Winchester Board of Selectmen: New $300K Town Hall Elevator OK'd; Rec Trails Get $749K; Housing Authority Nabs $1.7M For Bathroom Renovations

9/17/26 5 p.m.

Present: Mayor Todd Arcelaschi. Selectman William Hester.

A special Town meeting hosted by the Winchester Board of Selectmen revealed neighborhood opposition to a proposed sale of Town property and resulted in an overwhelming “no” vote by residents present on Sept. 17.

The session to consider the sale was called to order at 5 p.m. by Mayor Todd Arcelaschi. Town Manager Paul Harrington then outlined the sale process to consider an $11,000 bid for the purchase of Town-owned land located at 19 Hill St. in Winsted.

“We did receive multiple offers, but the Board has elected an adjoining property owner, Mark Lapointe, offer to be presented tonight,” he said. “The lot size is 0.22 acres. The appraised value for 2025 is $34,500.”

Resident John Gauger said he was speaking to represent several property owners around 19 Hill St. who were against accepting LaPointe’s bid.

“We are all in agreement that 19 Hill Street should not be sold to Mark Lapointe,” Gauger said. “We will be voting ‘no’ on this motion.

“Reasons: Mark is an absentee landlord who spends the bulk of his time in Portugal and the Carolinas,” he said. “As the town knows, we’ve had several blight citations against the property.”

Resident James Ferreira spoke and said Gauger had some good points but said the Town should prioritize other needs.

“We have bigger fish to fry in this Town than to maintain a vacant lot the size of a postage stamp,” Ferreira said.

Lapointe said he did “take a little bit of offense” to Gauger’s comments.

“No. 1, I’m not an absentee person,” he said. “I travel to Portugal maybe a month out of the year. I have a place in South Carolina that I spend time in two months at a time.

“I have plenty of contractors. I am a contractor,” Lapointe said. “So, your point of me being an absentee guy is wrong, incredibly wrong.”

After resident comments, Arcelaschi moved to approve the sale, and Selectman William Hester seconded the motion. When all paper votes were submitted and counted, the offer from Lapointe to buy the land was rejected 17-5.

Harrington said he expects to bring the issue back to the BOS, and any next step on the issue would be the Board’s decision.

The meeting adjourned at 6:43 p.m.

9/21/26 7 p.m.

Present: Arcelaschi. Selectmen Hester, William Pozzo, Kevin Bishop and Cheryl Heffernan McGlynn.

Attending via Zoom: Selectman Paul Marino.

Excused absence: Selectman Troy Lamere.

Harrington updated Board members on the new website address for the Town, noting web users who go to the old address will be automatically directed to the new web address.

“The months ahead, we're going to be transitioning townofwinchester.org to winchesterct.gov. That is required by the State of Connecticut,” he said. “It also enables us to get more grants from the federal government.”

In other topics, the Board discussed the Town Hall elevator’s mechanical issues and cost of repairs.

“Eight hours at $1,385 an hour: just to repair the elevator this time was $11,080,” Harrington said. He noted the elevator is essential and gave the example of disabled residents attempting to vote.

“This is something that’s needed,” Harrington said. “This is how people access our buildings.”

He presented estimates on replacing the apparatus from Otis Elevator Company of Farmington with basic costs ranging from $165,000 to $200,000, but electrical and other work would be needed, Harrington said.

“I'll put a total package together for the following meeting,” he said.

Board members voiced clear support for replacing the elevator and considering it an emergency expenditure. Selectman Cheryl Heffernan McGlynn said, “I would agree that this is something we need to do. It is an emergency. This has been a problem as long as I've been in town,” she said. “Our community deserves a safe elevator, functional elevator, and it's time.”

The meeting adjourned at 9:22 p.m.

10/5/26 7 p.m.

Present: Arcelaschi. Selectmen Bishop, Hester, Heffernan McGlynn, Pozzo, Marino, Lamere.

Town Hall is getting a new elevator. Following up from the Sept. 21 meeting, the BOS a unanimously approved invoking Section 912 of the Town Charter and authorized an emergency appropriation of $300,000 from the fund balance to pay for the replacement.

Harrington presented the approximately $220,000 bid from Otis Elevator for the elevator, plus a $79,506 bid for related electrical work by J.A. Rosa Construction of Wolcott. Selectman Troy Lamere moved to take the action, and the unanimous agreement came after a second by Selectman Kevin Bishop.

Also at the meeting, the Board learned the Town has been awarded $749,000 from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) via its 2025 Recreational Trail Grant program.

“We by far were the largest recipients out of the 50 grants that the state gave out,” Harrington said. “The Board of Selectmen supported the application back in October of 2025, including a commitment of $160,000 from our capital grant matching fund.”

Harrington also reported to the BOS that the federally supported housing agency got a funding boost, which he called a “huge win.”

“The Winchester Housing Authority received $1.7 million in federal funding to renovate the bathrooms within its facilities,” Harrington said. “It’s not part of the town, but we do work hand in hand with them.”

The meeting’s most lengthy discussion regarded the use of anticoagulant rodenticides on municipal property. Vice Chair Lisa Shirk from the Newtown Conservation Commission and Cassandra McKenna of Save CT Wildlife spoke to the BOS and urged that the Town outlaw placement of such poisons at Town facilities.

 “Rodenticides are referred to as rat poisons,” McKenna said. “They contain highly toxic chemicals which are harmful to the environment and deadly to non-target species, children and pets.”

The BOS asked Harrington to institute a policy that eliminates use of rodenticides in Town facilities by Nov. 1, an action taken on a motion by Heffernan McGlynn, second by Lamere, and unanimous “yes” vote.

“I really think we should do everything we can to ban this,” Bishop said.

Board members also said they will consider a Townwide ordinance ban as well.

In another key move, the BOS unanimously approved the Board’s 2027 meeting schedule, which includes moving the meeting time to 6:30 p.m. The action came on a motion by Lamere and second by Selectman William Pozzo.

The meeting adjourned at 9:29 p.m.

The BOS’s next meeting was set for Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. A special Town meeting was planned for Oct. 22 to consider and possibly act on the proposed sale of 32 Hubbard St.

The first November regular meeting for the BOS was to be at 7 p.m. Nov. 2.