Enfield Things

Image from lawsuit. What the lawsuit is seeking. Tom Tyler, the former town attorney, has gathered enough signatures to challenge state Rep. John Santanella in a Democratic primary. But there is now an effort being made to invalidate the challenge. In a lawsuit filed this week in Connecticut Superior Court, Santanella is arguing that election rules were violated. If he succeeds, the primary challenge may be tossed out. The Tyler campaign is saying that they followed the rules and guidance they received from town officials.  The lawsuit was brought to light by Tyler, who posted on Facebook that Santanella was seeking to remove him from the ballot. Specifically, the suit claims the Democratic registrar provided petition sheets four days before state law allowed. To challenge Santanella, Tyler needed 225 signatures; 299 were accepted. Santanella’s lawsuit seeks to invalidate the petition sheets allegedly provided early, which could leave Tyler short of the number needed to appear on t...

  Five years before the Annex's future became a live debate, residents were already telling the town what they wanted it to be. The 2020–21 community survey never asked about the Fermi building, but about 20 people raised it on their own (out of 512). Fermi might not have been top-of-mind -- but recreation clearly was. This chart ranks the ten themes Enfield residents raised most often in the open-ended, write-in portions of the 2020–21 town community survey, which drew 512 respondents. Each bar shows how many comments mentioned that theme; the colors flag whether it read mainly as a frustration (red), a wish (green), or an answer to the survey's redevelopment questions (navy). Many residents raised several issues at once: One person might have asked for both more recreation and lower taxes. Source. Town of Enfield community survey, conducted December 4, 2020 through March 11, 2021, with 512 participants. Method. Comments were grouped into themes by Claude Opus 4.8, an Anthropi...

  Slide from Town Council meeting June 15 2026 Enfield home values increased 42% since the last revaluation five years ago, according to data presented to the Town Council Monday night. That's a preliminary number based on sales to date. The town will continue reviewing property sales through the summer, which could change the percentage.  The preliminary residential increase is not, by itself, the story. The story is whether Enfield's commercial and industrial sectors have appreciated enough to prevent another shift of the tax burden toward homeowners. The commercial value analysis is just starting, according to the town. Residents will get their new assessments mid-November.  With revaluation, the mill rate drops to offset the higher grand list base, which includes the value of all taxable properties, including commercial and industrial. What determines whether homeowners actually pay more is the spread between residential and other sectors. Residents were advised not t...

  North Main Street at Enfield Town Hall As some people noticed, Enfield got behind in its mowing schedule, in part, because of town employee lawn maintenance training. This training follows a crash in Sept. 2025 between a town lawnmower and a car on North Main Street at the town hall. A Department of Public Works employee operating the mower was killed. The town is being sued by the estate of Jamie Nickerson, the town employee. The plaintiff is his wife, Amy Nickerson. The lawsuit, filed in Hartford Superior Court, also names the vehicle driver, Alexander Torres. The lawsuit alleges the town was not following safety policies for regulating traffic around a worksite or meeting safety standards. It seeks unspecified monetary damages. Police have not released the accident report, citing an ongoing investigation. The lawsuit states the mower was being operated on the roadway during grass cutting and clean-up operations when the crash occurred. The lawsuit argues the town failed to fo...

This is the revised blight complaint form. The anonymous complaint note is new and was approved by the Town Council June 1.  The Town Council this week has approved revisions to Enfield's blight ordinance and complaint procedures that allow anonymous complaints. This is a significant policy change. Enfield's new complaint form says that while anonymous complaints are accepted, they "may receive lower priority." But that doesn't mean they won't be enforced. The argument for anonymous complaints is that some residents may fear retaliation from neighbors, landlords, or property owners. The argument against them is that anonymous complaints can draw code enforcement into neighbor disputes. Will the change affect complaint volume? Possibly. In 2021, Florida adopted a state law prohibiting anonymous code-enforcement complaints. In 2022, the Sarasota News Leader reported that complaints in Sarasota County declined by 39% after the law took effect. Another notable cha...

Amazon bought 200 acres of industrial land off Bacon Road in Enfield about a year ago. Until now, what they planned to do with was a guess. A zoning filing offers the first real clue. Amazon.com Services LLC has filed a zoning text amendment seeking to allow motor vehicle repair garages in the I-1 industrial zone under specific conditions. It appears on the May 28 PZC agenda, with a public hearing scheduled for June 25. The proposed amendment is narrowly written. It would allow fleet vehicle maintenance on site, but prohibit body work, outdoor storage, and battery storage. Whatever Amazon is planning, the operation will require maintaining vehicles on the property. Will this ultimately become a fulfillment center, regional distribution hub, delivery station, or something else is unclear. The May 28 meeting may give some indication. Implications for Enfield The filing comes at a time when Enfield's employer base is changing significantly. [Data from latest town audit] Top employers ...