Essex Selectmen Agree to Consider Joining Regional Health District
By Charles Stannard
ESSEX– The board of selectmen agreed Wednesday to hold one or more puiblic information sessions early next year on the option of joining the Connecticut River Area Health District.
Democratic First Selectman Phil Milller and Republican Selectman Joel Marzi, meeting for the first time as a board with Democratic Selectman Norman Needleman absent, agreed to further explore the option of joining the regional health district that now includes the towns of Clinton, Deep River, and Old Saybrook.
Miller and Marzi were opponents in the Nov. 3 town election, with Miller winning a fourth term and Marzi elected to the minority party seat on the board.
Taking another look at the option of joining the regional health district was one issue the two former rivals agreed on during the election campaign. The town held a public hearing on the regional health district in June 2006, just before the formation of the district that summer. But the issue was never brought to a town vote after many residents at the hearing expressed objections to joining the district.
Miller said the town is currently paying about $20 per resident each year for health-related services now provided by a mix of part-time employees and consultants. He said the cost of these services as part of the health district would be about $12 per person.
Miller said the possible cost savings, along with the fact the regional district is coordinating H1N1 flu vacinations and related services, justifies a reconsideration of the health district option. He noted that state funding assistance is being cut for towns that are not in regional health districts.
Marzi agreed, and suggested a townwide vote on joining the health district could be held in May as a separate ballot question simultaniously with any possible referendum on the 2010-2011 town budget.
Miller and Marzi also agreed on two changes to the board’s regular meeting schedule that were suggested by Marzi. The board of selectmen has been meeting twice each month, at 4:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday and 7 p.m. on the third Wednesday, for more than 15 years.
The board agreed to change the afternoon meeting from 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., and add public comment to the agenda at both the beginning and end of each meeting. A final vote on the revised meeting schedule will be taken at the Dec. 2 meeting, with the new schedule and agenda to become effective in January.
