“Serving the town that I love has been a privilege of a lifetime and only gratitude comes to mind when I think about leaving it behind,” he stated.

On making his decision to leave, Rosenthal in a written statement in February said it was “not a decision that I arrived at easily and without a great deal of soul searching.” With his public service behind him, Rosenthal will begin a new position with Newtown Savings Bank in January. ” Rosenthal said he hopes he can enjoy just living in a town he hopes he left in a better place than it was when he assumed the first selectman role in 2017.

Rosenthal said that, “The door prize is that I still get to live. Republican Jeff Capeci was elected the new first selectman in November, over Democrat Dan Cruson. Newtown Finance Director Robert Tait said he expected that some money appropriated will return to the undesignated amount as some projects come in under the amount appropriated.Īmong the largest appropriated amounts are $2.5 million for the Hawley School HVAC project, $1.5 million for a replacement of the water distribution system at the Fairfield Hills campus, a $325,000 reimbursement to the town’s medical self-insurance fund for COVID expenses, $300,000 for a front bucket loader for Public Works, $240,000 for a six-wheel, eight-ton dump truck for Public Works, $215,000 for sidewalks in Sandy Hook, $200,000 for sidewalks in the Borough $200,000 for improvements at the Transfer Station $100,000 for pickleball and $60,000 police sidearms.ĭan Rosenthal ended his run as first selectman after six years, when he chose to not seek a fourth term. The town has until 2024 to appropriate all the funds and until 2026 to spend all the funds. Of the appropriated money, $4.3 million has been spent. There is $231,000 left to be appropriated, not including the pickleball courts. Awarded $7.6 million in 2022, the town has appropriated approximately $7.4 million. Over the course of the year, the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, and Legislative Council have been slowly but surely continuing to spend the town’s allocated American Rescue Plan Funding. While this is hardly a comprehensive list, these were the stories that struck this writer as most memorable over the past year. It has been an incredibly eventful year, both in town and even here at The Bee, and here we’ll take a jaunt through some of the highlights and lowlights. As the year comes to a close, The Newtown Bee is looking back on some of the biggest stories in town for 2023.

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