From the First Selectman's Desk

Happy Groundhog Day!

Thank you so much to the community who responded for our plea for donations for the 40+ dogs and 20+ chickens in our care following the police and animal control action taken against a Deep River dog kennel late last week. This story was even featured on 2 local news stations (Fox 61 and NBC Connecticut) who came to Deep River on Tuesday and spoke to me for an on air segment.

I am so touched by the generosity of our residents and the entire community. Donations even arrived from out of state!  It is not too late to donate. All items can be dropped off at the town hall during office hours. Any cash donations will go towards vet bills which total more than $4500.00 thus far. Items needed are: small breed dry dog food, wet dog food (single serve type containers are best, such as Little Caesar), dog training pads (pee pads), Clorox wipes, dog bedding, such as towels or small blankets, paper towels, garbage bags, and dish soap. Caroline Fountain, our animal control officer is doing yeoman’s work caring for all of these wonderful animals. Beside the daily feeding regimen, she is administering medicines, giving baths and haircuts, cleaning cages, taking dogs to the vet when needed and still performing her ‘regular’ job responsibilities. She is greatly appreciated.

I have been sending out my weekly updates, “From the First Selectman’s Desk”, since my first week in office. That was 11 weeks ago! Time certainly has flown by. I am so grateful to be in this position; leading this awesome town that I love so much. Thank you for the opportunity. I appreciate all of your positive feedback. I write these weekly messages myself, Friday evenings, as I reflect back on the week. I take full responsibility for the content, so my sincere apologies if I get it wrong or forget to mention an event. I try diligently to gather all of the things happening in town by making phone calls, looking on Face Book or by word of mouth. I know I miss some…like the DRFD breakfast held in late January; I heard it was delicious, as usual! Please feel free to send me information that you think should be mentioned here and I will try to fit it in. 

This week began with several meetings. One of these was with Jackie Calamari, from our Community Health Committee, to talk about the part time social services position which will be posted soon. This position will be vital to help expand the hours of our social services department.  This position will be funded by America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) monies received by the town. This expenditure was approved at a town meeting last spring.

I sat down with our resident state trooper to talk about the needs of his department and to begin the discussion of what type of markings the town would like to see on each of its police vehicles. The colors and design have yet to be determined. Stay tuned…

Another meeting involved cybersecurity; is the town well protected from a data breach? I spoke to a cybersecurity company who is on the forefront of auditing municipalities, to price an audit for the town. I am also investigating our current insurance coverage regarding cybersecurity. 

I had a quick meeting regarding our town newsletter. We are hoping to have a late March edition to go our all residents. That means, our deadline will be mid-February; so please start writing your articles and send in your ads. Call Tina in the Selectman’s office next week with any questions and to price your ads. Tina will send out a reminder to all groups, committees, businesses, departments and organizations next week. 

I attended two Board of Education meetings this week; one at Valley for the field renovations project and one for Deep River Elementary School budget. Please remember that your voice counts! Show up, or join via Zoom, Google Meets or Teams, which one, depends on the BOE meeting you want to attend. Yes, confusing…they certainly don’t make it easy.  Find out when these budget meetings are held by going to the Region 4 web site. If you miss a meeting, they are all recorded, so no worries, you can watch it on-line. Upcoming meetings are: 2/5-Supervision District Budget meeting; 2/7-Region 4 Budget meeting; 2/12-Supervision Budget Meeting; 2/13-DRES Budget meeting.

I had an exciting meeting with a Deep River resident about bringing public art to downtown Deep River. Brett Thompson, has a great deal of experience in this area and is willing to help move this forward. Public art is something I feel strongly about and in fact, I used to speak to Dick Smith about it at length. Studies show that cities and towns with public art installations, attract visitors to their downtown areas, who shop, dine and stay.  So, it will be a boost to our downtown economic development. I will report more on this as we further develop the concept and a plan, and to determine if it’s a good fit for our town.  

The BOS had a tour of our Public Works building. We are fortunate to have a crew that takes pride in their work and in our equipment. They do a great job maintaining what we own, doing their best to keep it operational.  Some of our equipment, like our dump truck, is very old and well past its practical life span. Maintaining it is quite costly due to its age. Thank you, Eric, for taking the time to show us around and answer all of our questions. A discussion I had with Eric a few months ago, which came up again this visit, is that the town public works facility and the grounds should be fenced in for security purposes. Duane Gates mentioned that when the solar field is installed and protected by fencing, the town might be able to piggyback off of that, and install less fencing to achieve our desired result, hence saving some money. The latest on the solar project is that they are still securing the necessary permits. I will try to have more definitive information in next week’s news. 

I ended the week with a Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce meeting held at Essex Savings Bank. Rebecca Meade, who heads up the Middlesex County Revitalization Commission, informed the group about the 2024 Business Operating grants available to small businesses in Middlesex County. If you are a small business, please check out the requirements and the filing deadlines, so that you don’t miss out on this great opportunity. Information can be found at mxcrc.org

There is a town meeting this Tuesday, February 6, 2024 to vote on spending ARPA funds to purchase a generator (25K) for the Public Works garage and new financial software (85K) for the Finance Department. That meeting will take place at 6:30 pm in the town hall auditorium. Following the town meeting, there will be a special Board of Selectman meeting beginning at 7:00 pm. to hear proposals from local businesses, groups, and committees who are requesting ARPA funds for various projects, programs or capitol expenditures. We have approximately 220K left to allocate. No vote will be taken at the special BOS meeting but all residents are invited to attend to hear the presentations. The public will be allowed to ask questions or make comments at the conclusion of the presentation portion of the meeting. Public comments will be limited to 3 minutes per speaker in order to allow enough time for all to participate. Please plan to join us to learn about the proposals.

Thank you to all who reached out and offered to volunteer for a Board or Commission. I received interest for the Library Board, the Economic Development Commission, Parks and Recreation and the Transfer Station Advisory Committee. There are still plenty of openings, so please send in your letter of interest. The Selectman will be reaching out to those who volunteered, so that appointments can be made at the next regularly scheduled BOS meeting. 

Another reminder that Spruce Ledge Farm is open for Valentine’s Gift Giving! Beginning tomorrow, February 3rd through February 14th from 12 pm-4 pm pick up some locally created gifts made by area artists and artisans. Spruce Ledge Farm is located on Route 80, close to the 145 (Horse Hill Road) blinking light @574 Winthrop Rd, Deep River. Downtown Deep River also has so many great choices when you are looking for that perfect gift. Buy your Valentine something special and shop local this weekend.

Ashleigh’s Garden is now offering tons of vintage and higher end jewelry for sale with proceeds going towards the Pandemonium Rainforest project. Stop in and check out the selection; jewelry makes a great Valentine’s Day gift! 

Next Friday, February 9th, come join me for a cup of coffee or tea at The Nest. Since many of you can’t stop in to see me at the Town Hall during regular business hours, I will be at The Nest from 7:00-8:00 am. Plan to stop by and chat. I would love the opportunity to hear from you and I look forward to it. The Nest Coffee House is located at 162 Main Street. 

Speaking of The Nest, welcome to Rich Wills, the new Development Director. Rich and his family reside in Niantic. He has 2 children and a sweet pup named Penny. Please stop in and say hello and welcome Rich to Deep River!

Finally, grab your tickets to this year’s VRHS musical production of “The Wizard of Oz”, before it’s sold out. Performances are 3/15 @ 7 pm; 3/16 1pm & 7pm & 3/17 @ 1pm. Tickets can be purchased at Celebrations and at VRHS. All tickets are $15.00.  

Enjoy your weekend.

Carol