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MAYOR’S STATE OF THE TOWN ADDRESS MARCH 28, 2006
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NOTES FOR MAYOR’S STATE OF THE TOWN
MARCH 28, 2006
These notes were used as a guide for the Mayor
when he presented the State of the Town Address. The actual speech was
recorder for local Citizen Television Channel and will be replayed there.
Consult your cable guide for times.
INTRODUCTION
• Remember any of your family members !!
• 9th Year that stand before them for the State of Town & Budget Address
• In introductions of Department Heads, may want to mention Superintendent
Marty DeFelice (home on the medical leave) Thank Assistant Superintendent
Serio and Art Martorella for taking the reins
Mention:
• Loss of Frank Imperato ( a moment of silence)
• East Haven’s most “mature” resident, Mary Santacroce, turned 106 last
December !!!
POLICE
• Continued great works of our DARE and Coalition To Stop Underage Drinking
• Proud to be named by Gov. Rell to the state’s Police Officer Standards and
Training Council
• EH joins North Haven and Hamden in a regionalized mobile command center
• Retired five officers and recruited four new; promoted four sergeants and
new lieutenant
Mention retirees
• Purchased new Ford Explorer by Homeland Security Grant; department now has 3
4-wheel drive vehicles for emergencies
• Purchased 8 “state of the art” computers to be installed in PD vehicles
• Incident of the shooting on the Q Bridge (Officer David Cari)
FIRE
• Fire Chief Douglas Jackson, who completed his first year as Chief
• First Female Battalion Chief, Eileen Parlato
• New self-contained breathing apparatus and air tanks. This can be vital not
only for fighting fires but in the event of chemical threats
• Retirement of long time BC, William Mayer
Mention other retirees
• EH enters agreement with 7 other municipalities to pool emergency resources
in event of a terrorist attack
• Using UASI (Urban Area Security Initiative) funds we purchased a
decontamination trailer (contains equipment to wash down citizens and
responders to a chemical incident) and a command unit with radio and computer
systems to coordinate operations with area towns and state response
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
• CARMAX under construction; site work almost done with building expected to
be started late spring or early summer
• Phase I of our Downtown Revitalization is now complete with Phase II
expected to begin shortly
Lot of activity in our Industrial Park
• New 5000 sq. ft building for VJ Technology ( a high technology company with
research and development)
• Harvey Industries have completed a 60,000 sq. ft. expansion
• Phase I of Town Fair Tire’s expansion now completed with 200,000 sq. ft of
new commercial property
• Anticipate 2 new buildings to be constructed totaling an estimated 200,000
sq. ft
• We plan on some further improvements in the Industrial Park including road &
curb paving and the extension of Proto Drive
We have more economic development news:
• A new 3 story 24,000 sq. ft commercial building on Rte 80 has been approved
• Renovations are expected to begin shortly on the old C & F Cheese Bldg on
Main Street
• We are anticipating agreements to be in place to begin the renovation of our
Visitor’s Trolley on Frontage Road
• Candlelight by the Sea Committee is moving along with a recommendation
expected soon
• We are reviewing the latest proposals that were submitted for 200 Tyler
Street
• Town gains 7.5 acres of land for Bradford Creek preserve
Finally in Economic Development
• Congratulations to Foxon Park Beverages for being named UCONN’s
Connecticut’s Family Business of the Year in 2005
Tonight, I am going to discuss in more detail, two departments you may not
have heard of much in the past. We have two new employees that have
revitalized these two vital town services and expect that to continue in the
months ahead.
URBAN RENEWAL AGENCY
• Sarah Morrill joined us in June of 2005, as the new Community Development
Coordinator for this agency
• With Sarah’s guidance the agency is administering a Small Cities Block Grant
from the State for $500,000 of ADA Improvements to 3 Firehouses (Fire Hdq,
Bradford Manor and Riverside). And $200,000 for conducting housing
rehabilitations to low and moderate income households within the Town. She
will also coordinate with various community agencies in outreach activities
and development.
• Since June 15, Sarah completed 15 housing rehabilitation projects, with a
waiting list of 30 more. She has begun the process of applying for another
grant to continue this excellent program.
EH HOUSING AUTHORITY
• Hired Housing Executive Director, Cassandra Ashe in August of 2005
• Currently provides monitoring for East Farm Village and 100 Section 8
vouchers throughout the town, 46 of which are East Haven’s (may want to talk
about your efforts to get more vouchers from Federal government through
Congresswoman DeLauro)
• Working toward goal of returning the Housing Authority into an independent
agency
Another department which is very important to many of our residents that I
have not talked about in the past is our excellent Animal Control, under the
direction of Officer Owen Little:
ANIMAL CONTROL
• Each year 450 animals pass through our shelter doors and thanks to Owen and
his extremely dedicated volunteers we have an adoption/placement rate of over
96% ! aided by the shelters new Petfinder website. All adopted dogs now come
with a training DVD and the ability to contact the volunteers for support and
further information
• Owen along with the volunteers through various fundraisers raised over $
4800 last year, monies which went directly to animal care and comfort. The
shelter teamed up with Meriden Humane society to send supplies to the people
and animal victims of Hurricane Katrina.
SOCIAL SERVICES
• Veronica Wright worked with Urban Renewal to obtain a grant from United Way
for Emergency Food and Shelter, which was certainly put to vital use with the
rising costs of heating fuel.
EAST SHORE DISTRICT HEALTH DEPARTMENT
• Director Jim Monopoli would like to announce that beginning April 1 the
department will be moving into new office space on Business Park Drive in
Branford, which should assist them in expanding our services to the community
• Thanks to the Health District for coordinating each year our Mosquito
Control Program and the distribution of Flu shots to our community.
PUBLIC SERVICES
• Dodge Avenue update (talk about the surrounding streets we will be
addressing also) which includes significant drainage and reconstruction of the
side streets
• Last year continued to perform a significant amount of drainage and road
projects including another section of Bradley Street which will be concluded
shortly, in addition to Half Mile Rd
• In addition we added a tee ball field at Kennedy Park (aka the PIT)
• Since 2002 alone, we have paved over 100 streets in town; despite the
state’s reduction of LOCIP funding
• This winter due to the lack of snow we were able to perform a variety of
projects which included the repairs to the Firehouse roof, bunk room and
kitchen
We addressed maintenance of some drainage easements, including ones on Russo
Av and Brenton St
Tried to address street flooding concerns with our vactor (cleaning catch
basins and some significant standing water problems after heavy rains
• We have begun our street sweeping program with our brand new sweeper which
should make that operation much more efficient
• In the months ahead, under the direction of our Engineer and in consultation
with Recreation Director, Lou Pane, we will be making major renovations and
upgrades to our pool. This will be done during an 8 week closure where we will
be able to address issues and problems for the first time in over 15 years. In
addition we will be renovating the tennis courts at the Middle School.
SENIORS
• New mini-bus was in operation at the Senior Center last fall
• Since last time we met, the Board of Finance and your Council approved
further tax relief for our most needy senior citizens as we increased the tax
credit from $ 100 to $ 200
• Town came to the aid of East Farm Village when they had major power outage
on warmest day of year
• Held several seminars for seniors, on the new Medicare Part D and medical
breakthroughs
• Have scheduled many great trips, at reasonable prices, sign up at the Center
• Lunch program continues to be going very well
• And at this year’s Sr. New Year’s Eve party, they honored Esther Balzano as
Volunteer of the Year
YOUTH CENTER
Town’s Youth Coordinator Bob Petrucelli & Councilman Bob Sand are instrumental
• Youth Services Bureau continues a very successful Teen Center program,
located at the old HS
• Events for HS and Middle School students; 271 students have already attended
• Special Music event was held at Sr. Center with over 175 students attending
TOWN CLERK
• Under direction of Lisa Leary, received their 4th Historic Preservation
Grant of $ 12,000 which will enable them to reduce the last of their large
volumes to compact books.
• Installed a new shelving systems for land records, which will provide a more
efficient method of researching these records and providing future storage in
the same space
• Computer system will be upgraded also to provide more efficiency of these
services
HAGAMAN LIBRARY
• Continue to get a face lift through Downtown Revitalization, town work
(which included a new roof) and a state grant of 23k for some other
renovations
• Renovated the lower level all purpose room
FINANCE
• We have continued our refinancing of our bonds and notes at extremely
competitive rates, which has helped us to save some interest costs
• During the last year we finally resolved the teacher salary accrual
situation. The final cost of $ 3.4 million dollars was transferred to the BOE
after the approval of the Boards of Finance and Education along with the Town
Council. These funds were designated from our Fund Balance without any mill
increase over a seven year period.
• The resolution of the teacher accrual resulted in an unqualified or clean
auditor’s opinion.
• We currently still maintain an undesignated fund balance of over $ 3.9
million or 5.35% of the current fiscal year budget.
• New Budget with no tax increase
BOARD OF EDUCATION
• Congratulations to EH Academy for being recognized by the Federal Government
as of the 295 Blue Ribbon Schools across the country, of which only 3 are in
CT
• Recognition of students from EHHS and DC Moore Elementary School for their
relief efforts totaling over $ 21,000 for the Hurricane victims
• Dedication of the new Frank Crisafi field at the High School (thanks to
Senator Len Fasano for helping obtain state funds)
• EHHS Marching Band winning State and New England Championships
WPCA
• Regionalization of WPCA and use of some of those funds to retire teachers’
accrual debt
• Retirement of long time town employee, Felix DiGuisto
THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN 2006 AND BEYOND
• Memorial Day Parade set for Sunday May 28; want to thank Veterans Council of
EH for bringing here last year “The Wall That Heals”, replica of Vietnam
Memorial Wall
• Our 8th annual Pause for the Pledge of Allegiance on Wednesday June 14th
• Our 6th Annual Fireworks 2006 presented by VVA Chapter 484, and the Town of
East Haven (talk about our generous business community)
• Our annual “Senior Day” celebration on the green will be Saturday, August 12
• Friday, Saturday and Sunday September 8, 9 & 10h will be our 15th Annual
East Haven Fall Festival: Featuring “The Platters” on Friday and encore
performance of “Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge” on Saturday
• 4th Annual Penguin Plunge at the town beach for CT Special Olympics,
attended by Attorney General
• Our annual family Christmas on the Green celebration which is getting larger
each year thanks to EH Chamber of Commerce will be held the Saturday after
Thanksgiving
OTHER TOPICS
• Thanks to EH Courier for its great person of the week column; shows the
amount of volunteerism and community spirit the town has. After several years,
they have not yet run out of citizens to recognize
• Thanks to the Merit Award Committee for continuing the tradition on naming
three citizens for their community service to our town. Once again they are
never at a loss for candidates
• The outreach of our community to the residents of Louisiana who were
devastated by Hurricane Katrina; from school children to our many
organizations and businesses and of course our private citizens ( may want to
recall the jet flown from Tweed with Henry Criscuolo) for all their relief
efforts
• This sprit was demonstrated in a tremendous way, with the way the community
has come together to the aid of Jada Cintron, the 10 year old girl who was
tragically burned last year
Thanks to FD Local 1205, the EH Hockey Team and the Cheerleaders to name just
a few !
Mention the new proposed budget with No Tax Increase !!
When we look at the “Spirit of East Haven” its residents, its businesses and
its volunteerism; this is what makes the State of our Town so strong and one
of the best communities in the Country !!! I thank all of you for helping make
East Haven the “Shinning Star on the Shoreline” !
Thank you again for giving me this opportunity to boast about our Town. God
bless all of you, God Bless America and may God Bless the great Town of East
Haven !
