Something Old And Something New For Municipal Offices

By Kendra Bobowick

Backed up to the front steps of Edmond Town Hall, a Dupont Business Archives truck sat waiting for the desks, shelves, and endless boxes of office materials to fill its cargo space.

As the warm fall day approached noon on October 22, a bustle of rolling pallets herded copiers and heavy office equipment out the front door of 45 Main Street. Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia watched as crews from CMS Commercial Moving Services LLC fought to get aluminum cabinets out of the building’s vault. Across the main lobby in First Selectman Joe Borst’s office, the disarray was similar. Boxes filled with papers and supplies awaited removal, and furniture sat askew.

Toward the back of the building were rooms occupied by the judge of probate, tax assessor, and tax collector, where the scene repeated itself again. By Monday, October 26, the activity that had begun days earlier had played in reverse as supplies arrived at the Newtown Municipal Center in Fairfield Hills.

By Wednesday, CMS LLC boxes cluttered doorways and corners at the new Newtown Municipal Center. Down one short corridor and situated at her new desk, Probate Clerk Peggy Jepsen said the new building provoked a “Wow!” as people stepped inside.

Still getting settled but open for business at the same time, Assistant Town Clerks Anne Benore, Monica Duhancik, and Renee Weimann welcomed residents into their new office.

Moving along the arched central hall and passing signs for Land Use, Board of Education, and Finance Departments, First Selectman Joe Borst stood in his new suite.

“What happened to the computer age? Look at all this paper!” he said, standing among stacks piled on his desk, while eyeing more boxes waiting to be unpacked. Adjacent to him was assistant Sue Marcinek, also trying to organize her office supplies. On her desk, as on many countertops throughout the new spaces, were plastic jack-o-lanterns.

“They were just here,” she said, amused at the seasonal touch that had “just appeared.”

Solving the mystery, Town Clerk Debbie Aurelia admitted that she had once placed her jack-o-lantern collection outside with tea lights inside so they could glow on Halloween night.