Litchfield Board of Selectmen
8/4/2026, 5:30 p.m.
Present: First Selectman Denise Raap. Selectmen Dan Morosani, John Bongiorno, Jeffrey Zullo, and Anne Dranginis.
Staff present: Legal Counsel Michael Rybak and Michael Rybak Jr., and Administrative Assistant in the Assessor's Office Haley Whipple.
Denise Raap stated that the goal of placing the Bantam Annex question on the November ballot is to maximize voter participation. She said the Town Attorney recommended presenting the four options developed by the architectural firm, along with those proposed by the Board of Selectmen (BOS), at a September town meeting. These could be voted on at the meeting or adjourned to referendum.
“We could put the four options that TLB A(rchitects) had given us, and we could include other options that the Board of Selectmen came up with, things like if they wanted workforce housing, market housing, if they wanted not to flatten it out and make it a park,” Raap said. “We could have all those different options on the Town Meeting agenda.”
The BOS did not take a vote but informally agreed to hold a public hearing on Sept. 29.
“You want as many people as possible to weigh in on it,” Raap said.
In discussion about Homestead for Connecticut, Assessor Penny Mudgett noted that New Milford is currently the only town that approved this exemption. Raap explained that the purpose is to allow primary homeowners a reduced assessment against their market appraisal.
“We have a lot of people who are on fixed incomes, and who are very sensitive to property taxes, and for whom staying in this town is one of the things they care most about,” Morosani said. “We're talking ballpark, like a 15, 20% discount on annual taxes at a constant level of town spending. That's extremely meaningful, for a lot of people who would really need it.”
The BOS agreed to conduct a statute review before further discussion.
Raap noted that Morris held a Town Meeting and passed its ordinance regulating wakeboarding.
The Bantam Lake Protective Association submitted the ordinance to the CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP), which responded with suggested revisions. Morris must now hold a Town Meeting to incorporate those changes.
Raap reported she contacted Morris regarding enforcement and is working with Morris First Selectman Tom White to reconvene the Bantam Lake Authority, which has funds available for enforcement but may lack capacity. “And they do have a significant amount of money from years ago that's in an account that could help them,” she said. “But I'm not even sure that they have a capacity to enforce the ordinance.”
The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
