Town Manager gives final update of the year to Town Council

By Adam Swift

Town Manager Tony Marino gave his last update of 2022 to the Town Council last week, hitting on several issues he has been actively involved with over the past several months.

“I sent out the draft for the trash ordinance out for review, and I will have that for the meeting of January to take a look at and discuss,” said Marino.

Marino said an outside consultant hired by the town has begun an inventory and assessment of the town’s capital assets in preparation for planning of a long-range capital plan.

“They have the building list, they have passed it off to the vendor who is going to be doing the assessments, and they should be starting in January,” said Marino.

The town manager also gave an update on dealing with what no one wants to talk about, but what everyone knows is on the way this time of year.

“It’s getting colder, and that means that snow is coming,” said Marino. “DPW Director (Steven) Calla and I have had many conversations about it, and we are ready for the plow season, even though we are down some staff members with retirement and other reasons. We’ve got private contractors, and staff members, so while we feel like it will certainly be a strain, we will be able to get through this winter season.”

Marino said he and Superintendent of Schools Lisa Howard have interviewed three finalists for the Chief Financial Officer position for the town and schools, and could be making a decision on filling that new position soon.

There have also been meetings with several law firms that responded to a request for proposal to provide legal services to the town, and Marino said there could be more information on that front by the beginning of the new year.

Contract negotiations have also gotten underway for a new contract with the police patrolman and sergeant’s union for a contract that would run through 2025, Marino said. He added that he expected there would be a meeting set up with the superior officers union in the near future, as well.