Westbrook First Selectman Noel Bishop is looking forward to the New Year with optimism as well as awareness of the challenges the town faces.

Noting that those who make up the town’s boards and commissions are volunteers, Bishop emphasized their necessity for the town’s decision-making and functioning.

“I feel very fortunate as an elected official,” he said. “These individuals give so generously of their time.”

Another volunteer group that’s done much for the town is the Shoreline Basic Needs Task Force, which recently raised funds to hire Westbrook High School’s first career/college readiness coordinator for the 2019–’20 academic year.

There’s an increasing need for four town services in particular, according to Bishop: the Visiting Nurses Association, the senior center, social services, and Parks & Recreation.

“All four of those programs and services are expanding at an exponential rate every year,” he said. “People are aging in place; there are increased demands for social services; the senior center is expanding—we’ve allocated additional space in our municipal center for their programs. They’re growing because of the demands of our constituency.

“I’m pleased that the town has hired the staff to provide those services to our residents,” he added.

Bishop is also pleased about how the town has rebounded from a couple of important staff resignations. When Public Health Director Sonia Marino took an opportunity to work for the City of Stamford, the Board of Selectmen (BOS) quickly appointed Zach Faiella as acting director of health. He began serving in that capacity in November 2019 and was soon hired as Marino’s replacement; he began working full time as the director of public health on Dec. 26.

“When our [town] planner resigned over a year ago,” Bishop said, “we took a look at our Zoning Department, our Building Department, our Health Department, and our Planning Department. We streamlined staff. Not only did we save money, but we’ve created greater efficiencies.

“If you’re a contractor, you can go online, you can get the permitting done,” he continued. “We have changed the zoning regulations, made them far more user friendly to both the business community and residents.”

Thanks to the reorganization of staff, applicants can obtain “a building permit in a much shorter time,” Bishop said, saying he’s had “nothing but compliments” on the process.

The town’s revamped website is another element of this increased efficiency, said Bishop, with minutes, agendas, and job postings easily accessed.

“It’s very professional looking, very user friendly, and people rely on that daily for information,” he said.

Westbrook’s finances are a source of pride for Bishop, and something he frequently mentions.

“Approximately 14 to 15 percent of our total budget is in reserves—the fund balance,” he said.

Financial experts recommend that municipalities have a reserve of 12 percent and the larger amount the town has managed to reserve has “helped us when we went out to refinance” bonds, thanks to good audits and a high bond rating, according to Bishop.

Thanks are due to Paul Connelly, chair of the Board of Finance (BOF) “for over 10 years,” Bishop said. “He was also just elected to be chairman for another year.”

The BOF, through Connelly’s leadership, “have been so conservative, so conscientious,” said Bishop. “They have scrutinized every single dollar so that the increases of our municipal budgets have been very modest.

“Our fiscal budget is very strong and our reserves are strong,” he continued. And this means “we can look to fund capital projects as they come up.”

That requires planning, and Bishop believes that the town’s budgeting process, which is about to begin, is conducted carefully and efficiently.

“In the past 15 months, I’ve convened two groups,” he said. In the first, “all the chairmen of all the boards and commissions” meet for an hour and half to “identify a plan of action for the next two to three years for this town.” They create “a list, a spreadsheet, with the issues for the commission, the cost, and who’s going to do it.”

When the town goes into the budgeting process, said Bishop, the detailed information from that process is examined.

Reaching out as first selectman to communicate with stakeholders and other communities is also important to Bishop, and in September he convened a second group, this one consisting of business leaders, who met with the town to discuss ways in which they can work better together.

“Westbrook is not an island anymore,” he said. “Our issues...are regional issues and state issues.”

Seventeen towns belong to the River Valley Council of Governments, with leaders meeting every month to discuss common concerns.

“It doesn’t matter whether we’re Democratic or Republican,” Bishop said. “Our issues are the same: regionally, what can we do...to keep our costs down.”

Combining services and collectively applying for grants are two ways the group is effectively helping towns save money and increase services.

Westbrook is now waiting to hear from the federal government as to whether the town will receive an $800,000 grant to “jump-start our entire sidewalk plan,” Bishop said. 9 Town Transit is another regional service made possible thanks to the collaboration of municipalities; it’s an especially crucial service for those who are struggling financially, he pointed out.

Challenges

The biggest challenge in the state, the county, and the town, Bishop said, is affordable housing, and this affects the region’s health overall.

“[I]f people can’t afford to live in your community, the school population drops,” he said. The recent purchase of Westbrook property by Middlesex Habitat for Humanity “was such a major breakthrough. It’s a signal not just for Habitat. We have to do more to encourage people to live in our community and how to do that is affordable housing.”

State funding is another huge issue.

“I believe the new governor [Ned Lamont] is doing everything he can,” Bishop said, noting that Lamont has been in office for just over a year. Bishop feels Lamont is listening to municipal leaders and believes he understands that Connecticut “cannot balance the state budget on the backs of municipal government.”

Although he is hopeful about Lamont’s efforts, Bishop said he “won’t put together a budget that relies on state funding.”

A third challenge for the town is the hazard mitigation plan, for which Westbrook has hired a consultant.

“This is a major challenge for us,” he said, with a huge concern the “episodic flooding in some of our lower areas.”

Last, the development of the town center is an ongoing issue that the town continues to address.

“A lot of effort has been placed into this but...retail is difficult, wherever it is,” he said.

The town’s Planning, Zoning and Development office is “doing everything they can; they relax rules if they can,” he explained. “Collectively, we have to do what we can against a background of good financial planning and strategic planning.”