into the Community Health Committee meeting and the POCD
meeting also held on Wednesday evening.
Thursday brought a grants meeting, an on-line training course, two more meetings with residents and a joint BOE
meeting. I was also invited to the unveiling of The Deep River Cares Fund at the Community Foundation of Middlesex
County (CFMC) held at The Lace factory. The Fund will be “A Hug for Deep River’ to support the good work being
done by so many in our community to meet the needs of current and future generations in town. The committee is
comprised of Jackie Calamari, Nancy Fischbach, Lori Gregan, Angus MacDonald, Sarah Schweitzer, Laurie
Tomlinson, Maureen Westbrook and Cynthia Clegg. The committee is excited to join with residents and local non-
profit organizations to support the needs of Deep River. Please read all about this wonderful new Deep River Cares
Fund by visiting their web site Deep River Cares Fund - Community Foundation Of Middlesex County
(middlesexcountycf.org)
Today, I began my day at the monthly meeting of the Chester/Deep River/Essex Division of the Middlesex Chamber
of Commerce. The meeting was conveniently held right here in Deep River at The Nest Coffee House. The speaker
today was Yasemin Ugurlu of Reboot Eco, who shared with the audience simple ways to improve sustainability in
your lives and businesses. One of her shops is located in Chester center. Check out what she has to offer by
stopping in or go to her web site: Contact - Reboot Eco
News from our Departments:
Parks and Recreation-
Summer youth camp registration is now open. Don’t miss out on the week you might want/need, as space is
limited. Field trips are back. Hanna and Jake are back too! Register today.
Earth Day hike-The P & R Department along with the DR Land Trust are co-sponsoring a hike through the
Smyth Sanctuary on Saturday, April 13 th @ 10:00 am. Register today!
There is still room on the P & R bus to NYC on Sunday, April 28 th . Register today!
60 Club-
This active group of folks 60 years and older, have two events coming up. All are welcome to attend.
On Tuesday, April 9, the DR Club 60 is hosting author, Matilda Yenowich Dumbill, from 2:00-3:00pm in the
DR Ambulance Barn. Matilda grew up in Chester, attended UCONN, and had a long career as a
designer/dressmaker for women of taste and wealth. She will be discussing her book Makhorka, The Green
Cigarette.
On Tuesday, April 23 local author, Peggy Adler, will speak from 2:00-3:00pm about her book, Pallenberg
Wonder Bears from the Beginning. This book chronicles Emil Pallenberg’s migration to the U.S. in 1914 with
three trained, acrobatic bears. Emil is considered to have been the greatest bear trainer of his time,
originating most of the circus tricks performed by bears to this day. This event will also take place at the DR
Ambulance Barn.
DR Sustainable-
Look for the new textile bin at the transfer station. It is expected to arrive this week. Soiled or very worn
clothes, sheets, towels and blankets that can’t be donated due to their condition can be put in the textile
recycling bin and kept out of the household waste stream. The town will receive money for every ton of
recycled material.
The Lower CT River Valley Council of Governments (RiverCog) and it’s member municipalities, Deep River
is one, are excited to announce the spring 2024 Community Compost Bin and Rain Barrel sale offered once
again at a reduced cost. The Compost bins are “The Earth Machine” brand and retail for $150.00. The River
Cog price is $69.95. The rain barrels are ‘Systern Rain Barrel’ brand and are on sale for $79.95. You can
order by following this link: Connecticut.compostersale.com/rivercog. Orders need to be placed by May 3 rd
and pick up is May 5 th . Backyard composting is an excellent way to reduce the amount of trash going to
landfills while, rain barrels can help reduce water costs and provide a natural source of water for plants and
gardens.
DR Sustainable along with the DR Garden Club and Pandemonium will offer a series of events for Earth Day
on Sunday April 21 st . Look for more details next week.
Please remember, that you don't need to utilize bags at all when getting rid of your food scraps. You can
dump your bucket directly into the collection bin at the transfer station.
The Harbor Master –
Please note that all mooring applications are due by 04/15/2024
Tax Collector-
Friendly reminder, sewer tax is due in April
A few notes:
Welcome to our new Wetlands Enforcement Officer, Bruce Driska. He began work on Thursday and will be a
regular around Town Hall and town in the days ahead.
We have hired a new P & R Director. We will be sharing more details about this exciting news soon! The
new Director will begin on April 29 th .
The Whistlestop, closed for renovations, will reopen on Monday, April 15 th . Stop and say ‘hi’ to Maddie and
grab a delicious cup of coffee, yummy breakfast or a hearty lunch. Welcome back Madeline.
Jerry Roberts, the newly elected President of the Deep River Historical Society, recently set up a display of
artifacts found inside the time capsule which was opened last spring as part of the 75 th anniversary of the
naming of Deep River. In 1923, the Eagle monument located across from the Veteran’s Green on Main
Street, was erected. Placed in a small cavity in the rock behind the bronze plaque was a time capsule. The
glass case holds all of the treasurers that were found inside. Imagine, after 100 years, the contents are still
in pretty good shape. The glass case is located in the large conference room here at Town Hall. Come in to
see what we found.
There is an upcoming Buy Nothing Junk-in-the-Trunk event happening Sunday, April 21. This will be taking
place at the Essex Town Hall Parking Lot. At last look, they had 18 people signed up to give! This is a
wonderful way to keep items out of the trash AND to connect with our neighbors. *Important to note* that to
be able to GIVE, you have to be part of the Buy Nothing group which is linked below. ANYONE from the tri-
town community is welcome to come browse and take what they need for free.