Good afternoon,

In Town Hall we continue to work on our fiscal 2024 budget. The Easton and Region 9 Boards of Education are doing the same. We will begin budget hearings before the Board of Finance on March 7th. The Board of Finance reviews each budget and makes recommendations. On March 27th, there will be a public hearing to present a preliminary budget. After the public hearing there will be several meetings to make further adjustments, followed by a town meeting on April 24th and a referendum on May 2nd to approve the budget.

The Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public information meeting on March 13th to review our current status in regards to our plan of conservation and development and its implementation. They will also discuss potential changes to our zoning regulations, and hear a presentation from a group called Desegregate CT.

At the Board of Selectmen meeting, we discussed Ray Martin, and a legal decision he was involved in. The Board of Ethics did a review of this case prior to their initial discussions with Mr. Martin and those filing complaints. They recommended suspending Mr. Martin prior to completing their review. I explained that a review of all relevant ordinances by our town attorney concluded that there was no ability by the First Selectman or the Board of Selectmen to suspend a board or commission chair. We will await a final recommendation to the Board of Selectmen by the Board of Ethics. While there is a reason to be expeditious in this matter, the discussion at the meeting exposed how this is a complex issue with multiple layers. The Board of Ethics is meeting next week.

There was also some discussion last night about protecting the watershed. Our state senator, Tony Hwang, proposed legislation that towns that are greater than 70% watershed be exempted from the appeals process for 8-30g housing developments. The 8-30g statute currently provides an appeal process which lets developers who propose projects with affordable housing units bypass local zoning approval processes. This bill would help protect water supplies in towns like Easton by not allowing potential developers to follow that process. A number of residents testified in person or by submission in favor of this bill, however, it is widely expected that the bill will never make it to the Senate floor and will never be approved. Still it is important that this issue be kept in the forefront, particularly as affordable housing is an important issue in our state. Thank you to all who participated. As you may remember, the town submitted an affordable housing plan to the state last year. Next steps will be discussed at the Planning and Zoning public information session that I mentioned above.

Lastly, the board approved unanimously to fly the pride flag for the month of June.

This week we had our first real snow.  Unfortunately, both the Park and Recreation Department and the Department of Public Works had diminished manpower, but it was all hands-on deck and they did a great job as always. The Department of Public Works Administrative Assistant, Jenna Licursi was out plowing.  Thank you Jenna!

Also, I have met virtually with people from Ukraine Aid International. We are working on forming a relationship with a town in northern Ukraine which is very similar to Easton called Suyvatohorsk. It is largely a rural town with a population similar to ours. I had the honor of meeting with several of their town officials. The devastation they faced was astounding and amazingly they have regained control of most of their land from Russia’s invasion. We are looking at ways to show our solidarity with these incredibly brave folks and their children. We will work to set up a steering committee and fundraising as well as some educational presentations and hopefully some opportunities to connect more personally. Please contact me if you want to get involved.

I want to make you aware of some legislation being proposed regarding animal cruelty. Unfortunately, it is far more prevalent than most of us probably realize. To an animal friendly town like ours, I think this is horrifying. One proposal requires and makes possible for Veterinarians to report incidences of animal cruelty. If you want to learn more see bill number HB06714 on Representative Ann Hughes’ website https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/CGABillStatus/CGAMemberBills.asp?dist_code=%2...

The Easton Senior Center is having a Closeout Tag Sale through March 17th, $5.00 for a small bag and $10.00 for a large bag.  Please stop by!

Lastly, the United Illuminating's electricity generation rate more than doubled in January from 10.6 cents per kwh to 21.9 cents per kwh, so a lot of us are getting much higher bills now. Here are two things you can do to bring your bills down:

Home Energy Solutions assessment. With this program (offered by UI), technicians come to your home to evaluate, and in some cases, fix home energy leaks. They also recommend actions you can take to make your home more energy efficient and provide incentives/rebates to make those investments more affordable. Over 20% of Easton households have taken advantage of the program, which is great, but more can do so!  For more information and to sign up: https://www.uinet.com/smartenergy/rebatesandprograms/home_energy_solutio...

Choose an alternate electricity supplier. Due to deregulation in CT, you can choose an electricity supplier with a lower rate than UI. Your service doesn't change in any way, and you still call UI if you have a problem. The only thing that changes is the price!  Visit https://energizect.com/ and click "Supplier Rate Finder" to see your many options (including renewable energy options!).

Have a great weekend,

Dave