First Selectman's Report - March 27, 2026
Colchester Town and Schools employees join the Rally Against Cancer with District Wide Sports Day — March 27, 2026
Board of Finance Budget Workshops
On Monday, the Colchester Board of Finance held its first workshop on the proposed FY26/27 Town budget. This week’s Town budget workshop focused on our Public Safety Departments — Colchester Fire & EMS and Colchester Police — and Town Hall administrative departments.
Fire Chief Steve Hoffmann presented the proposed Fire & EMS budget which ensures equalized staffing on all fire & EMS shifts. Chief Hoffmann highlighted the growing call volume facing our fire department and the increasing number of simultaneous calls. In 2025, 38% of calls were
overlapping or concurrent with another call.
Resident Trooper Sgt. Zach Cash presented the proposed Colchester Police budget which utilizes savings from upcoming retirements and the federal DOJ COPS Grant to increase police staffing with a goal of having a dedicated traffic officer. Sgt. Cash reviewed Colchester traffic stop data from 2025 and efforts to utilize grants to enhance speed enforcement and reduce traffic violations.
The BOF also discussed revenue projections and options to utilize unassigned fund balance to mitigate tax impacts within limits set by Town Policy.
On Wednesday, the Board of Finance held its first workshop on the Board of Education proposed budget.
Recordings of both meetings can be found here: https://www.colchesterct.gov/board-finance/pages/meeting-audio-files
Town Budget Workshop - Tuesday
The next budget workshop focused on the Town Budget will be held on Tuesday, March 31 at 6:00 PM. This workshop will be focused on Public Works which includes the Highway, Grounds, Building Maintenance, and Transfer Station Departments. The public works budget proposal focuses on maintaining current operations and continued maintenance initiatives set-up over the last few years. There are no new public works or capital initiatives being proposed for FY26/27.
The workshop will also include departments such as Cragin Library, Senior Services, Youth and Social Services, Planning & Code Administration, and Elections.
The final workshop on the Board of Education proposed budget is currently scheduled for Monday, April 6 at 6:00 PM.
Rally Against Cancer
Today, Colchester Town and School employees joined forces to strike out cancer. All month, we have been participating in Rally Against Cancer Month to help raise funds for the Jimmy Fund and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Participants who made a donation to the cause were able to wear jerseys or other gear repping their favorite sports teams. This year, I chose to rep Colchester Youth Lacrosse.
It’s not too late to donate to the cause. Over the last several years, close to $50,000 have been raised to help the cause. Will you join us in the fight?
- Donate $50 or more to our team and you'll receive a Red Sox Jimmy Fund hat!
- Donate $100 or more - be entered into a drawing to win a pair of Red Sox vs.Yankees tickets!
Public Works - Spring Preparations
Public Works is continuing to transition to our spring routines after a very long, snowy winter. This week, Grounds Crew members have continued working at the RecPlex and schools to prep fields for upcoming spring sports. Meanwhile, the Highway crew is prepping for street sweeping and other work to clean up after this year’s tough winter.
Freezin’ for a Reason
Thank you again to Rob Suchecki, Greg Cordova, and Fred Brown for braving the elements last month for the annual Freezin’ for a Reason. Last week, Greg and Rob presented Youth and Social Services with a check for over $14,000 thanks to their fundraising efforts this year! Thank you to everyone for helping to support the Colchester Fuel Bank!
Easter Bunny Breakfast - Sunday
Join Youth Services for Breakfast with the Easter Bunny on Sunday, March 29th! Tickets include breakfast, photo ops with the Easter Bunny, an Egg Hunt and arts and crafts. There will also be mini carnival games, face painting and Cake Walk for kids with cash only tickets. Buy your tickets and reserve your breakfast wave at this link: https://form.jotform.com/260605551306046
Choir and Orchestra Shows
Thank you to all who joined for Colchester Choir and Orchestra’s “From Mozart to Modern” show at Bacon Academy last week. It was a great performance from all involved! If you missed it, the next show is Saturday, May 23 at Bacon Academy.
Spring Clean Up - April 25
The snow is melted, unfortunately tons of litter has been left behind around town. Please help us keep our town beautiful by joining our annual spring clean up event!
Join your friends, family, team, group or come by yourself and help clean up Colchester! There are many different areas where you can choose to work. We will provide garbage bags and free garbage pickup. Jobs may include spreading mulch, raking, weeding, picking up garbage, and more. Clean up locations include the schools, town buildings, and parks. Once you register, you will receive an email with more details about 2 weeks prior to the event.
After spending the morning cleaning, we will meet up at Mel’s Downtown Creamery at 12pm for free ice cream as our way of saying “Thank you”! If you have any questions, please call the Recreation office at 860-537-7297. Please call the office to RSVP so we know how many to expect for ice cream!
Assessor’s Revaluation Process
With the snow melted, the assessor’s office is back out in the field photographing properties in town as part of the state-mandated 2026 town-wide revaluation project. Revaluation will not be completed until the end of year. Press releases and updates can be found here.
Please be aware inspections are generally conducted in personal vehicles. However, these vehicles will be marked with the Town of Colchester seal during inspections.
Troop 72 Shredding Event
Boy Scout Troop 72 is sponsoring a Shredding Day for the community on Saturday, June 6 from 9am to noon. All Colchester residents and businesses are welcome! There is no limit to the number of documents you can bring for shredding. A grocery bag of documents is $6 and a copy size box is $12 (the costs offset the expense of the event). The Data Shred truck will be here, with the shredding machine built right in. Your documents get shredded on site. This is the 12th year that Troop 72 has provided this service to the community, and they look forward to making your document disposal easy and accessible again this year.
Mel’s Downtown Creamery Bacon Scholarship Fundraiser
A big thank you to Mel’s Downtown Creamery for hosting Tuesday night’s fundraiser for the Bacon Academy Scholarship Fund, and thank you to the many residents who came to support our cause. When I was a Bacon student, my first job was as an ice cream scooper which helped me to save money for college, so I had a great time picking up the scoop to help support the next generation of Bacon students. We had a line out the door for parts of the night which kept me busy scooping ice cream alongside Mel's team. Funds raised will benefit scholarships distributed to graduating Bacon seniors at Awards’ Night each May.
Sincerely,
Bernie Dennler
First Selectman
Town of Colchester