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Village Manager

Kevin Hellriegel

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A Year in Review

2011 was a year to remember.  When January 2011 rolled in, we were faced with a blizzard that left us with almost 29” of snow.  It was a monumental task cleaning up after this storm, but the staff worked feverishly to keep roads, driveways, and paths open in record breaking time.

Following one of, if not the biggest storm in memory, we found the month of January to continue with brutal weather.  It seemed like we had one storm after another.  

Temperatures were such that the snow was not melting between storms.  This not only posed a problem with mounting snow which obstructed line of site for vehicles, but there was a growing concern about the amount of snow on roofs.  As everyone watched the news channels, they were given daily updates on roofs collapsing throughout Connecticut.  With an impending storm coming in which promised to bring mixed precipitation, we decided to have a structural engineer look at our structures to determine if there was potential for failure.  His concluding report was to remove the snow.  Fortunately, we made it through this process without failures.

To add insult to injury, we began receiving calls about leaks in units.  It was determined that these leaks were being caused by ice damming.  In total, we had almost 500 units damaged by the ice damming.  All the damages caused by the ice dams have been covered through the proceeds of our insurance excluding our deductible.  It is estimated that the cost for repairs will be over $1.6 million.

When the winter came to an end, we were all glad to see the warm weather arrive.  Having thought that we were finished with the bad weather, Mother Nature attacked us once again.  In early June, there was a tremendous wind storm that ripped through the Village.  Trees had fallen all over.  Some of the fallen trees landed on units and caused extensive damage.  Once again, our faithful staff quickly jumped into action to restore things to normal.

In late August or early September, it all seems like a blur right now, Hurricane Irene came to town.  Although having minimal damage compared to what occurred earlier in the year, we were faced with another massive cleanup.  Parts of the Village were without power for several days due to the fact that some trees had fallen on the electrical distribution lines coming from the Bates Rock Sub-station.

On October 29th, we were hit with yet another storm.  This storm dumped about 14” of heavy wet snow on us.  With many trees still in bloom, the weight was too much for the trees to handle and many came crashing down.  Some trees held their ground but lost major limbs in the process.  Fortunately for the Village, we were amongst the few in the entire state that did not lose power.  However, clean up from this storm still continues today.

Oh yes, it was a year to remember!  Hardly a day goes by that someone doesn’t make a comment about the year’s events.  The remarks are always concluded with the comment “I hope 2012 is a better year.”  

We had many challenges in 2011 but our staff and all the wonderful volunteers were always there to restore normality.  We all hope that another year like this is not repeated in our lifetime but I can tell you this, the Village is a beautiful place and we continue to keep it as a picturesque community.