This is the first of a two-part retrospective covering a dozen top stories and events that engaged local elected leaders, boards, commissions, and town agencies in 2019. The second part is scheduled to run in the January 3 edition.

Newtown residents and taxpayers were well-served by local municipal leaders, boards, commissioners, and agencies over the past year, despite the fact that comparatively few showed up to watch or advise officials during dozens of meetings where deliberation and decisions played out involving millions in taxpayer dollars.

Whether it was a sign of implicit trust in those elected and appointed leaders and town staffers administering various pieces of business and special projects, a lack of awareness, or a sign they were just too busy with their own matters is unclear — but regardless, the volunteers who stepped up on behalf of the entire community continued to do well by local residents and had their work cut out for them in 2019.

The major issues and stories The Newtown Bee covered on its core government beat this year included reporting on the early stages of developing a new police headquarters; readying a proposal for a multi-million dollar emergency dispatch system upgrade; the election of a slate of town officials and a new Borough leader who would serve on local boards and commissions for the next two to four years; a proposal for a Heritage Park and Trail system in Sandy Hook Village; the continuing anticipation of a $2 million FEMA reimbursement tied to a major 2018 macroburst; the departure of long-time town staffers and the consolidation of responsibilities under a new Human Services Department; the proposal for mixed-use development at Fairfield Hills; and ongoing fiscal management involving the town’s budget, fund balance, capital projects, bonding, and bond rating.

Here is a look back culled from the past 51 issues of your Newtown Bee:

Officials Prioritize Money Matters, Pickleball

Early January saw the Legislative Council digging in to finish the five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that would green light bonding for numerous town and school district projects and designate several high-profile spending authorizations for voters to endorse or reject on the April budget ballot.

Surprising to those unfamiliar with its growing popularity, the subject of expanding Newtown’s inventory of courts for the low-impact sport of pickleball was among the more controversial contenders in the CIP.

The call for creating four more permanent, tournament-quality courts sooner than later was strong enough for council members to fast-track a $290,000 proposed bonding measure to the 2019 fiscal cycle. The expedited measure appeared to be at least partly driven by an anonymous donor who pledged a $25,000 gift if the project was initiated in the 2019-20 fiscal cycle.

First Selectman Dan Rosenthal, who hoped to reduce bonding for projects he deemed “nice to have” but not “need to have,” was not happy to see the proposal moved from the 2021 CIP. As a result, he struck an agreement with the council that if approved in the CIP, the spending authorization for new courts would ultimately be made by voters on the April budget ballot.

Mr Rosenthal said despite the promised $25,000 gift, “taxpayers still have to come up with $265,000 for this.”

During the first Board of Selectmen meeting of the New Year January 7, Town Finance Director Robert Tait brought positive news to report, telling Mr Rosenthal and Selectmen Jeff Capeci and Maureen Crick Owen that Newtown’s municipal fiscal situation was “in good shape.”

Mr Tait ticked off a number of areas that were meeting or exceeding budget projections, including building permit fees and investments. Having budgeted to earn $450,000 in investment dividends for the fiscal year, Mr Tait projected Newtown “will do much better than that.”

He also reported savings in several salary accounts and enough unanticipated state Educational Cost Sharing revenue that a previously approved fund balance earmark for storm cleanup following a May 2018 macroburst would not have to be tapped.

Newtown’s sound financial management was recognized a month or so later when one of the world’s top bond rating agencies — Standard & Poor’s (S&P) — reaffirmed Newtown’s equivalent of a perfect credit score. First Selectman Dan Rosenthal said S&P notified the town it would be maintaining the community’s AAA rating as officials prepared a new bond initiative for February.

As autumn arrived, selectmen convened October 7 and unanimously approved the latest CIP that Mr Rosenthal said continued to prioritize an ongoing road improvement program and public safety investments.

“When we solicited CIP requests earlier this year, I told everyone we are going to continue prioritizing infrastructure and public safety spending for at least the next bonding cycle,” the first selectman said. With that, he also asserted cautionary advice from another top global municipal rating agency.

“We have to heed the latest advisory from [the rating agency] Moody’s and be conscious about restricting our borrowing and be conscious of not introducing new projects,” the first selectman said, referring to a July Moody’s “issuer comment” statement warning that Newtown’s debt burden “is a weakness relative to the towns with [its Moody’s] Aa1 rating,” and its “fund balance as a percent of operating revenues is much lower than other Moody’s rated cities nationwide.”

At the time, Town Finance Director Robert Tait explained that “Moody’s is saying our debt is affordable, but it’s a weakness against their rating criteria for similar towns. So, it’s like they are cautioning us on that.”

Guided by that information, selectmen and subsequently, the Board of Finance approved the latest CIP and moved it on to the Legislative Council, which was deliberating the plan as 2019 drew to a close.

Town Staff Departures = Taxpayer Savings, Efficiencies

Following the departure of Senior Center Director Marilyn Place in late December 2018, Newtown Social Services Director Ann LoBosco and Newtown Center for Support and Wellness Director Jennifer Crane both announced they would be departing for other opportunities in early 2019.

Both told The Newtown Bee that their departures were not related to any dissatisfaction or concerns about their present work, and both expressed gratitude for being able to serve the community over their respective periods working in Newtown.

In Ms Crane’s case, her departure was related to increased family demands and having an opportunity to work closer to her central Connecticut home. Ms LoBosco said she had been offered a “great opportunity” to take over managing a MediSpa franchise in Fairfield after working part-time at a Newtown location for several years.

Ms LoBosco said after seven years at the social services department, two of those years as director, she would miss working with its many constituents — particularly a number of local seniors she had come to know.

The departure of those three department heads created an opportunity to hire an experienced professional as Newtown’s first Director of Human/Senior Services, combining the three director’s roles into one, while adding additional help in the form of new support staff. The first selectman said the plan would streamline, and more importantly, enhance the delivery of services to taxpayers.

Beyond a day-one net savings of $10,000 in salaries, additional benefit funds were expected to be recouped if the support positions were deemed to be part-time.

In addition, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal proposed that a full-time programming specialist, hired primarily for the new community center, split duties and devote one-third of the time handling programming for the new senior center, versus adding a separate part-time senior programming professional.

Within weeks, Newtown’s Human Resources Department has opened an application period for a newly-created position, and on May 8, Natalie Jackson, LCSW, arrived for her first official day staffing the newly-created post. Sitting down for a brief interview with The Bee, Ms Jackson — a Monroe resident — said she had always felt Newtown was “an incredible community.”

Mr Rosenthal said Ms Jackson brings more than 20 years’ experience as a social worker, along with a strong management and leadership background. A release from his office on Ms Jackson’s hiring reflects that she offers Newtown “the skills necessary to develop strategic solutions to meet the needs of our residents.

Heritage Pocket Park Proposed For Sandy Hook

Representatives of SHOP (Sandy Hook Organization for Prosperity) and a partner/benefactor appeared before the Legislative Council March 20 to review plans for a pocket park they hope to develop on a town-owned parcel in Sandy Hook Center.

Proponents for the The Heritage Park — proposed for a former garage site at 7 Glen Road — told the council they hoped to beautify the environmentally compromised site after capping it.

Preliminary computer renderings illustrate a tree lined-parking area and small pavilion that would also serve as the trail head for a Heritage walking tour of the area, according to SHOP spokesperson Michael Burton and community partner and builder Chris Hottois.

First Selectman Dan Rosenthal told The Newtown Bee following the meeting that he had done some preliminary consultation with the town attorney and before moving any further, he wanted to bring the developers before the council to answer any questions and determine whether the project had support.

Mr Rosenthal thought the best possible current use would involve the town retaining ownership and some liability coverage over the lot and permitting SHOP to lease the land and fundraise toward the development of the proposed park and pavilion.

He told the council that capping the parcel with a parking area and pavilion would not forestall any future private acquisition. He said at this time, however, it seemed unlikely that a private buyer would purchase it due to the unknown costs that would have to be expended by a new owner for the cleanup.

It had been determined that the town could lease the parcel to SHOP and retain ownership and most of the liability indemnity if someone was somehow injured while on that parcel — similar to any other public park or site in town.

While council members appeared to be in agreement that taxpayer funds should not be used to develop the park project or other elements of the Heritage walking trail, most expressed tentative support for the project,

Project partner and co-conceiver Chris Hottois suggested it could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if the town sought to remediate the lot, and even the town still might not sell it. He said the SHOP plan provides a forward-thinking approach for the town and gets the property in a position where it is an asset and attraction to Sandy Hook center.

As the year drew to a close, a draft lease was being reviewed for the parcel, while grants were being researched by Newtown’s Economic & Community Development Department. Some action on the park was anticipated in early 2020 according to the first selectman.