Good evening.

The time is now seven twenty PM.

Welcome to the public hearing of November seventeenth, twenty twenty-five.

And before I open it, I would like to read the public notice.

Notice is hereby given that the town council of the town of Windsor will hold a virtual and in-person public hearing in the council chamber at the Windsor Town Hall, two seventy five Broad Street on Monday, November seventeenth, two thousand twenty-five at seven twenty PM prevailing time to hear public comment on the following items.

An ordinance appropriating six hundred and sixty-five thousand for costs in connection with the town hall roof replacement and authorizing the issue of six hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars bonds and notes to the finance appropriation.

Dated at Windsor, Connecticut the seventh day of November, two thousand twenty-five.

Good evening.

And welcome to the November 17th, 2025, Windsor Town Council meeting.

This evening, we do have a couple of counselors who will be joining us thanks to travel and work schedules.

So they will be joining us momentarily, Counselor King and Counselor Naeem.

But I would like to begin by saying first congratulations to my fellow counselors on being elected and re-elected to the Windsor Town Council.

So next we will have our prayer and or reflection by Counselor Pelkey, and that will be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

We are coming up on Thanksgiving, so just a small little thought, something I read and have put together.

I'm sorry, I don't exactly have the credit, so credit to the author who is not me.

So the Thanksgiving coming up, we all know most of us are going to have a little bit of cranberry sauce or something similar, a little bittersweet, and so this is bittersweet as well.

The empty chair at the table on Thanksgiving.

No one talks about how it hits you in waves.

The memories, the what ifs, the ache of wishing, they could see your life now, to meet your kids, to watch you become the person they always believed you'd be.

Through the stories they tell, the lessons you carry, and the way you show up for the people still here.

But a happy Thanksgiving, all the same.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Counselor Pelkey.

Item number four on our agenda is proclamations and awards.

And the sustainable CT bronze award to the town of Windsor.

I'm going to invite Jessica LaClair, Executive Director of Sustainable CT, Chloe Thompson, our environmental planner, and Mr.

Scott Colby to join us up here.

And Jessica, thank you so much for being with us and for sharing more about the award.

We actually work with about 82% of the state cities and towns to help them become more sustainable, right?

We look very broadly at sustainability and include everything that makes a community whole, from having clean air, clean land and clean water to supporting the local economy to increasing access to affordable housing and more.

We at Sustainable CT, wow, that's my 730 voice.

We at Sustainable CT try to make sustainability approachable by having an action roadmap of sustainability best practices, free technical assistance, one-on-one support from our fellows, and funding through our community match fund.

And since 2018, 95 towns have been certified at least one time in our program, and some have been certified several times, like you.

You were also certified bronze in 2022.

So my hat's off to you in Windsor for continuing to do the good work.

You are part of an elite group of municipalities across the state who have earned certification in our program.

So what actually does it mean to be certified?

It means that Windsor has completed many sustainability actions across many fields, and by doing so is creating a healthier, more resilient and thriving community.

You have built community and completed processes to include all voices in decision making.

You have supported and strengthened your local economy.

You have established funding streams to increase open space.

You have supported the local art scene.

You have developed agriculturally friendly regulations.

You have trained your staff and commissioners on sustainability best practices.

You provided cost-saving measures to local businesses by joining the CPACE program, and you didn't stop there.

You also put together a workshop to share out about this resource to building owners in town.

You have reduced your waste stream by offering composting at the transfer station.

You have increased access to local healthy food through your active community garden.

You've increased affordable housing.

You have provided resources to those who may be experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness, and you have strengthened your municipal workforce capacity to address this issue.

The rubber hits the road at the local level, and there are many, many amazing things happening here in Windsor and across our state to build the sustainable uh Connecticut.

We look forward to working with you and the town for years to come, and we'd like to really congratulate you one more time for your work.

I have an award here tonight.

We missed you at the Good Speed Opera House, but we'll bring the party to you.

Here's your plaque.

A couple more rows to fill up.

So we do look forward to continuing to work together.

And in this packet, we have some success stories.

So some highlights from your application that you can share out to showcase to the town at large how awesome you are.