SPOTLIGHT The Northwest Hills Council of Government

Staff Writer

The Northwest Hills Council of Government (NHCOG), formerly housed in the Village Marketplace, has moved to a new site in Litchfield, CT. The current Executive Director, Rob Phillips, cited lack of adequate space for their needs, and he and his current staff are satisfied with the move to the new location.

For those who may not be familiar with this organization, the NHCOG is one of nine COGs in the state established for the purpose of coordinating the planning and follow-through of services with chief elected officials of its 21 participating towns. They meet periodically to discuss issues involving transportation, growth, housing, economic development, and other concerns affecting the quality of life in the region. It is funded by the state and federal government and oversees distributing those monies in accordance with the needs of the participating membership towns.

The participating towns are Barkhamsted, Burlington, Canaan, Colebrook, Cornwall, Goshen, Hartland, Harwinton, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Hartford, Norfolk, North Canaan, Roxbury, Salisbury, Sharon, Torrington, Warren, Washington, and Winchester.

The current NHCOG is a consolidation of two previous organizations, the Litchfield Hills Council of Elected Officials and the Northwestern Connecticut Council of Governments, and began its work in January of 2014. Rob Phillips was newly hired a little over two years ago and has been slowly re-building his staff as all former staff resigned or retired. “When I came into the job…. there was discussion about basically expanding the office at the old location,” he said. “I walked into that not knowing. There were differences of opinion on what to do.” Now, Mr. Phillips believes they are ready to concentrate on the tasks at hand.

The new staff members are Emily Hultquist-Assistant Director, Kathryn Faraci-Senior Regional Planner, Sarah Better-Financial/Office Manager and Leonardo Ghio-Project Director.

Phillips will continue to add staff members in order to maintain the existing services the COG provides, and to add to those services as circumstances require. One issue regards affordable housing in the Northwest Corner. As the current legislation only addresses a regimented definition of Affordable Housing (AH, 40-year deed-restricted as affordable) and does not include the natural definition (houses that are at or below the dollar amount assessed by the State’s definition of AH but are not counted because they are not deed-restricted), may be one of the reasons it is being met with resistance. “I think it would be better data and point you to a better conclusion and you wouldn’t be putting these one size fits all (to this problem)….. the Northwest Corner is different than the Urban Core, and the Urban Core is so different than the Northwest Corner. You cannot treat them the same.” Phillips stated. “We support housing opportunities in whatever capacity they may be…but the reality is every town should have the tools to do what they need to do. We’re going to read and react based on how the legislative environment is changing.”

The NHCOG meets every other Thursday. “I heard through Cornwall (residents) there is not a lot of transparency, so what we’ve tried to do is get our agendas out not only to the Town Clerks but to other interested parties as well.“ Their website is being updated so that anyone can travel through it and find the information they seek. The COG also has a YOUTUBE channel that will be updated to include meetings, agenda items, etc. for the public to view at their convenience. The goal is transparency so anyone who wants to view the happenings at the COG may do so. Rob, who has a lot of experience dealing with town government, understands much of what people are concerned about. “At the end of the day, I’m trying to do what’s best. I’m going to follow policies with the guidance I am getting from the Board (the leaders from the towns) and pull upon the experience I’ve gotten from the twenty years of experience I’ve gained at the local level (moving forward).” The areas in which the COG also is involved are environmental issues, teen drugs use, land use review and economic development strategies. They also act as a “pass through” (distributing government funds) for Homeland Security.

When asked to state, in one sentence, a description of COGs, Rob offered this: “Regional solutions to identified regional issues”. For those interested in learning more or contacting the NHCOG their website is: https://northwesthillscog.org. You may also call them at: 860.491.9884.