The Newtown Board of Selectmen (BOS) met virtually on the evening of Monday, July 6, with individuals able to join through Google Meet or by phone.

At the start of the meeting, First Selectmen Daniel Rosenthal addressed that these socially distanced meetings will continue as they have been for “the time being” and that the town will continue to gain guidance from the state’s governor in how to proceed.

Solar Energy For Hook & Ladder

When discussing new business, Rosenthal brought to the group’s attention that he would like to add an item to the evening’s agenda that was not originally posted, the subject being the town’s desire to put solar energy at the present Newtown Hook & Ladder Volunteer Fire Company building, 12 Church Hill Road.

Selectmen Maureen Crick Owen motioned to include the matter on the agenda, to both discuss and have possible action on, which was seconded by Selectmen Jeff Capeci.

Rosenthal explained that Hook & Ladder does not presently have solar energy installed at its building, but that other local fire houses do.

Public Works Department Director Fred Hurley, who was present at the meeting, confirmed that the Dodgingtown Volunteer Fire Company station as well as the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue station and substation have solar already installed.

Hook & Ladder sent a letter to the first selectmen earlier this year, Rosenthal said, “out of concern it would damage their roof and what would happen if the roof became damaged.”

Rosenthal noted that shortly thereafter, Hurley reached out to the fire company to address those concerns. Then, sometime in mid-April/early May, the solar contractor delivered installation materials to the Hook & Ladder site with the intention of beginning work on the project.

However, the fire company has yet to agree to the installation.

“We need to get this project moving,” Rosenthal said.

The town also plans to have solar installed at the Newtown Community Center and new police building as part of its initiative to shift to more cost-effective energy.

“Once this project is complete,” Rosenthal said, “a full, I believe, 80 percent of the energy that the town municipalities consume will be generated by renewables. We sell it back to the grid, but it benefits us via a reduced electric rate.”

He added, “So now it’s been a full two months that we’ve waited with contractors ready to go. The risk we’re running here is that we will wind up contracting out at a higher electric rate, potentially.”

Crick Owen inquired if the vendor set to do the installation at Hook & Ladder did the other fire company buildings.

“It’s a different vendor, but it’s the same program,” Hurley said. He explained that the company would be the same going forward at the Newtown Community Center and Newtown Police Department, and that the company has done installations for about a dozen other towns in Connecticut.

Hurley asserted that he has no reservations moving forward with this solar energy vendor, and that the particular type of installation to take place at Hook & Ladder would have “a ballasted system where there are no roof penetrations.”

Rosenthal added that if any issues do occur from the installation, the town would make it right.

Toward the end of the BOS meeting, Capeci shared a resolution letter he put together to be sent to Hook & Ladder and, after some collaboration with his fellow selectmen, the BOS passed it.

Road Work Report

Hurley shared the 2020-2021 Road Program packet with the BOS, which included a list of all the roads anticipated to receive attention and the type of work planned.

Roads to be reclaimed and paved are Birch Hill, Mt Nebo from Ox Hill to Hattertown, and Washington Avenue.

Road to be milled and paved, the Boulevard between Church Hill and Schoolhouse.

Mile Hill South is the only road to just be paved.

Roads to have a guide rail (formerly known as a guardrail) installed are Birch Hill, the Boulevard, and Riverside.

Roads to have an overlay are Black Bridge, Great Ring from Bradley to Walker Hill, High Bridge, Sturges from Wilderness West to Taunton, and Taunton Hill between Taunton Lane and Plumtrees.

Roads to have drainage installed are Boggs Hill, Hattertown (103), High Rock Road, Kale Davis, Lazybrook, Liberty, Leopard, Mile Hill South, Nunnawauk, Riverside, Rock Ridge, and Sugarloaf.

Roads to have a bridge deck installed are Button Shop and Turkey Hill.

Roads to have chip seal are Boggs Hill, Brushy Hill, Cedar Hill, Cherry Street, Charter Ridge, Clearview, Deerfield, Kaechele Drive, Longview, Platts Hill, Pole Bridge, Oak Ridge, Obtuse, Old Bethel, Orchard Hill, Pilgrim, Platts Hill, Rivers Edge, Settlers, Stonewall Ridge, Surrey Trail, and Vining.

Roads to receive in-house paving/patch pave are Arrowhead, Boggs Hill, Brushy Hill, Capital Drive, Cedar Hill, Chimney Swift, Currituck, Charter Ridge, Jangling Plains, Mountain View, Obtuse, Old Bethel, Orchard Hill, Pecks Lane, Pole Bridge, Platts Hill, Rivers Edge, Stonewall Ridge, Taunton Lake, Turkey Hill Terrace, and Valley Field South.

“All these roads seem to make sense to me,” Rosenthal said, referring to the lists in the report.

Hurley answered the selectmens’ inquiries and went over how the projects were chosen so as be cost effective and get more years out of the roadways.

“What you’re going to start to see also this year [are] whole sections or systems that start to come together…” Hurley said. “So people are going to start to see neighborhoods where all the roads are acceptable. You’re going to see more of that this year after we get done.”

Wrapping up the discussion, Rosenthal said, “I think we still have work to do, but I’m pleased with how much we’ve gotten done over the last few years.”

To put the progress in perspective, Rosenthal added that in the last two budget years the town has done “north of 40 miles of road,” compared to years prior where only seven to ten miles were being done.

While there were opportunities for voter comments at the beginning and end of the BOS meeting, no participants weighed in.

For more information about upcoming Board of Selectmen meetings or to contact members of town government, visit newtown-ct.gov/board-selectmen.