Know your Town…G ood nature dly

In Brief

Boxes to Boots

Berlin non-profit Boxes to Boots creates care packages for military personnel serving abroad. A collection drive will take place Saturday, Oct. 8, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at 28 Chamberlain Highway. Boxes to Boots is looking for everything from toiletries, to snacks, to books. Snackwise, service members prefer items they can easily carry, like granola bars, small bags of cookies and crackers, and beef jerky. Volunteers will gather Saturday, Nov. 5, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at McGee Middle School, 899 Norton Road, Berlin, to help get the care packages ready to ship. To learn more about Boxes to Boots, visit boxestob o ots.org.

IT’S ALL HERE!

Local Classified Listings.

A R PA

From A2

placed 11 school building roofs taught him “a working knowledge of meetings, procedures, how the town functions and the Freedom of Information Act. “I think the town is impatient to get a result, to have this money distributed to the right people at the right t i m e,” he said. “I appreciate that impatience but that has to be balanced with doing a thorough job. I want to position this committee to make the best possible decision that it can.”

Brodinsky said he has followed the ARPA issue since the spring 2021 when the federal program was approved. “I have done a lot of reading on it so I’m familiar with it,” he said. “I was interested in it right from the star t.”

He said he knows there is a lot of public interest in the work the committee will be d o i ng. “We have a duty of transparency to the public. The town of Wa l l i ng f o rd and the residents are very curious as to what is happ ening and why and I think we are all mindful of that,” he said. It will be a lot of hard work and could be tedious at times, he warned committee members. “My vision for this is when we get rolling and organized, there may be a batch of applications and I would hope that everyone reads those applications in advance of the meeting. That helps speed the meeting and get the money out the door.”

Glidden said he is already well-versed in the ARPA program as Cheshire’s town planner, and from his previous position in Simsbury. “I have been part of ARPA trainings and ARPA meetings with various communities. I was part of all ARPA meetings in Simsbury and have been to several traini ng s,” he said. He also brings his experience serving six years on the Wallingford Zoning Board of Appeals as chairman and as the vice president of the Connecticut Association of Zoning Offic ia l s.

The committee still needs to get its formal charge from the Town Council, Brodinsky said. He warned committee members about using personal email to discuss any committee business because it then becomes subject to the state Freedom of Information Act, suggesting creating a separate email used just for committee business may be wise. He also said he’d like to see the committee take a strong ethics stance — p ossibly stronger than that outlined in the town Code of Ethics. “Not a lot of people understand it,” he said. “W hat standard do we want to live by? The Code of Ethics, which is kind of loose and lax in my view, or something different? The last thing we want is an article in the paper that a member of the committee has some entanglement with an applicant that may or may not violate the Code of Ethics. At the start of each application review committee meeting, I will ask if there are any conflicts for this batch. “I think we can do better than the Code of Ethics,” he said. The town’s ARPA consultant, UHY Advisors, was scheduled to make a presentation at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting, but committee members said they preferred to meet directly with them so they could ask questions and interact better with them. That meeting will happen in the coming w eeks.

Applications for the grant funds will soon be available on the town website, and are due later next month. In November the committee will begin considering awards and expects to wrap up its work in January.

B ro d i n s k y

AFTERLeafFilter

BEFORELeafFilter

THE NATION’ S 2 GUTTER GUARD1

BACKED BY A YEAR-ROUND CLOG-FREE GUARANTEE

EXCLUSIVE LIMITED TIME OFFER! +20% % OFF OFF10

YOUR ENTIRE PURCHASE*

SENIORS & MILITARY!

FINANCING THAT FITS YOUR BUDGET!1

1Subject to credit approval. Call for details. Promo Code: 285

WE INSTALL

YEAR-ROUND!

LIFETIME

FREE GUTTER ALIGNMENT + FREE GUTTER CLEANING*

CALL US TODAY FOR A FREE ESTIMATE

1-855-707-0321

Mon-Thurs: 8am-11pm, Fri-Sat: 8am-5pm, Sun: 2pm-8pm EST

*For those who qualify. One coupon per household. No obligation estimate valid for 1 year. **Offer valid at time of estimate only. 2The leading consumer reporting agency conducted a 16 month outdoor test of gutter guards in 2010 and recognized LeafFilter as the “#1 rated professionally installed gutter guard system in America.” Manufactured in Plainwell, Michigan and processed at LMT Mercer Group in Ohio. See Representative for full warranty details. Registration# 0366920922 CSLB# 1035795 Registration# HIC.0649905 License# CBC056678 License# RCE-51604 Registration# C127230 License# 559544 Suffolk HIC License# 52229-H License# 2102212986 License# 262000022 License# 262000403 License# 2106212946 License# MHIC111225 Registration# 176447 License# 423330 Registration# IR731804 License# 50145 License# 408693 Registration# 13VH09953900 Registration# H-19114 License# 218294 Registration# PA069383 License# 41354 License# 7656 DOPL #10783658-5501 License# 423330 License# 2705169445 License# LEAFFNW822JZ License# WV056912 R254987