Town Manager's Report - October 7, 2019
Chili Challenge
The Windsor Jaycees Chili Challenge will be on October 12th on the town green from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. More than 30 local businesses, civic groups and creative cooks will all be there with some of the best chili you have ever tasted. Proceeds will go directly back into the Windsor community.
Annual Kiwanis Canoe Race
The annual Kiwanis Canoe Race will be held on October 12th from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM on the town green. This is the 12th year for this event that benefits the Windsor Food and Fuel banks. Bring a non-perishable food item and add it to the canoe of your choice. The organization that fills its canoe with the most donations for food and fuel banks wins the race!
Annual Lions Club Fall Arts and Crafts Show
The annual Lions Club Fall Arts and Crafts show will take place on October 12th from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM on the Windsor town green. The green will be filled with arts and crafts booths of all types. Food and beverages will be for sale. Free. Applications for booth space are available on the Windsor Lions Club website at e-clubhouse.org.
Pilot Program – Fire Prevention Community Risk Assessment
The town has been selected to participate in the NFPA Community Risk Assessment pilot project. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is working to develop a user-friendly digital visualization tool which will help fire departments and the communities they serve to develop data-informed risk reduction plans. Windsor has been selected to be one of only 50 communities to test and review this program.
Throughout the project, we will be able to use this new tool to identify local risks to life and property, understand underlying conditions that may contribute to those risks, activate teams to develop Community Risk Reduction plans informed by data, and share findings with stakeholders and community members.
I extend my thanks to Lauri Volkert, Fire Inspector, for her leadership on this project.
Repaving Projects
The pavement milling of the Milo Peck Center parking lot and driveways were completed this weekend. Milling of Merriman, Addison (Pigeon Hill to Bloomfield Ave), and the 4 sections of Day Hill Road are expected to be completed this week. The sections of Day Hill Road to be improved are: 1) Griffin Road South to Blue Hills Avenue, 2) west of Credit Union to Goodwin Drive, 3) Goodwin Drive to Old Iron Ore and 4) Addison Road to east of Public Works.
The Milo Peck parking lot will be paved on Saturday, October 12. The various roadways noted above will be paved during the week of October 14. The public parking lot at Maple and Broad Street will be overlaid on Saturday, October 19.
Work on Day Hill and Addison will take place between 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Obviously, this is weather dependent and subject to the contractors’ scheduling.
Mosquito Precautions
Given the colder temperatures in the past several days as well as the forecast for the remainder of the week, schedules for outdoor recreation activities are resuming their regular schedules. These colder temperatures slow down the mosquito activity. The Superintendent of Schools has also decided to resume their regular schedules. We still recommend that best practices and precautions be used to prevent mosquito bites such as wearing long sleeves and use of insect repellent.
As a reminder, the Town has an annual mosquito control program. As part of the program, we regularly treat 23 different town-owned locations from roughly April until early fall. We also treat all town-owned storm drains with larvicide 2 to 3 times per summer and spray select areas if during the summer the adult mosquito population is significant.
Update on Impacts of Emergency Incident at Bradley Airport
I’d like to provide a short follow-up report on the tragic plane crash that occurred at Bradley International Airport last week. First my thoughts and prayers are with the passengers and their families.
I extend my appreciation to the first responders from our volunteer firefighter department and the Windsor Volunteer Ambulance, who responded as part of a pre-planned mutual aid. The mutual aid system provides for resources from the region to support Bradley Fire Department and Windsor Locks Fire Department.
Town staff and I have been in regular contact with CT DEEP and the Department of Public Health.
The CT DEEP’s emergency response unit was immediately dispatched as was a private environmental remediation contractor. As soon as was possible, storm drains near the crash scene were protected to reduce the amount of firefighting material, fuel and de-icing agent entering the drainage system. The foam or other materials did not enter MDC’s sanitary sewer.
Staff posted advisory signs in English and Spanish at various access points along the Farmington River. We also issued a town-wide notification via our reverse 911 / emergency notification system. Information was posted on various social media platforms and the town website.
DEEP has been coordinating clean-up activities at the airport, and in the adjacent Rainbow Brook and a private pond in Windsor Locks. They instituted visual monitoring of the Rainbow Brook in Windsor as well as the Farmington River.
From the evening of Friday, October 4 through the evening of Sunday, October 6, aeration of the water in Rainbow Brook has generated foam in some spots along the brook. Foam has been observed near the intersection of Rainbow Road and Stevens Mill Road. Throughout the weekend, DEEP set up booms and brought in vacuum trucks in these areas to contain and clean up the foam. The containment and cleanup will continue.
No foam has been observed on the Farmington River at this time.
DEEP collected surface water samples from Rainbow Brook and the Farmington River. The samples will be analyzed for PFAS and other substances associated with the incident. Results are expected later this week.
A fish consumption advisory remains in place for the Farmington River downstream of Rainbow Dam.
Based on information available to DEEP and the State Department of Public Health, no private wells are at risk from firewater runoff containing PFAS or other substances originating from the incident discharging to Rainbow Brook.