January

Several positive cases of COVID-19 affected staff and students with quarantines at Valley Regional High School (VRHS), the district’s Collaborative Preschool in Essex and Essex Elementary School (EES), as students returned after winter break for in-person classes.

Students at VRHS went to remote learning for a day in mid-January due to staffing shortages caused by quarantines that were the result of a positive case of COVID-19 at the school. Students resumed in-person classes the next school day.

An ad hoc committee made a recommendation to the Region 4 Board of Education (BOE) for the design of a school security project at John Winthrop Middle School (JWMS). The selected design had a projected cost of $825,000, with the net cost to Region 4, after state reimbursement, estimated at $486,000.

The state’s rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, phase 1b, began for individuals between the ages of 65 and 74, those between 16 and 64 with underlying health conditions and residents and staff in congregate settings.

February

The Region 4 BOE unanimously directed Superintendent of Schools Brian White to explore, with realtors and an attorney, the sale of its nine-acre property on Falls Landing Road in Deep River.

Changes in quarantine procedures at VRHS that were announced at the end of January meant the most recent positive case of COVID-19 in the school did not necessitate a high number of quarantines for students and staff.

The Supervision District budget for the 2021-’22 school year was moved for a final vote to the Joint BOE Committee, but due to the absence of a quorum on behalf of the Region 4 BOE, did not gain full approval. The Region 4 BOE would approve the budget, totaling $8,257,430, at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

March

The Essex BOE unanimously approved a proposed $7,861,407 budget for the 2021-’22 school year, which was scheduled to be presented to the Essex Board of Finance (BOF). The proposed budget represented a $152,975, or 1.98 percent, increase from prior year.

Sixty-two students and 11 staff members were asked to quarantine after exposure to positive cases of COVID-19 at JWMS, VRHS, and Deep River Elementary School, according to an email from Region 4.

April

Essex started accepting food scraps from all residents free-of-charge, at the Essex Transfer Station. The new initiative aimed to reduce the town’s municipal solid waste (MSW), as upcoming changes to the state’s garbage disposal system indicated the potential for an increase to municipal tipping fees, or the cost paid per ton of MSW disposal.

The Supervision District Committee voted to return $178,138 in surplus funds from the 2019-’20 school year to the towns of Chester, Deep River, and Essex. The surplus funds were to be divided among the member towns based on the Average Daily Membership of the 2019-’20 school year.

A representative from the auditing firm Mahoney Sabol presented the findings of the 2019-’20 audit report to the Supervision District Committee, saying the process and findings were much improved from prior years. The firm recommended that the “material weakness in internal controls” that was found in the prior year’s audit be removed.

Due to staffing changes, the Supervision District budget for the 2021-’22 school year was reduced by $42,944 to $8,214,486, from $8,257,430. The budget was approved again by members of the Supervision District Committee and the Joint BOE at separate meetings. The budget was an overall increase of 2.96 percent, or $235,776, from the prior year.

VRHS moved operations online due to a positive case of COVID-19, resuming in-person classes the next day. A total of 19 students were asked to quarantine as a result of the case.

A representative from the auditing firm Mahoney Sabol presented the results of Region 4’s Fiscal Year 2019-’20 audit at a meeting of the Region 4 BOE. Although much progress had been made in terms of the district’s financial practices, the firm identified some issues with year-end closing practices. Based on these findings, the district was required to submit a corrective action plan with the State of Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management.

May

The Region 4 School District’s $21,938,122 budget for the 2021-’22 school year, representing an increase of $774,381, or 3.66 percent, passed by a vote of 289 to 140 at referendum. The citizens of Chester and Essex overwhelmingly supported the budget, while those in Deep River did not. There was low voter turnout in all three towns compared with prior years.

A 28-foot Metalcraft Marine fireboat for Essex Fire Engine Co. 1 arrived to replace an unserviceable 1994 Privateer workboat, greatly enhancing the town of Essex’s fire and rescue capabilities. The boat was paid for by a $278,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Citizens in Essex adopted a $25,653,515 town budget for fiscal year 2021-’22 by a vote of 37 to 0 at the annual town meeting. The budget was a $999,938, or 4.06 percent, increase from the prior year.

June

Students at EES participated in walking tours of Centerbrook, led by Essex Historical Society Director Melissa Josefiak. The tours were the culmination of a social studies enrichment program for the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, funded by a grant from the Essex Elementary School Foundation.

The Essex BOF unanimously adopted a mill rate of 22.43 for fiscal year 2021-’22, at a special meeting. The mill rate was a .62, or 2.8 percent, increase from the prior mill rate of 21.81.

A new Little Free Library was installed on the grounds near the front entrance of the Essex Library. The Little Free Library was designed, constructed and installed in collaboration with students at Connecticut Coastal Academy in Essex through the school’s Home Builders Institute program, which offers pre-apprenticeship training in the construction trades.

July

Essex Meadows, a retirement community, powered up its latest sustainable initiative, more than 1,000 new solar panels in three different locations on its property at 30 Bokum Road in Essex.

Members of area police and fire departments came together in Essex for the first part of a large-scale search and rescue (SAR) training exercise. U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Matthew Monaghan led a total of 55 police officers and firefighters through a three-hour SAR training class, with further training planned on the Connecticut River.

An ad hoc advisory committee was formed in Essex to continue with ongoing preservation efforts for Thatchbed Island. The advisory committee planned to liaise with the state to further a multi-pronged plan to preserve the island while also potentially providing the town of Essex a place to dispose of dredged materials.

August

The Town of Essex adopted an update to its Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan, a multi-year project that was spearheaded by the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments. Although the plans are voluntary, they are required to be updated every five years for a municipality to apply for and receive hazard mitigation grant funding or disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Students in the Region 4 school system returned for a full in-person start to the 2021-’22 school year. Although the district planned to deploy COVID-19 mitigation strategies that were similar to those used at the end of the 2020-’21 school year, Superintendent of Schools Brian White said there would not be a remote option, where teachers simultaneously teach students online and in a classroom, in accordance with state guidance.

September

The deluge of rain from Hurricane Ida caused rivers to rise and major flooding on certain roadways in Essex.

State police started an investigation after a stabbing that occurred at the Bestway Sunoco gas station at 1 Saybrook Road.

October

The Essex Board of Trade put on its Scarecrow Festifall, with scarecrows hung on the lamp posts in Centerbrook, Essex, and Ivoryton, and people casting a vote for their favorite one.

Sustainable Essex collaborated with the Connecticut River Conservancy, the Essex Land Trust, and the Essex Fire Department to host the first annual Essex 3 Villages Source-to-Sea Cleanup Day.

The Essex Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) approved a change to its regulations, to permit horses in areas zoned as Village Residence District. Zoning regulations for this district did not permit any type of livestock, poultry or other animals, except as household pets.

Several cases of COVID-19 in the Region 4 school system led to large numbers of student quarantines and concerns on behalf of parents about whether their children were losing ground academically without a remote teaching and learning option.

November

There were 1,664 ballots cast with voter turnout at 31.14 percent in the municipal election, according to Essex election officials. Democrat Norman “Norm” Needleman, who ran unopposed, again earned the seat of first selectman with 1,294 votes. Democrat Stacia Rice Libby was also re-elected to the Board of Selectmen with 982 votes, as was Republican Bruce Glowac with 654 votes.

Voters in Essex also overwhelmingly supported the appropriation and financing of $952,053 for a school security project at JWMS, by a vote of 867 “Yes” and 331 “No”. Voters in Chester and Deep River also voted in favor of the project.

Jacqueline “Jacqui” Hubbard, the executive and artistic director of the Ivoryton Playhouse, was one of three honorees presented with the 2020-’21 Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award by the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce.

December

A new program offered by Essex Fire Engine Co. 1, Community Connect, gets off the ground. This online program allows residents and business owners the ability to create an online profile of their home or business, providing first responders with information to prepare and respond more rapidly and efficiently during an emergency.

The Joint BOE voted unanimously to select the architectural firm Drummey Rosane Anderson, Inc., for a project to assess the physical facilities of each of the schools and the administrative office of the Region 4 school system.

The Essex PZC voted to deny an application for a text amendment to ban retail cannabis establishments in town while concurrently adopting a temporary one-year moratorium on cannabis applications and zoning permits. The commission also adopted a floating zone for an area to the west of Route 9 to help encourage certain types of development.

As the year came to a close, Essex was among the majority of Connecticut municipalities listed in the red zone for COVID cases as the state encountered its highest-yet rate of positive tests since the start of the pandemic.