Colebrook Town Hall offices, Public Works Department, Community & Senior Center, and Food Pantry will be

closed on Monday, September 1st in observance of Labor Day

Normal hours will resume on Tuesday, September 2nd.

Trash and recycling pick up will be adjusted as a result of this holiday; Thursday pick up will be Friday and Friday pick up will be on Saturday. 

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News from Colebrook Town Hall

Greetings from Colebrook Town Hall.
Last Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for the 80th annual Colebrook Fair. Approximately 40 vendors lined the Green and a closed-off portion of Smith Hill Road. Great music and food were plentiful.
At the pet show, our judges awarded first place ribbons to six dogs and two chickens. Our iconic frog jumping contest featured 48 entries, with prizes for the longest and shortest jumps in both the small and large frog categories.
After an absence of many years, the Colebrook “Cow Plop” made its return to this year’s Fair, thanks to Pinney Stables, and proved to be a successful fundraiser for our Rec. Board, with all 80 squares selling out (one for each year of the Fair).
At the car show, more than 100 classic cars and motorcycles vied for the Best-in-Show, People’s Choice, and Selectmen’s awards. The Selectmen’s prize this year went to a beautiful, vintage 1941 Chevy AK Series pickup truck from Norfolk.
The Colebrook Community & Senior Center raffled off more than 60 baskets on Saturday. Combined with proceeds from food sales on Fair day, the Center raised more than $3,500, which helps to support programming there. Thank you to all those who donated and bid, and patronized our kitchen.
Fair day concluded at the Town Pond with more than 150 people sharing in the excitement of our annual Cardboard Regatta. This year’s race featured 12 boats competing for prizes, including “Funky-est” boat and best costume.
With our 80th Colebrook Fair in the books, thank you to our many tireless volunteers who keep this important tradition alive, and help to ensure its success! The Fair Committee will be meeting later this month to debrief on this year’s event and discuss how it can continue to evolve and thrive.
At last night’s Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Bob Gilbert announced that Colebrook Consolidated School finished its 2024/25 fiscal year (ended this past June 30th) with a surplus of more than $23,000, or slightly more than 1% of its annual budget. CCS will be returning the surplus to the town’s general fund. The Board of Ed will also be returning an end-of-year $10,300 special appropriation that was not spent.
State approval of our Small Town Economic Assistance grant funding is day to day. Paving of Deer Hill, Gaylord, Millbrook and Phelps Roads, and the Center Firehouse parking lot, will take place once final approval is received. We’ll confirm the paving schedule as soon as we know more.
We are finalizing a new service agreement with USA Recycling (our current waste hauler) which includes one year of free food scrap recycling. We are providing food scrap recycling kits to the first 50 households to sign up for this pilot initiative. Kits include: a countertop bin; an initial supply of BPI-certified biodegradable 3-gallon bags; and a storage/transportation 6-gallon bin.
Bear-resistant, food scrap recycling collection stations will be delivered to Town Hall and the Forge Firehouse on Tuesday, September 16th. Weekly pickups will begin on Tuesday, September 23rd, and on Tuesdays thereafter. The collection stations will be open 24/7 to accept waste in the biodegradable bags included in the starter kits. If you’d like to participate, and have not yet signed up, please contact me at bbremer@colebrooktownhall.org<mailto:bbremer@colebrooktownhall.org>.
As part of our new curbside agreement with USA Recycling, bear-resistant rollout carts will be available to Colebrook residents for $8.50/month, down from the current $9/month, and less than USA’s quoted rate of $12/month (which was our price as recently as last year). Contact USA Recycling at 800.998.2984 to learn more, or to reserve a cart.
The Colebrook Conservation Commission is training volunteers to assist in a town-wide effort to eliminate Japanese knotweed, one of the most aggressive invasive plants. Our volunteers are learning how to identify Japanese knotweed and assist control efforts by using a free phone app to map it on town roads. This effort is part of a multi-town project. Our final training session will convene this Saturday (September 6th) at 9 a.m. in the Town Hall parking lot. Thank you to the seven volunteers who participated in today’s training, and the two signed up for Saturday.
The Colebrook Associates Food Pantry, located in the vestibule of the Community & Senior Center, needs breakfast foods, snacks, juice, and canned meat (e.g., tuna and chicken). Donations may be left at the pantry or in the collection bin in the post office.
The town will begin accepting applications for energy assistance beginning September 9th. Please contact Karen Odell to set up an appointment, or for any questions, at kodell@colebrooktownhall.org<mailto:kodell@colebrooktownhall.org>.
Upcoming events
Tomorrow (Friday, September 5th), the Colebrook Historical Society will host, “The Life and Times of Scot Haney – What a Ride.” Noted meteorologist Scot Haney will share his many experiences both on air and off. The evening kicks off with refreshments at the Seymour Inn at 7 p.m., with the program taking place at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall second floor meeting room. There is no cost to attend, and everyone is welcome.
Upcoming municipal board meetings
Planning & Zoning – Monday, September 8th, at 6:30 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall (Second floor meeting room). Board of Selectman – Monday, September 8th, at 7 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall (Land Use office) Historic District Commission – Tuesday, September 9th, at 5 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall (Second floor meeting room) Board of Assessment Appeals – Wednesday, September 10th, from 5 until 6 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall (Assessor’s office)
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at bbremer@colebrooktownhall.org<mailto:bbremer@colebrooktownhall.org>, or call me at 860.379.3359, extension 202.
Cordially,
Brad Brad Bremer Colebrook First Selectman 860.379.3359 ext. 202 bbremer@colebrooktownhall.org
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Town Pond

The Town Pond is now closed for the season.

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Tax Collector Office Hour Changes

Effective immediately hours for the Tax Collector Office have changed to Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 to 1:00.

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Greetings from Colebrook Town Hall.

Town Hall will be closed Monday, September 1st, in observance of Labor Day. We will re-open Tuesday, September 2rd, at 8:30 a.m.

Due to the holiday, next week’s curbside trash and recycling pickup will be delayed one day. Thursday pickup will be on Friday, and Friday pickup will be on Saturday.

The 80th annual Colebrook Fair will take place on Saturday, August 30th, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Festivities include a Car & Motorcycle Show from 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Frog Jumping & Pet Show (with registration at 9 a.m.), 40 vendors, food and music.

On Saturday, the historic Rock School will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. From 1779 until 1911, the Rock School continuously served Colebrook as a schoolhouse. It is located at the corner of Colebrook Road (Route 183) and Sandy Brook Road. This schoolhouse museum is the only colonial era school in Connecticut that has never been modernized in any way. A shuttle bus will run between the Post Office and the Rock School between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

You can purchase tickets for the Colebrook Fair Cow Plop, and check out the rules here, and at Facebook.com/colebrookctfair. The Cow Plop is sponsored by Pinney Stables and benefits Colebrook Recreation.

Thank you to everyone who donated baskets and items for the Community & Senior Center raffle. As of this morning, there were 62 items to bid on this Saturday.

We also currently have 12 boats signed up for the Colebrook Fair Cardboard Regatta. The Regatta features homemade cardboard boats with winners for each race, and awards for “Funky-est” boat and best costume. Registration will take place from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Town Pond. Festivities begin at 3:30 p.m. Don’t miss it.

Chip sealing of Sandy Brook Road from Route 183 to the new Sandy Brook Road bridge has been completed. Sweeping will take place by the end of next week.

Paving of Deer Hill, Gaylord, Millbrook and Phelps Roads, and the Center Firehouse parking lot, is now tentatively slated for the week of September 8th, pending DOT approval.

Our new Colebrook Consolidated School (CCS) Principal, William Wesley, and Superintendent Bob Gilbert welcomed more than 30 parents and community members to the school this past Wednesday for our annual First Day Celebration. With school in session, please use caution when driving, watching out for school buses and bicycles.

It was a busy week at CCS as our Public Works team led efforts to install new drainage and dig a trench for gas lines for our new propane boilers at the school. This is part of our ongoing $1.7 million HVAC project being completed with state matching funds, and due for completion by 12/31/25.

The Colebrook Conservation Commission is looking for volunteers who would like to help in a town-wide effort to eliminate Japanese knotweed, one of the most aggressive invasive plants. Volunteers will attend a training session to learn how to identify it and assist by using a free phone app to map it on town roads. This effort is part of a multi-town project. Local Departments of Public Works, including our own, were trained in late July. Japanese knotweed on state roads in Colebrook had already been marked by pink ribbons to be sprayed and cut by the state highway department.

To encourage participation in the knotweed identification project, the Commission will conduct brief training sessions in early September. Choose one date: Wednesday, September 3rd, at 4 p.m.; Thursday, September 4th, at 10 a.m.; or Saturday, September 6th, at 9 a.m. If there is interest, evening time slots can also be arranged. We will meet in the Town Hall parking lot. There will be a training session sign-up sheet at the Colebrook Fair. You can also sign up for training here. Please sign up here to request that someone identify Japanese knotweed on your property.

The Town Pond will close for the season on Saturday, August 30th.

The Colebrook Associates Food Pantry, located in the vestibule of the Community & Senior Center, is in need of breakfast foods, snacks, juice, canned meat (e.g., tuna and chicken), and canned soups. Donations may be left at the pantry, or in the collection bin in the post office.

The town will begin accepting applications for energy assistance beginning September 9th. Please contact Karen Odell to set up an appointment, or for any questions, at kodell@colebrooktownhall.org.

Upcoming events

On Friday, September 5th, the Colebrook Historical Society will host, “The Life and Times of Scot Haney – What a Ride.” Noted meteorologist Scot Haney will share his many experiences both on air and off. The evening kicks off with refreshments at the Seymour Inn at 7 p.m., with the program taking place at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall second floor meeting room. There is no cost to attend, and everyone is welcome.

Upcoming municipal board meetings

Board of Education – Wednesday, September 3rd, at 7 p.m. at Colebrook Consolidated School

Planning & Zoning – Monday, September 8th, at 6:30 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall (second floor meeting room).

Board of Selectman – Monday, September 8th, at 7 p.m. at Colebrook Town Hall (Land Use office)

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at bbremer@colebrooktownhall.org, or call me at 860.379.3359, extension 202.

Cordially,

Brad

Brad Bremer

Colebrook First Selectman

860.379.3359 ext. 202

bbremer@colebrooktownhall.org

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Public Hearings ~ 9/8/2025

Click here to view Legal Notice regarding Text Amendments re: Child Care and Cannabis regulations

Click here to view Legal Notice regarding Public Hearing regarding Plan of Conservation and Development

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Legal Notice of Receipt of Certification of

Party Endorsed Candidates for Municipal Offices

COLEBROOK

 A certified list of Democratic and Republican party-endorsed candidates for the Town of Colebrook for election as First Selectman, Selectman, Town Clerk, Town Treasurer, Tax Collector, Board of Finance Full Term (2), Board of Finance Fill a Vacancy for Two Years, Board of Education (2), Board of Assessment Appeals, Constables (2) is on file in my office at 562 Colebrook Road, Colebrook, Connecticut, and copies thereof are available for public distribution.

A Primary will be held September 9, 2025 if the required primary petition(s) for opposition candidate(s) is filed, pursuant to Sections 9-382 to 9-450 of the Connecticut General Statutes, not later than 4:00 p.m. on ­August 6, 2025.  Petition forms, instructions and information concerning the procedure for filing of opposing candidacies, including schedules, may be obtained from: Karen Odell, Democratic Registrar of Voters and Sherri Gray, Republican Registrar of Voters, 562 Colebrook Road, Colebrook, CT

Debra L. McKeon, CCTC, MCTC

Municipal Clerk of Colebrook

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Employment Contract Available for Inspection

NOTICE
TOWN OF COLEBROOK

Notice is hereby given that a signed copy of the Contract of Employment between the Colebrook Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools for the period of July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2028; is on file at the Town Clerk’s Office for public inspection during regular office hours.

Dated at Colebrook, Connecticut, this 3rd day of July, 2025.

Debra L. McKeon
Town Clerk

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Professional Agreements between BOE and principal available

NOTICE

TOWN OF COLEBROOK

Notice is hereby given that a signed copy of the Professional Agreement between the Colebrook Board of Education and the Principal for the period of July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026, is on file at the Town Clerk’s Office for public inspection during regular office hours.

Dated at Colebrook, Connecticut, this 6th day of May, 2025.

Debra L. McKeon, CCTC

 

(Legal notice per 10-153d of the CGS, Agreement received 05/23/17 30 days up on 06/23/17.)

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