By Bob McGarry, Haddam First Selectman
(November 13, 2025) — I want to start this article by thanking you for the faith you’ve shown in me over the past six years. I’m proud of how much we’ve accomplished. Let’s review some highlights. Six years ago:
- We were just starting to hear about a troubling new disease outbreak in Wuhan, China. That troubling new disease became the worst pandemic in more than a hundred years. Throughout it, we kept the Town Office Building open (by appointment), helped coordinate vaccinations, and kept you informed.
- The Scovil Hoe buildings in Higganum Center were all but abandoned by DOT and left to rot. We purchased them, partnered with a developer, obtained a state grant and are currently remediating the facility to turn it into tax-generating commercial property.
- The town had just purchased the former Haddam Elementary School and had no plans for its use. Its playscape was rotted and unsafe. We built a new, larger playscape, which is getting a lot of use. With the help of a state grant, a developer, and the approval of the voters, the school is being converted into a mixed-use space for our Senior Center, Community Center, some town offices, and thirty-six affordable senior apartments. Another income-generating property for the town.
- The Rossi property is another Higganum Center site that vexed us for years. Now we own it and we control its future. Currently, Connecticut Wedding Group, the prospective tenant for the Scovil Hoe buildings, is renting the Cutaway Harrow building, the office building on the site.
- Despite more than twenty years of work by numerous search committees and much debate, we still hadn’t decided where our town garage should be. This month, the voters, informed by a study done for our Planning and Zoning Commission, overwhelmingly said leave it in Higganum The study evaluated seventeen potential sites and recommended the three that were on the ballot.
- The pollution in Higganum Cove had been remediated, but little else had been done. Since then, we passed ordinances to establish a permanent commission to oversee the cove and designated it as a preserve. The commission developed an award-winning master plan, had brush and trees cleared and built an overlook for the cove. They’ve done a great job.
- There was no safe way to walk to the cove. We have funding and a design to build a sidewalk from HES to the Rossi property and then along Depot Road to the Dublin Hill Bridge and cove.
- The sidewalk in Haddam Center from Walkley Hill Road to the UConn Extension Center was badly in need of repair with numerous tripping hazards and deteriorating sections. We rebuilt and improved it from Walkley Hill to Jail Hill. A contractor has been hired to complete the remaining piece.
- In Tylerville there was a sidewalk on Saybrook Road that went nowhere. Pedestrians were walking in the roadway over the Swing Bridge and on Bridge Road, one of the busiest roads in town. Working with East Haddam, we convinced the state to put a sidewalk on the Swing Bridge. We built a sidewalk on Bridge Road and connected it to the Swing Bridge and Saybrook Road sidewalk.
- Construction crews had just started the Tylerville Water Project, a project to bring clean water to 100 residences and businesses. That project has recently been finished.
- Cell phone service along Saybrook Road was non-existent. We now have a cell phone tower in Haddam Neck about to come online and a tower under construction in Tylerville. The dead zone on Saybrook Road will soon be a thing of the past.
- We were debating what to do with the town-owned open space lots, including the lake and dam, from the former Nason Group (Silver Springs Drive) development. We finished repairs on the dam and, by a vote at a town meeting, transferred it and the open space lots to the Chatham Lake Home Owners
- Beaver Meadow Road was under a weight restriction due to a collapsing culvert. Many other roads were in poor condition. The culvert was replaced and thirty-seven town roads were repaved in whole or in part. (Yes, there are still more to do.)
Three major new commercial properties were added to our tax rolls – Blueway Commons on Brookes Court, Bridge Road Commons and Paramount Wellness Center. And on top of all of this, the routine business of the town continued; taxes were assessed and collected, permits were issued, documents were recorded, roads were plowed, and the town’s bills were paid. Again, all of this was a team effort.
My thanks to our town employees and elected officials, commission and board members, our many volunteers, and the voters who participated and made all of this possible.
