Enfield Things

The Connecticut Superior Court ruling Tuesday validated State Rep. John Santanella's complaint. This is a clear win, and allows him to avoid an August 11 Democratic primary against his challenger, former town attorney Tom Tyler. Tyler can appeal, but absent that, Santanella can shift his focus to November. But a winning legal outcome is not the same as a winning narrative outcome. This was an honest mistake by the Tyler campaign, a consequence of some flawed official guidance and a decision to rely on that guidance. The court found that the Democratic registrar provided petition sheets four days before state law allowed, and that the state-supplied forms lacked a legally required statement from circulators on the number of signatures gathered — a defect that invalidated all of Tyler's petitions. The ruling also notes that there was no evidence the Tyler campaign exercised due diligence to confirm the official guidance. Connecticut election law doesn't allow for honest mista...

Town Council members tour the Annex's infrastructure, peering inside utility closets. The former Fermi High School -- which closed in 2016 and is now known as the Enfield Annex -- has become a deep part of the community. Whether it's the swimming pool, space for wrestling, the student robotics competition team Buzz Robotics, summer camp or its many other uses, the building has a broad base of support. Last week, some of those supporters turned out to urge Town Council members to preserve the facility. The future of the former Fermi High School has lingered on the periphery of town discussions for years. No longer. The Town Council tour of the Annex was intended to help members see firsthand the remedial infrastructure work needed, from utility closets to the boiler room and roof. But residents saw it as a chance to show the council how important the building is to the town. A large crowd turned out, some with signs urging support for the Annex. Among those at the school was Jef...

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...