Looking Ahead to 2012 With Town Manager Garry Brumback

Like most Town Managers in Connecticut, Garry Brumback is looking forward to a, hopefully, more prosperous year, a year less dominated by weather and one in which Southington can see many projects brought to completion.

"We’re going to finish the North Center School Government Complex," said Brumback. "That project should be done by March or April," he said. A 7-2 Town Council vote back in April 2011 gave the go-ahead for the building to be sold and leased back to the town for the relocation of several town departments including the Land Use Departments (engineering, economic development and building and permitting) and headquarters of the Board of Education.  The work began in Sept. 2011.

"Bringing the Land Use Departments all under one roof is a tremendous
step towards better customer service," said Brumback.

2012 will also be another year for the town of Southington to work diligently on their capitol improvement program.  A collaborative effort between the town and the Board of Education, the capital improvement program is "about a $40 to $50 million program over five years," said Brumback.

"We will primarily be working on repairing and replacing worn out
infrastructure and trying to create infrastructure, community development and economic development," said Brumback. "A lot of road projects need to be done and some roof projects including the highway garage, library and at least one fire station."

Southington is also looking to purchase some major equipment such as fire trucks.

Another item on the agenda for Brumback in 2012 is to review the planning and development process presently used in town.  "With the advent of our
move to North Center School," said Brumback, "we will need to have a good process in addition to a good facility."

He would like to review the process business developers follow "from the time [businesses] are introduced to the town to approve their plans, to their issuance of occupancy, etc.," said Brumback.

As far as the budget goes, Brumbacl is hoping for the best.  "One of the things we are counting on is that the Governor is true to his word," said Brumback. "His is committed to keeping the aid to local governments the same next year. While we have got some challenges, we're going to try to do the very best we can with the resources we are given," he said adding that in 2012, Southington is going to take a new approach to the budget discussions. "We are going to try to shift the conversation to from line items to programs and services. This will be a big step for our community."

"When you start talking about costs of personnel or overtime, those are all a means to and end," said Brumback. "You really have to talk about levels of services. You have to be able to translate the impact if you are
going to provide quality feedback  for the people who are making the decisions."

What is Brumback's biggest resolution? "To continue to build upon what has
been built this year."