Haddam Bulletin

01/01/2022

From The Town of Haddam: COVID-19 Home Test Kits

The Town of Haddam has received a very limited number of at-home COVID test kits and will be distributing them on Sunday, January 2nd starting at 1:00 PM. The point of distribution will be the Haddam Killingworth High School, 95 Little City Road.
We will be able to provide two (2) kits and N95 masks per household on a first-come basis.
Those wishing to receive their test kits should drive up to the distribution point, remain in your vehicle, and follow the instructions of the attendants. Proof of Haddam residency and documentation of address will be required. Please bring a pen or pencil.
Because of the limited number of tests available, the Department of Public Health has asked that kits be prioritized to those individuals who are considered as high-risk individuals, those showing symptoms, or those who have had close contact with someone who has tested COVID positive.
The town is unsure at this point if additional tests will be available in the immediate future. Please check the town’s website for updates.

10/21/2021

Brainerd Library: Haddam First Selectman Candidates Forum

Haddam First Selectman Candidate Forum 2021

10/06/2021

From the Town Clerk' Office:
Absentee ballots for the November 2, 2021 election are available.

Connecticut law allows you to receive an absentee ballot if you cannot appear at your assigned polling place on election day because of active service in the Military, absence from the town during all of the hours of voting, illness, religious tenets forbid secular activity on the day of the election, duties as an election official at a polling place other than your own during all of the hours of voting, or physical disability.

The State of Connecticut, via Public Act No. 21-2, June 2021 Special Session, has determined that the existence of the COVID-19 virus allows you to vote by absentee ballot if you so choose for your own safety.

To receive your absentee ballot please complete and sign an application and return it to your Town Clerk.

In-person: Town Clerk Office, 30 Field Park Drive, Haddam, during normal business hours: Monday – Wednesday – 8:30AM to 4:00PM, Thursday 8:30AM to 6:00PM, Friday 8:30AM to 12 Noon.

Or by mail:
Send your application to the Town Clerk’s Office and we will mail you the ballot. Application can be found here: https://www.haddam.org/town-clerk/files/absentee-ballot-application
Mailing address: Town Clerk’s Office, Town of Haddam, 30 Field Park Drive, Haddam, CT 06438

06/23/2021

From Town of Haddam:

Beginning July, 12th, 2021
Dublin Hill Rd. is tentatively scheduled for pulverizing and fine grading beginning July, 12th, 2021. Paving operations will take place the following week, July 19th and 20th, tentatively.
These dates are subject to weather and any unforeseen setbacks.
Dublin Hill Rd. is a narrow road in a few places and some sections will be paved in one pass. This means that the road will be blocked for extended periods of time and equipment cannot be moved or turned around. As a result, we are asking that residents plan ahead and do not travel Dublin Hill during these times. Emergency vehicles and essential services will be able to access residences in an emergency. Extended delays can be expected and alternate routes should be taken.
Thank you for your consideration and cooperation.

05/27/2021

Looks like Haddam Mill Rate is going up for 2021
From Board of Finance meeting minutes:
Dave Challenger made a motion, seconded by Mark Adelberg to set the mil rate at a .47 mil increase from 31.69 to 32.16 an increase of 1.49 %.
No discussion. Motion carried unanimously.

04/01/2021

From First Selectman Bob McGarry: Covid-19 update
I thought it was about time for another Covid-19 update. I started writing this early in March. I was going to highlight the improvement in our monthly case count from 68 in December and 67 in January to 25 in February. Still high compared to the summer but much improved. However, other issues demanded my time and the draft was put on a back burner. Then March happened and our case count skyrocketed (74).


Statewide except for the daily death count, all of the COVID indicators are going in the wrong direction. They started going back up in mid-March. (Deaths normally lags the other indicators by two to three weeks so they may begin to climb again.) The CT Mirror has a series of interactive graphs, https://ctmirror.org/2021/01/01/covid-in-ct-the-data-that-tell-the-story/ showing indicator data for the state. The indicator I pay the most attention to is hospitalizations. It’s less affected by other factors and you’re seriously sick if you’re in the hospital. Here’s the hospitalization graph as of March 31st. The good news is we’re not in the dark days of last spring, hospitalizations are much lower. The bad news is they’re rising again.




Another interesting, but depressing, graph is this one from the New York Times.


As explained in the article, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/14/us/covid-19-death-toll.html, the graph shows the percentage of deaths above or below the statistical average for the last five years. The deaths are from all causes not just Covid-19 but the impact of the disease is obvious.
On a positive note, vaccinations in Connecticut are going well. We’ve consistently ranked in the top five states for percentage of population vaccinated. Currently, only New Mexico has vaccinated a higher percentage than Connecticut. 20% of our population is fully vaccinated, 35% have received at least one shot. Everyone 16 and older is eligible. The number of places where you can get a shot is continuing to increase; Nutmeg Pharmacy and our health district are doing great work for us. Please get your vaccine. If you have trouble getting an appointment call our Social Service Department, (860)345-4621.
In closing, we’re all tired of the pandemic, the restrictions, the inconveniences, and the precautions but we have to hang in there a little longer. Please wear a mask, keep your distance from others, wash your hands and avoid crowded situations.

03/16/2021

From the Town of Haddam: Recycling in Haddam during COVID

What began as a small initiative by a few town employees has brought awareness to the need for Haddam to become a more environmentally friendly place. About a year and a half before COVID hit we were going strong.

The administration offered the staff more opportunities to become more sustainable in the Town Office Building itself. We started small and back to the basics. Each department was given a recycling container, we reached out to our hauler for clarification on types of material that should or should not be recycled. We put in a compost bin to reduce our bulky waste and began cancelling magazines and bulk mailings that no one read.

In the following months, residents took notice and began offering us some additional suggestions. Haddam formed a Sustainability Committee. A resident told us about a program through TREX that allows us to recycle soft plastic. We began collecting and recycling plastic by the ton and in return received three benches that are placed around town. We began to use Bay State Textiles to recycle textiles not suitable for donation. We started participating and hosting community forums and officially joined Sustainable CT. We were well on our way to making Haddam an example of a sustainable town.

Then COVID struck. Recycling and being sustainable took a back seat to safety. We were told to go out as little as possible and we did. We supported local restaurants with take out only. We wore masks, many disposable, as to not spread a virus we were unsure of. Hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and spray were bought by the case. All of these efforts were necessary but generated a lot single use waste product.

All is not lost! We still have a small core of volunteers who are delivering plastic for TREX. The Bay State Textile recycle initiative is going strong. We just received a check for electronic recycling from the Transfer Station. The swap shack at the Transfer Station is open again. We have been in contact with the Haddam Killingworth High School Environmental club to put together initiatives to benefit us all.

I putting out a call out to all members of the community who are interested in creating an environmentally friendly Haddam. Please consider joining the Sustainability Committee. This committee is going to take shape based on the needs and ideas of the committees and the community.
If you have a project/vision that you want to explore this is the place for you! If you belong to a group or own a business that wants to get involved in reducing waste, this is the place for you. If you’re a teacher and want to get your students involved this is the place for you! Whether you have a lot of time to help or a little, if you’re interested in sustainability, this is the place for you! We can look at different ways of saving the planet starting in Haddam. No project is too small or too big.

The Town of Haddam does have a few events being planned currently. On May 8th we will be holding a Shred-It event near the community center from 9-12. If you have material you would like shredded join us for this event. A donation of $5 a box will raise money for Social Services. On June 25th we will have a booth at the Higganum Farmer’s Market for Eco-Awareness Day and again on July 23rd for Haddam Appreciation Day.

If you would like to get involved please contact Kristin Battistoni in the Tax Office at 860-345-8531 X 207 or email [email protected]

12/16/2020

From Town of Haddam:

WINTER PARKING BAN
Parking will be banned on Town roads effective November 15th and continuing to April 15th to facilitate snow plowing. Violators will be towed at the owners' expense.
(For details see Snow & Ice Removal, Winter Parking - Ordinance 111-11)

11/04/2020

Election Results for Haddam
Turnout: 85.6%

Presidential
Biden/Harris, DEM 2728
Trump/Pence, REP 2693
Jorgensen/Cohen, LIB 67
Hawkins/Walker, GRN 23

Congress 2nd District
Courtney, DEM 2680
Courtney, Working Fam 119
Courtney, UNK 9
Anderson, REP 2461
Reale, LIB 36
Martineau, GRN 65

State Senate 33rd District
Needleman, DEM 2416
Needleman, IND 174
Needleman, UNK 5
Saunders, REP 2788

State House 36th District
Palm, DEM 2360
Palm, Working Fam 96
Palm, UNK 8
Siegrist, REP 2787
Siegrist, IND 109
Siegrist, UNK 16

Haddam Registrar
Skarsten, REP 3559

10/24/2020

From Town Of Haddam:

COVID-19 Announcement - October 22, 2020
“Cases are increasing very fast. There are parameters when we MAY be looking at reverting back to phase 2, and possibly going back to hybrid or all virtual learning within our schools. Transmission within the schools is not the problem. It is the gatherings outside the school day that is creating the school closings and disruptions within the school systems.” Scott Martinson, Director, CT River Area Health District (Haddam’s health district)
“… at this point we show just about as many community spread cases in the last 4 weeks (8) as we had in the previous 6 months (9). I am very concerned.” Lauren S. Gister, First Selectwoman, Chester
I share Scott and Lauren’s concerns. We all know Covid-19 cases are increasing across Connecticut. Haddam is no exception to that trend. In October we saw 11 new cases; the first double digit increase since May (13 cases). A fall and winter increase in cases was expected but it’s still troubling to see. The graph shows the number of new cases we’ve had each month since the pandemic started.

On a positive note as Scott said we haven’t seen the virus spread in the school systems. So far, only two RSD-17 students have been diagnosed with Covid-19. Both of them live in Haddam and neither was in school while they were contagious.
Contact tracing has indicated the main causes of the spread are small social activities and family gatherings. I know pandemic fatigue has set in. We’re all tired of it and want it to end. Believe me, no one wants that more than I do. But it’s just as important now as it was in the spring to be careful. Wear a mask, wash your hands, maintain social distance and keep your activities and gatherings outside as much as you can.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health launched a new weekly, color-coded COVID-19 alert system for every city and town in the state, showing the average daily case rate per 100,000 residents for the last two weeks. It’s accompanied by recommended actions for individual residents, organizations, municipal leaders and health directors. The map is updated every week and is available online.

10/13/2020

10/11/2020

https://www.courant.com/opinion/insight/hc-op-insight-keck-melissa-schlag-1011-20201011-la4wjvsybvco5bvbuent55mq24-story.html =pf-double%20chain~opinion-main-chain~feed-driven%20flex%20feature~automated~unnamed-feature~LA4WJVSYBVCO5BVBUENT55MQ24~3~6~2~3~art%20yes

She realized that while taking a stand — or in her case, kneeling — would attract negative attention, public life often requires leaders to adopt an unpopular position in order to achieve positive results. Put another way, loving one’s country entails more than standing at attention or salutin...