

Enfield, the Gateway to Connecticut, is a community of approximately 44,000 residents located in Hartford County. A big town with small-town amenities, Enfield is a service-oriented community with a municipal government dedicated to its residents and businesses. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the new things happening in town in response to a recently published column that asserted the town was in a period of immobility.
One of the most exciting initiatives happening today is Higgins Park, located behind the Town Hall. Right at this moment, a new state-of-the-art playground is under construction to be opened in a few short weeks. The park, when fully completed in the spring, will feature a walking path, an open grassy area for recreation, new playground, and basketball court. In addition, the town will be holding a referendum in the fall to ask residents to fund the addition of fitness stations to the walking path, a bandshell, a splash pad, and a 25-meter zero entry pool. The pool will be next to the St. Adalbert’s gymnasium, which the town is in the process of renovating for community use. The 9,000-square-foot gymnasium will feature indoor basketball, volleyball, a walking track, climbing wall and a stage area which will also be used to highlight local culture and art exhibits. The Town Green, which is next to Higgins Park and the gymnasium, is home to our weekly Regional Farmers Market during the Summer. We have 100 vendors selling fresh fruit, vegetables, baked goods, and various crafts.
Higgins Park will truly be the hub of our community, and it will be within walking distance to the proposed Enfield Train Station.
We continue to work with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, our federal partners and our state representatives to bring the dream of a train station to reality. The DOT has begun work on the design of the station and construction is expected to begin in late 2022. When this station is complete, it will provide our residents with the ability to commute for business or pleasure. The station will transform our downtown and bring other projects.
In January, the Enfield Town Council approved a building consolidation plan to merge departments and streamline services. This action will also result in the demolition of the Strand Theatre and Lamagna Center. The sites will be used for housing and mixed-use development and are adjacent to the Freshwater Pond, which the town spent $500,000 to dredge last year and will be spending another $350,000 for spillways and other enhancements this upcoming year, including paddle boats and a dock area.
Enfield has not forgotten its mission to revitalize and transform our historic Thompsonville Village into a walkable, sustainable, vibrant and livable community. In 2019, Enfield adopted a Midtown Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) District for the historic downtown of Thompsonville, as well as a portion of the Mall area. The TIF district has already generated almost $300,000 which will be used specifically to reinvest in this district. Last year, we worked collaboratively with the owners of the Enfield Square Mall to host the indoor winter Farmers Market. We expect to host the winter market again this year. Additionally, we are hopeful that Planning and Zoning approval of the sale and market of individual businesses at the Square will spur development.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Enfield town government quickly converted the Enfield Annex to host a regional Trinity Vaccine site which allowed the distribution of thousands of vaccines to our residents and those in surrounding towns. I would also like to highlight that Enfield is the only municipality, to our knowledge, to offer residents drive-through town services in light of COVID-19. We leased 800 Enfield Street, now known as the Enfield Express, next door to Town Hall, for the safety of our public and staff. Our Tax and Assessor’s Office is located at this location and accepts drive-through services year-round.
As of May, the Enfield Police Department has opened a police substation at the Express to house their new Community Policing Unit. In conjunction with the substation, the Town Council approved the hiring for 4 new community police officers to be based out of this station. Additionally, a fifth officer was funded as a school resource officer for John F. Kennedy Middle School when it reopens this fall, for a total of a $500,000 commitment to public safety. The purpose of the Community Policing Unit is to build relationships with the Thompsonville community, follow up on citizen complaints personally, engage the community directly with high visibility and accessibility, and conduct discussions with community organizations in the area.
We believe that Enfield has something to offer everyone. Our new splash pad opens in early August. We are home to two public libraries which host various adult and children’s programs, three new public basketball courts (Alcorn, Lafayette Park, Higgins Park), a pickleball complex, a town-operated recreation center which includes summer camps, swim lessons, adult programs, and a senior center with activities such as exercise programs, seminars, arts and crafts and day trips. We also offer town rubbish removal, including leaf pick-up, and our Department of Social Services operates the Magic Carpet Bus for our community. Finally, the town offers superb educational facilities, including the Stowe Early Learning Center and Eagle Academy Academic and Therapeutic School. Lastly, the town has recently invested $103 million to fully renovate Enfield High School and will finish an $84 million renovation of John F. Kennedy Middle School next year.
In this year’s budget, Gov. Ned Lamont included $12.8 million to build the Enfield Regional Public Safety Complex, which will service not only Enfield but also Suffield, Windsor Locks, and East Windsor, and become an example of an innovative regional approach to local government. This facility would also house Enfield EMS, which is one of the few municipal-run EMS. We provide 24/7 paramedic level care in collaboration with our police and fire departments. We have reached out to our neighbors in Suffield and are working collaboratively with the federal Build America Bureau in discussions to construct a walking and fishing pier connecting the towns of Suffield and Enfield next to the train station. Additionally, we are exploring the construction of a year-round eagle watch to view bald eagles and other birds of prey on our gem of the Connecticut River.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
In light of all the programs Enfield offers its residents, Enfield has not raised its taxes in the past three fiscal years. We have maintained our tax rate while investing in projects that enhance the quality of life for our residents. Highlights of some recent investments include a new $689,000 girls softball field at Brainerd Park and $689,000 of upgrades to the men’s field at Powder Hollow Park, $689,000 investment for a new track and turf at the high school, $689,000 upgrade to the transfer station, library community room enhancements, and two electric vehicles and a charging station at Town Hall, to name just a few. In addition, for the current fiscal year, we have not raised our water pollution control sewer quarterly charge – despite recently finishing a $34 million renovation of our water pollution control facility.
Time and space do not permit me to get into detail on our first-time home buyers’ program, blight remediation and the demolition of six blighted buildings in Thompsonville alone, employing three blight inspectors, 210 community gardens throughout the town, bike paths in process, hiring an additional full-time building inspector for permit requests, 19.6 megawatt Nutmeg Solar facility, and the groundbreaking of the 500,000 square foot Agri-mark distribution center on North Maple Street. I invite readers to go to our Town Manager website to see presentations on our budget, referendum initiatives, and many other topics.
More State Budget news

Lamont Signs The Budget
Alongside Democratic legislative leaders, Gov. Ned Lamont signed the $24 billion budget adjustment Monday that includes $600 million in tax relief. That’s more than they anticipated they would be able to offer Connecticut residents this Election year because revenue came in higher than expected, but it still creates about an $800 million deficit in 2024. …
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
Connecticut Acts To Help Its Lead-Poisoned Children
After decades of inertia, Connecticut is finally moving to help its thousands of lead-poisoned children and prevent thousands of other young children from being damaged by the widespread neurotoxin.
Keep reading
Bill Bolstering Contracting Oversight Board In Jeopardy After Lamont Administration Raises Concerns
It passed unanimously in the Senate, but a bill that would give the State Contracting Standards Board greater oversight over state contracting appeared stalled in the House Wednesday on the last day of session. “The governor and I have not talked about the bill,” House Speaker Matt Ritter said. “The commissioners have sent us a…
Keep reading
Senate Approves Tax Cuts, Sends $24B Budget to the Governor
The state Senate gave final approval late Tuesday to a $24 billion election year budget plan that includes around $600 million in tax relief while enabling the state to make an $3.5 billion payment on its unfunded pension debt. Senators voted 24-12 at around 10:30 p.m. to send the midterm budget adjustment to the desk…
Keep reading
House Green-Lights $24B Budget
On a party-line vote early Tuesday, the House passed a $24 billion budget adjustment package containing more than $600 million in tax cuts which Democrats heralded as “historic” and Republicans derided as temporary. Lawmakers voted 95 – 52 at around 12:20 a.m. to send the 673-page budget document to the Senate for consideration before the…
Keep reading
Budget Materials
The General Assembly is preparing to debate adjustments to the $24 billion state budget. Below are a few of the documents we’ve been provided as back-up materials. The budget, HB 5506. Town runs. Car tax impact on municipalities. Finance Committee Power Point.
Keep reading
Lawmakers May Vote for First Pay Increase in 20 Years
With legislative retirements mounting, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were considering Monday raising the salaries of General Assembly members for the first time in more than two decades and indexing their pay in the future. During a morning press briefing, House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters that funding for pay raises had been…
Keep reading
Amid Surging Revenue, House Prepares to Vote on Budget Adjustments
Connecticut’s House of Representatives was expected to vote Monday on a $24 billion budget adjustment package, buoyed by revised revenue predictions that exceeded expectations by more than $350 million. The revised consensus figures released Monday confirm the surge in revenues that enabled Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative Democrats to reach an agreement last week on…
Keep reading
Dems Detail Budget Deal With $500 Mil in Tax Cuts, Extension of Gas Tax Holiday
Legislative Democrats and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration announced Wednesday the details of a $24.2 billion budget adjustment package, which they say provides around $500 million in tax relief including extending a gas tax holiday until December. Lamont and legislative leaders outlined the agreement during an afternoon press conference in the state Capitol building. Both chambers…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading
Senate Joins House And Votes To Give Raises, Bonuses To State Employees
The Senate gave final approval by a 22-13 vote on a plan to give unionized state workers a set of raises and bonuses. The plan, negotiated by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and a coalition of public sector labor unions, provides three years of 2.5% raises and step increases as well as a total of $3,500…
Keep reading
House Advances Labor Deal In Historic Vote
Lawmakers in Connecticut’s House of Representatives signed off on a plan to give state workers a set of raises and bonuses Thursday in a mostly partisan vote on a negotiated labor agreement. The House voted 96 to 52 in support of the deal with 1 Republican, Rep. Tom Delnicki of South Windsor, joining all Democrats…
Keep reading
Republicans Propose Last-Minute Tax Package
Legislative Republicans pitched a $1.2 billion tax relief plan Thursday which reduces state income, sales and gas taxes and proposes to join other states in suing the federal government to challenge restrictions on spending pandemic relief funds. House and Senate Republicans announced the plan during a state Capitol press conference Thursday morning. It cuts the…
Keep reading
The Budget Battle Begins To Take Shape
Tax collections have improved and pushed Connecticut’s budget surplus to $4 billion, but the state budget still relies heavily on federal funding and without it the state would end up running a “sizeable operating deficit.” The Office of Policy and Management told state Comptroller Natalie Braswell Wednesday that if not for the use of the…
Keep reading
Ritter: Time Is Running Short For Budget Agreement
The legislature will have a difficult time approving a state budget before the end of its session in two weeks if lawmakers and Gov. Ned Lamont do not reach an agreement in the next 48 hours, House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters Wednesday. During a morning press briefing, Ritter said the legislative schedule was looking…
Keep readingMore from Susan Bigelow

OP-ED | Connecticut Democrats go all in on Roe
Susan Bigelow says the two major parties held their state conventions this weekend, endorsing candidates, setting up a few primaries for August, and establishing their themes for the fall, and one party looks a lot more united and fired up than the other.
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | Will the 2022 Legislative Session Help or Hurt Democrats in the Fall?
The short but surprisingly productive 2022 session of the General Assembly is coming to a close this week. As Democrats race to pass bills, and Republicans do all they can to talk them to death, a question that has to be on the minds of a lot of legislators is what the session means, if…
Keep reading
OP-ED | LGBTQ Youth are in Danger All Over the Country; Connecticut Should be Their Shield
LGBTQ rights are being rolled back in the one place where openness, inclusivity, and acceptance does the most good: the nation’s classrooms. What are we going to do about it?
Keep reading
OP-ED | Stupid Stuff Creeps into Connecticut Governor’s Race
Susan Bigelow says the culture wars are back in Connecticut, and they are just as dumb as they’ve ever been.
Keep reading
OP-ED | The General Assembly Needs to Act on Climate Legislation This Year
It’s sometimes hard to remember, what with all the other crises in the world going on right now, that the inexorable march of climate change is still the greatest threat humanity will have to contend with this century. The pandemic, inflation, the war in Ukraine, and the decline of democracy worldwide seem much more immediate,…
Keep reading
OP-ED | Governor’s Race Kicks Off with an Eyeroll
Susan Bigelow digests the first few gubernatorial campaign ads and tells us what they foreshadow.
Keep reading