By Sarah Opdahl

At the Thursday, July 9 New Fairfield Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting, First Selectman Ms. Pat Del Monaco and Selectman Ms. Khris Hall emphatically thanked all of the officials and residents who helped the town recover from the July 4th storm including all first responders, the Public Works Department, the Eversource line and tree crews “who really did an amazing job once they were in town,” and more.  Del Monaco pointed out, “Some areas of our town had damage that rivaled the macro burst of 2018, especially along Route 37. It was really a tremendous amount of damage, and they worked hard and got our power back to 99% of us in three days.”

Hall stressed, “This is a storm that nobody anticipated. It came up really suddenly. It struck much harder than I think most people thought it would. The damage was pretty substantial in some places in town, and people stepped up. And for the most part, people were patient and understood that we had been through a major event.” Del Monaco recommended that anyone who was not receiving alerts during that time sign up for the Everbridge system. To do so,visit the town website www.newfairfield.org. “There is a button on the homepage that says ‘Sign Up for Emergency Alerts,’” she said.

In the approved Personnel Report there was a separation for Mr. Tomas Kavaliauskas, whose contract as a part-time animal control officer recently ended. Both Del Monaco and Hall thanked him for his service to the town. Later in the meeting, Ms. Kim Kraska was appointed as a full-time animal control officer.

There were a series of transfers for legal expenses, which was explained by Hall, who said, “I would like to note that this is largely because, when we assumed offices in November, a very large portion of last year’s legal budget had already been spent. There were some additional expenses as we moved on, but there was no room in the legal budget, given how much had been spent out of it before we even assumed office.” There was a brief explanation of a financial services transfer, which was described as a chargeback that occurs following work that is completed for the public school district.

BOS members appointed resident Ms. November Rawlings, a local realtor with Luks Realty and interior designer, to the Housing Opportunities Committee. In addition to her professional background, Rawlings shared, “Personally, I grew up in downtown Danbury, living in the same multifamily rental house that my mother and her five siblings grew up in, so I consider myself a first-generation homeowner. I see firsthand how the limited supply in the housing market in our area can really price hardworking people out of affordable housing. I’d love to learn more about what’s involved in being on the committee and how my experience and passion could make it a good fit.” Hall said, “I want to thank November for stepping forward on this. I think her background, as she’s described it, is perfect for this. We do have some people who are rotating off of the Housing Opportunities Committee, this is an important function for us in Fairfield since we have so little affordable housing.”