This week is the deadline to submit a nomination for the "Windsor Bridge-Builders Awards" sponsored by the Town of Windsor Human Relations Commission and Citizens for a United Windsor. Anyone, of any age, may fill out an official nomination form for the 10th annual awards program.

The Windsor Bridge-Builders Awards showcases true community role models in human relations. This can include students who have worked toward greater understanding of others in their school or neighborhood.

Citizens for a United Windsor, a grass-roots organization, works to foster greater trust,

understanding, and solidarity across the full spectrum of Windsor's racial, ethnic, and religious diversity.

Three individuals, organizations, or businesses will be honored as Windsor Bridge-Builders at a ceremony and reception to be held on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2004 at the main branch of the Windsor Public Library. The event will be open to the community.

Official nomination forms for the Windsor Bridge-Builders Awards are available at the Town Clerk's office in Town Hall, at the Main branch and the Wilson branches of the Windsor Public Library, and at L P. Wilson Community Center, outside of the Recreation Department.

For more information about this awards program, call Bill Warner-Prouty at 688-7718, Nellie Holmes Mason at 728-0769, or Len Swade at 688-4351.

In 2003, 157 individuals volunteered at the Windsor Senior Center for a total of 5,120 hours. This is an increase of approximately 1,400 hours from past years. Delivering meals to homebound residents and working in the Senior Center office are two of the more popular volunteer opportunities, but there is a wide variety of jobs such as helping with the production of the newsletter, helping at the flu clinic and health fair and many others.

A member of the senior center staff recently attended a Volunteer Workshop, and was advised that a volunteer's time is worth $17.05 per hour. Using that rate, the 2003 volunteer hours represent a savings to the town in the amount of $87,306.23.

Every year a Volunteer Luncheon is held to express our appreciation and to say thank you to the volunteers, and special recognitions are noted in the monthly Senior Newsletter.

Today, the town began using a new process called MulchSEAL to crack seal portions of River Street (between Hayden Station Road and Kennedy Road) and Day Hill Road (between Baker Hollow Road and Poquonock Avenue). Work will be performed by the town’s contractor, Marino Brothers of New England, Inc. from Middletown, CT, and will continue this week, from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM ending this Friday, August 6th.

Mulch SEAL is a process that involves applying liquid asphalt in the cracks of the roadway and covering the area with a lightweight cover material. The MulchSEAL method of crack filling is an improvement over other crack filling methods. It is longer lasting on the pavement, especially on streets with heavier traffic. The liquid asphalt takes approximately 48 hours to set, so some dust and loose material will occur during that time. Motorists are asked to exercise caution driving through the effected area. There will be minor delays during the application process and vehicular traffic will be limited to one lane in those areas. It may be desirable to plan an alternate route, if possible.

For more information, contact Public Works at 285-1855.

On occasion in the past, we have taken the opportunity to highlight specific economic development projects. This evening I would like to provide a broader picture of economic development activity since October 1999.

As a whole, Windsor has done well in terms of economic development and grand list growth. Since October 1999 1.6 million square feet of non-residential building has taken place. This includes brand new structures and building additions. It does not include significant reinvestment in buildings such as Terry Steam on Lamberton Road and ADVO’s corporate campus off of Bloomfield Ave. Also, the TPZ has approved an additional 615,000 square feet of new buildings which have yet to be constructed.

The 1.6 million square feet of construction translates into over $89 million of grand list growth. This value is for real estate only and does not take into account personal property. Furthermore, using a conservative formula for the 615,000 square feet of approve yet unbuilt space there is the potential to generate an additional $30 million in grand list value.

The value of the real estate development as of the October 2003 Grand List translates into approximately $1.8 million in tax revenue for FY 2005. This equals 8/10ths of a mill. Therefore, all else being equal, without the past 4 years of economic development activity the FY 2005 mill rate would have been 29.63 vs 28.83. For a home valued at $200,000 this economic growth translates into a reduced tax burden of $112.

I would like to stress that these numbers include only real estate values and do not include personal property. For example, the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center pays $445,000 in real estate taxes along with an additional $84,000 in personal property taxes. In a number of cases involving commercial or industrial properties the personal property and machinery can generate as much or more in revenue than the real estate.

Windsor stills maintains a fairly well balanced economic base. Thirty percent of our value is non-residential. This is better than many communities in the Hartford region as well as statewide.

Staff is committed to continuing our aggressive economic development efforts while also focussing on redevelopment of key sites and small business retention and assistance.