By Marc Adelberg.
The Board of Finance held a virtual meeting on Wednesday January 12, 2022 at 6:30 p.m.
The Board of Finance approved the following Capital Non-recurring account changes. All of these will need to be voted on at the town meeting that is scheduled for Thursday, January 27, 2022.
- $29,500 to be moved from a Paving Box account to a Roller account to eliminate rental costs for paving projects.
- $230,000 from the Unallocated account to the Tylerville/Bridge Road Sidewalk account.   This amount was based on bids received.
- $65,000 from the Unallocated account to the Hybrid Technology Equipment account.  This is to outfit the Old Town Hall and the Haddam Firehouse with web video and audio equipment so meetings can be attended in person and also virtually.
Bill Warner spoke about the CT Communities Challenge Grant.  This is a multi-faceted grant that can be used for many purposes.  Typically the funding level is in the $1 million to $10 million range.  He spoke about options of revitalizing the Downtown Higganum area. He talked about the Haddam Elementary School property having a multi-generational park, a Senior Center, a Community Center, and a dog park. He also spoke about developing the Rossi Property with retail stores in the front building. He also discussed sidewalks from Haddam Elementary School to the intersection of Routes 154/81 and then having a multi-use trail go to The Cove. These are all concepts discussed at prior charrettes. The Board of Finance approved the application for a Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development grant of $1.8M.  Haddam is responsible for a 50% match, which would be $600,000. All of this would need to be voted on at a future town meeting.
A reminder that regular Board of Finance meetings are now held on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. Please refer to the town website https://www.haddam.org/board-finance for more information.
Editor’s Note: For clarification, $1.2M grant; $0.6M match (50%) for $1.8M total.Â
