Fire Department Improvements, Millions for Commercial Kitchen, and Affordable Heat Pumps
July 26, 2024
The Willimantic Fire Department is undergoing some big changes under the leadership of our wonderful fire chief. I'll break down how our brave firefighters are improving our public safety every day.
The lieutenant governor traveled to Windham this week to highlight a huge investment into our amazing community kitchen. Please read below to find out how these vital state funds will make a difference.
Connecticut is getting a major boost in our effort to expand the use of affordable electric heat pumps. Keep scrolling to get a better idea of how this technology will help the environment while saving you money.
Here are the sections in today's email:
Let's Talk About It: Willimantic Fire Department
Celebrating Millions in Funding for CLiCK
Affordable Electric Heat Pumps
Let's Talk About It: Willimantic Fire Department
We spoke with Willimantic Fire Chief Marc Scrivener about his career, response times, staffing, a dispatch center upgrade, and much more on our weekly radio show “Let’s Talk About It.” Chief Scrivener is proud of the unity and collaboration among the department. The teamwork displayed under his leadership has made our fire department a model for other communities around the state.
We discussed the importance of having a passionate, knowledgeable, and focused group of full-time and volunteer firefighters. Since dispatch is receiving more emergency calls, there was a need to increase staffing. The Willimantic Fire Department now has eight firefighters assigned per shift, and there are four shifts per day. Chief Scrivener says despite a higher call volume, response times remain fast in urban and rural areas.
The main fire house on Bank Street is currently undergoing some major upgrades including a new dispatch center. It has new technology connecting Willimantic with the rest of the state. The fire department is also in the early stages of migrating onto the state’s radio network, which will lead to more interaction with the leaders of other communities.
We also spoke to Chief Scrivener about how Windham manages housing code, the impact two new ambulances will have in our community, and much more. Please click on the video below to listen to the entire show.
Willimantic Fire Chief Marc Scrivener discusses all the great things happening at the fire department.
Celebrating Millions in Funding for CLiCK
Top state and local leaders gathered in Windham to celebrate a $2.8 million investment into the Commercially Licensed Cooperative Kitchen (CLiCK). I would like to thank Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz for joining us on Wednesday and highlighting how this state funding will make a difference.
The money will go toward renovating the kitchen, creating a processing and cold storage facility, adding a second-floor mezzanine space for offices, and building out a community training space.
CLiCK's shared-use commercial kitchens provide locally based, healthy, and sustainable food in Windham and beyond. The organization creates opportunities for farmers and culinary entrepreneurs, including those with low incomes, to incubate food-based businesses while improving the health and vitality of our local community by teaching gardening, culinary arts, nutrition, and other food-related classes, all informed by a social justice perspective.
Investing in Affordable Electric Heat Pumps
Connecticut will get up to $100 million to speed up the process of getting more affordable electric heat pumps installed throughout the state. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is awarding a total of $450 million to a coalition of states, including Connecticut, known as the New England Heat Pump Accelerator Coalition. The goal is to increase the number of cold-climate air-source heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, and ground source heat pumps in single-family and multi-family homes. These heat pumps reduce emissions, provide significant health benefits, and deliver energy savings.
The coalition will work collaboratively to promote the development of heat pump skill sets in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), plumbing, and electrical workforce. It also intends to invest about 50% of the benefits in historically overburdened and underserved communities, such as Windham.
Additionally, the coalition will partner with heat pump manufacturers, distributors, and installers to increase the availability of air-source and ground-source heat pumps while lowering equipment and installation costs for consumers. This partnership will include significant investment in workforce training, ensuring installers will have access to good-paying careers while delivering more efficient heating and cooling solutions.
