Update: Mill Rate, Sidewalks, PFAS
Sidewalks Phase 1. Weston Today
In the past few days the Board of Finance has set the mill rate for fiscal year 2022-23, the Town Administrator has reported developments on the sidewalks plan, and First Selectwoman Nestor has updated the town on progress to remediate PFAS found in the town-operated water supply.
The mill rate
On Monday evening, two days after voters overwhelming approved budgets the Board had recommended, a mill rate of 32.97 was set.
The new rate is a two-cent increase, meaning taxes on a home valued at the town’s median will increase by about $2.54 a year.
It was originally anticipated that the mill rate would rise by only a penny, but a gap in the formula the state plans to use to calculate reimbursements to towns for lost motor vehicle tax revenue accounts for the difference.
The new state budget caps the motor vehicle mill rate at 32.46, slightly below the rate for real property in Weston, so motor vehicle owners will, in effect, get back some of the slightly increased tax on real estate.
Sidewalks
On Thursday evening, Town Administrator Jonathan Luiz told the Selectmen that a request for proposals has been issued to contractors for Phase 1 of the plan to build sidewalks in town center.
This is the part of the project, pictured above, where sidewalks will be built from St. Francis to Route 57, then up Norfield Road to the Town Hall complex, up Route 57 to School Road, and from there past Hurlbutt Elementary to the Intermediate School.
In our sidewalks “big picture” article more than a year ago, we reported that ground could be broken this summer, and it appears it will, now that the involved process of getting everything signed off by the Department of Transportation is complete.
PFAS
As soon as the forever chemicals called PFAS were found in the drinking water system operated by the Town (below levels rated as hazardous), the Department of Public Health was advised and an engineer was engaged to design a solution.
That work has apparently gone well. On Thursday evening, First Selectwoman Samantha Nestor said tests show the designed filtration system reduces PFAS almost to the point of being non-detectable. Ms. Nestor said the health department is still reviewing the designs, and more tests will be performed.
Related Stories:
May 7, 2022: Budgets Approved by Referendum
April 4, 2022: Budgets Proposed with Minimal Mill Rate Impact
February 26, 2021: Sidewalks: the Big Picture
March 30, 2022: Public Briefed on PFAS
March 16, 2022: “Forever Chemicals” Found in Town, School District Water