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East Hartford council approves police grants, tax-lien referral, appointments and event permits
Summary
Council approved two traffic- and outreach-focused grants for the police department (a community-outreach grant just under $70,000 and a distracted-driving enforcement grant just under $20,000), referred preliminary tax-lien lists totaling roughly $2.4 million to the tax policy committee, reappointed a Commission on Aging member and approved multiple event permits and a $70,500 workers'compensation settlement.
The East Hartford Town Council on March 17 unanimously adopted multiple measures including two police grants, a referral of property lists for the annual tax-lien sale, a reappointment to the Commission on Aging, a workers'compensation settlement and several community event permits.
Grants: Council approved a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration/CTDOT community-outreach grant (Section 402) that funds a part-time civilian community-outreach liaison for the East Hartford Police Department. Don Bell moved the resolution; it passed by voice vote. The motion text on the record stated the grant amount as just under $70,000 with no local match required.
Council also adopted a CTDOT/NHTSA distracted-driving high-visibility enforcement grant allowing the town to participate in 12 deployments between April and August to combine enforcement and education; the grant was described as just under $20,000 with no local match and funding overtime for officers. Sergeant Drewen summarized recent enforcement numbers: "In '24, we did 335 stops... In '25, we went up to 360," and said the program mixes education and enforcement.
Tax-lien referral: The council voted to refer to the tax policy committee a preliminary list of properties recommended for the town's annual tax-lien sale: 142 non-mobile-home properties totaling $1,790,024 and 69 mobile-home properties totaling $635,524, per the finance director's memorandum (dated 03/11/2026). The mover asked the committee to review criteria and report back with recommendations; the council noted the list typically shrinks as payment plans are negotiated.
Appointments, settlements and permits: Council reappointed Cath Lee (term to expire December 2028) to the Commission on Aging; accepted corporation counsel's recommendation to settle the workers'compensation claim of former employee Judith Geyer for $70,500; and approved numerous community event permits (Avalon Memorial Walk, Touch-A-Truck, Sounds of Summer concert series, Juneteenth celebration, Big Old Stadium Tour, Riverfront 5-mile run and Latin Festival) with standard compliance stipulations and rain dates.
Votes and procedure: Most measures passed by voice vote; the minutes record "Aye" and no roll-call tallies were provided on the record. When exact vote tallies or named roll call votes were not included in the transcript, the record reflects voice votes as recorded.
