The December 5^th through 7^th, 2003 snow storm was declared an emergency by the Federal Emergency management Agency (FEMA), allowing the town to apply for a reimbursement of expenditures associated with the storm. The town has been notified that we will receive 75% of our eligible costs that totaled $65,271.48. I will update the council with the final amount of reimbursement upon arrival of the check.

A $4,000 grant has been awarded to the Recreation Department through the "Tennis in the Parks" initiative of the National Recreation and Parks Association and the United States Tennis Association. The goals of the "Tennis in the Parks" grant program is to assist organizations to grow and/or improve the game of tennis in their community. Recreation will be using the funding to hire a certified tennis instructor and incorporate the USTA Tennis Program into Windsor’s Summer Fun Playground Program.

If you enjoy helping and working with people, completing projects, and can make a commitment of some of your time, you are just the person Windsor needs. A recently published brochure, created by town staff involved in the Healthy Community business plan, outlines more than 30 volunteer opportunities available within town services. From computer work, to driving, to outdoor landscaping, the volunteer opportunities listed in the brochure outline a wide variety of jobs working with a wide variety of age groups at various sites throughout town. The brochures are available at all Town of Windsor facilities as well as on the town’s website where you can view the brochure by clicking the "citizen involvement" button. For more information, call Gaye Rizzo at 285-1931.

Taking advantage of low interest rates, the town saved approximately $14,000 on what we had been planning on spending on our debt repayment next year on our recent bond sales. These rates, (3.53% on our bonds, 0.98% on our 1-year note) are the lowest we have seen in over 30 years.

Windsor Police are offering a Citizens Police Academy for 12 weeks beginning Tuesday, March 16^th from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. The Citizens’ Academy is a program designed for community members to see local law enforcement from a different view…the Police Officer’s view. During the twelve-week course, students will be instructed on a variety of topics that will provide a better understanding of how the Police Department functions.

If you are interested in the criminal justice field or are just curious about what cops do, this class may be for you. The program is not meant to train participants as police officers. Local police officers and other experts in the criminal justice field will teach classes. Students will have the opportunity to do "hands on" training as well as having the option of riding with an officer during a patrol shift.

Applications to participate are due March 10^th and can be obtained by contacting Officer Renee LeGeyt at the Windsor Police Department at 688 5273.

As a reminder, all Windsor polling places will be open from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM tomorrow, Tuesday, March 2, 2004 for the Presidential Preference Primary of the Democratic Party.

You must be a registered Democrat to vote in this primary. For more information, call 285-1902.

The polling locations are:

Bids for the Daniels House, located at 124 & 126 Palisado Avenue closed at 4:00 PM today and are currently being reviewed by staff. Four bids were received. One proposal will be selected to begin final negotiations.

There has been a large volume of interest (30-40 inquiries) in the Bell School property located at 235 Palisado Avenue. We are hoping to conduct an open house at the property in the very near future, but have respectfully delayed contacting the tenants to schedule open house dates due to passing of Minister Mary Barnes. We anticipate arrangements for the open house will be finalized by the end of this week.

Detailed information on these properties can be obtained on the town’s website or by calling 285-1870.

As a footnote, the house at 122 East Street will be on the market for sale in the near future as the appropriate discussions relating to Veteran’s Cemetery continue.

The RFP for eventual bidding has been delayed a week or longer than originally expected due to additional interest from other municipalities in the State. Even with this slight delay, the Coalition is still within the timeframe of completing the RFP process for an effective date of January 1, 2005. As you are aware, the $7,500 fee decreases to $7,000 if 14 municipalities enter and decreases again, to $6,500 if 17 municipalities enter. To date, 11 municipalities committed to the prescription coalition. The additional interested groups could bring the total group size to 17 municipalities. I’ll continue to keep the Council and general public updated as this issue progresses.

The Police Department recently completed the process for selection of the Windsor Police Officer of the Year. The award is based on the following criteria:

All of our WPD personnel are expected to conduct themselves with these attributes in mind. However, the WPD takes time to recognize someone who lives these attributes with a little more rigor than most. I am happy to report that Officer Ray McLaughlin is the choice for Police Officer of the Year. Officer McLaughlin rates highly in all of the areas mentioned above and are truly an outstanding representative for Police Officer of the Year. He will be feted in a ceremony later this week at the annual Exchange Club’s ‘Salute to Windsor’s Finest’ dinner at Loomis Chaffee School this Wednesday, March 3, 2004 at 6:00pm.