Winsted Board of Selectmen
07/06/26
Present: Mayor Todd Arcelaschi, William Hester, Paul Marino, Kevin Bishop, Cheryl Heffernan McGlynn, and William Pozzo.
Absent Excused: Troy Lamere.
Growing concerns about dangerous drivers and speeding, particularly on Main Street, are prompting some Winsted Board of Selectmen members to call for action.
At the July 6 meeting, Selectman Cheryl Heffernan McGlynn recounted a recent incident in which she was trying to step from the curb at a Main Street crosswalk but faced multiple close calls as drivers kept driving by at a high speed without regard to pedestrians. “Something’s got to happen because it’s dangerous,” she said. “They’re going too fast.”
Mayor Todd Arcelaschi suggested contacting the police chief to see if something could be done to increase traffic patrols to address unsafe traffic behavior throughout Winsted, including at crosswalks.
In a separate discussion, Town Manager Paul Harrington said Winsted has entered the final stage in plans to install two-way speed cameras at three locations. “I want the cameras up and installed and the first citations being issued sometime in the middle of August, so that’s got the complete attention of our office,” he said.
In other business, Winsted is in the second phase of its lead service line inventory project, said Jim Rollins, Director of the town’s Department of Public Works (DPW), who provided a presentation to the board. The project, which is required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Department of Public Health (DPH), is aimed at finding and eliminating all service lines made from lead.
Phase 2 will use data collected from Phase 1 to take a more in-depth look at the service line inventory, Rollins said.
The cost for both phases will total about $1.8 million, with Phase 1 accounting for about $450,000 of that. However, 75% of the Phase 1 cost is “forgiven” because it was subsidized through the DPH’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF), Rollins said. The remaining cost is covered by an SRF loan at a 2% interest rate with a 20-year repayment term. Phase 2 meets the criteria to apply for the SRF again under the same terms, he said.
“We need the Board of Selectmen to allow us to tap into the full faith and credit of the town's credit rating and borrow through the town because we are a town organization,” Rollins said. “The town is the one that is backing the loan. We pay the town back, and they pay the loan off.”
The 2% loan repayment would not affect the town’s budget, Harrington said. It would be noted as a debt owed to the town alongside a revenue item to be paid by the Water and Sewer Commission, which oversees DPW.
The Selectmen unanimously approved adding to the ballot a resolution to consider appropriating $1.056 million in bonds and notes to cover costs related to Phase 2 of the project. A special town meeting to consider the matter is scheduled for Aug. 11, with a referendum on the proposed appropriation and bonding authorization set for Aug. 18.
