Town of Colebrook, Connecticut

Greetings from Colebrook Town Hall.

For the next two weeks, curbside garbage and recycling pickup will be pushed back one day due to the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays. Thursday pickups will take place on Friday. Friday pickups will be on Saturday.

Town Hall will be closed for Christmas beginning Wednesday, December 24^th, and re-open on Monday, December 29^th. Town Hall will close at noon on Wednesday, December 31^st, and re-open on Friday, January 2^nd. Our next Town Hall newsletter will be distributed on Thursday, January 8^th.

Next Tuesday, December 23^rd, the Community & Senior Center will be serving breakfast from 8-9:15 a.m. and hosting Bingo at 1 p.m. The Center will be closed beginning Wednesday, December 24^th, reopening on Monday, January 5^th.

This year’s Holiday Fair was a big success, with 30 vendors, Cookie Land sales benefiting the Colebrook School’s Nature’s Classroom trip, a bustling Café at the Community & Senior Center, and a festive, well-attended Breakfast with Santa at the Colebrook Congregational Church. Proceeds from the Children’s Shopping Table were donated to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Holiday Fair profits generated by vendor table registration enabled a $500 donation to Wreaths Across America, a charity honoring Veterans. National Wreaths Across America Day is this Saturday, December 19^th. Thank you to everyone who volunteered, donated and supported the Holiday Fair.

Prior to this week’s Winter Concert at Colebrook Consolidated School, students, parents and community members gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate our $1.7 million HVAC project, which was completed on time and on budget. State Representative Jay Case and State Senator Paul Honig helped us mark the occasion.

Last week, representatives from the Barkhamsted, Colebrook, New Hartford and Norfolk Boards of Finance and Selectmen met with officials from Northwestern Regional #7 to kick off the annual budgeting process for our shared Middle School/High School. This process will culminate with the annual budget referendum in May.

At last week’s Board of Finance meeting, the board approved a supplemental budget request from the Planning & Zoning Commission and the Board of Selectmen to hire the Tyche Group to support the town, beginning in January.

Colebrook, like many other small towns, does not have the demand to fill the hours of a full-time Zoning Enforcement Officer. Tyche provides professional planning and zoning services to towns like ours at a cost lower than hiring an employee. Tyche Senior Planner Jeremy DeCarli, based in Torrington, will serve as our Zoning Enforcement Officer. Jeremy’s office hours in the Town Hall Land Use office will be from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, the same day our Building Inspector, Bill Volovski, is in Town Hall and out on inspections. Jeremy will be available to answer any questions you may have regarding zoning compliance—and can be reached at 860.379.3359, extension 209, or at zoningofficer@colebrooktownhall.org, as needed.

Tax bills have been mailed. Taxes are due January 1^st, and are considered late if not paid by Tuesday, February 2^nd, and subject to interest from the due date. During January, the Tax Collector’s office will be open Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. until noon, and 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Monday, February 2^nd. For any questions, please contact Tax Collector Laura Bartlett at 860.379.3359, ext. 204, or at lbartlett@colebrooktownhall.org.

Electronic recycling can be disposed of at the Town Garage (43 Sandy Brook Road) in the container to the right of the garage. Please leave your items outside of the storage unit to be packaged and processed.

Bulk waste pickup is available every week for items that will not fit in your bin. Please call 860.379.1662 by Thursday of each week for Friday morning pickup.

Sand mix is available at the Town Garage for Colebrook residents, by hand bucket. Limit 2 buckets per resident per winter storm event.

We are continuing to accept appointments for energy assistance applications. Please contact Karen Odell to set up at appointment at kodell@colebrooktownhall.org, or call 860.379.3359, ext. 201.

The Colebrook Associates food pantry, located in the vestibule of the Community & Senior Center, is open Monday-Thursday from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m.-noon. Donations may be left at the pantry, or in the collection bin in the Post Office.

Upcoming municipal board meetings

Board of Education – Wednesday, January 7^th, at 7 p.m. at Colebrook Consolidated School

Planning & Zoning – Monday, January 12^th, at 6:30 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall (Land Use office)

Board of Selectmen – Monday, January 12^th, at 7 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall (second floor meeting room)

Rec Board – Tuesday, January 13^th, at 7 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall (second floor meeting room)

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at bbremer@colebrooktownhall.org, or call me at 860.379.3359, extension 202.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Brad

Brad Bremer

Colebrook First Selectman

860.379.3359 ext. 202

bbremer@colebrooktownhall.org

Greetings from Colebrook Town Hall.

At this week’s Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting, members were appointed/reappointed to the following: Capital Improvement Program Committee; School Building Committee; Rec Board; and Community & Senior Center Advisory Committee.

Also at the December BOS meeting, the Board discussed an initiative proposed by Selectman AJ Ruwet to encourage compliance with posted speed limits on our roadways. Aligned with the flashing speed signs in place on Routes 8 and 183, and Prock Hill Road, the purpose of the “Slow Down, Colebrook, CT,” initiative will be to encourage safer driving on Colebrook roads through a positive, family-oriented community awareness campaign. The goal is to reduce speeding, protect pedestrians and cyclists, and promote a culture of courtesy and care in town. Details to follow.

The Planning & Zoning Commission elected a new chair, Todd Correll, at its November meeting.

At their organizational meeting this evening, the Board of Finance will elect its leadership for the next two years and consider a request from the Planning & Zoning Commission and Board of Selectmen to increase our investment in Zoning Enforcement.

As we approach the midpoint of our fiscal year at the end of this month, we are pleased to report that the town has been able to cash flow its $1.7 million HVAC project at Colebrook Consolidated School through the Town’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP). We were able to do so without borrowing from an outside lender, which had previously been authorized by the town at referendum, or transferring money from our General Fund reserve on a short-term basis. The Town’s share of the HVAC project total was approximately $925,000. Next month, the town is expected to take possession of our new snowplow truck and blade, also funded by our CIP budget.

Next Tuesday will be three months since our food scrap recycling initiative kicked off. We are currently collecting approximately 1,000 lbs. per month from roughly 60 households. USA Recycling reports that the material received has been very clean, and our weekly volume has been consistent. To date, our food scrap collection bins at Town Hall and the Forge Firehouse have proven to be bear-resistant. If you’d like to participate in our pilot food scrap recycling program, please let us know.

The annual Colebrook Holiday Fair will be held this Saturday, December 13^th, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall and the Community & Senior Center featuring holiday vendors, crafts and food.

Cookies for Cookie Land may be dropped off at the Community & Senior Center tomorrow, Friday, December 12^th, from 10 a.m. to noon, and Saturday, December 13^th, before 8:30 a.m.

During the Fair, Breakfast with Santa will take place from 9-11 a.m. in the lower level of the Colebrook Congregational Church.

Forty children attended Colebrook’s Annual Children’s Christmas Party with Santa & Mrs. Claus last Saturday at the Colebrook Center Firehouse. Thanks to the Colebrook Center Ladies Auxiliary for hosting this event for 62 years.

On Sunday, the Colebrook Historical Society hosted a well-attended Holiday Open House, with Christmas carols led by students from Colebrook Consolidated School under the direction of music teacher Bethany Franklin. The event concluded with our annual town Tree Lighting.

Renovations continue at the Colebrook Store, with two new windows on the south side of the building, matching those on the front, and making the interior much brighter. Sub-flooring is complete, with the floor now all one level, and tin ceiling tiles have arrived and will go up within a couple of weeks. The Colebrook Preservation Society, the non-profit group which owns the building, is in conversation with prospective tenants, with the store expected to re-open during 2026.

Upcoming events

A ribbon cutting ceremony marking the completion of our CCS HVAC project will be held in conjunction with the school’s Winter Concert on Tuesday, December 16^th, at 6:30 p.m.

Upcoming municipal board meetings

Board of Finance – Thursday, December 11^th (tonight), at 6 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall (second floor meeting room)

Inland Wetlands – Tuesday, December 16^th, at 6:30 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall (Land Use office)

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at bbremer@colebrooktownhall.org, or call me at 860.379.3359, extension 202.

Cordially,

Brad

Brad Bremer

Colebrook First Selectman

860.379.3359 ext. 202

bbremer@colebrooktownhall.org

NOTICE

TOWN OF COLEBROOK

 Notice is hereby given that a signed copy of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Colebrook Board of Education and the Colebrook Teachers’ Association for the period of July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2029, is on file at the Town Clerk’s Office for public inspection during regular office hours.

Dated at Colebrook, Connecticut, this 25th day of November, 2025.

Debra L. McKeon

Town Clerk

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Effective immediately hours for the Tax Collector Office have changed to Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 to 1:00.

NOTICE 

TOWN OF COLEBROOK 

 Notice is hereby given that a signed copy of the Agreement between the Colebrook Board of Education and the Colebrook Teachers’ Association for the period of July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2029, is on file at the Town Clerk’s Office for public inspection during regular office hours. 

Dated at Colebrook, Connecticut, this 22nd day of September, 2025.

Debra L. McKeon 

Town Clerk 

NOTICE
TOWN OF COLEBROOK

Notice is hereby given that a signed copy of the Contract of Employment between the Colebrook Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools for the period of July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2028; is on file at the Town Clerk’s Office for public inspection during regular office hours.

Dated at Colebrook, Connecticut, this 3rd day of July, 2025.

Debra L. McKeon
Town Clerk