Board of Selectmen: Reduced Mill Rate, Bears Everywhere, Neighborhood Watch Confusion, Making Hay, Speed-Ticketing Cameras in Goshen
June 6
All three Selectmen were in attendance including Kinsella, who joined the meeting remotely via Zoom. The selectmen began the meeting by unanimously approving last week’s meeting minutes. Harris then motioned to approve town payroll and warrants for June 8th in the amount of $65,579.17. Selectmen Carusillo and Harris voted in favor of the motion while Kinsella abstained. The motion was carried.
For the First Selectman’s report, Carusillo began by announcing that the Town of Goshen 2023-2024 budget passed on Wednesday, May 31st. The mill rate was lowered by 4.2 mills to 15.6 mills; mill rates are tax rates municipalities use to calculate local property taxes. 1 mill is 1/1000 or 0.1% of assessed property value.
Carusillo spoke with Public Works Supervisor Garret Harlow about putting up signs for local neighborhood watches in response to recent break-ins in town and surrounding areas. People interested in forming a neighborhood watch should contact Carusillo and Harlow in order to acquire signage displaying “Neighborhood Watch” for their street.
A black bear was seen peering into the Center School cafeteria! In response, the selectmen have locked the school and town hall dumpsters and will install lighting to deter the bears. Carusillo noted that he suspects the same bear that appeared in the cafeteria is living in the swamp south of Nodine’s Smokehouse Gourmet Store. He additionally urged residents to recycle as much as they can.
The selectmen will organize a school safety meeting soon with Fire Chief Barry Hall and Superintendent Chris Leone, however an exact date, time, and location are not determined as of yet. Carusillo ended his report stating that he will attend a fire safety meeting for the Goshen Stampede at the Goshen Fairgrounds on Friday, June 9th at 9 am.
For correspondence, the Goshen Library Board issued a recommendation for a new library director. Carusillo will interview this potential director on Wednesday, June 7th. He expects the interview will go well and the selectmen will announce the new library director next week.
For old business, Harris made a motion to add the recommendation from Harlow for the municipal mowing bid to this meeting’s agenda. This was unanimously approved. Harlow recommended accepting Old Oak Landscaping which was the only company to submit a bid for this project. Harris made a motion to accept this recommendation which was also unanimously approved.
The meeting concluded with Agent for the Elderly and Human Services Task Force member, Erin Reilly detailing a Needs Assessment form. The form would be used to gather data on how institutions in Goshen are assisting residents’ with financial, medical, energy, or miscellaneous needs, “...It’s just trying to give us an idea of what the organizations in town are helping with and then, where there may be restriction are, what they may need more help helping others with…”. This will also be used to determine the need for a Human Services director in town to better resolve assistance issues. These are digital Google forms that would have links given out by local organizations for residents and members of said organizations to fill out. Selectman Harris requested that raw data collected from this form be submitted to the Board of Selectmen on a weekly basis. After considerable review from the Board, Harris motioned to proceed with the distribution of this form. This was unanimously approved.
June 13
All three Selectmen were in attendance with Kinsella joining remotely via Zoom. The last week’s meeting minutes were unanimously approved. Harris then motioned to approve town payroll and warrants for June 15th in the amount of $52,273.80. Selectmen Carusillo and Harris voted in favor of the motion while Kinsella abstained. The motion was carried.
First Selectman Carusillo began his report by notifying attendees that bears continue to be troublesome in town. The Church of Christ Congregational, Goshen Gas Station (Village Market & Gas), AJ’s Steak and Pizza, and Ron’s Automotive Center all reported bear sightings last week. Litchfield County currently has the second most bear sightings in the state with Hartford County reporting the most sightings this year so far. According to Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Goshen reported a total of 42 bear sightings in addition to four bobcat and two moose sightings.
Carusillo continued by noting that there was some confusion amongst townsfolk and state police regarding the formation of the neighborhood watch. According to Carusillo, the state police contacted him after receiving multiple calls from town republicans about a suspected “democratic party”.“Lt. Swift came to my office yesterday,” noted Carusillo, “ and said, ‘If anybody, if any of the neighborhoods in Goshen want to have a program, it should be in a neutral spot like the conference room or Camp Cochipianee’”. “The idea that this is somehow politically motivated, I think, is absurd and should just be put to rest,” Kinsella added.
Note: See article "Neighborhood Watch Confusion: What Happened?
The report ended with a discussion on what to do with a town-owned, abandoned hayfield on East Street South. Carusillo suggested they put the property out for bid for any local farmers to cultivate hay on the property. This would ideally generate profit for both the farmer and the town, with Kinsella suggesting the town receive a certain number of bales to help road construction. The selectmen even proposed letting bidders use town equipment to cultivate the hay but Carusillo volunteered himself to manage the field so as to ensure equipment and resident safety. This topic will be further discussed in future meetings.
For new business, Carusillo motioned to add the Tibet Fest to the agenda. This was unanimously approved. The selectmen are still waiting on other directors to sign the application for the event in addition to approval from fire marshals and Torrington Health. Carusillo hopes everything will be signed and approved before the event begins on Friday, June 23rd. The board then reviewed a resolution to recognize banks and other local institutions as official depositories for the town. These locations included Bank of America, Litchfield Bancorp, Union Savings Bank, and Torrington Savings Bank. This was also unanimously approved. Carusillo then announced Tabitha Guarnieri as the official new Goshen Library Director. She will start her new position on Monday, June 19th.
June 20
On Tuesday June 20th, only First Selectman Todd Carusillo and fellow Selectman Dexter Kinsella were in attendance. Kinsella joined the meeting remotely via Zoom while Selectman Mark Harris was excused so that he could attend his grandson’s graduation. The selectmen began by approving last week’s meeting minutes. Both Carusillo and Kinsella voted to approve the minutes. Carusillo then motioned to approve town payroll and warrants for June 22nd in the amount of $88,594.88. This was unanimously approved.
For the First Selectman’s Report, Carusillo noted that there weren’t many topics to address since the previous Selectmen meeting. Trees that were deemed hazardous in Camp Cochipianee were cut down and removed before the camp officially opened for the summer season. More sightings of black bears were reported to the selectmen and Carusillo pleaded to residents to attempt recycling and composting disposable materials. “We must, as a community, recycle and compost,” said Carusillo. “We gotta reduce the weight [of our trash]. We use the average of $12,000, now it’s up to $14,000. Everybody has to help out here”. Scott Olson asked the First Selectman about the cause of this tipping fee invoice increase during Public Comment. Carusillo explained the invoice increase likely came from increased suburban usage from seasonal residents starting to use their summer properties in town. Paul Collins of the town’s Recycling and Trash Committee added that another cause for the invoice increase was that there were five collections in May for the five weeks that month rather than the normal four. Goshen is charged $116 per ton of trash.
The Town Hall has several extra COVID-19 test kits available for residents. While no townsfolk are reportedly infected with COVID-19 at the time, Carusillo recommends traveling vacationers take some kits as a precaution. Many residents near Woodridge Lake reported that they did not receive their seasonal issue of Goshen Town Topics in the mail last week. Previously the Goshen Post Office would have delivered extra copies of the issue to the town hall but the Postmaster will no longer deliver those issues to the hall this season. “I guess in her eyes, once we pay for postage, they are government property and she could do whatever she wants with them,” said Carusillo. “But the town of Goshen pays $25,000 a year for Goshen Topics plus all the mailing and we’re not getting any back to the town hall…” Carusillo recommends residents wanting to receive their issue of Town Topics submit a complaint to the post office or attempt to receive a copy from the post office directly.
For appointments, Kinsella motioned to appoint David Rosaler back to his position as a representative for the Cable Television Advisory Committee for another two-year term. This was unanimously approved. Kinsella then motioned to add the Tibet Festival to the agenda which was unanimously approved. The selectmen received all signage from the festival's directors and approval from fire marshals and Torrington Health since the last meeting. Kinsella motioned to approve the application for the Tibet Festival which begins on Friday, June 23rd and ends on Sunday, June 25th. This was unanimously approved.
The meeting ended with the selectmen discussing a request from Public Works Supervisor Garret Harlow. Harlow requested a fund transfer in the amount of $140,371.35 from the Town Aid Road account to be used in Major Road Projects. This will be used to help complete chip seal projects on town roads. Kinsella motioned to approve the transfer of funds. This was unanimously approved.
June 27
All three Selectmen were in attendance with Kinsella joining remotely via Zoom. The selectmen began the meeting by approving last week’s meeting minutes. Both Carusillo and Kinsella voted to approve the minutes while Harris abstained due to being excused from last week's meeting. The motion was carried. Harris then motioned to approve town payroll and warrants for June 29th in the amount of $58,028.53. Selectmen Carusillo and Harris voted in favor of the motion while Kinsella abstained. This was approved.
First Selectman Carusillo began his report by stating that he contacted state police to organize a Neighborhood Watch Program for the town. No specific date or location has been set yet but it will likely take place at either Camp Cochipianee or Town Hall.
The Connecticut General Assembly’s 2023 legislative session ended earlier this month and they passed a traffic safety bill allowing municipalities to install automated cameras to enforce speed limit and red light violations. These cameras can be placed at school zones, defined pedestrian safety zones, and other areas approved by local officials and the Office of State Traffic Administration. Carusillo plans to utilize these cameras, “These are camera devices that can probably be placed on our digital signs that we have that will snap pictures of the people speeding and hopefully curb the speeding in town cause after they get a ticket from the Town of Goshen, they’re gonna have to pay up.” First offenders will receive $50 tickets and second offenders will receive $75 tickets with all revenue going to the town for future traffic related expenses. Early Voting for the state was also passed, however the state provided an inadequate fund source for towns to employ early voting staff for longer terms. Carusillo has already contacted Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas for financial assistance, “Hopefully she responds to me. I know it’s not going to be until the [2024] Presidential Election but how are we going to pay for all this?” In the state’s $51 billion two-year budget, only $4.4 million was allocated for all state municipalities to finance early voting services; that gives each municipality roughly $10,000 each.
Carusillo ended his report by stating that he appointed George Sinnamon Associates as the town’s auditor after they were approved by the Board of Finance and the Holmes Road public access improvement project is well underway from the Public Works Department. It’s estimated that the completed project will only cost $20,000.
For appointments, Harris motioned to add a purchase order for the Holmes Road Improvements and to add Sustainable CT to the agenda. This was unanimously approved. Public Works Supervisor Garret Harlow submitted a purchase order to McElhone Construction, LLC from Torrington for drilling and blasting supplies to be used on Holmes Road. McElhone Construction is registered to work in the state according to the Connecticut State Business website. $9,500 would be taken from the Town Aid Road Fund to cover the purchase. Kinsella motioned to release the $9,500 from the TAR Fund for the purchase. This was unanimously approved.
Joyce Mowrey of Sustainable Goshen CT presented their report on their Community Conversation 2023 event. Sustainable CT is a voluntary certification program that fosters Connecticut municipalities to help build local economies, support equity, and protect local environments. The event was used to determine what Goshen residents would like to see improved in town. “Last year we invited every nonprofit commission committee that we could think of to come to a community conversation,” Mowrey explained. “This year we did that plus we put out fliers at the library, the bank, the post office, both banks, sent out emails, did contacts to try to get a very diverse group at the Camp Cochipianee on April 14th.” 48 people attended the event. The five most voted areas of improvement included the development of a Senior Center/Indoor Rec/Community Center at 22 votes, Affordable Housing at 16 votes, a Community Calendar/Better Communication at 15 votes, a Coffee Shop/Internet Cafe/Brewery at 12 votes, and Sidewalks at Town Center at 10 votes. Most of the improvements can be developed under Town Hall control save for the Coffee Shop/Brewery. While seniors can use Camp Coch from Fall through Spring, they’re kicked out for the Summer so kids can use the site.
The meeting ended with Carusillo going over the status of the Falcon Ridge Music Festival and the Podunk Bluegrass Music Festival. Falcon Ridge and Podunk’s applications are almost complete. Falcon Ridge is awaiting approval from the fire chief, fire marshal, Torrington Area Health, and Troop B while Podunk is awaiting approval from the fire chief to approve their fire protection plan. Since July 4th’s Board of Selectmen meeting is canceled in observance of Independence Day, Falcon Ridge and Podunk’s final review will take place on Tuesday, July 11th. The 35th Annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival will take place at the Goshen Fairgrounds from July 28-30th. The 26th Annual Podunk Bluegrass Music Festival will take place at the Goshen Fairgrounds from August 10-13th.
