Goshen Board of Selectmen

12/2/25, 5 PM
Present: First Selectman Seth Breakell, and Selectmen Scott Olson and, via Zoom, Dexter Kinsella

Review of minutes from the Nov. 25, 2025 meeting had two corrections; one to Kinsella’s name, and correction of last sentence should be stated as a “regular”, not a “regional” meeting. The minutes passed with corrections unanimously. Approval of payroll and warrants passed unanimously.

In his First Selectman’s report, Breakell said that the Region 6 pension MOU has been finalized, and there will be a meeting with other towns and attorneys to move forward with the audit.

Breakell has received the Communications Task Force report. He will begin to review it and reach out to members to discuss.

Breakell took a moment to say thank you to public works for taking care of the roads saying, “It was a sloppy, messy storm, please be careful out there and please don’t forget the town cannot call in power outages, you have to do it as the account holder to Eversource directly.”

Breakell then had a few reminders: The Goshen Fire Company is doing CPR certification courses — it’s one class with multiple dates, eight students per class. The cost is free with a suggested donation of $30 to help cover the cost of supplies and the certification.

The Emergency Management preparedness and response team will be doing a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). It’s a volunteer program that consists of a six-week course to be held on Thursday nights. The course is completely free and it focuses on disaster response preparedness. The course starts on Feb. 5 at the fire house.

Shiloh Garceau has put together a new Facebook page for Town of Goshen CT emergency management. Community members can find all upcoming events and class information there as well.

The meeting adjourned at 5:09 p.m.

12/9/25, 5 PM
Present: First Selectman Seth Breakell, and Selectmen Scott Olson and, via Zoom, Dexter Kinsella

The meeting began by approving the minutes from the Dec. 2 meeting unanimously without corrections followed by the unanimous approval of the week’s payroll and warrants.

Breakell then made a clarification on tipping fees that were recently paid, and that was due to a bill that was received in October that was overlooked. “The town is now up to date with payment regarding tipping fees,” he said.
In the latest update on the Region 6 pension, First Selectman Breakell said the MOU draft has been finalized, and he would be meeting with the town attorney that week. Morris and Warren have approved theirs.

There was a Building Utilization Committee meeting for Region 20 that Breakell said he would be attending to learn about what’s going on with future planning of the school district. He said he would provide updates as he continues to get up to speed on Region 20.

There were a few appointments made, beginning with Felix Sambucco, who will be the permanent Fire Commissioner. That was followed by the appointment of Leah Rembach to be an alternate fire commissioner.

Jackie Wheeler submitted a resignation from the EDC (Economic Development Commission) to Breakell.

MacKenzie Penulo moved from EDC alternate to EDC regular member. All appointments were approved unanimously. Breakell did remind the community that “we still have an opening for an alternate member on the EDC.”

The meeting adjourned at 5:10 p.m.

12/16/25, 5 PM
Present: First Selectman Seth Breakell, and Selectmen Scott Olson and Dexter Kinsella

The meeting began by approving the minutes from the Dec. 9 meeting. The minutes were initially approved unanimously without corrections until Audrey Blondin interrupted to let the selectmen know that her public comment was not included in the minutes from last week. Kinsella then amended the motion to have the minutes updated, and they were approved.

In his First Selectman’s report, Breakell said he was happy to announce that the MOU for Region 6 was complete and the attorneys have requested the scheduling for the town meeting where this issue will go up for a vote. Breakell would be bringing it to the finance committee meeting to set a date for the town meeting, which was anticipated in January 2026.

First Selectman Breakell expressed his thanks to the Public Works team for their hard work and efficiency during the last few snow events.

New business: The Code of Ethics had been submitted to the selectmen and was being contemplated by the Board. They planned to discuss on Jan. 7th.

Olson responded to Blondin by saying “as elected officials, we are faced with a situation where there is ongoing litigation. We have gone out of our way at Audrey’s request to inquire with our town council about this matter and I am satisfied with the advice we have received.”

The meeting adjourned at 5:09 p.m.

12/23/25, 5 PM
Present: First Selectman Seth Breakell, and Selectmen Scott Olson and, via Zoom, Dexter Kinsella

Before approving the minutes, First Selectman Breakell asked for a motion to add an executive session to the agenda for a labor issue. Upon that addition, minutes were approved unanimously.

The First Selectman’s report included an announcement that Al Diehl, who was a 63-year member of the fire department, passed away on Dec. 18. First Selectman Breakell expressed condolences and gratitude to Diehl’s family from the town and BOS for his years of service to Goshen.

The Town Meeting to approve Region 6 MOU has been set for Tuesday, Jan. 20.

First Selectman Breakell wanted to publicly say thank you very much to Union Savings Bank and Bobby Joe for their generous donation of $8,000 for emergency radios at Goshen Center School.

There were no appointments, but First Selectman Breakell wanted to remind the community that there was still an alternate position available on the EDC.

The board then adjourned to enter executive session with a Happy Holiday’s wish. The meeting adjourned at 5:18 p.m. following the executive session.

12/30/25, 5 PM
Present: First Selectman Seth Breakell, and Selectmen Scott Olson and Dexter Kinsella

The minutes from Dec. 23 were approved unanimously without corrections.

In the First Selectman’s report, Breakell mentioned that on Nov. 18, he misspoke by saying the EMT course was being sponsored by the Litchfield American Legion Post; it’s the Goshen A.L. Post: “Sorry for the mistake.” He then made a point of recognition to Attie Bergin, Goshen resident youngster for achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Breakell has reappointed Thomas Breakell as the Torrington Area Health District Board representative for three years starting Jan. 6. “I know that guy, he’ll do a good job” is what Breakell said.

Janet Hooper inquired about the Litchfield prevention council, wondering where the grant money for that goes and asking if it is in the budget.

The meeting adjourned at 5:07 p.m.

1/6/26, 5 PM
Present: First Selectman Seth Breakell, and Selectmen Scott Olson and Dexter Kinsella

After calling the meeting to order, the board approved minutes from the Dec. 30, 2025, meeting with one correction. The correction: a motion was not required to appoint Thomas Breakell to the Torrington Area Health District Board, that is a position that the first selectman appoints.

In the First Selectman’s report, Breakell thanked public works for all of their hard work during the recent weather events. Then he mentioned that the town of Litchfield is putting together events throughout the year for its 250-year anniversary. For anyone from Goshen wants to get involved and be the point person for town, Breakell can put them in touch.

Under the agenda item of old business, the Board took a first glance at the code of ethics draft that was presented by Dave Bonaguide, chairman of the committee. The committee was charged with trying to come up with a code of ethics for Goshen.

“In the past there was not anything clear for the town to use, so we researched other towns to come up with one for Goshen,” Bonaguide said.

Prior to this, there was an attempt to join with surrounding towns to create a code of ethics but it was not received well. The committee worked together to create something comprehensive and localized, and they requested that the code of ethics be reviewed by the town attorney before the BOS presents it to the town for a vote.

Kinsella thanked the committee for working on this, adding the issue he sees is “trying to keep the process separate from politics.” He expressed concern about the enforcement piece of the code being the responsibility of the first selectman, and would be more in favor of a town board or regional council to be responsible.

The ethics committee discussed the idea of creating a committee to be the go-between as a complaint reviewer with a variety of political representation on the committee. Beyond that, the town attorney would serve as a back up to the first selectman, should any decision be required if an unethical situation arises and requires addressing.

The Board continued to discuss with the committee different scenarios, trying to figure out how that situation would be addressed. Olson said “I am in favor of so much of the code that the committee presented. I find very little issue with the enforcement of it. I like the way you’re thinking.”

Olson said he would be in favor of having an independent elected body to be an overseer rendering decisions. The board was advised by the ethics committee to consult the town attorney with regard to creating the independent body to help guide this forward.

Kinsella said that “if you’re going to have a commission, they need to be the ultimate authority.” It was decided that the board would present the code to the town attorney prior to bringing it to the town for a vote.

The consensus was that in this code, the removal of anonymity with regard to complaint submissions is important. It would be required that anyone submitting a complaint has to identify themself and not hide behind anonymity.

The meeting lost sound at the 31-minute mark. It was determined that Town Hall lost internet service and the meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m. due to no longer having virtual access for attendees.