CHESHIRE, CT — The Town Council was scheduled on Tuesday, Oct. 13, to hold a public hearing and then vote on an ordinance that would let the Historic District Commission delay the demolition of older buildings by as long as 150 days, and to adopt the town's 2026-27 capital budget and five-year capital plan. Minutes of the week's meetings had not been posted as of Friday, Oct. 16.
Town Council
The proposed "Delay of Demolition Permit Issuance for Historically Significant Buildings or Structures" ordinance would cover buildings put up before Jan. 1, 1927, those inside Cheshire's historic districts, and those listed on or eligible for the state or national registers or included in the town's 1986 historic inventory. An owner seeking to raze one would have to publish a notice and post a sign on the property before a Historic District Commission hearing. If the commission found the building significant, it could hold up the permit for as long as 150 days to discuss preservation, reuse or a buyer who would keep or move it. Structures the building official judges unsafe would be exempt.
The capital plan came out of weeks of committee work. On Sept. 22 the first-year list of bonded projects stood at $17.2 million, or $14.82 million counting $2.42 million in grant funding. On Oct. 6 the council's Budget Committee sent the plan to the full council after Town Manager Sean Kimball moved replacement of the Senior Center parking lot into the first year and, by not approving one Fire Department truck request, cut capital non-recurring spending to $422,000.
The agenda also listed accepting Stone Bridge Court as a town road, the council's legislative agenda, the introduction of new Town Planner Hiram Peck, $23,694.77 in tax refunds, a $37,654 state Department of Children and Families grant for the Youth Services Bureau, and a closed session on automated license plate readers (ALPRs).
Board of Education
The school board met Thursday, Oct. 15, at Town Hall. Its agenda listed approval of revised educational specifications, first readings of a charging policy and a suspension and expulsion policy, final approval of three others, including one on reporting child abuse and neglect, and an update on the Energy Performance Contract. On Oct. 6 the Town Council re-approved grant applications and $12.26 million in funding for heating, ventilation and building-control work under that contract at five schools, $9.4 million of it at Doolittle, after the state rejected the June resolutions in part because they lacked the words "and Building Management System Improvements."