Town Manager's Report - March 5th 2018

Summer Camp Registration

Just a reminder. Now’s the time to register children for a variety of summer camps and programs offered by the town.  Both the Northwest Park Summer Nature Camp and the Recreation Department’s Summer Fun Camp are accepting registrations for their weekly camp offerings.  Registration is easy and can be completed online by going to the Recreation Department link on the town’s website at townofwindsorct.com.

There are summer camp programs offered at the Discovery Center on Palisado Ave at the Milo Peck Center as well. These are for Pre-K through elementary school-aged children. The school district also has summer programs through the summer activities through their Treehouse program.  For more information, go to (link to program).

 

“Money Matters” Youth Summit

The Youth Services Bureau is hosting a “Money Matters” Youth Summit for Windsor teens ages 14-18 on Saturday, March 24, 2018, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.  The program will be held at the 330 Windsor Avenue Community Center.  Money Matters will feature interactive workshops exploring banking, loans, and understanding your paycheck and taxes.  This conference will include a free lunch, door prizes, giveaways and many take home lessons about how to manage your money. This program is free and registration is limited to the first 70 people.  For more information call 860-285-1990.

 

Amtrak track work

Amtrak has work scheduled at the grade crossings in Windsor which will require road closures as follows:

 

• East Barber St – from 6:00 pm Monday 3/12 to 6:00 pm Tuesday 3/13
• Island Road – from 6:00 pm Monday 3/19 to 6:00 pm Tuesday 3/20
• Central Street – from 6:00 pm Monday 3/26 to 6:00 pm Tuesday 3/27

 

These time frames are approximate and dates may be subject to change. Amtrak will keep us informed of any new developments.

 

Bradley International Airport Easement Acquisition Project

The CT Airport Authority (CAA) is currently completing a project to remove tree obstructions to the runway approaches per FAA regulations. The CAA is proceeding with the next phase of the program which will consist of acquiring easements from private properties to remove certain trees which ‘penetrate’ the regulated airspace for aircraft landing and departing at the airport.  This process including the tree removal is expected to take several months.

 

East Street Water Main Replacement

The MDC will be replacing its old 3” water main in East Street, from Clubhouse to Pleasant. (NOTE: all other water lines in the area are 8” dia. Minimum) MDC will also add 1 hydrant and replace another hydrant in that area. The majority of work is expected to commence in early April and last 4-6 weeks.  Prior to replacing the water main MDC will be performing work on service lines to individual properties.  They will be using the Town’s parcel of land just north of 124 East Street as a staging area. They will restore the area after they have completed their work.

 

Tree Removal – Palisado Green

As you may know, over the past several years Eversource has been performing scheduled maintenance tree trimming on a regular basis to help insure that their electrical service is not interrupted by falling limbs or trees. They also perform enhanced tree trimming work to protect the “backbone” of the distribution system. This enhanced clearing has more stringent clearing requirements to protect these major systems. The electrical line along Palisado Avenue, in the area of the green, is a part of the backbone of the distribution system.

 

Eversource’s certified arborists designated the recently-removed trees on the green as potential hazards to their distribution facility, due to their age and the decay present in the trees. Since the trees were over 18” in diameter, the Town Forester and I were made aware of Eversource’s desire to remove the trees. The Town Forester considered several other factors in his concurrence with the arborist’s recommendation, including the potential for injury to motorists and pedestrians, the proximity of early child schools, places of worship and historical monuments. After consideration of these factors, the Town Forester and I signed off on their removal.

 

Public Works will be planting suitable replacement trees in the very near future. We have identified and tagged three 4 ½” diameter sugar maples at a local nursery for replacement of the fallen trees.