1st Selectman's Corner
E-mail:pmiller@essexct.gov

March 31, 2010

To all,

We sure had a few rough moments during the recent unusual weather event. While we had some difficulties with some low lying areas like Ivory Street, Falls River Drive, Dennison Road, and Lynne Road, just over the Ivoryton border in Westbrook, and these areas had receeded water levels by Wednesday morning.
    Our Assistant Emergency Management Director, Stewart Schenk, was on hand with more than thirty Essex Fire Department volunteers as they helped pump out dozens and dozens of wet basements in town and they were on call to help get to any emergencies that might arise.
    The Essex Public Works crews were out all day into the night keeping all streams and culverts free of debris for maximum drainage, and they were periodically blocking access to some problematic areas.
    Trooper Kerry Taylor and Corporal Russ Gingras were on patrol into the night, and they were able to assist in coordination, and our school administration and the bus company coordinated home routes to get the precious cargo back home late afternoon.
    Thank you to all. We are pretty lucky to have such good people watching out for us.

Philip Miller, First Selectman

December 4, 2009

More than five years ago, we received a grant from the United Way to provide the Search Institute’s Asset Building Program for Chester, Deep River, and Essex.
    The program looks at some forty characteristics that successful young people see as having a profound good effect on them. Twenty of these are individual values, and twenty are community characteristics.
    When we began this program, we had our young people take a test to evaluate these characteristics, and then, after five years, it was done again by a new group of young people.
    What it reveals is that we, the community, have improved in our support and encouragement of developing healthy young people.
    Please read this chart and enjoy. Special thanks to the Middlesex County United Way and to Gail Onofrio and the fine staff at Tri-Town Youth Services for exacting this worthy program.

Philip Miller, First Selectman

April 28, 2009

Permanence

Spring brings back the long season of baseball, which starts before the leaves are out and ultimately ends for us with the cold facts of autumn, especially if your favorite team doesn't win this year.
    There is hardly an adult whose memory isn't kindled by the simple sound of a bat hitting a ball. A 300 hitter isn't really a number; it is a tag that lets a child and elder speak in common language of 2009, 1970, 1918, and 1894.
    Our youngsters begin their season at Hubbard Park, where the teams from Pratt High School gave their best efforts, and Comstock field in Ivoryton was the home of the Comstock Cheney state champs of 1917.
    Our modern tennis players are champions as well, especially the Valley Regional teams, and we also have a lot of good young lacrosse players whose skills are improving all the time.

Regional by choice

What do the regional school system, the Gateway Commission, the Household Waste (HHW) facility, the Estuary Transit District (ETD), the planning agency (CRERPA), the Revitalization Commission (MCRC) and mutual aid have in common, besides sometimes unwieldy initializations? These are all regional collaborations that our town has joined of our own free will.
    Several years ago, we looked into forming a new area health district because there was pending legislation which would have mandated our participation. Just the idea of the legislature or other outsiders imposing this on us caught the imagination of a lot of people and it fostered a sense of resentment about our own home rule being compromised.
Now there is no such law pending, and over the winter, a group of citizens researched the now established Connecticut River Area Health District to compare all services and public health obligations by service, scope and cost.
    What we have found is that for us to fulfill our obligations, we have a full time environmental analyst, and part-time health director, part-time certified sanitarian, part-time registered sanitarian, and a part-time food service inspector. These services cost us more than $18.00 per capita, and to have these taken care of if we were to join the district, would be $12.00 per capita, saving more than fifty thousand dollars in our budget.
    The research group has asked me to meet over the next few months with focus groups like some of our emergency responders, commissions and boards, as a prelude to possibly taking this question to our citizens for consideration. Stay tuned for future updates.

Eagles

Our nesting pair of bald eagles have two new babies this spring. These magnificent birds need lots of fish which thrive in a clean and productive river. Our best efforts to sustain this begin with our home practices. Please don't fall for the marketing of the fertilizer, pesticide and herbicide manufacturers and distributors, as these substances often wash off lawns and into our storm drains and into the rivers and Long Island Sound, creating nutrient-rich pollution, which causes unsightly algae blooms which compromise the ecological and recreational vitality of our watersheds. Thank you for your consideration.

Burning of the Ships

Those in the know realize that the second Saturday afternoon every May is one of the best-kept secrets, the Burning of the Ships parade. Each year at 2:00, a dozen or more fife and drum corps, led by our own Sailing Masters of 1812, march from Town Hall to the foot of Main Street and they do this to commemorate the spring morning in 1814 when British marines, then as now among the world's elite forces, torched twenty-seven ships in our harbor and shipyards.
    This year, it is on Saturday, May 9th, and anywhere in downtown Essex village is a great page to take it in. It is hard not to be moved when you feel the pulsing drums, and many times, the bagpipers of the Mystic Highlanders are among the guest corps who keep the tradition of martial music alive.

Nature's Classroom

This spring marks the 35th anniversary of a school year environmental education program in Ivoryton called Nature's Classroom. This program operates at the Incarnation Center and has won national and regional excellence awards. That it is here speaks for this region's longstanding strong sense of environmental stewardship.

Canfield Woods

This spring also marks thirty years of the Canfield Preserve. Many of those pioneer stewards who worked on this are still actively promoting open space and other worthy efforts, including Alan MacGregor, Bill Bevan, Jean Leuchtenburg, Jean Hanor, Henry Towers, and David Hyde, to name just a few, and many generous donors and stewards carry on this worthy tradition.

Keep in touch!

December 17, 2008

Why buy locally?

When you buy locally;

You are keeping dollars in OUR community.
You are taking advantage of specialized expertise.
You are creating greater choice.
You are investing in entrepreneurship.
You are nurturing a shared sense of community.
You are creating local jobs.
You are celebrating each shop’s uniqueness.

Thank you for your consideration.

Philip Miller, First Selectman

December 15, 2008

Holiday greetings

I would like to wish you a very happy and safe holiday season. As we drive around town and enjoy the decorations and lights, we see what a beautiful town Essex is and how nicely the three villages are set up for the season. We are also reminded of just how fortunate we are to live and work and play in such a great town. We do know that there are even those among us who walk in darkness and with hunger and a lack of fellowship, and fortunately thee are so many generous of heart who donate their time and money to the various charitable causes in our region.
     So best wishes from the men and women who work for the Town of Essex and our citizens who are elected and appointed to serve.

Philip Miller, First Selectman

September 18, 2008

Equipoise

Students arrived at Essex Elementary school in early September and found the construction complete, and there is also a new accessible playscape in place, thanks to the Parent Teacher organization and their successful fundraising. This follows earlier upgrades a few years back to both John Winthrop Middle School and Valley Regional High School. Each of these schools has comprehensive maintenance protocols in place so that these facilities will serve us well for many years to come.
The new commuter lot at exit # 4 opened in late September and is heavily used for Rideshare and other programs to help us better move people to and from the workplace. This complements the Estuary Transit District busses that you see around town.
The Essex Court construction is finished, and the Boy Scouts are creating a nice garden there, a place of refuge in a busy world, and this project is being carried out by Anthony Vanwyngarden, as he nears completion of his Eagle Scout work.
     Bell Power Systems, an established presence locally and regionally for two generations, recently unveiled a substantial photovoltaic power array at their site. They are also seeking to become totally carbon neutral. They join such other noted entities as Essex Meadows, Centerbrook Architects, the Lee Company, as well as the Essex Library. All are producing clean energy and saving money by spending less on energy needs.
     The Essex Land Trust has once again teamed with the town to conserve open space. The Johnson Farm will now remain as a working farm, now that the partnership has purchased the development rights. This has been a new conservation tool for us, following several recent instances of the collaborative purchase of open space.
Many of our Boards and Commissions are very active, and perhaps none more so than the Planning Commission. Not only do they meet monthly and sometimes more often, to consider issues of conservation and development, but they have also just completed a year of work on Ivoryton Center and they are embarking on the attainable housing issue. This is of great magnitude in Connecticut, where we are developing outstanding and talented graduates of our colleges and universities, and afterwards, many of these graduates go elsewhere because housing costs are so high. Stay tuned for pending progress. In addition, the Planners are also overseeing a granted corridor study to have a professional evaluation of many of our roads and exchanges.
     The Town has hired an interim health Director, Dr. Raymond Sullivan, and he follows the quarter century of service of Dr. Kit Goff. John Guszkowski is our new part-time land use planner, and Brian Wilson is our new Park and Recreation Director.
     As we head into the cold season, please continue to help our public works crew ready our infrastructure following snow or inclement weather events. This late fall, our emergency planners are taking part in simulated table top exercises, including coordinating a theoretical severe ice storm response.
     Please accept from all our professionals and our volunteers sincere wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season. Please check out the rest of our website.

Keep in touch!

May 8, 2008

I'd like to share with you the following letter I received recently, and ask for your support:

Dear Mr. Miller:

Recently we achieved our goal of developing a website for our organization. As we tutor students at no cost in your town we wondered if you would provide a link from your website to ours. This would enable students in need of learning to read and write English to find us more easily. It would also help volunteers looking for ways to help these people. Please consider offering a link to vsliteracy.org on your town website. To create a link all you need is http://www.vsliteracy.org. Take that link and put it in as <a href=http://www.vsliteracy.org>Valley Shore Literacy Volunteers </a>

Thank you for your help,
Darcy Murtz

May 8, 2008

The solar array has been activated, supplying electricity at the Landfill.

April 5, 2008

COMPACT

Spring is here and our playing fields are drying out and baseball and lacrosse and tennis players are active and energetic.
     We have been working on our budget and this is always a challenge to keep up with our infrastructure and our educational programs and there has been a lot of very good teamwork to come up with solutions.
     The Essex Elementary School project is essentially complete and the entire school is in operation and the project has been very successful. Special thanks to our administration and our Elementary School Board, led by Lon Seidman and Mark Watson. Our building committee has put in more than five years of work and their efforts cannot be overstated. Special thanks to chair Stan Sheppard and members Joel Marzi, Michael Hammond, Trip Wyeth, Dick Godwin and EES Board member Suzanne Helchowski, who has been clerking these meetings, as Deb VanWyngarden did before her. There have been many other contributors in various stages of this process, and our construction management team at Dimeo, led by Chris Doepper and Marie DeBenedetto, have been great to work with. And special thanks to the students and families for their flexibility in dealing with almost a year of construction.
     We still have yet to figure the final plan for the eventual roof replacement at the school, and these discussions will be taking place over the next year to come.
Shortly after the school year ends, we will be replacing the old playscape at EES with a new handicapped accessible one. The Parent-teacher organization, led by Kate Sandmann and Susan Daniels, has raised the funds for this and the results have been very encouraging.
     These efforts come on the heels of a similarly successful project at John Winthrop and Valley Regional, and these have been complemented by very disciplined and exacting maintenance schedules that are quite purposefully designed to make things last and to avoid deferred maintenance, which can become very expensive.
The renovation at Essex Court is finishing this spring and this will be followed by the volunteer effort led by Mary Bowers and Carl Kaufmann to build a nice garden there. As this project has been headed for the finish, we were looking at a potential shortfall, and the Essex Savings Bank Board of Directors and President Greg Shook voted to donate Community Reinvestment Act monies to give us a cushion.      Thanks for the generosity.
     We have been awarded a more than ninety thousand dollar grant to add and rebuild some 1400 plus feet of sidewalk on Main Street in Ivoryton. We expect to complete this work this summer and we hope it will be a visible metaphor for our hopes and aspirations for the west end of town, the only such named place in the world.

Several big dates, among others, to mark on your calendar are: Saturday, May 10th, the Burning of the Ships parade, at 2:00 from Town Hall to the foot of Main Street, with the River Museum open with great displays.
     Also, our Essex Volunteer Fire Department, the second oldest in Connecticut, is celebrating 175 years of service. More details will follow.
     July 4th will feature the Ivoryton Parade in the daytime.

Thanks for your efforts.
Keep in touch!

April 23, 2007

Thirty

People born in the early twentieth century made things work. The baby boomers try to get things to work. The millennium kids are working things. So when baby boomers teach millennium kids, some say that neither knows what the other is thinking. Our talent base is our "pre K to twenty" people. Our kids in Essex, Stamford, Wilton, New London, Hartford and Killingworth will be competing with kids from Melbourne, Nairobi, Brussels, Tokyo and Beijing. Steady habits may cause us to lose ground.
     I believe that we are building a world class educational enterprise right here in our town and in our sister towns of Deep River and Chester. Our new Superintendent, Kim Caron, has implemented a positivism as well as clear and coherent financial reporting that is helping us to bring sunlight to our business of education and this is building citizen confidence that we are creating real value that we can all be proud of. Much thanks to our Regional School Board representative citizens Ellen Wexler, Seth Fidel, and Chairman Terry Stewart, and our Elementary Board members, led by Mary Louise Haughton Polo and Kathleen Maher.
     A town that succeeds for all is one that treasures its youth, and we are fortunate that we have an active Park and Recreation Commission and a long history of success in scouting

EES and playscape

We will shortly break ground on the Essex Elementary School project several years in the making. This publicly financed project will be extensive and will serve us well for many years to come.
     The present playscape is ending the useful life cycle and so our Parent Teacher Organization, led by Kate Sandmann and Susan Daniels, is raising private funding to create an extensive and accessible playscape which will further our healthy youth initiatives. Many generous donors have gotten this project off to a good start, and this is an ambitious undertaking. Thank you for your consideration.

Projects

We are finishing a granted project in downtown Essex, which is a busy part of town all year long. Our Small Cities grant is in process, and we are refurbishing Essex Court. Our Clean energy task force of citizens is very involved in promoting clean energy projects. Maybe you have seen the wonderful solar power work that the internationally renowned firm, Centerbrook Architects, has been doing. Several other business shareholders are investigating similar possibilities.
     You might know that we are a Smart Power town and that nearly a hundred homes are now customers. Some people have commented that it seems somewhat contrary that for us to make CL&P buy more clean energy to help combat global warming and oil and traditional coal technology dependence that we have to bear a slight cost increase on top of recent significant rate increases. The reality is that energy policy is in our hands on the local and individual level and that we can promote investment in clean energy in the United States by our own individual conscious action.

Spring glory

The Connecticut River Museum, the Ivoryton Playhouse, the Essex Library and Ivoryton Library are all full of vibrant activities and display this spring.
     Don't miss the truly outstanding Burning of the Ships parade on Saturday, May 12 at 2:00, ending at the foot of Main, a few feet from the outstanding new exhibit at the River Museum.

Finally

Please drive safely in town so we can all help keep our pedestrians safe.
Keep in touch!

December 3, 2006

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday. We had a terrific Trees in the rigging parade and celebration, with several thousand citizens and guests enjoying the lowering of the flag at Town Hall, the parade of antique open air cars, the Sailing Masters of 1812, and the downtown village in resplendence. Thee were some twenty-two boats decorated in circumnavigating the harbor in a dazzling spectacle that was even better because of mild temperature and lots of handmade lanterns carried by revelers.
     This season is to be celebrated and enjoyed and so many efforts are given to share the joy and prosperity. Even here in our seemingly affluent region, there are a lot of struggling working families and many volunteer led and funded programs make for meaningful help and recovery, chiefly among them Gateway Counseling in Essex, providing mental health counseling to everyone regardless of means, and the Shoreline Soup Kitchen, originated right here in Essex, gives such meaningful assistance and relief and fellowship throughout our region. Please consider donation or supporting these very worthy programs.
     Thank you for your consideration.

July 17, 2006

Volition

Our Town is a member of several regional consortiums and we are an active participant in many initiatives and projects. I am currently serving as the chair of the seventeen town Connecticut River Valley Council of Elected Officials (CRVCEO) and the Middlesex County Revitalization Commission, and we are working closely with our Chamber of Commerce to promote sustainable economic activity.
     The Estuary Transit District has expanded service and this is making many opportunities available for rides to appointments and shopping. Our representative is Bill Foster, who is the chair of the nine town coalition.
We recently received another half million dollar state grant to continue our worthy mission of investing in our infrastructure.

Public Hearing

Please mark your calendars for Monday, August 14th, 7:00 P.M. at the Town Hall. We will unveil the streetscape plans, discuss traffic adjustments such as limiting parking on the left side of Pratt Street above Cross Street to North Main, and the Book Hill-River Road sight line issues. We will also discuss emergency planning, with particular attention to emergency storm response. The upcoming issue of Essex Events is full of pertinent information for your consideration and preparedness.

Essex Elementary

This summer, we are doing minor site work and setting the stage for what will be an actively implemented eighteen month staged project beginning in October. It will involve several sectional moves; the first group of temporarily displaced professionals will be the administrators, who will then not ask anyone to do what they wouldn't do themselves. Our oversight is extensive; we're tracking the progress of our construction management team at DiMeo on a daily basis. We're following the successful template with the facilities upgrades at JWJHS and VRHS.
Much thanks to our team of Stan Sheppard, Joel Marzi, Trip Wyeth, Dick Godwin, Michael Hammond, Treasurer Bob Dixon, Cindy Varricchio and Kelly Sterner, and the administration.
Our new Superintendent, Kim Caron, begins this month, and Valley Regional High School will also have new leadership.

Progress

We are one of the lead towns in the federally mandated Stormwater program. Our catch basins and other drainage infrastructure works optimally when storm water runs through and drains to our streams and rivers. When other substances such as oil and phosphates and fertilizers get into it, the nutrient rich pollution creates undesirable life such as unsightly algae, which uses up the dissolved oxygen from the water as it decomposes. On a single homeowner basis, directing your drainage spouts to grass instead of hard surface, limiting or eliminating petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides and herbicides, and even washing your car on the lawn so that the phosphates and such go on the lawn instead of our drains can all help to have a positive cumulative effect. Thanks for your consideration.
     We are also the 17th Connecticut town to be a Smart Power town. Please review the interesting article in the upcoming Essex Events issue.
     Many of our citizens have become much more aware of our land use commissions in recent months because of growth and development issues which have captured the public imagination. The Preserve issue, the recently resolved Dunkin' Donuts issue, the proposed controversial subdivisions on both Truebe Road and Hunter's Trail have highlighted our Commissions, who are our system of checks and balances. Our Commissions are served by volunteer appointed citizens, and their commitment and work on everyone's behalf is substantial.
     A recent Hartford Courant article noted the statewide declines of songbirds such as Baltimore oriole, wood thrush, towhee, and prarie warbler. Though we have these birds in seeming abundance here in our town, it is worth noting that these birds, as well as amphibians and other natural world populations serve as barometers of our environmental health. Maybe this is a good reason that we are the operating Town of our regional household hazardous waste facility, as well as the regional pumpout boat fleet, which keeps the waters of the lower river clean and ecologically and recreationally viable. Special thanks to Janice Ehle-Meyer, who coordinates the HHW facility, and the Harbor Management Commission, and Wally Schieferdecker and the staff at Essex Island Marina for their inspiring stewardship.

Safety

The warm weather brings out pedestrians en masse and bespeaks a need for conscientious safety awareness. The prodigious rains have caused a lot of greenery to sometimes obscure driver vision, so please pay extra attention to bicyclists and other pedestrians. And if you're a cyclist or skateboarder, please consider that you are valued enough that we respectfully ask your consideration of wearing protective head gear.
Please also watch for our public works personnel as well as utility workers who are working on our roads to keep everyone safe.
Thank you for your attention.
Enjoy the clean swimming at Viney Hill Brook Park.

Keep in touch!

April 18, 2006

Springtime means that the natural world comes alive and gardens take shape, and lacrosse and baseball enliven things.
      The project to remediate Essex Elementary will begin this summer. We will be most active in getting this project done in a timely and efficient manner. Thanks in advance for your support and acknowledgement. The terrific work done on John Winthrop Junior High and Valley Regional is complete and we are very pleased and optimistic for this program that is clearly on the rise.
      We are beginning our third season with the pumpout boat and we have a new second boat that will help keep our lower Conecticut River waters clean. Much thanks to our Harbor Commission for their considerable achievements.
      On the horizon:
      We are looking to join and help create a health district to further increase and economize our health related services. Keep aware of an upcoming public information hearing this spring.
      We are applying for a significant Small Cities Grant to upgrade our housing at Essex Court. We have never received this grant before, and we are optimistic of our chances. Much thanks to the Essex Housing Authority for their meaningful stewardship.
      Our Estuary Transit District has greatly increased our routes locally. This is a great service to so many of our citizens. Please see the article in this issue.
      We are now a Smart Power town, committed to getting twenty percent of our municipal energy from renewable sources such as solar and wind, by 2010.
      Well done:
      If you haven't seen the "new" Connecticut River Museum, come on down and you'll be impressed with this most meaningful campaign to modernize and create an even more dynamic program. The River Museum is very generous in sharing with everyone the lovely park in our downtown.
      The Essex Steam Train has also done a lot of terrific work. Again, if you haven't been by lately, check it out.
Another jewel that might not be as well known is the Fife and Drum Museum in Ivoryton. Even if you're not a martial music aficionado, you'll be impressed with their most interesting collection.
      Finally..
      Don't miss our unique Memorial Day Parade, which begins in Downtown Essex at 9:00 on Monday the 29th of May, ending at Veteran's Memorial Hall in Centerbrook. Our veterans are very gracious, providing a great time for everyone.
      Your Town government is brought to you by elected citizens, professional employees, and more than one hundred volunteer commissioners working for our best interests.
      Keep in touch!

February 3, 2006

Several issues have been resolved and others are in process. An encapsulation follows.
      We lost our suit over a roads ending access to the river on New City Street. We made a principled assertion that public access, given in an 1803 deed, had never knowingly been given up. The jury felt otherwise. If there is a silver lining in this cloud, it is that we made our assertion based on principle and so the Town was honorable in this inquiry. Also, the firm resolve to access to our resources that our citizens want is present. We are keeping our half dozen public accesses to the river cut back and properly signed. Our Conservation Commission is continuing the inventory of our conservation easements and we are educating newer neighbors to these locations.
      We are finished presenting our case as legal interveners in the Preserve project in Old Saybrook. Attorney General Blumenthal and a foursome of our local State legislators have joined us in opposition, and the Old Saybrook Inland Wetlands Commission will be deliberating over the next few months.
      We are seeking several grant opportunities. One is to rebuild our boat launch on the foot of Main Street in downtown Essex. Another is a Small Cities grant application to upgrade our Essex Court property in Centerbrook.
      We are very optimistic with the Assets program being offered through the Tri Town Youth Services Bureau. Please look up their website and cross reference the Search Institute.
      We recently finished our Emergency Operations Plan, four years in the making. This comprehensive plan has been painstakingly researched and compiled by our Emergency Management Director, Bill Buckridge. We are planning on having all of our volunteer firefighters, ambulance personnel, public works personnel, and elected officials complete the training to be certified by the National Incident Management System. This will better enable us to be as effective as possible in any emergency, natural or man made.
      We are now the eighteenth municipality in Connecticut to be a "smart power" town, thus committing to have 20% of our power from renewable and clean energy by 2010. You'll be hearing more soon.
      Our grand list grew by a bit less than one percent and it is more than one billion dollars. Some 85% is residential property, and 15% is commercial and industrial.
      Finally, the new Essex Events is in the mail and on the 18th and 19th is the Connecticut Audubon Society Eagle Festival, America's largest eco event. This year's host is Phil Donahue, and the Eco Forum at the Ivoryton Playhouse features the renowned thinker and scientist, Dr. James Watson, the founder of DNA.
      There is still time to fill out the lighting survey so we can adjust our new lights. In the meantime, however, the new sidewalks and safe lighting has reduced accidents and liability exposure.

       Enjoy February and all it offers.

December 9 , 2005

New Essex Town report now available!

The Board of Finance has made the Town report available. Copies can be picked up at the Town Hall or the Ivoryton Library. This year’s report is dedicated to former First Selectman Bruce Glowac and features every bit of information on the past year in town. The report was compiled by citizen Robbi Storms and features attractive graphics and an easy to read style.
      Please feel free to pick up additional copies for neighbors.

November 22, 2005

Greetings! I hope you are all well and enjoying the holidays.
    As you know, we just completed our municipal elections. I was reelected, as were Selectman Norman Needleman and Selectman Vin Pacileo. Keith Crehan is the newcomer to the Board of Finance, and Seth Fidel joins the Regional School Board, along with Jeff Burzin and Sara Meister on the elementary Board. Richard Helmicki joins the Zoning Board of Appeals, and Tax Collector Nancy Stadalnick, Treasurer Bob Dixon, and Town Clerk Fran Nolin were all reelected to four year terms. Some twenty six commissioners were reappointed to various land use commissions at our Town meeting on Monday, November 21. There are more commission positions to be filled, so please let me know if you are interested in serving in this most meaningful way.
    This year's Town Report is dedicated to former First Selectman Bruce Glowac, who presently serves as the facilities coordinator for our regional school system. Bruce has always been a gracious and honorable public servant whose contributions can not be overstated.
    Our town is in excellent financial shape as we head into planning for the renovation of Essex Elementary School, which overwhelmingly passed in a May referendum. A more immediate expenditure is expected for the New City Street litigation and upcoming trial.
    You will no doubt notice the lit garlands on the lightposts in both downtown Ivoryton village and downtown Essex village. These were donated by our merchants and our project electrician, Andrew DeBeathem, of Latec Company donated the use of the bucket truck.
    Trees in the Rigging, a unique and eclectic parade, takes place this Sunday, November 27th. The following night, Monday the 28th, at 7:00 in the Town Hall, there will be a town meeting to vote to authorize a twenty thousand dollar expenditure towards retaining an attorney to file for intervener status with the looming Preserve project.
    The Community Fund is actively seeking support. Please consider that donations go right to worthy local causes. The Shoreline Soup Kitchens are also in ever increasing need of support.
    Please check out this websiteperiodically, and pass on any suggestions.

Thanks, and enjoy our great town during this nice season.

August 18, 2005

Forecasters are warning of many smaller storms this season of August into September with the potential to grow into possible hurricanes.
     Please read some helpful hints which will assist you in having a reasonable level of preparedness in case of a hurricane.
    See Hurricane Readiness. (PDF)

August 3, 2005

Think of how often you pass by the Essex Steam Train and how often someone from outside our town mentions this well known landmark to you. You will learn even more about the fascinating history of this impressive operation in this edition of Essex Events. Congratulations to the Board of Directors and the administration on their great accomplishments. The Steam Train is something that all of us can be proud of.

Projects

Three projects have been completed this late spring and early summer. The public restrooms in downtown Essex were funded from a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant from 2002. We now have a state of the art Clivus composting system and all within a clean and sanitary facility.
     The more recent 2004 STEAP grant to rebuild and enhance the Essex and Ivoryton Village Centers has been largely completed. Both these areas are show places, with mixed residential and commercial use and featuring stunning historic architecture. Both of these projects were empowered by talented and motivated volunteer citizens and overseen by our Public works Department.
     Municipal projects are like those executed in the private sector in that they are evaluated by factors of time, money and quality. Both the above projects were completed slightly later than originally hoped for, but within the budgets and possessing of exceptional quality.
     The third big project has been the development of the Viney Hill Brook swimming area. To assure that the quality mandate has been adhered to, the project has gone beyond the original time and budget. This has been another volunteer citizen empowered project, and the end result is quite impressive.
     This past spring, a well researched elementary school renovation project overwhelmingly passed on a referendum vote. As a result, our newly named six person Elementary School building committee will be organizing to select an architect for the project.
     The recently completed Economic Development Commission study was unveiled at a public hearing to great acclaim. Did you know that within our twelve square mile small town, there are more than six hundred businesses, including those at home?
     We are also setting up six water monitoring sites within the compliance of the new Stormwater 2 program. These six sites, consisting of two sites each within the Falls River and Mud River tributaries as well as the Connecticut River itself will be routinely tested for outflows. If we are mindful that water pollution is a land use issue, and we choose carefully in minimally applying substances to our lawns, we can all have a positive effect here. Thanks for your consideration.
     Henry Kreis' War Memorial eagle has been successfully copied and bronzed and is now sitting on the pedestal in the front of Town Hall. Mr. Kreis was an Essex resident and a renowned sculptor, and the bronze is magnificent in appearance. Thanks to the Connecticut Society of Sculptors, who raised the private funds and oversaw this worthy project. Please come see the Memorial in its glory.
     The Essex Library is beginning their expansion project and between stellar volunteer assistance and the Ivoryton Library helping out, we will still have access to library services during this transition time. There will be more information coming soon.

Meanwhile…

Dr Joanne Beekley has been named Principal of Essex Elementary School. Best wishes for continued success. Dr Thomas Forcella soon begins his second year as Superintendent of Schools, and Alan Frishman continues leading the newly reconstructed Valley Regional High School, while Dave Russell leads the renovated John Winthrop Junior High School.
     The Ivoryton Playhouse has a good season of plays all summer long. The River Museum and Fife and Drum Museum are sure worth visiting this season, too. All of our nice restaurants, including the new and exciting Wine Bar at the Griswold Inn, have been receiving rave reviews all year long.
     Be sure to check out our Town website, www.essexct.gov (your at it now) for lots of interesting information. And please, send on any suggestions.

Thanks

Your Town government is brought to you by elected citizens, professional employees, more than a hundred volunteer citizen commissioners, and several volunteer committees, finding solutions to specific challenges.

Keep in touch!

April 21, 2005

Some major decisions are in the hands of our citizens. Over the next month or so, there are two important Town Meetings as well as two referendums.
     First, on Thursday, April 21, 2005, there is a Town Meeting to vote on the building of the public swimming area at Viney Hill Brook Park.
     On Tuesday, May 3, from noon to 8:00, there is a referendum vote on the Region 4 school budget, which is a slightly more than two percent increase this coming year.
     The Annual Town Meeting is on Monday night, May 9th, at 8:00 in the Town Hall. The overall budget increase is 3.87%.
     And finally, the Essex Elementary School renovation project referendum is on Tuesday, May 17th, from noon to 8:00 P.M.
     Please mark these dates on your calendars, and vote. A lot of volunteer citizens have put a lot of effort into these initiatives.
     You have probably noticed the work being done in downtown Essex these days. This is as a result of the STEAP grant that our town was awarded from the State of Connecticut. The work on Main Street in Essex is following Connecticut Water Company replacing the aging water main. Martin Laviero, Inc., of Bristol is doing the site work, which includes new sidewalks and long lasting granite curbs. We are removing the high watt cobra head lamps on the poles and replacing them with economical 100 watt faux gas lights. So far, the completion goal of mid May looks reasonable. Presently, the push is on to complete as much work as possible in downtown Essex Village before the boating season begins in earnest. As work nears completion, the shift will then move to the Ivoryton Village Center to put the same attractive lights in time for the summer theatre season.
     As you can see, we are a town on the move, and none of the projects and initiatives would even be possible without the support of our professional staff and volunteer citizens. We are also indebted to Representative Spallone and Senator Daily for their stewardship.

March 10, 2005

Yes, March has indeed come in like a lion, and a chilly one at that. Why, up at the Bushy Hill Nature Center in Ivoryton, they tapped the sugar maples three weeks ago, and after an initial run of sap, everything has pretty much froze for the last two weeks plus. The next warm day should really push out the sap to then be boiled into Bushy Hill syrup, which I'd put up against Vermont any day.
       The Eagle Festival was a huge success. We had about fifteen thousand people attend the two days, with no problems to speak of. Though the biggest two sponsors are Connecticut corporate citizens, namely Pratt and Whitney, and Select Energy, there are many local sponsors including Essex Savings Bank, Essex Rotary Club. Essex Garden Club, the Griswold Inn, and the Connecticut River Museum. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to make a great weekend. The reason that the festival exists is to celebrate the return of the bald eagle. It is proof that human stewardship can pay big dividends. This is so compatible with the most worthy mission of the Connecticut Audubon Society, who each year makes all this and more possible. And check out their offerings from their Eco Travel office, right here in Essex, run by Ivoryton resident Andy Griswold.
       The current March 10 edition of the Valley Courier has an excellent update on the Main Streets grant program and our progress and another good article on the possibility of public swimming opportunity at Viney Hill Brook Park.
We are working on our budget, and things are looking pretty hopeful at this point. We are expecting less than a five percent increase in spending.
       The Elementary School project is moving forward. The Elementary School Board endorsed the project on Monday evening of this week, and at next week's Selectman's meeting, we will schedule a few public hearings. We are most likely looking at a referendum in May.
       This year, we are beginning to comply with Stormwater Two, a program to better protect our aquifers. The surface water and groundwater in town provides us with recreation, and is a big part of our economy. Most of us get our drinking water from private wells. Here is what you can do to help: ignore the advertisements that you are bombarded with on radio and television and in your mail. All these well known companies want to convince you that you need them to have a green lawn, when it is really they who need you to fall for their pitch. Please realize that most of the nutrient rich unnatural petrochemical fertilizers and herbicides and pesticides that are applied to your lawns run off into our storm drains and they end up in our watersheds, where they can add to the formation of a huge algal bloom, like we saw and experienced in South Cove last summer. There are all sorts of alternatives, from making compost to raking organic fertilizer into your lawn.
       So are you noticing the days getting longer? Are you hearing the cardinals singing at first light? Any robins making themselves seen around your place? Excitement is just around the corner……
       Thanks for your consideration.

February 14, 2005

Mid February brings a few small and large events to town. Up at the Bushy Hill Nature Center-Incarnation Center, in Ivoryton, the sugar maples have been tapped and the sugarhouse is in operation. Some of their buckets can be seen on the stately trees at the Essex Hardware store. While many people rave about Vermont maple syrup, the local brand is received very favorably by connoisseurs with a discerning palette. For information on their programs and open sugarhouse days, call them at 767-2148.
       The Eagle Festival is coming this week. New England’s premier eco-event brings a lot of guests and it gives our residents a great chance to get out for some fun educational events. You can find a listing of all of the activities and displays on this website. Essex is the proud home to the Connecticut Audubon Eco Travel office, and Director and resident Andy Griswold is the founder of this event, now in its sixth year.
       Because downtown Essex is the center of the festival, we anticipate lots of pedestrian traffic. In order for our businesses to be staffed and operational, and for the best safety and accessibility, we are asking our guests and residents to help alleviate parking congestion by doing the following: first, perhaps residents within walking distance could invite friends to park in their driveways, and then walk, and the shuttle system is set to work with great efficiency. Some of the outlying lots, such as the commuter lot next to our Firehouse, and the Steam Train lot, will be accessed by the Estuary Center vans, which will run their shuttle loops with great regularity and reliability, making it easy for you.
       Please check out our special links page within this town website. We are highlighting some of our town’s well known and highly achieving non profits, such as Connecticut Audubon, The Connecticut River Museum, the Essex Steam Train, and the Essex Land Conservation Trust. We are also using this arena to make everyone aware of more high achievers in helping people, from the Shoreline Soup Kitchen, Gilead Community Services, and the Middlesex County Substance Abuse Council. These are the vital services that are there when people need them, and these links also list opportunities for supporting these worthy endeavors.
       People are noticing that the days are getting longer, and in a few places, the snowdrops are slowly pushing up their shoots, giving us a tantalizing look at what is around the corner. Many birds are beginning to sing their more full vocalizations, and the ice on the rivers is beginning to break up. There are still perhaps some snowstorms to come, and, if you are wondering about the weather, this links page even has a current weather station. Town resident Dave Fowler, a former Connecticut teacher of the year, who teaches in Old Lyme, has set up a weather station site at their middle school, and the updates are now posted on our website. We are working on accessing similar student observations and reporting at John Winthrop Junior High School.
       Enjoy this great time of the year!

Philip J. Miller
First Selectman

email: pmiller@essexct.gov

PLEASE NOTE NEW EMAIL ADDRESS!

Dr. Edward O. Wilson, widely regarded as one of the world's most important scientists, will be making a rare public appearance at the Ivoryton Playhouse on
February 19th.
      Dr. Wilson (twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize) will be discussing his latest book entitled the Future of Life. After the lecture, he will be joined by famed talk-show host Phil Donohue (Eagle Festival Honorary Chairman) for an interactive town hall meeting with the
audience.
      For ticket information, call the Ivoryton Playhouse at 767.7318.

Yes, we sure got hit with quite a storm. People are estimating fifteen to eighteen inches. Not as bad as Eastern Massachusetts and the Cape, as they got up to three feet.
      This week, and after every storm, you'll see our red Essex trucks out daily, further cleaning up intersections and making sure that our hydrants are accessible. Though our trucks have flashing yellow lights, decent mirrors and well trained drivers, this work can be tough, as we are really dependent on motorists proceeding with caution. Your help is greatly appreciated. And please continue moving your vehicles off the street during storms, which is the law.
      It seems that, with every snowstorm, we get inquiries concerning plowed snow being pushed into driveways, which makes your shoveling a bit more challenging. If you live on a street without curbs, there is a pretty simple solution. If you or your plowing service can keep a shoveled or plowed "pocket" open just before your driveway, then when our plow comes by, the snow accumulation in the blade will spill into this spot, and then very little will end up in your driveway. It can also work if you have curbs, with shoveling or plowing above the curb. This may take some explaining with your private driveway service, but it could help.
      If you have any digital pictures of the storm, or snowbanks, or anything else of interest, please consider forwarding them to us, so we can post them on this town website.
      The original War Memorial Eagle, commissioned by the Essex Women's Club and sculpted by renowned Essex artist, Henry Kreis, in 1953, has been repaired and is now permanently inside the Essex Town Hall, where a complete exhibit is being planned. The Connecticut Society of Sculptors is beginning a fundraising drive to create a bronze copy for the original outside spot. There is a nice story within this website, and another story will appear in the next issue of Essex Events magazine, scheduled for early February.
      Also within this website are the results of the Elementary School Renovation Committee. As you may know, the Board of Selectmen commissioned this work more than a year ago. We asked them to leave no stone unturned, and their research was exhaustive, with space and program studies, mechanical and code studies. You can expect several public hearings within the next few months. Fixing the Elementary School to appropriate health and safety standards is our town's number one issue.
      We have built this website to keep you better informed. Did you know that you can look up the agendas and minutes of all our Boards and Commissions under "site map" in the upper right hand corner? Perhaps you'll consider listing our site with your favorites.
      And by the way, have you noticed the beautiful sunrises and sunsets that we have in winter?
      Well, thanks for visiting this site. Keep in touch!

The Old Saybrook Planning Commission is deliberating on whether to grant an initial approval to one aspect of the Preserve development put forward by Riversound LLC, a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers. This application involves a 1000 acre property that is mostly in Old Saybrook. It also matters enough to Essex and Westbrook that both towns Boards of Selectmen each unanimously voted to send resolutions against the proposal, and Essex has gone one step further, and that is to be a legal intervener, which would guarantee that we would be notified of all meetings, hearings, and decisions.
More...

January 1, 2005

Happy holidays to you and your loved ones.
      As we enter the new year, there is a lot of excitement about all that is happening in town. Right now, there are about a dozen projects and initiatives that are under way. Here’s an encapsulation.
      We have just completed a budgeted economic development study to help assure that our local economy stays strong. The study has given us a complete inventory of all commercial and light industrial interests, and this is an excellent starting point. Our objective of having a healthy business climate is practical, for it means that these interests will succeed and be valued contributors towards our tax base, and this keeps some pressure off of residential taxation.
      The research of Essex Elementary School is also done. Included are space and program studies and a mechanical inventory and code study. This work is now being organized into a plan that will be presented to you this spring for your consideration in a referendum. Our five person committee has had more than thirty meetings since being formed, so please know that these volunteer citizens have given so much for the good of our town. We anticipate that this plan will help us to have a safe and healthy school, where our children will thrive, for years to come.
      We have also completed a study of our 1892 town hall. We anticipate a modest renovation to reconfigure some indoor space and to be code compliant. Our goal is to create a better ease of use for you and to increase our efficiency.
      For several years, we have been budgeting for an eventual repair of our town dock and work on our harbor. Our waterways are of such vital ecological, recreational, and economic importance to us. The plans are currently being reviewed by the DEP, and we look forward to completing this project within a few years.
      The Connecticut Department of Transportation is planning for a new one hundred space commuter lot off of exit #4 of Route 9. This will take the place of the smaller overburdened lot by our firehouse.
      We are readying for another state initiated program called Stormwater 2. This program will allow for a more complete aquifer protection. We are beginning to discipline ourselves for this commitment, which will include an upgrade and monitoring of our thousand plus catch basins in town.
      The public restrooms on Main Street, Essex, are being completed. This is the result of a 2002 state grant.
      Our most recent grant came in late 2004, and it was big: a 486 thousand dollar project to add streetlights to downtown Ivoryton, and the same lights as well as granite curbs, sidewalks and road work to Main Street, Essex. About sixty people braved the frigid weather on December 20 to come to the public hearing to see the plans. We are putting the job out to bid in January, and we will begin work just after the Eagle Festival in late February. We expect to complete the paving in April, in time for the Burning of the Ships parade in early May.
      Our partnership with the Land Conservation Trust continues to be productive. We are closing on the Doane-Neidlinger property, located in the pristine ravines behind the Emergency Clinic. This area is the headwaters of Birch Mill Pond and Tiffany Pond. There are some other future land acquisition open space projects in the works.
      Our committee to create a nice swimming area at Viney Hill Brook Park is continuing. Currently, everything is done except for the actual beach. We will be reporting in the near future on whether this looks promising for the summer of 2005.
      In addition, the construction projects on John Winthrop Junior High School and Valley Regional High School are near completion and on schedule and on budget. I hope that you get a chance to see these awesome facilities soon.
      In addition, there are several private efforts going on. First, the Essex Rotary is working on an enhancement project at the Connecticut River Museum, which includes lighting and more. The Essex Library is in full fundraising mode to invigorate their expansion project.
      Finally, the Coastal Conservation Alliance is requesting a grant which will allow Essex participation in a citizen monitoring program for the Falls River and the Connecticut River. This will allow for a more complete stewardship.
      You will no doubt be hearing and reading about these continuing efforts. Our town is so fortunate to be helped by so many fine people!

Philip Miller, First Selectman
pmiller@essexct.gov
 

Last Updated: April 1, 2010