INTRODUCTION
The Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO) is a voluntary public body maintained by ten municipalities in western Connecticut. These 10 neighbors are Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield and Sherman. HVCEO was founded in 1968.

Board members are the ten chief elected officials in the area, two mayors and eight first selectman. They meet monthly to supervise regional planning efforts, conduct workshops, and exchange information to improve municipal management. Economies of scale are obtained in the provision of some specialized governmental services, such as census data management. Similar regional groups operate in the 14 other regions of Connecticut.

This text reviews the origins, history and accomplishments of the HVCEO to date. This information is a resource for any discussion on how HVCEO might best serve the area in the future.

BEFORE 1960
In Connecticut as elsewhere, history shows that requirements for human settlement always include needs greater than those met by the locality. This means that a single community will have a vital interest in the broader geography that surrounds it.

In early Connecticut the use of counties was the response to the need for some form of substate unit. These units still exist today. Unfortunately, these time honored regions are of little value for modern regional planning. Connecticut's metropolitan development patterns did not follow county boundaries, thus the municipal units within counties are not good groupings of common interest. 

The boundary of the Housatonic Valley Planning Region was deliberately drawn to cross a county line; 8 municipalities  in northern Fairfield County were linked to two in southern Litchfield County. Together, the 10 communities have more in common with each other than if they had remained with their Colonial era county.

By the 1920's and 1930's academic experts and promoters of good government were extolling the virtues of regional approaches to public issues. It was then that the first regional planning organizations went into operation around the country. In Connecticut during these decades the approaches to regional planning included voluntary regional planning associations with no official status, single purpose regional entities for water supply, and the development of regional plans by state agencies.

The real birth of Connecticut's modern regionalism arrived in 1947, when the General Assembly passed the first regional planning enabling act. Then, as today, any decision to participate remained entirely with the municipality.

Any regional planning organization that chose to form was directed by the new statute to systematically address the complex modern interactions of physical, economic, and social variables with a broad process known as "comprehensive planning." It was believed that governmental decisions would then be on a sounder, more cost effective basis.

The landmark 1947 statute also called for regional plans to be "based on studies of physical, social, economic and governmental conditions and trends and shall be designed to promote with the greatest efficiency and economy the coordinated development of the region within its jurisdiction and the general welfare and prosperity of its people."

In 1948 the first new region under this law went into operation; New Haven and its suburbs joined together for comprehensive planning within what is now the South Central Region. 

In the 1950s interest in regional approaches grew. By 1955 the General Assembly felt the need to take  action to prevent the implementation of the 1947 law from proceeding piecemeal. A supplemental statute that year gave geographic structure to the municipal grouping process by requiring planning regions to make use of boundaries approved by the State.

The work of defining these regional boundaries then commenced. The State made extensive statistical studies of the strength of inter municipal ties. The key criteria for regional boundary definition, strong inter municipal relationships, led to the designation of boundaries for 15 regions, including the boundary for our own Housatonic Valley Region. Municipal ties in the Housatonic Valley and elsewhere were rated by state studies of variables such as readership of daily newspapers, direction of commuting patterns, destination of phone calls and suburban usage of central hospitals.

The state made a tentative definition of the Housatonic Valley planning boundary in 1958. This included the  current 10 municipalities but also Washington and Roxbury. The boundary definition process was requested by the Chamber of Commerce of Danbury, which was the first to promote the process in this area. In 1959 the Capitol Planning Region (Hartford Area) became the first region to be organized under the boundary structure authorized in 1955. Capitol was followed by the Central Naugatuck Valley (Waterbury Area) in 1960. The other 12 regions got their organizational start at various times in the 1960's.

1960 TO 1970
The Danbury Chamber of Commerce continued to take the lead on regional planning in this area, working with the Connecticut Development Commission which was responsible for the study of regional boundaries. The Danbury Chamber maintained a regional planning committee during the early 1960's to assist local governments with information on this issue.

Between 1960 and 1970 the Housatonic Valley Region was the fastest growing of all 15 regions, with an almost unbelievable 56% population growth rate in that decade alone, compared to a healthy 20% for Connecticut as a whole. It is not surprising that planning and growth issues were hot topics in the Housatonic Region during the 1960's, as they remain today.

How to proceed with regional planning in the area became one of these controversial issues. The key concern was that local autonomy in planning and zoning not be compromised. In 1966 Danbury and Redding led the way by formally voting for a regional planning agency to be created. However, under Connecticut statutes a regional planning agency is composed of appointees rather than elected persons. This one factor became the key sticking point.

Bethel, New Fairfield, Newtown and Ridgefield rejected regional agency membership for this reason, preferring instead to have elected representatives on the new body. Influential editors and citizens opposed appointed officials because they would be remote from the people. In 1967 the drive for regional planning was led by Brookfield's top officials and redirected by them towards a council of elected officials format. This statutory structure would mandate that elected officials be in charge and answerable to the voters as to the management of the new regional planning process.

Five municipalities had agreed to this revised course by late 1968, enough to make the HVCEO legally operational. These were Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, Newtown and Ridgefield. Brookfield was the acknowledged leader of the process. Redding, an early backer, endorsed the revised arrangement and joined in 1970.

After a series of informal sessions the first meeting of the new Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials was held on December 18, 1968. Staff services were provided by Arthur Harris of Brookfield as Executive Secretary. The monthly meeting date chosen was the third Friday, a tradition still in effect today. A luncheon format was selected to minimize the time commitment of busy chief executives, again a practice remaining today.

The word "Housatonic" in the organization's title having its source in an old indian name.

The states regional boundary designation for New Milford, Bridgewater and Sherman was still tentative as of 1968 so those communities did not join HVCEO then. Most other regions in Connecticut were operational with boards of appointees by this time. While HVCEO had been one of the last regions to become active, the delay had led to a more democratic format. Minutes of the first two meeting show topics such as Route 7 improvements, cooperative maintenance of municipal vehicles, and legislative lobbying on the minds of local officials.

In the late 1960's the flow of federal dollars to local governments was greater than now. Many federal agencies were making grants to municipalities, and most included extra points in their grant scoring criteria if the community participated in regional planning. To provide this certification was an important function for HVCEO in its first year.

It was the large grants to municipalities for public water, sewer and open space from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), that became a big problem for HVCEO. Each HUD grant required that the municipal improvement funded be part of a regional plan, but, HUD did not accept a council of elected official as a suitable group to undertake preparing such a plan. Suddenly the recent agreement as to the organizational format for HVCEO was in danger of unraveling and back in the news.

Late in 1969 the Connecticut Attorney General formally ruled that the state statute upon which HVCEO's creation was based was not broad enough to also qualify the Council as a regional planning agency, the designation needed by HUD. As large grant sums were in jeopardy, this issue became a dominant HVCEO agenda item.

But other activities by the new organization were moving forward, such as lobbying for road improvements. By late 1970 HVCEO had established a legislative agenda and a meeting with the area's legislative delegation had been held. From then on, meetings of municipal and state elected officials would be organized by HVCEO at regular intervals, currently twice per year. After rotating their meeting locations among town halls and motor inns, the Council moved into its first permanent office.

This was the Old Danbury Library at 256 Main Street in Danbury. Here HVCEO would remain for 13 years until 1983. The difficult grant issue with HUD was then resolved; the area's legislative delegation won approval for specialized legislation for HVCEO. With the signing by Governor Meskill of Public Act 67 in April of 1971, HVCEO could keep its council of elected officials' format and also satisfy HUD that it was clearly authorized by the state to carry out regional planning.

HVCEO then quickly applied to HUD and received certification as an area wide planning agency, a necessary step to make communities eligible for federal sewer, water and open space grants. A pending federal grant to Ridgefield for sewer construction and to Redding for open space acquisition were the immediate fruits of this effort. 

As well as grants to municipalities HUD also made grants to regional planning organizations for their general planning activities. This grant program ran from the early 1960's to about 1980. The other 14 regions in the state used these grants for years but HVCEO never applied, fearing federal involvement in sensitive home rule issues.

Only one other regional planning organization in Connecticut at this time had its municipal chief elected officials as the board of directors; the HVCEO and the Capitol Region had mayors and first selectmen in control. It is interesting to note that by 1997, six additional regions, now 8 out of the 15 rather than just 2, have converted to direct control by local leaders.

Although it may not have been foreseen in the mid -1960's, the controversy over HVCEO's board structure during its formation put the area on the right side of what would turn out to be a popular trend towards elected, rather than appointed, leadership for regional planning.

The HVCEO had one Chairperson throughout its formative years. This was Brookfield First Selectman Wesley Kennan, for three terms 1968-69, 1969-70 and 1970-71. Monthly meetings continued with issues including the creation of a management authority for Candlewood Lake, relations with the Tri-State Regional Planning Commission in New York City, and, with great regularity, the seemingly insolvable problem of solid waste disposal.

1971 TO 1975
As noted above with the signing by Governor Meskill of Public Act 67 in April of 1971, HVCEO could keep its council of elected officials' format and also satisfy HUD that it was clearly authorized by the state to carry out regional planning.

The early leadership by Brookfield First Selectman Wesley Kennan continued into these years. He and other chairpersons during the 1971-1975 period were as follows:

1971-72  Brookfield First Selectman Wesley Kennan
1972-73  Bethel First Selectman Chad McCollam
1973-74  Ridgefield First Selectman Joseph McLinden
1974-75  Bridgewater First Selectman Henry Becker

By 1971 Council discussions of Candlewood Lake issues were bearing fruit. HVCEO prepared a model ordinance for municipal participation in a Candlewood Lake Authority. This ordinance was then enacted by the five communities surrounding the Lake, Connecticut's largest. During the 1970's the HVCEO office served as the evening meeting place for the volunteer members of the Authority, now housed in Sherman.

HVCEO negotiations late in 1971 with the U.S. Economic Development Administration made municipalities in the area eligible for funds from that body. A visible regional project completed in cooperation with  police chiefs during 1972 was the purchase and installation along state roads of blue directional hospital signs. The locational plan would be updated in 1990 and remains in place today.

In the early 1970's, what would become a long term relationship between HVCEO and the federal U.S. Census Bureau was started. The Census Bureau asked that the division of the area into neighborhood statistical units and other geographic management chores be undertaken by local persons, rather than by Census personnel unfamiliar with the area. HVCEO members also preferred that this work be done under local scrutiny.

They then made HVCEO the census data center for the area rather than burden each town with gearing up for this specialized task. An agreement with the Census Bureau has been maintained since that time. Agenda topics at third Friday monthly meetings continued to be wide ranging, including solid waste, water supply, insect control, road improvement priorities, authorization for a housing study,  and the setting of qualifications for municipal directors of health.

Also each month, as part of a national federal grant review system the Council would inspect and comment upon all federal grant applications filed from within or affecting the Housatonic Region. From time to time some of these reviews would become controversial. A side benefit was the ability for each community to see what the others were applying for. Managing this A-95" federal notification system was a prominent monthly agenda item until it was phased out nationally in 1982.

Also at this time, HVCEO meeting minutes show that there was much effort to work against the proliferation of new substate social service agencies and the uncoordinated regional boundaries proposed for them.

In 1971 the northern part of the Housatonic Valley regional boundary was finalized by the State to include Sherman, New Milford and Bridgewater. Bridgewater and New Milford then became members of the HVCEO in 1972. This left New Fairfield and Sherman as nonmembers but within the State defined planning region encompassing 10 municipalities.

In order to cope with the complexity of both modern municipal management and infrastructure development, processes which demand specialized bases of information, the Council in these years began to direct resources toward the preparation of technical studies. Publications were beginning to be produced on a regular basis and would become a mainstay of Council services from then on. Those completed during this period were as follows:

02/1971  THE REGIONAL PLAN
04/1972  WATER MANAGEMENT STUDY
12/1972  HOUSING IN THE REGION
10/1973  POPULATION, HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION
07/1974  UNION WAGE COMPARISON REPORT
08/1975  OPEN SPACE AND RECREATION PLAN

Since its inception in 1968 HVCEO had met the mandate of a Connecticut statute that required regions to provide municipalities with site plans and other pertinent data for all proposed subdivision and zone changes near their borders, along with opportunities to comment on those proposals. This process would continue from these early years through the history of the HVCEO, receive an administrative streamlining in 1983, and remaining active today.

In mid 1971 David Mackenzie replaced Arthur Harris as staff director. He would hold this position until his resignation in late 1974, after which Jerome Foster was appointed to  the position. Another new regional entity, the Danbury-Bethel Transit District, had been created by local ordinances in those communities in 1972. From time to time the Transit District received staff support from HVCEO. This relationship now grew until the HVCEO was providing regular part time staffing for the District. A federal requirement for  grants for bus equipment, creation of a Transit Development Program, would be completed and endorsed by HVCEO in 1977.

Periodic workshops for members and municipal staffs were being held on topics of the day including the new wetlands management law, federal flood insurance rules and OSHA. During this period the most difficult issue facing HVCEO members individually as well as a group was the dilemma of solid waste management. Seven landfills were still operating in the Region, but new environmental laws challenging their existence were forcefully applied by the State. HVCEO had numerous meetings with the CT Resources Recovery Authority  (CRRA) and the CT Department of Environmental Protection CT DEP) on this topic.

In 1974 proposals for the private construction and operation of a regional solid waste system were solicited and received. However, CRRA and CT DEP gave mixed signals on how HVCEO's resource recovery satellite system would fit into the emerging state plan, and thus there was no sound private investment possible to implement a regional waste disposal plan at this time. The press followed these developments closely.

Regardless of who was at fault it was HVCEO that received heavy criticism for failing to solve the increasingly urgent solid waste problem. The idea of creating a regional resource recovery authority was raised then but was ahead of its time; such an authority would not be created by HVCEO until 1986.

Regional boundaries in Connecticut received important federal recognition in 1974 when HVCEO and the other regions were designated by the Governor and the U.S. DOT to receive transportation planning responsibilities and veto power over federally funded transportation projects slated for their area.

This new role for HVCEO was part of a national effort to delegate parts of transportation funding authority back to the local level. This important transportation planning and programming responsibility has remained with HVCEO from 1974 until today and is a feature at almost every Council meeting. Since transportation project impacts were often regional, the federal DOT was seeking substate districts appropriate for metropolitan transportation planning. Connecticut's well planned regional geography was found to fit the federal need very nicely.

From 1974 on the Council establishes priorities for the expenditure of federal moneys received annually for upgrading capacity on major local roads. The Council's technical traffic and transit planning became a precondition for eligibility for federally funded highway and transit  improvements in the area.

Also in 1974 the governor selected the boundaries of the 15 planning regions to be the logical units for regional housing councils, voluntary groups which would address housing issues. HVCEO provided staff support for the Housatonic Valley Regional Housing Council into the 1980's when the state dropped the process.

Still, planning regions were retained by the state housing agency as the units for substate housing planning. By August of 1975 the HVCEO agenda was bulging. The members decided then that they had enough business to meet twice per month. This practice continued for 7 years until the once per month schedule was restored in 1982.

Guests from state agencies describing their grant programs were frequent visitors to HVCEO meetings. Votes on federal grant reviews continued. The small towns of New Fairfield and Sherman remained as nonmembers during this period, their leaders attending occasional meetings as observers.

An HVCEO consultant's report comparing municipal union employee wages and benefits was first authorized in 1974. This research enabled each community to negotiate wages reasonably and equitably and provided a much needed comparative tool for management.  Under Connecticut law this report is not a public document and is reserved for use by municipal negotiators.

Due to its utility this analysis became a fixture on the Council's annual research calendar, continuing to the present day. A separate non-union wage comparison report was added in 1985 and produced annually thereafter until its cancellation in 1996.

Since it was now receiving a transportation planning grant each year, HVCEO was able to give considerable attention to the needs of the Danbury-Bethel Transit District. A part time professional director for the District was housed in the HVCEO office. An HVCEO marketing study for bus transit devised the new name of "HART", the Housatonic Area Regional Transit District, a name change that went into effect shortly thereafter. HVCEO technical studies led to the incorporation of existing elderly and disabled transit services into HART, including a large inter town system run by the Red Cross.

This allowed for coordinated maintenance of vehicles and other savings. HART membership climbed from the original two communities to eight. HART then acquired a full time staff and moved out of the HVCEO office to its own office next door.

Then as now, federal rules keep the two organizations in close touch; HVCEO as the official transit planning and fiscal review agency and HART as the transit operator.

1976 TO 1980
Lobbying on the part of HVCEO during the middle and later 1970's contributed to Route 7 Expressway construction in Brookfield and the development of a second campus for Western CT State University in Danbury.

Jerome Foster resigned as staff director in early 1977. He was replaced by James Grehan in the middle of that year.

Then there was a major dispute with the Tri-State Regional Planning Commission over the improvement of I-84 on Danbury's West Side; federally financed infrastructure that would allow Union Carbide Corporation to move out of New York City. Back then HVCEO's transportation veto power was shared with Tri-State.

New York's representatives to Tri-State threatened to veto the I-84 work, then Connecticut's proposed to kill the planned Westway in Manhattan in retaliation. HVCEO was in the middle of a huge bureaucratic battle that only after several months of high level wrangling, including the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, was resolved in Connecticut's favor.

At this time the bylaws of a variety of organizations were citing HVCEO as a source of board appointees. These included the Area Agency on Aging, the Health Systems Agency, the Kings Mark District, CT Solid Waste Advisory Board, Emergency Medical Services Council, and other groups.

Leaders of HVCEO were as follows during these years:

1975-1976  Ridgefield First Selectmen Louis Fossi
1976-1977  Bethel First Selectman Francis Clarke 
1977-1977  Brookfield First Selectman Mike Walrath
1977-1978  Newtown First Selectman Jack Rosenthal
1978-1979  New Milford First Selectman Clifford Chapin
1979-1980  Redding First Selectman Mary Anne Guitar

Forty-four percent of all population growth during the decade of the 1970's in Connecticut's 169 cities and towns occurred within just the 10 municipalities of the Housatonic Region! Not surprisingly, planning issues remained hot topics in the area and at HVCEO.

In 1977 the Council began to maintain a detailed list of groups and individuals who received HVCEO reports and services. This was found to come in handy when the question of what do you do for my community came up. This local assistance list has been kept continually by the staff since that time and  is released every six months.

It was in 1978 that Connecticut first made use of HVCEO and the other planning regions for water resource based environmental planning. HVCEO and the other regions were designated for  area wide water pollution control planning by the U.S. EPA and the CT DEP.

This was to be a creative period of detailed water resource planning, precise enough to be of use to municipalities. A new environmental constituency was brought into HVCEO's regional planning process with frequent and well attended evening meetings. The results are still reflected in aquifer protection, soil erosion and other municipal ordinances dating from that period.

Like the issue of solid waste, concern over the adequacy of public water supplies had been an early priority of the Council. This was reflected in the creation in 1979 by the legislature of the Western CT Water Supply Council, the product of lobbying by HVCEO and four other nearby planning regions.

This new group provided the public input to a major U. S. Army Corps of Engineers study of water supply issues in the Housatonic Basin. It was also a focal point for joint action during a drought in the late 1970's. As this area was the most concerned region the organization was housed at HVCEO. It remained active until 1984 after which it was replaced by the legislature with a permanent water supply planning mechanism,  the Housatonic Water Utility Coordinating Committee in operation today.

HVCEO Members in 1978

There was considerable federal and state initiated social services planning during these years and HVCEO members kept informed about it at HVCEO meetings. One organization, Danbury Area Unified Social Services, actually received HVCEO funds for part of its operation for several years. However, this type of funding was to be discontinued, with HVCEO contributions to other organizations limited thereafter to only those with closely interrelated  regional activities.

At this point HVCEO had already had one big dispute with the Tri-State Regional Planning Commission, over I-84 improvements on Danbury's West Side. Another now occurred. The new HUD inspired Tri-State land use and housing plans included radical language; Tri-State was to police the pace at which subsidized housing was developed in area towns. Distant Tri-State was even to keep an inventory of local vacant properties suitable for such use.

HVCEO strenuously objected to these new plans. There was a great deal of press and the issue became a big story. Hundreds of persons attended a regional evening meeting in Danbury on the subject. Other parts of Connecticut began to show dissatisfaction with Tri-State.

The publicity generated played a major role in Connecticut's eventual withdrawal from that Commission. After the withdrawal, HVCEO was no longer required to share its federal transportation project programming powers. The pace of HVCEO research accelerated during the 1970's, as evidenced by the following releases:

07/1976  UNION WAGE COMPARISON REPORT
07/1976  SHEPAUG RIVER FOR WATER SUPPLY
11/1976  20 YEAR SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL PLAN

07/1977  REGIONAL ECONOMIC TRENDS
07/1977  UNION WAGE COMPARISON REPORT
08/1977  TRANSPORTATION GUIDE
12/1977  TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
12/1977  CENSUS DATA BY ENUMERATION DISTRICT

03/1978  FREQUENTLY USED STATISTICS
06/1978  BOARDMAN ROAD AREA DEVELOPMENT PLAN
07/1978  POOTATUCK AQUIFER STUDY  7/78  UNION WAGE COMPARISON REPORT

02/1979  HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR SEPTIC SYSTEM
03/1979  HART LOGO AND MARKETING PROGRAM  
07/1979  A POLICY FOR GROUNDWATER PROTECTION
07/1979  WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
05/1979  EROSION AND SEDIMENT SOURCE INVENTORY
04/1979  INDUSTRIAL GROWTH AND WATER QUALITY
08/1979  PROJECTION OF POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT
09/1979  BUS SHELTER LOCATIONS

03/1980  NONPOINT WATERSHED ASSESSMENTS
07/1980  UNION WAGE COMPARISON REPORT
10/1980  GROWTH CAPACITY WITHIN LOCAL ZONING

1981 TO 1985
Connecticut's 15 regional planning organizations were reassessed in 1983 by the Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Development. The Committee's findings were favorable, stating that "there is no question that the regions have become uniquely utilitarian means of fulfilling essential functions for municipalities large and small... They are widely accepted mechanism through which towns voluntarily join together in solving common problems... Regional agencies can play increasingly important roles in accomplishing certain goals more effectively and economically than any other existing means."

The election of HVCEO chairpersons during the early 1980's saw the following members lead HVCEO:

1980-81  Brookfield First Selectman Norman Brown
1981-82  Bridgewater First Selectman George Canfield
1982     Danbury Mayor James Dyer  
1983     New Milford First Selectman Clifford Chapin
1984     Redding First Selectman Mary Ann Guitar
1985     Brookfield First Selectman Kenneth Keller

Starting in 1981 HVCEO offered its new growth management and transportation plans in a slide show format. From then on several shows would be arranged each year on request for governmental, institutional and business groups. Also starting in 1981 HVCEO would annually fund local and inter municipal traffic studies of important corridors and development areas. This specialized assistance continues today.

Also In 1981 the HVCEO entered a major regional controversy when it proposed to predict the economic impact of a regional shopping mall being considered for the area. Specialized expertise was flown in from Washington, D.C. The resulting study was the top headline and had an impact on the final decision.

The year 1981 saw regional discussions of the need for more high school technical training, an insurance seminar, how to cooperate for septage disposal and the development of a sound technical argument for the widening of I-84 thru central Danbury. The 1971 regional growth plan was thoroughly updated and released this year.

In 1982 for the first time an agenda item for public comment was included at each meeting, a feature that has remained in place since that time. A resolution was passed in support of creating a regional tourism commission, an entity that is active today.

In 1982 the Council formed the Housatonic Purchasing Committee to allow joint municipal bidding procedures. HVCEO employed a part time person to administer this process. It worked well in saving small sums on minor items, the savings about equaling the cost of the coordinator's salary. However, agreement could not be reached on specifications for larger items such as a group bid for new police cars. An effort to coordinate fuel oil purchases was also not successful.

As there was insufficient funding for the greater staff support needed to make this process accelerate, and the current level of effort was only breaking even, the group purchasing process was terminated by HVCEO in 1986. 

The Council by this time was providing active support for each community when it updated its municipal plan of development. Draft local plans were reviewed with the intent that all HVCEO planning research to date would be made available to improve  the draft plan. This form of assistance continues today.

Planning for a very ambitious project, one location at which to dispose of septage tank pumpings from several towns, began in 1982. After almost two years of study, funded by a CT DEP grant, with much public involvement and by inter municipal agreement, Danbury's septage disposal station was expanded for regional use by six of Danbury's neighboring communities.

In 1982 it became clear to Danbury that the HVCEO's office space in a City building on Main Street would be needed for the City's own office space expansion. As a result in 1983 the HVCEO office moved to the Old Town Hall in Brookfield where it has remained since.

Old Brookfield Town Hall, since 1983
the home of HVCEO and HRRA

A 1984 Council report explained in layman's terms how local commission members could better understand traffic impact reports prepared by developers, and thus be better able to protect the public interest. This HVCEO report caught the eye of Federal Highway Administration officials who printed it in the thousands for distribution nationally, an honor to HVCEO. This and other publications of the period:

01/1981  ZONING FOR LOWER COST HOUSING
02/1981  RESOURCES FOR LOWER COST HOUSING
05/1981  A STATUS REPORT ON RETAIL GROWTH
06/1981  TRAFFIC VOLUME TRENDS
07/1981  UNION WAGE COMPARISON REPORT
08/1981  REGIONAL GROWTH MANAGEMENT PLAN
09/1981  MANAGEMENT STUDY FOR MAMANASCO LAKE
12/1981  PLANNING FOR PARKING

04/1982  REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN
06/1982  TRAFFIC FLOW IMPROVEMENT STUDY FOR RT. 25
06/1982  HVCEO AGENDA FOR ACTION:  THE TIP
04/1982  PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN RIDGEFIELD
04/1982  TRAFFIC STUDY FOR THE BE-BK-DN BORDER
07/1982  UNION WAGE COMPARISON REPORT
07/1982  TRAFFIC FLOW STUDY FOR ROUTE 7 SOUTH
11/1982  1980 CENSUS DATA SUMMARY
12/1982  RESOURCES FOR DECISION MAKING AT HVCEO

04/1983  FARMLANDS INVENTORY
06/1983  AN EVALUATION OF HART BUS SERVICE
08/1983  THE UNTAPPED MARKET FOR RAIL SERVICE
07/1983  UNION WAGE COMPARISON REPORT
08/1983  TRAFFIC FLOW IMPROVEMENT FOR RIDGEBURY
09/1983  REGIONAL SEPTAGE STUDY
10/1983  GROWTH FORECASTS FOR MUNICIPALITIES

02/1984  HOW TO LIMIT TRAFFIC CONGESTION
06/1984  TRAFFIC FLOW IMPROVEMENTS FOR BOARDMAN ROAD
06/1984  ADVICE FROM AN EXPERT ON ZONING PROCEDURES
06/1984  POLICIES FOR BUS MAINTENANCE
07/1984  UNION WAGE COMPARISON REPORT
08/1984  COMMUTER TRAVEL PATTERNS
08/1984  TRAFFIC FLOW NEEDS FOR RT. 202 IN BROOKFIELD

02/1985  ROUTE 7 NORTH TRAFFIC STUDY
02/1985  HART DATA BASE AND ROUTING STUDY
06/1985  WATER RESOURCE ATLAS
06/1985  RESOURCE RECOVERY FEASIBILITY STUDY
07/1985  UNION AND NON-UNION WAGE COMPARISON REPORTS
10/1985  IMPLEMENTING RESOURCE RECOVERY
10/1985  MILL PLAIN ROAD TRAFFIC STUDY
10/1985  SPECIAL TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS

Executive Director James Grehan took ill during 1984 and passed away at the end of that year. Early in 1985 Deputy Director Jonathan Chew, an HVCEO employee since 1976, was promoted to that position.

A recommendation for the relocation of the HART bus depot was made by HVCEO and implemented in 1985. This new central stopping point for the HART bus system, on Kennedy  Avenue in Danbury, was then evaluated for upgrading into a formal bus center by an HVCEO technical study released in 1986. HART would build upon that study with much of its own  work and formally opened the new central bus depot there in the early 1990's.

Resource recovery planning, the most controversial of regional topics and not solved by HVCEO in earlier years, intensified in 1983. Two feasibility studies were completed by HVCEO in 1985 and by 1986 the long envisioned regional authority to address this matter had been created; the Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority in operation today. This group would from now on have its own institutional life and history.

Legally, HVCEO could not have been the vehicle to implement the disposal plan now needed. Most HVCEO members became board members of the new resource recovery group, thus wearing two regional hats.

After much press and controversy, inevitable for the subject, HRRA did successfully implement a long range 26 year solid waste disposal plan, and a regional recycling system as well. HVCEO "nursed" this new institution along in its formative period by making its staff part of its own for several years, absorbing the task of maintaining its administrative mechanisms. After June of 1992 the HRRA was fully on its own administratively, except for being housed in the HVCEO office and sharing HVCEO support staff. This proximity reduced overhead costs for both organizations and the arrangement remains in place today.  

During this period new HVCEO Route 7 traffic studies were used by legislators to obtain multi-million dollar appropriations for existing Route 7 improvements in New Milford, Redding and Ridgefield. A Bethel rail station relocation plan by HVCEO was completed late in 1986. A new Bethel station, based on the 1986 HVCEO plan, opened to the public in 1996.

At this time the HVCEO staffing structure was set at two full time professional persons, to be supplemented with part time support staff. This staffing pattern remains unchanged today.

1986 TO 1990
Leaders of HVCEO during this period were as follows:

1986  Ridgefield First Selectman Elizabeth Leonard
1987  Bridgewater First Selectman William Stuart
1988  Bridgewater First Selectman William Stuart
1989  Bethel First Selectman Clifford Hurgin 
1990  Ridgefield First Selectman Sue Manning

Up until 1986 HVCEO has operated with eight municipal members while conducting planning for a State defined region of ten municipalities; New Fairfield and Sherman were only observers. This changed with the formal membership of New Fairfield in 1986. Sherman was next with membership approved by town meeting vote in 1987.

Regional water supply problems had always been an issue for HVCEO, and for several years the legislatively created Western Connecticut Water Supply Council had been operating and holding its meetings in the HVCEO office. HVCEO then lobbied with others for a comprehensive statewide water supply planning process, modeled after the much praised system in use in the State of Washington.

The Housatonic Region then received the first designation in the state to proceed with the new process. An update by HVCEO of its water supply data base in June of 1986 was timed to coincide with the convening of the new group. The enabling statute gave HVCEO a vote on this new board.

The new water supply planning group was head quartered at HVCEO and a $100,000 regional water supply plan for our area was completed in 1988. Known as the Housatonic Water Utility Coordinating Committee, the group still meets at the HVCEO office with Council staff serving as secretariat. Also during this period, HVCEO was pulled into a grass roots environmental trend. In 1984 Ridgefield was the first municipality in Connecticut to sponsor a household hazardous waste collection day for its residents. The other nine communities in the Region soon followed.

The provision of this service was seen as logical for an inter municipal approach; communities would jointly fund the service, one date to serve all would facilitate advertising, and with more towns involved the crews of volunteer workers would be easier to obtain. HVCEO then became coordinator of  the inter town record keeping with its staff attending all collections, a role it retains day.

Earlier in the 1980's HVCEO had presented a traffic projection to Conn DOT justifying the widening of I-84 from 4 to 6 lanes in Danbury between Exits 4 and 7. This widening was completed by Conn DOT in 1988 and HVCEO took a share of the credit. Publications during this period:

06/1986  NEW DIRECTIONS FOR WATER SUPPLY PLANNING
06/1986  TRANSIT IMPROVEMENTS FOR DOWNTOWN DANBURY
06/1986  BUS SERVICE TO THE DANBURY MALL
07/1986  UNION AND NON-UNION WAGE COMPARISON
10/1986  REGIONAL BUS TRANSIT PLAN
12/1986  BETHEL RAIL STATION RELOCATION STUDY
12/1986  WATER QUALITY BASICS FOR THE LAND USE COMMISSION

04/1987  PREPARING FOR HAZARDOUS MATERIAL SPILLS
06/1987  THE FUTURE OF I-84
06/1987  USING THE SPECIAL PERMIT
07/1987  UNION AND NON-UNION WAGE COMPARISON
10/1987  1987 DATA BOOK
10/1987  ELDERLY AND DISABLED TRANSIT COORDINATION
10/1987  BETHEL CENTER TRAFFIC PLAN

02/1988  REGIONAL HOUSING NEEDS ASSESSMENT
07/1988  UNION AND NON-UNION WAGE COMPARISON
12/1988  EXPANDING HART BUS SERVICE

02/1989  ACTION PLAN FOR TRAFFIC ACCIDENT REDUCTION
07/1989  UNION AND NON-UNION WAGE COMPARISON
10/1989  HART PULSE POINT PLAN
10/1989  DANBURY MAIN STREET TRAFFIC PLAN
12/1989  DANBURY WATERSHED PROTECTION PLAN

03/1990  PLANNING WITH THE PAST
07/1990  UNION AND NON-UNION WAGE COMPARISON
10/1990  BUS TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PLAN

The proposed regional septage disposal system, in planning for several years, went into operation in 1988. It served the 7 of the 10 members with a need; Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, Newtown and Redding. A twenty year  inter local agreement runs from 1988 to 2008. HVCEO retained an annual role in the coordination of the administrative system.

HVCEO members cut the "ribbon" at the opening
of the regional septage disposal station in 1988

The mainstay of the Council, its monthly meetings, continued as usual. Topics were ranging widely across the spectrum of municipal management. Paramedic services, NU storm response problems, and many other issues of the day were dealt with as a group rather than individually. In 1988 a regional housing needs assessment was completed by state law by all 15 planning regions using the same methodology at the some time.

HVCEO also applied to DEP for funds to prepare a water supply watershed protection plan for Danbury. The plan would be finalized by HVCEO in 1990 and appropriate zoning amendments for the protection adopted by Danbury in 1993. On another environmental issue, local hazardous materials management plans were coordinated regionally by an ad hoc HVCEO committee.

In 1989 a Danbury Main Street signalization study was completed by HVCEO, a proposal for the first fully integrated progressive signal system in the Region. This planned improvement was successfully funded thru Danbury's lobbying and went into operation a few years later. During this period emphasis in regional lobbying was placed on the reform of binding arbitration laws, with some success. Multi-town bidding of municipal employee health insurance was studied by a consultant in some depth, followed by a decision not to pursue it.

On an occasional basis in the past, the Council met with area legislators to discuss issues affecting the Region. This coordination process was put on a more formal schedule in 1990, with the convening in January of that year and in the January of each year thereafter of an Annual Elected Leaders Luncheon. At this session HVCEO members present to area legislators a legislative agenda approved the month before.

1991 TO 1995
HVCEO continued with its ongoing coordination and planning  activities in the early 1990's. There were varied agenda items, meetings with key officials, and the continued production of research of value to the area. A Housing Resource Fund for local use was created in 1991. Cooperation with the Great Danbury Chamber's leadership training program through the provision of slide presentations was initiated. A digital computerized approach to municipal map inventories was first discussed during this period. A comprehensive technical report on the topic would be authored by the staff and released in 1993.

Late in 1991 the Commissioner of the CT Department of Economic Development visited HVCEO to promote regional approaches to assisting local economic development. As most areas in this country and abroad were now marketing themselves as regions rather than as municipalities, Connecticut was interested in following suit. The state proposed to fund a regional source of expertise for ongoing local efforts.

These years were also a period of strong lobbying against state funding cuts to municipalities. In 1992 a new grant program, the federal transportation ISTEA Enhancement Program, began to be coordinated through HVCEO. Funding for historic bridge repairs, rail station renovations and downtown sidewalk upgrading then went forward in the area.

The women of HVCEO in 1992. From left are Sue Manning of Ridgefield,
Bonnie Smith of Brookfield, Liba Furhman of New Milford, Cheryl Reedy
of New Fairfield, and Zita McMahon of Newtown.

In 1993 the Council organized annual sexual harassment prevention training for newly hired municipal supervisory employees. This would be conducted regionally each year thereafter with the New Fairfield First Selectman as a qualified trainer volunteering her services.

Also that year, the state commissioner of education visited HVCEO to speak on the upcoming state required educational diversity planning, to be conducted on a  regional basis. A presentation was made to HVCEO by the Greater Danbury AIDS Task Force.

Having established headquarters for the Housatonic Water Utility Coordinating Committee and then the Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority within the HVCEO office, the  Housatonic Valley Economic Development Partnership was now added. Sharing of overhead and support staff by the three regional groups avoided duplicating costs. By late 1994 the Council's computerized geographic information system for producing governmental maps was up and running. Municipalities were offered help in creating their own systems, including Sherman, New Fairfield, Danbury and Ridgefield.

In 1995 a new role for HVCEO and the other 14 regions of the state was proposed by the governor; administration of regional block grants for human services and property tax relief. HVCEO expressed concerns over the practicality of this proposal as did most of the other regions, and it was not implemented by the legislature.

Varied topics of discussion for members during 1995 included boat launch access to Candlewood Lake, a Route 7 Expressway policy reassessment, how to duplicate Danbury's Internet community bulletin board, and a review of finances at the Housatonic Valley Tourism Commission. The largest traffic study ever attempted by the Council, of Newtown's I-84 Exit 9 area, was authorized.

Municipal leaders who were elected to chair HVCEO during this period included the following:

1991  Brookfield First Selectman Bonnie Smith
1992  Danbury Mayor Gene Eriquez
1993  New Fairfield First Selectman Cheryl Reedy
1994  Redding First Selectman Henry Bielawa
1995  New Milford Mayor Liba Furhman

Multi-color land use inventory maps for all ten communities had been completed in 1991. In 1995 these would be converted to digital electronic format as part of HVCEO's new electronic mapping system. Publications of the period:

01/1991  USING ZONING POWER IN THE 1990'S
03/1991  LAND USE 1990
06/1991  BROOKFIELD-NEW MILFORD ROUTE 7 PLAN
07/1991  UNION AND NON-UNION WAGE COMPARISON REPORTS
10/1991  HART FARE STRUCTURE STUDY
10/1991  1992 DATA BOOK

04/1992  LOCAL TRAFFIC ACTION PLANS
09/1992  UNION AND NON-UNION WAGE COMPARISON
09/1992  NEW MILFORD'S ROUTE 7 BYPASS
09/1992  SEWER SERVICE IN THE REGION
10/1992  RAIL TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
11/1992  1993 DATA BOOK    
           
04/1993  GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS PLAN
07/1993  RT. 6 TRAFFIC PLAN
09/1993  UNION AND NON-UNION WAGE COMPARISON
11/1993  REGIONAL WATER RESOURCES & SUPPLIES
11/1993  NEW FAIRFIELD & NEWTOWN BUS SERVICE PLANS
12/1993  BUS TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
12/1993  1994 DATA BOOK

07/1994  COSTS AND BENEFITS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
09/1994  UNION AND NON-UNION WAGE COMPARISON
10/1994  I-84 EXITS 5 & 6 TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT PLAN
10/1994  SWEETHART OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS
12/1994  DANBURY-BROOKFIELD FEDERAL ROAD PLAN

01/1995  1995 DATA BOOK
10/1995  HART MARKET RESEARCH STUDY
10/1995  BOARDMAN ROAD TRAFFIC PLAN
10/1995  PICKETT DISTRICT ROAD TRAFFIC PLAN
12/1995  ROUTE 25 ACCESS MANAGEMENT
11/1995  UNION AND NON-UNION WAGE COMPARISON

1996 TO 2000
The year 1996 saw the intermunicipal coordination of drug testing services for municipal employees, a land use permit coordination workshop, and intermunicipal communication by local American with Disabilities Act coordinators through the Danbury ADA Commission. A municipal permit fee inventory report was released. A regional bicycle route plan was approved.  Municipal leaders elected to chair HVCEO during this period included the following:

1996  Sherman First Selectman Anthony Hapanowich
1997 Newtown First Selectman Robert Cascella 
1998-99 Bridgewater First Selectman William Stuart
2000 Sherman First Selectman Donna Tuck

Computerized mapping technology was spreading into government agencies during these years. HVCEO staff served as a technical resource for creating many of the municipal digital parcel maps. Curb cut management plans prepared by HVCEO's consultants were adopted by zoning commissions in Bethel for Route 6, New Milford for Route 7, Newtown for Route 25, and Redding and Ridgefield for Route 7.

After presentations to local planning commissions and various changes, HVCEO's state required advisory regional growth management plan was adopted in April of 1997, this an overdue update from the 1981 version.

Also during 1997, HVCEO led the fight to oppose the abandonment of rail passenger service in the area, met with the Commissioner of CT DEP to air communication problems, heard a presentation by the Housatonic Valley Tourism District regarding its new strategic plan and toured the DATAHR Rehabilitation Institute. The Council's first web site became operational late in 1997. Publications during this period include:

02/1996   ROUTE 37 TRAFFIC PLAN
06/1996   PASSENGER RAIL TO NEW MILFORD
08/1996   SURVEY OF MUNICIPAL PERMIT FEES
10/1996   REGIONAL BICYCLE PLAN
10/1996   ROUTE 7 DN-RI-RE CURB CUT PLAN
12/1996  1997 DATA BOOK

04/1997   REGIONAL GROWTH GUIDE MAP
06/1997   BETHEL ROUTE 6 ACCESS MANAGEMENT PLAN
09/1997   NEWTOWN I-84 EXIT 9 PLAN
10/1997  NEW MILFORD RT 7 CURB ACCESS PLAN

03/1998   NEW MILFORD BRIDGE STREET TRAFFIC PLAN
11/1998   BUS TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
11/1998   NEW FAIRFIELD CENTER BEAUTIFICATION PLAN

02/1999   1999 DATA BOOK

01/2000   SPECIAL PROJECT REVIEW FEES
09/2000   RT 7 CORRIDOR TRAVEL OPTIONS PLAN
09/2000   I-84 CORRIDOR TRAFFIC PLAN

In 1998 the Newtown Planning and Zoning Commission adopted HVCEO's Hawleyville Exit 9 Area Traffic and Growth Plan as an amendment to the Town Plan. A major initiative during 1998 was lobbying for Conn DOT to undertake an I-84 deficiency study. Such a document is a federal requirement before ramp and main line capacity improvements can be made. It was completed in 2000.

The effort was successful, with funds then committed to Danbury Exit 6 and Newtown Exit 11 improvements, as well as preliminary engineering for the remainder of small scale improvements. Former Congressman James Maloney obtained the Exit 6 and Exit 11 funds.

The federally required Regional Transportation Plan was revised and readopted during 1998. One by one its sections are being posted to the transportation section of the HVCEO web site. Board activities in 1998 included a presentation by Metropool, the area NAACP, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, and setting priorities for the Conn DOT streetscape enhancement program. A new letterhead logo, coordinated for regional agencies by HVEDP, made its debut.

A major issue late in 1998 was HVCEO involvement in shaping the sale by the Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P) of Lakes Candlewood, Lillinonah and Zoar. CL&P staff attended numerous HVCEO meetings, HVCEO staff attended evening meetings with citizens, HVCEO obtained Intervenor status at the Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) and provided testimony, HVCEO brought its concerns to Governor Rowland and received his support.  There was also a flurry of special meetings and intense contact with legislators.

The final result was a favorable ruling at DPUC and in 1999 the successful development of a conservation easement for Candlewood Lake and state funding for its purchase. The final Council meeting of 1999 was set aside solely as a ceremony to transfer title and celebrate this landmark event. Rate payers throughout Connecticut funded the easement, at $2,000,000.

The setting of policy for the federal license renewal of the hydro power projects was also a major activity in 1999, carrying over into 2000 when extensive FERC related testimony was submitted.

Guests at HVCEO meetings during 1999 included representatives of the Danbury Hospital Pediatrics Department, the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services, Northwest Connecticut Emergency Medical Services Council, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, CT OPM and CT DPUC and the Danbury Domestic Violence and Response Task Force.

In 2000 a specialized planning report was completed, for immediate use in Bethel and a model for others, on how to require developers to pay for the municipal costs of reviewing any unusually large development application (Target store).

The Council made policy and technical planning contributions to the development of the Housatonic Valley River Trail. In addition, the Danbury Branch rail line improvement plan was completed. The Council in partnership with Brookfield fought, successfully, to prevent a radical realignment of the proposed Route 7 Brookfield Bypass. The height of a proposed new railroad bridge over Route 53 in Bethel was a hot Council issue.

Discussion topics at meetings in 2000 included tax benefits for volunteer firemen, the future of Bridgeport Hydraulic Company lands, supporting the activities of the Housatonic Valley Tourism Commission and a review with CL&P of the speed of its storm cleanup response.

2001 TO 2005
As in earlier years the Council continued to meet with the area legislative delegation in the late fall, in the winter held a labor seminar organized by Attorney Catherine Thompson to coordinate bargaining positions with municipal unions, and each year in the spring provided a morning of sexual harassment prevention training by certified trainer and former New Fairfield First Selectman Cheryl Reedy.

Municipal leaders elected to chair HVCEO during this period:

2001  New Fairfield First Selectman Patricia Gay
2002-03 Newtown First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal
2004-05 Redding First Selectman Natalie Ketcham

In 2001 a signal system coordination plan was authorized, designed to review the status of coordination potential in 20 of the the metropolitan area's most congested traffic corridors. The Council supported the creation of the statewide Transportation Strategy Board. It heard presentations by guests on varied topics such as the DEP's nitrogen trading plan for sewer treatment plants, activities in the area of the Trust for Public Lands, Housatonic Habitat for Humanity, the United Way fund raising campaign, and new standards for emergency medical dispatch.

Late in 2001 the HVCEO was the first public body in the Region to formally vote its opposition to the development of a gambling casino anywhere in the area. The goal of stopping the casino soon became a major work item, including the use of specialized legal assistance and the obtaining of federal intervenor status to block undeserved tribal recognition.

In a cooperative effort the Council, in partnership with the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce, the Housatonic Valley Tourism Commission and the Housatonic Valley Economic Development Partnership, jointly sponsored a defensive traffic study to document the very negative impact of the casino proposal. Anti-casino activities were becoming a major focus of the Council.

During 2001 and 2002, fresh census data for the area was posted on the Council's web site, HVCEO continuing to serve as the official Census Data Center for the area. At a particularly important meeting members worked in concert to prepare their park and recreation departments for the impact of the Leydon v. Greenwich open beach decision.

Also of importance was Danbury's presentation of its new nuclear, biological and chemical terrorism response plan, a model for the Region. Soon thereafter state agencies signaled HVCEO that federal mandates upon Connecticut for terrorism response planning were to have regional components, involving the Council and the 14 other regional planning agencies.

Alas, for the second time in recent years the agreed upon alignment for the Route 7 Bypass in Brookfield began to be questioned by federal agencies. HVCEO, legislators and others assisted Brookfield in getting the project back on track.

HVCEO Members at meeting of October 18, 2002

In 2002 the Council's rail resources data base was completed revised and updated, then placed on the web site. As in earlier years, regional priorities were set for municipal applications to Conn DOT for U. S. DOT Enhancement (beautification, bikeway, etc.) funding.

New planning initiatives authorized included a traffic improvement plan for Route 35 in Ridgefield and a Pedestrian Safety Plan for Queen Street in Newtown. Publications released during this period included:

04/2001 BETHEL ROUTE 53 TRAFFIC STUDY
11/2001 GEORGETOWN BEAUTIFICATION STUDY

10/2002 CASINO TRAFFIC IMPACT STUDY

3/2003 PEDESTRIAN PLAN FOR QUEEN STREET

2/2004  REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN
3/2004 TRAFFIC SIGNAL COORDINATION PLAN
5/2004 COMMUTING PATTERNS FROM GREATER DANBURY
9/2004 WATER SUPPLY RESOURCE INVENTORY
9/2004 TRAFFIC PLANNING FOR CENTRAL NEW MILFORD
9/2004 WATER SUPPLY RESOURCE INVENTORY
12/2004 EMERGENCY OPERATIONS FIELD GUIDE

2/2005 STATUS OF DIGITAL PARCEL MAPS
3/2005 ANALYSIS OF OPEN SPACE CONSERVATION SUBDIVISIONS
6/2005 RIDGEFIELD ROUTE 35 TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT PLAN
10/2005 BETHEL, CT TRAFFIC ISSUES
10/2005 NEW FAIRFIELD CENTER BEAUTIFICATION STUDY

Then 2003 saw a very significant outreach by state emergency management agencies to work with HVCEO and the other planning regions. HVCEO was funded to undertake various emergency planning tasks. This would continue until the state switched to larger geographic regions for its planning in 2005.

The anti-casino legal strategy continued to evolve, with HVCEO become intervenors at the Bureau of Indian Affairs. As usual there were a variety of municipal management issues on meeting agendas, such as the annual legislative agenda, use of elderly van and road accident grants, support for the Danbury Hospital's cardiac care plan, the start of a technical committee for DAnbury Branch Line rail planning, and direction of residual funds of the dismantled Housatonic Valley Tourism Commission.

As for 2004, it started with the usual annual labor seminar. Meeting topics during the year included a visit by Northwest Conservation District staff, Danbury Hospital communications, more anti-casino actions, homeland security grants, a new housing web page with the United Way, support of planning for a regional hazmat planning team, permit coordination around Candlewood Lake, a visit by the new group Friends of Lake Lillinonah, deer management discussion and appropriate expert speakers, and a tour of the new Danbury Emergency Operations Center

Then 2005 would see much discussion of probate court system changes, the taking on of planning for the Housatonic Valley River Trail, lobbying for retention of the real estate conveyance tax, a demonstration of technology for truck mounted pothole repair, adoption of a method for regional purchasing thru CRCOG, study and use of "Magic Salt" snow and ice remover, lobbying to retain the Norwalk to Danbury bus route, more homeland security issues. Candlewood Lake as a water supply, anti teen drinking efforts, a presentation on the Broadview energy facility planned for Long Island Sound, coping with elderly nutrition program cuts, the demise of lever voting machines, the sale of hydropower facilities, and training for CERT volunteer emergency responders.

Looking ahead, we can expect HVCEO to continue with its traffic and transit planning programs, both systems that are regional in nature. Crises new to the area will be dealt with as they arise. Lobbying for additional I-84 improvement funds will continue. Digital mapping will move into new areas

Since research and communication are needed to cope with the complexities of modern municipal management, as it passes into the year 2006 the Council can be expected to continue to direct resources towards needed technical publications, coordination efforts, and lobbying activities.

The charge in 1968 remains the goal of the group today; to make the Housatonic Valley Region a better place in which to live, do business and visit through coordinated planning and cooperative approaches.