Marcia Chambers Photo
More couples want to get married in Branford than ever before; marriage licenses are up by 300 percent, reports Marianne Kelly, the town clerk. Over at the Blackstone Library, borrowers may now check out an online Nook as well as a printed book. And at the Police Department, where predictive analytics is used to deploy cops, crime is now down to a level that has not been seen since the late 1950s.
As for the town’s general day-by-day operations, Don Klepper-Smith, former Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s top economic advisor, pronounced Branford to be “a very well run municipality” whose residents should feel proud about its fiscal health and future.
These were some of the observations conveyed at the “State of the Town” address, an annual assessment designed to update residents and businesses on town operations and new projects. This snapshot in time is derived in part from the work of the town’s 25 departments, whose heads convey to First Selectman Unk DaRos the projects they are working on. DaRos meets with department heads every Monday morning so that they can share the week’s developments with him and with each other.
Klepper-Smith, chief economist and director of research at DataCore Partners LLC, presented his overview of the town’s financial health at the town’s gathering last week at the Community House on Church Street. He was the keynote speaker.
“And your triple A Bond rating, you can’t beat that folks,” he told the audience. He noted that the federal government “went on a negative” side but not the town of Branford. From 2005 to 2009, he said, despite one of the worse recessions since W.W II. Klepper-Smith (pictured) said Branford’s revenues grew at an annual rate of 4.8 percent.
He had also delivered the 2007 State of the Town address, so he is familiar with Branford over the years, he said.
Branford, he went on, has a history of “fiscal discipline and living within its means.” He told the audience that he based his assessment of Branford’s fiscal health on data released from the state’s Office of Policy and Management (OPM). He said the bottom-line numbers showed that Branford is in sound fiscal health with high revenues despite the recession. The town has a low debt rate and an unemployment rate that falls well below the state average.
In fact, he said, the town’s financial shape turns out to be so good that he had a suggestion: “Unk maybe you should go down to Washington and give them a lesson.
“I want to offer you congratulations because you are a municipality that has basically shown fiscal discipline and a penchant for living within its means. “ He told the audience of roughly 60 people, who included the town’s top department heads as well as State Rep. Lonnie Reed and State Sen. Ed Meyer, that “you can’t say that of all municipalities in the state of Connecticut.”
DaRos noted projects now underway in town, including a $70 million federal and state project to widen the Amtrak underpass at the Pretzel and the doubling of the size of the commuter lot at the Shoreline East train station from 250 to 500 spaces, a $6 million state project that is also now underway and the state-of-the-art Fire Headquarters, whose construction began this week.
DaRos said expansion of businesses is taking place at various locations in town, including Coastal Plaza the Exit 54 gateway to Branford, Action Sports and Wilson Arms.
Joseph Gordon, the head of the town’s Economic Development Commission, the sponsor of the event, noted the progress at the former Atlantic Wire building. He said the site is now attracting some “iconic corporations,” but he did not name them. They were still in the talking stage, he said.
Looking ahead, DaRos observed that the population in Branford is aging. “We have 7,367 seniors over 60,” he said, a figure that represents 25 percent of the town’s population. But by 2030, over 40 percent of the town’s population will be seniors, he said.
DaRos ended by praising the work of the numerous volunteer organizations and town commissions. “These volunteers extend the services that the Town can provide. Without their effort and commitment, those services would have to be paid for with tax dollars or would not be provided at all. Good things are happening in Branford and not by accident,” he said. “It takes the entire community to make these things happen.”
DaRos also praised the work of the schools and the new superintendent, Hamlet Hernandez, who echoed DaRos’s words about community involvement. Hernandez said Branford has a “tremendous school system,” and he praised the work of teachers, parents and students.
###
"who knows what is next" committee.