January 2024

As we enter the New Year, we wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year. And as we start the upcoming budget season, we ask all residents to come and give us their input. We'll also start planning some larger projects, though it will be years before construction starts on any of them. The largest of these include a remodeled/new Police Station, a Library and plans for the Center School building. These are all important and, we'll again provide numerous forums for residents to come, learn about the projects, and provide input so that if they come up for a vote, you can make an informed decision on them.

Stephen C. Dunn

First Selectman

Board of Selectmen Meeting

Monday, January 8, at 7:00 p.m., Meeting Room 133. The meeting agenda will be posted on the town website the Friday afternoon before the meeting and live-streamed and recorded for viewing.

NOTICE TO TAXPAYERS

Taxes are due January 1, 2024 for the second installment of real estate and personal property. Motor vehicle supplemental bills are also due January 1, 2024. The last day to pay without penalty is February 1, 2024. If Town Hall is closed, you may make your payment by mail, the online portal, or by visiting our office during business hours. We accept personal checks, money orders and bank checks. We only accept cash up to $500 per day.

Please see the website for more information.

https://www.brookfieldct.gov/tax-collector/pages/pay-taxes-online-tax-inquiry

Call or email the office if you have any questions. tax@brookfieldct.gov or 203-775-7304

TOWN CLERK

January 2, 2024 is the deadline for enrolled party members to transfer enrollment from one party to the other, for voting in their "new" party's presidential primary.

To learn more, visit https://vote.gov/register/ct/

Block Party 2024

The Economic Development Department is looking for energetic volunteers to join the committee that will be organizing the 2024 Block Party in the Town Center District. A kick-off meeting will be held in January.

The target date for the event is Sunday, June 2, 2024.

Contact Greg Dembowski at 203-740-3865 or email GDembowski@BrookfieldCT.gov to learn more about how you can help.

It is important to keep fire safety in mind when you are heating your home!

More fires happen in the winter months than any other time of the year. During the cold months, we spend more time indoors and use different methods to heat our homes. 

If you're using a portable heater:

• Make sure the heater has an automatic shut-off so if it tips over, it shuts off.
• Keep anything that can burn - such as bedding, clothing and curtains - at least 3 feet from the heater.
• Plug portable heaters directly into wall outlets. Never use an extension cord or power strip.
• Turn heaters off when you go to bed or leave the room.

If you're using a fireplace:

• Keep a glass or metal screen in front of the fireplace to prevent embers or sparks from jumping out and starting a fire.
• Do not burn paper in your fireplace.
• Before you go to sleep or leave your home, put the fire out completely.
• Put ashes in a metal container with a lid. Store the container outside at least 3 feet from your home.

If you're using a wood stove:

• Have your chimney inspected and cleaned each year by a professional.
• Keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet from the stove.
• Do not burn paper in your wood stove.
• Before you go to sleep or leave your home, put the fire out completely.

When heating your home, you need to be aware of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide, also known as CO, is called the “invisible killer” because it’s a colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas. More than 150 people in the U.S. die every year from accidental CO poisoning from generators or fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, stoves, water heaters and fire places. Breathing CO at high levels can kill you.

Put CO alarms inside your home to provide an early warning of increasing CO levels. These alarms should be placed in a central location outside each sleeping area and on every level of your home.

As always, make sure you have a smoke alarm on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Test your alarms every month. Have a home fire escape plan and practice your plan at least twice a year. Make sure everyone knows how to escape your home if there is a fire.

For more information on heating and winter fire safety, visit the U.S. Fire Administration at https://www.usfa.fema.gov/, or the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) at https://www.nfpa.org/.

For additional fire safety information, contact the Brookfield Fire Marshal's Office at (203) 775-7306, or by email, fire@brookfieldct.gov. 

Be sure to follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrookfieldFMO

Basketball registration continues for boys & girls leagues in grades 1 – 12. Leagues for grades 6+ will begin on 1/6/24. 

Click here for details and registration for grades 6+.

Below are the Three Main Points from the regular Board of Education meeting on December 20, 2023:

1. Whisconier Middle School Dean Of Students Update:

WMS Principal Deane Renda updated attendees on the early months with our new Dean of Students, Nicole Buxton. As a reminder, this is a budget-neutral position that was approved by BOE last year as part of the consolidation plan to CLES and rightsizing of Whisconier to a Grade 6-8 structure.

Ms. Buxton has exceeded expectations and among other things is:

• visible and available to students at all times, using pick up and drop off as an opportunity to become a familiar face for parents and guardians.
• developing trusting and collaborative relationships with the WMS mental health staff, nurses, administrators, teachers, and families, proving that she's not just there for the students.
• proactive in working through issues and helping students feel heard and seen, often before disciplinary intervention is needed. This is one of the specific reasons for this position - to support the specific social and emotional needs of middle school students.
• available for students immediately when issues arise to help resolve student to student and student to staff conflicts and challenges involving family dynamics.
• communicating in a timely manner by meeting with parents for more successful resolutions.
• able to use her background in social work and provide crisis support.
• improving the discipline referral process, making it more efficient and effective.

The Board has asked for some data to show how this position has made a difference.

https://www.youtube.com/live/KeJYxIn5Gvw.

2. Next Generation Accountability Report Update:

Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Anna Mahon, presented on the Next Generation Accountability Report. She reminded the Board of the accountability system and reported on all 12 indicators. She shared the great news that Brookfield Public Schools closed the performance gap. Additionally, the Brookfield Public School system tops the 20 other DRG B comparable districts in the gains students have made year to year. This achievement is directly related to the laser focus the district placed on addressing learning recovery last year as we exited the pandemic.

Two areas that the faculty and families need to address: chronic absenteeism and our district rating due to refusal to participate in the tests on the day of standardized assessments. The Leadership Team, administrators, teachers and staff remain committed to developing the portrait of the graduate in creating a world-class school district.

https://www.youtube.com/live/KeJYxIn5Gvw.

3. Finance Committee Update:

Ms. Fernandes, Chairwoman of the BOE Finance Committee, reported that the committee, along with all members of the BOE, continues to work through the budget and submitting questions to Mrs. Diotte and the team for clarification about Dr. Barile’s budget recommendation. The Board is examining the account line items to find efficiencies and present the most effective budget.

https://www.youtube.com/live/KeJYxIn5Gvw.

To view the proposed budget: https://www.brookfield.k12.ct.us/.../2024-2025-proposed

The Arts Commission wishes to thank all our gingerbread house contest participants.

We had a tie for 1st Place and a tie for 3rd Place!

Congratulations to all the winners!

All participants received a Michaels gift card. 

Brookfield Library

January 2024 at The Brookfield Library

Get the year started off on the right foot by checking out all of the things we have at the Brookfield Library. We have something for all lifelong learners: whether you’re crafty, techy, a reader, or a lover of movies.

Join us for our first concert of the year on January 6 as we travel back to the hits of the 50’s and 60’s with The Rat Pack 2.

Our creative adult craft classes continue with some new offerings: memory jars, wood coasters, winter snowflakes, and paper quilling; as well as the ever-popular needle felting, knitting/crocheting, and card making.

The January installment of the Sunday Afternoon Cinema will be Calendar Girls.

On January 25th, learn about the fascinating history of witch trials that occurred right here in our own state.

Interested in joining a book club? We have four offerings for adults, and they're all quite popular. See our website for details, and join in on the fun!

Children’s winter storytimes start the first week of January.

Kick off the new year with a Snowman Challenge in our Builders group, or make a hovercraft in this month’s STEAM program.

There’s also crafts, chess, yoga and science explorers.

At the end of the month, we will host a visit with a local author. Check out our Events Calendar for details.

Teens, on January 18^th, you can make a Trinket Box for whatever you treasure: jewelry, make-up, D & D dice—you choose! Are you a SciFi or Fantasy enthusiast? Join our book club! An aspiring author? Check out our writers’ group, Inklings.  

Winter chill got you down? You’ll love this month’s offering for digital embroidery—cozy hand warmers!

Also, it’s always a good idea to brush up on your interview skills. Get some great pointers when the Career Coach returns at the end of the month with a session on interview success.

As with other Town Offices, the Library will be closed on January 1 for the New Year's Day holiday, as well as January 15, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

WATER POLLUTION CONTROL AUTHORITY - WPCA

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in partnership with the Long Island Sound Study, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announced a 2023 round of funding for Long Island Sound Futures Fund (Futures Fund) projects.

The Brookfield WPCA has been approved for a $300,000 grant for the final design of the Brookfield sewer extension for the Dean & Pocono Road area project, pending successful completion of the programmatic and fiscal review process.

This project will create a final design for a low-pressure wastewater collection system with individual grinder pumps and low-pressure piping below-ground for 91 low-lying lots in Brookfield. This project will produce a pathway to improve water quality by reducing bacteria, nitrogen, and phosphorus into the Still River and downstream to Lake Lillinonah and the Long Island Sound. 

The WPCA will keep the public informed as this project progresses. 

Please note, this funding is only to produce the final design bid package for this system, not construction. There will be an opportunity for discussion with the public before any further steps are taken after the final design.

Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority (HRRA)

Happy New Year from HRRA

Recycle Right in 2024!

Connecticut is in a waste crisis. Connecticut generates 3.5 million tons of waste annually; however, we only have capacity for 2.7 million tons. We are left shipping 800,000 tons of waste to out-of-state landfills.

Connecticut residents can be part of the solution! Reduce your waste by recycling more, BUT Right. It’s easy, start by separating your food scraps either by back-yard composting, curbside collection or using a local drop-off program.

Learn how you can Save As You Throw and reduce your waste at www.HRRA.org.

New Year Resolution Tips:

• Download and post a “What’s In / What’s Out” flyer in your kitchen.
• Download the Recycle CT Wizard App so you can have answers to your recycling questions at your fingertips.
• Join a Food Scrap Recycling Program in your town.
• Learn how to dispose of items that DO NOT go in your mixed recycling.
• Mark your calendar for the SIX Household Hazardous Waste events in 2024.

For more information call 203.775.4539 or email info@hrra.org and visit our website www.HRRA.org.