Town Manager outlines 2025 goals; council discusses sidewalks, fiscal priorities, staffing and open-space planning

Cheshire — At a special meeting Feb. 25 the town manager, Sean M. Kimball, reviewed a draft set of his 2025 goals and objectives and led an extended council discussion about priorities and timelines for capital projects, staffing and community initiatives.

Lede and scope: Kimball said the document (shared with the council and in the meeting packet) groups priorities across general government operations, finance, public safety, education, recreation and sustainability/transportation. He noted that “what is in blue” in the document indicated items that were new or substantially changed from the prior year’s goals.

Key priorities discussed

- Fiscal management and mill rate: Council members, led by John (council member), asked that the manager include explicit language to look critically at town expenditures during this transitional period to minimize impacts on the mill rate. Kimball said he would update the operating/capital budget language to reflect minimizing taxpayer impact while maintaining essential services.

- Employee recruitment and retention: Kimball identified recruitment and morale as an ongoing town priority and discussed exploring strategies short of salary…