First Selectman's 2020 Annual Report

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It has truly been an honor to serve the Town of Waterford this year as the First Selectman. To 
me, commitment is truly the most important piece serving our community. I value trust, 
communication, dignity, inclusion and always putting the Waterford community at my 
forefront. 
 
Community Engagement 
       Capital Projects       Planning & Economic Development 
                                 Fleet Management Plan         Budget Management 
 
  
The pandemic created an understandable 
hardship for various businesses and residents 
within our community. As a town, we worked 
tirelessly with businesses, volunteers, the Cactus 
Jack 
Foundation, 
Waterford 
Rotary 
and 
Waterford Youth & Family Services to create the “Waterford Cares” initiative.  In doing so, we 
focused efforts and attention on the needs of our residents, emotionally, financially, spiritually 
and physically.  We hosted the 2020 Waterford High School Graduation Ceremony at Waterford 
Beach, held multiple Food Drives at Town Hall, focused on community outreach for those in need, 
and addressed the local impact of food insecurity.    Finally, we successfully donated and delivered 
full Thanksgiving dinners to our seniors and veterans in town.   We created the Waterford 
Veterans Coffeehouse, a group that connects Veterans at monthly meetings and provides 
breakfast free to Veterans at Filomenas Restaurant.  This Veterans group is organized by local 
volunteers in Waterford and supported by the Waterford Youth & Family Service Bureau.  It’s 
mission is simply providing for Waterford Veterans who have served so courageously in various 
military branches.  We honored our veterans and 
extended the town’s sincere appreciation on 
Veterans Day by giving out personalized blankets to 
Waterford Veterans.  Community engagement is the 
component 
of 
strong 
economic 
and 
social 
transformation in a community as great as 
Waterford. 
The 
involvement 
of 
community 
engagement has created an effective, sustainable 
and vibrant town.  Leaders in town, board members 
and commissioners established partnerships with 
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
2020 ANNUAL REPORT
ROBERT J. BRULE,  FIRST SELECTMAN 
JODY NAZARCHYK,  SELECTWOMAN 
ELIZABETH SABILIA,  SELECTWOMAN 
CINDY DUPOINTE, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT  

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local businesses and non-profits and through committed volunteerism, has resulted in the 
development and implementation of creative initiatives and key safety principles providing a 
solid foundation of community participation.  As many of us adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic, 
the safety of our community continues to be my highest priority. Partnering with Ledge Light 
Health District to host free community Flu Shots and COVID-19 testing at Waterford High School 
assured we had the convenience of in-town testing and commitment to residents’ safety. 
Through communication with Ledge Light Health District, we have also offered the Town of 
Waterford to be a Regional Host for the COVID-19 Vaccine in 2021. 
Our community is now stronger and safe with 24/7 
emergency response teams. The Town of Waterford now has 
24/7 ambulance coverage, 24/7 police officer coverage and 
24/7 fire service coverage in town.  All volunteer fire fighters 
are now eligible to receive stipends for their time protecting 
our community while two crews of paid fire fighters are on 
shift at all times in town (Jordan FD in the south end of town 
and Cohanzie FD in the north end of town).  In 2020, we 
signed an agreement with the Waterford Ambulance Service 
(WAS) to provide residents 24/7 ambulance coverage.  This 
formal agreement assures the Town of Waterford complies 
with the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act and contracts out its ambulance service, to ensure that 
EMS calls in town are responded to within the desired timeframe.   In 2020, we approved a capital 
expense for body cameras for the Waterford Police Department, which are in addition to vehicle 
cameras already in use.  In 2020, we created a Full-Time Emergency Management Director 
position, which will ensure the Town of Waterford continues to assess its Emergency Evacuation, 
Disaster and KI Distribution Plans, discussing pandemic health concerns with our Public Health 
Director, coordinate the training of Dispatchers and updating the CAD system. In addition, we 
purchased a 3-year contract with Everbridge, an integrated communication technology system 
providing residents in Waterford immediate warnings, messages and necessary community 
updates.  This Everbridge technology will also assist Department Heads in reaching out to 
constituents and employees for any and all messaging, quickly, efficiently and in real time.  In the 
end, Everbridge will create a phone-based 
communication tool that will provide customer 
service and customer satisfaction.  Finally, to 
review 
response 
times 
of 
emergency 
responders, we have created CAD Data Reports 
that enable Police, Fire and EMS dispatched 
data to be reviewed regularly and assure 
residents 
we 
are 
providing 
responsible 
coverage.   A 2019 survey completed by the 
Planning Department showed a need for 

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improved communication, therefore, social media Facebook pages were created by the First 
Selectman and Emergency Management Department to provide information and community 
updates to residents.  Town Hall has had interior updating to create a welcoming environment 
for the Waterford Community. The Town Hall Art Gallery is now a showcase for local artists to 
display their amazing skill set and to allow the community to see such talent, to take a self-care 
moment and take in the calmness and the beauty of peaceful art. New signage has been ordered 
in warm and welcoming colors, in addition to creating a consumer friendly approach that allows 
offices to be easily located.  
Capital Projects 
The long-range capital plan remains a key focus 
to accomplishing our goals while maintaining a 
prudent view of the budget.  The long-range 
capital plan focused on funding for the 
Waterford Beach Restroom and ADA Sidewalk 
Project, IT upgrades and equipment and 
continued 
review 
of 
the 
town’s 
Fleet 
Management Plan.  Accessibility for residents 
around town continues to be a priority for 
capital projects, as well as, town infrastructure.  
Creating an inclusive environment has always been a large vision of mine aimed at making a 
difference in an individual’s life, which was highlighted in 2020 with the Waterford Beach 
Restroom & ADA Sidewalk.  The two Luxury portable restrooms (one located near the Summer 
Music venue and one located on the Causeway), Showers, Water Fountains, Concrete Sidewalk 
and a Mobi-Mat offering a safe, well-drained, firm and stable surface for individuals needing 
wheelchairs, strollers or walkers to access the beach and water.   Lastly, the town replaced the 
roof at The Barn at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center.  
Waterford continues to be on a path that is stable and constantly improving. Waterford continues 
to effectively pay down its school bonding responsibilities, that includes past school construction 
projects and the current $17M Municipal Complex Project on 1000 Hartford Road.  We continue 
to be creative to increase efficiencies by introducing new program software in the Recreation & 
Parks Department and we are continually updating 
technology to keep resident’s information safe, and 
above all else, taking pride in the work done and 
being customer friendly.  We continue to look for 
new and exciting economic development that will 
have long term effects and will enhance our Net 
Taxable Grand List, including redefining commercial 
spaces, working closely with the Planning & Zoning 
Department to create new zoning regulations that 

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will help attract future regional commercial, housing, healthcare, educational and recreational 
development.  This new approach in the Planning & Zoning Department will provide the town 
much needed flexibility as it responds to the impact of Covid-19 on the private sector, the 
economy and the financial impact on residents.    
Planning & Economic Development 
Planning and Zoning has been very busy with 
new development applications and a record 
number of permits, most likely due to Covid-
19, and homeowner remodels and repairs.  
The town has recently hired a zoning 
enforcement official and filled the open 
assistant building official position, which will 
expedite construction projects and customer 
service.  The Planning Director continues to work closely with the Economic Development 
Commission as it navigates the impact of the pandemic.  The Planning Director is in close contact 
with the Crystal Mall and abutting landlords to continue to support Simon Properties, as needed. 
In addition, the Planning Department continues to assess economic development options for the 
property. Over the past year there has been a positive response to “filling empty storefronts”, 
attracting new businesses and supporting existing Waterford businesses.  We worked diligently 
with local restaurants, long-term care facilities, retail stores and residents to help those who 
needed support.   
As scheduled, Waterford PARC Luxury Apartments opened in the spring and filled nearly all 80 
units within months.  As a result of their success, Waterford Central recently applied and received 
approval to create twice the number of luxury apartments down the street on Willetts Avenue, 
including an outdoor pool, clubhouse and garage units for additional storage for residents.  
Waterford Central envisions every unit being filled quickly, providing the town additional tax 
revenue with limited town services needed.  The grand opening of Ollies Superstore store at the 
former King Buffet and Joanne’s Fabrics has opened.  Hartford Healthcare has begun construction 
on their multi-million-dollar medical office 
building, housing 7 privately run health care 
offices and is expected to generate new jobs 
and filling the void left at the old Toys-R-Us.  
Ace Hardware is currently looking at opening 
near Planet Fitness.  In November 2020, 

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Greenskies Energy was approved by the state’s Siting Council to create a 75-acre solar field off 
Waterford Parkway North, which could provide an estimated $450k in annual taxes.  FabCon 
concrete business, the world’s largest pre-fab concrete manufacturer, is currently in the final 
stages of Special Permit approvals to purchase and build a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant 
on the old airport property on Waterford Parkway South.  While the town of Waterford 
purchased a small lot of land which abutted our town-owned kayak launch on Alewife Cove, thus 
doubling the waterfront access to residents.  Environmentally, we have successfully removed the 
two septic tanks located in the flood plains at Waterford Beach Park.  We successfully completed 
1600 feet of trench work for city sewer and water from the entrance at Waterford Beach all the 
way to the Causeway restroom, ensuring electrical conduit remains 6ft above the flood plain, to 
meet federal regulations.  Cohanzie School property is looking for a potential buyer to redevelop 
the property.  The former Southwest School property is vacant and plans and discussions have 
started for developing the property responsibly.                                                                                    
Fleet Management Plan 
 
We have continued the use of the Fleet Management Plan as a way to provide quality vehicles 
without having major spikes in our budget.  By planning a life cycle for the various vehicles and 
constantly reviewing the need for these, we have been able to provide our employees with safe 
efficient and affordable equipment. Implementation of the Utilization Plan has already been 
helpful for Department Heads to get better returns on our auctioned vehicles and removing 
unnecessary vehicles from the plan.  We are constantly reviewing the plan for accuracy and 
efficiency moving forward and a plan is in place to “share” vehicles inter-departmentally. 
 
Budget Management 
 
The Town of Waterford enjoyed a tax decrease this 
year!  We continue to see modest growth in new 
businesses coming into town and saw an increase in the 
Grand List for the 6th consecutive year.  Most recently, 
our Town has completed several projects, embarked on 
some new programs and continues to work on process 
improvement and customer service.  We continue to 
proudly develop a working budget for our town that 
supports the critical services programs we enjoy while minimizing the growth of the taxpayer’s 
burden.  We have continued that philosophy with a minimal increase in the budget and a 
continuing to increase efficiencies, review attrition, and assess job descriptions throughout town. 

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We continue to value the knowledge and experience of our long-term employees.  We have 
recruited new talented employees to our workforce, which has created   opportunities for new 
initiatives and ideas.  The FY22 Budget will look to increase Capital funding including; more roads 
in town being paved, pump stations and water/sewer line maintenance, creation of walking trails 
and a Farmers Market in the Civic Triangle, Sidewalk capital plan, Amphitheatre at Waterford 
Beach for Summer Music. 
 
Conclusion 
 
Waterford has grown in traffic and services.  We have some of the largest retail shopping facilities 
in the State and we are home to two nuclear power plants.  These provide some obstacles for 
our town, but I am proud to say that our staff team continues to meet these challenges every day 
with resiliency and a positive outlook.   We have additional growth and development in our 
forecast and look forward to planning out that growth with the various builders and developers.  
The year posed serious challenges, significant 
obstacles and great opportunities that resulted in 
realistic goals being accomplished.  The Board of 
Selectmen delivered substantial government 
accomplishments of the people’s goals in 2020.  
Waterford has 218 years of history and our future 
reflects the substantial achievements of our 
successful past.  I will continue to work diligently 
for all Waterford residents and continuously plan 
for our future.  One town, one team!