Town Council Discusses Tolland's Goals

Town Manager Steven Werbner led the new town council through a goal-focusing exercise during Tuesday night's special meeting, helping the council members select priorities for the town of Tolland.

The council discussed priority projects from the following proposed town goals:

1. The Town Council will, through prudent management and oversight, strive to provide the best functioning and efficient local government possible.
2. The Town Council will strive for the highest quality education for the children of Tolland, which the townspeople can afford. 
3. The Town Council will promote economic development in Tolland taking into consideration the input of townspeople, as well as facilitating the integration of its rural character with a business friendly environment.
4. The Town Council will enhance and promote the safety and quality of life of all Town residents while working to maintain a safe, affordable environment.
5. The Town Council will support open, thoughtful and effective communication among all facets of the Town government and its constituency.
6. The Town Council will demonstrate prudent fiscal decision making.
7.  The Town Council will implement conservation and energy efficiency policies that will provide short- and long-term fiscal and environmental benefits to the town.

While the council did not significantly change any of the above-listed goals, there was much discussion on how the council should focus its energy.

"I'm challenging everyone here and the Tolland staff: It's not business as usual. Try to color outside the box," said Town Council Chairperson Jack Scavone. "There are better ways to do things. There's opportunity for improvement."

Scavone's call for a more cost-efficient government was echoed by several other council members.

"I would like to see an ending of the ritual year after year increase in taxes," said council member Benjamin Stanford, who also said he wants to decrease bonding for town projects. "If it's something we need, we need to find a better way to pay for it, or see if we really need to pay for it."

Fellow council member Mark Gill agreed, suggesting that the council go through budgets line by line to find more cost effective ways of maintaining current town services.

There was also discussion for improving communication with Tolland residents. 

"I know that the prior council had a council hour with the Board of Education," said council member Jan Rubino. "I really think that more of the community needs to be out there," she continued, gesturing to the half-filled council chambers. "We have to figure out a way to get the message out to the people."

The council added communication-focused goals, such as promoting the live broadcasts of town council meetings, to increase awareness. 

The council also asked for easily understandable budgets from all departments so that the public could more readily understand how town money is being spent.

After discussing the goals at length, the council members individually selected their top priorities, highlighting what the council will likely focus on. The unofficial results were:

• Establish priorities for future Town and/or BOE facility improvements or relocation (under Goal 1)
• Continue to increase use of volunteers for Town activities, particularly area of Fire Service (under Goal 4)
• Adopt a Town wide budget that is within the economic feasibility of the taxpayers and, to the extent possible, maintain levels of service that are acceptable to the majority of the townspeople (under Goal 6)
• Initiate discussions with the BOE regarding fiscal consistency among BOE/Town staff (under Goal 6)