COG watches legislative session with concern

LITCHFIELD — Northwest Hills Council of Governments is closely watching a number of bills in Hartford this year.

Harwinton First Selectman Michael Criss opened his legislative report at the March 13 meeting of the COG with a message for the assembled town leaders: “If you’re planning your budgets, you might want to buckle up.”

Criss, who chairs the Council of Government’s Legislative Committee, claimed that many pending bills at the legislative session, which closes June 4, don’t factor in the needs of small towns. He drew attention to several raised Senate and House Bills, which he said number in the thousands this session, that he found problematic.

He highlighted House Bill 6831, one of the more contentious bills of the session as particularly dangerous for the rural towns in the Northwest Corner. The bill seeks to incentivize affordable housing development by prioritizing grant funding to “transit-oriented communities,” which it defines as downtown commercial districts oriented in proximity to a public-transport hub.

The bill, which is also known as “Work, Live, Ride,” is strongly divided on party lines. Democratic proponents have said the bill would promote walkability and affordability in Connecticut’s municipalities, addressing a dire need for housing for working families. Republican detractors have argued that the bill could make much-needed funding for municipal improvement in small, rural towns that don’t qualify as “transit-oriented” harder to come by, and also could wrest zoning control from local leaders.

Criss said the bill was one of many that town officials should keep tabs on.

Council of Governments Executive Director Rob Phillips agreed that this legislative session has been especially hectic: “It’s like whack-a-mole. Sometimes something pops up and you have to react in a matter of days.”

“Sometimes 24 hours,” Criss replied.

New grant manager

COG recently hired a new grant financial manager to its staff, filling a longstanding gap in its financial planning strategies.

Annmarie Ryan, who previously worked as financial manager for the town of Deep River and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant, will assume the role on April 7. She will add a grant management backbone to a “decentralized” financial department, in the words of Executive Director Rob Phillips.

“We’ve been kind of limping along with a bookkeeper,” said Phillips, clarifying that the Council’s bookkeeper has done a great job but that grant management as a core function of the COG requires specialized and focused oversight. “There’s just so much more we can do,” he said of the group’s pursuit for grants.