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Neighborhood Assistance Act
The Town of Windsor will once again be
participating in the State of Connecticut’s Neighborhood
Assistance Act (NAA) Tax Credit Program. The NAA Program,
administered through the state’s Department of Revenue
Services, benefits eligible non-profit organizations and
municipal entities by providing a financial inducement to
corporate donors. Donors receive a 60% tax credit against
their corporate tax liability, and up to a 100% tax credit
for “certain energy conservation projects”, subject to
approval and certain restrictions. Organizations wishing to
participate in the program should complete the application
available at
www.drs.state.ct.us (form NAA-01) and submit it to the
Office of Community Development located at Windsor Town Hall
by 4:30 PM on May 23, 2008. For more information, Contact
the Community Development Office at 285-1985.
Landfill Closed for Holiday
I’d like to remind residents that the
landfill will be closed this Saturday, March 22nd
due to the Easter holiday.
Public Hearing
on the Budget
A final reminder
that members of the public are invited to participate in a
public hearing on Monday, April 7, 2008 at 7:15 PM to
provide input on the FY 09 budget.
Police Grant
Awarded
The Windsor Police
Department has been awarded a $19,990 speed enforcement
grant. The SLOW (Speed Limit Obedience Wave) grant was
devised by Metro Traffic Services as a way to combat the
increasing problem of speed related crashes. The Department
of Transportation has approved funding for all of the metro
towns to initiate speed enforcement twice a week for two
months. The funding will be used to pay for overtime
officers to participate in speed enforcement activities in
all the metro towns. As a result of this grant the Town of
Windsor will see five dedicated days of speed enforcement on
Windsor roads over the two month period. The funding will
provide for three Windsor officers on overtime, as well as
an equal complement of officers from each of the other metro
towns. Officers will be focused on speed enforcement for
both cars and commercial trucks.
Public Hearing
The Town of
Windsor’s Office of Community Development will be hosting a
public hearing Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 6:30 PM in the
Community Room of the Community Center at 330 Windsor
Avenue.
The purpose of this
public hearing is to 1) seek comment on the Town of
Windsor’s current participation in the federal Community
Development Block Grant – Small Cities Program, 2) solicit
input from local residents and/or business owners as to the
needs of the community, particularly the needs of
low/moderate income residents, 3) solicit suggestions for
activities for possible inclusion in an application for
funding through the upcoming federal Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) application cycle. The public is welcome
to ask questions pertaining to the CDBG Program and/or the
town’s historical participation, as well as to speak or
submit written comment.
If you are unable to
attend the public hearing, written comments can be directed
to the Office of Community Development, 275 Broad St.,
Windsor, CT 06095.
Activities funded
through the CDBG – Small Cities Program must meet one of the
three national objectives which include 1) benefit to
low/moderate income persons, 2) the elimination of slums and
blight, or 3) meet other urgent community development needs
for which other resources are not available.
For more
information, contact the Community Development Office at
285-1985.
Street Sweeping
Public Works is scheduled to begin its
annual street sweeping program on Monday, March 24th.
They will begin in the Mill Brook neighborhood (Mack Street,
East Street, Pleasant Street area). Following this
neighborhood, the program will continue into Hayden Station,
and then counter-clockwise through the neighborhoods of the
town, ending in town Center in approximately the end of May
or early June. A detailed listing of the street sweeping
schedule is available on the town’s website. All scheduled
sweeping work is weather-dependent.
The order of the neighborhoods to be
swept changes each year so that one neighborhood is not
always swept first or swept last. Questions regarding
street sweeping can be addressed to Public Works at
285-1855.
Fire
Department Grant Opportunity
One of the primary
goals of the Fire Department over the last few years has
been to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters. Chief
Lewis and a department committee have been exploring a
number of possible tools. The tools range from providing
health insurance for volunteers who respond to day –time
calls to establishing a length of service benefit program.
In an attempt to
defray costs of establishing such incentives the department
has applied to the federal government under the Staffing for
Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant program for
funding a length of service award or benefit plan. The
funding request was in the amount of approximately $300,000
to establish the ongoing program. The Town would need to
fund a portion of the plan on an annual basis depending on
the final program design. As conceptually envisioned, a
monthly benefit based on years of service would be given to
volunteer firefighters after they reach a certain year (e.g.
65 years old) who had actively participated in the
department for a set number years (e.g. 20 years of
service).
We are currently
awaiting word from the Federal government as to the success
of our grant application. In the meantime staff is working
to prepare a discussion item on possible recruitment and
retention tools for a future Health and Safety Committee
meeting.
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