From the Desk of the First Selectman

Don Lowe First Selectmen Column

A memorial service was held this last Saturday at the North Cemetery (Sherman Church) for Air Force Staff Sgt. T.J. Lobraico who was killed at age 22 in Afghanistan on September 5, 2013, in service to our country. The service was especially moving and well attended by those who paid their respects. This is a yearly service as T.J. has family here in Sherman and they make a point of honoring him at this time every year. I hope you will take some time to think about or read and learn more about this impressive young man as the anniversary of T.J.’s death comes this week.

The proposed new Senior Community Center has completed enough of its planning to be comprehensively presented to the Sherman public. Details about this amazing new facility will be made available in many forms and venues. If you go onto the Sherman Town website, you can find a site plan, floor plan, and rendering of the building along with a long list of pertinent FAQ’s.

After more than two years of meetings and planning, the project’s building committee is prepared to roll out the necessary information to inform the public prior to an upcoming referendum on this. There will also be four Town informational forums where you can get your questions answered. The first forum is on Sunday, September 21 at 2pm in Charter Hall.

The Town is going to go forward with a request for proposals in hopes of finding a clerk-of-the-works for the Sherman School renovation project. At last week’s Board of Selectmen meeting, it was unanimously decided that we would try to find the right person to help coordinate aspects of the work and to serve as the checks and balances for the project. Incidentally, the present work at the school is on schedule and all is going well. One especially positive note is that the extensive abatement within the school walls and roof produced little to no harmful elements, which saves both time and dollars.

As I write this column on Labor Day, I am struck with what a busy summer this has been, the busiest in my eight summers of being First Selectman. We all look forward now to the fall, the new school year, and a different lineup of holidays. Our Farm Day is on Saturday, October 4th. The Town Revolutionary War Reenactment by the Historical Society is on Saturday, September 20, and the Annual Town Softball Tournament is on Saturday, September 13.