Don Lowe First Selectman Column 02/24/2025
Mary Ann and I attended the Sherman Volunteer Fire Department’s (SVFD) Annual Dinner last Saturday at the Amber Room in Danbury. What a wonderful time we had! The evening featured good food and the usual comradery, but also a comprehensive presentation of accomplishments by members of the department. The profound dedication by our SVFD members was obvious and Sherman should be (I know that it is) so very proud of these woman and men who are steadfastly there for us in all types of emergencies.
The Board of Selectmen (BOS) will hold its regularly scheduled monthly meeting this Thursday, February 27 at 7pm in Mallory Town Hall. The agenda is posted on the Town website along with the Zoom link. The BOS meetings are broadcasted via Zoom, though there is no function for remote audience participation. If you want to speak at the meeting you need to attend the meeting. The main agenda items are updates on current Town projects.
One of those updates that has moved forward are the additional boat slips planned for the Town beach area. I attended a meeting between First Light and our engineering firm, Artel, this morning. First Light is on board with our plan, and after receiving a little more clarification from Artel Engineering, will approach the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a preliminary discussion. First Light hopes to receive a positive predisposition from FERC so that we are not sending in our application to FERC in vain. FERC is the ultimate decision-maker of whether we can go forward with this plan. The application costs Sherman $10,000, so if we are only going to get a “no” then it would it be nice to understand that before we send in the money.
The entire Town Beach plan, yes, adds dock slips (up to 14 new ones) to our stock of boat slips, but it also comprehensively reorganizes the watercraft area of the park. By that we mean, moving the passive boating (kayaks and canoes) into its own area, replanting and adding a new buffer vegetation zone, and, most importantly, constructing a much-needed new and environmentally healthier seawall for the docks to be attached to.
One other item: even though it is likely that we will get our application into FERC in the next month or two, the word I have received is that FERC is very thorough in its examination of applications and it can take a long time to receive an answer. “Long time” is relative, so I’m not sure what that means in months and weeks. And, of course, things are changing daily on the federal level lately, so who knows if there will even be a FERC. But that’s a different matter.
Thank you to those who have stepped up to fill vacancies on both the Inland/Wetlands Commission and for the Commission on Aging. Both of these commissions should be fully staffed now. For the future, if any residents feel a desire to serve the Town as a volunteer, there is usually some position available somewhere. Feel free to reach out. At the very least, we can keep you on a list for when openings occur in the future.
