First Selectman Beth Heller convened a meeting for Town department heads to discuss procedures for Coronavirus Disease (COVID 19) on Wednesday March 11. This follows a meeting she organized for town and school staff to hear from the Quinnipiack Valley Health Department interim director in early March.
“We are being proactive and not reactive, and we are taking steps to limit community spread in Woodbridge,” said Heller. “As a community, I ask residents to do their part by diligently washing hands, minimizing travel, and canceling or avoiding large gatherings. While these steps may seem drastic or disruptive to some it is our responsibility to protect our most vulnerable residents.”
Heller plans to participate in the Governor’s weekly conference calls with municipal CEOs regarding the virus and the Police and Fire Departments participate in the weekly calls with the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
In abundance of caution and to keep Town residents safe, the Town is cancelling all programs, including Library, Recreation and Senior Center programming from March 14 through March 28. The Town will continue to monitor the situation and may extend or withdraw the cancellations if needed.
Human Services transportation services will continue to operate for the time being.
The Town is expanding a cleaning protocol for municipal buildings following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Residents are encouraged to conduct more business online or remotely:
*Residents who need to pay taxes may do so online with a credit card (a 2.5% fee is applied by the vendor). Residents may also access their income tax information on the Tax Collector’s page of the Town website. Click “check your tax payment status,” enter your name and click the “IRS payment record” button.
*Starting April 1 all building permits will be available on the Town’s website.
*Qualifying families in need of food assistance may call the Woodbridge Food and Fuel pantry at 203-389-3429.
*Library patrons who are sick with overdue books may call 203 389 3433 for a due date extension. Many Library services are available online including e-book checkouts and streaming movies via Kanopy.
*Voter registration for the Presidential Primary (to be held April 28) is available online for new voters at voterregistration.ct.gov. Unaffiliated voters may register with a party online until April 23 at 11:59 pm or via mail postmarked by April 23 or in person until noon on April 27. Voters affiliated with a party may not change their registration (deadline was Jan. 28).
*Absentee ballots may be requested through an online application.
*Land records at the Town Clerk’s office are available online.
*Board and commission meetings at Town Hall are recorded and broadcast live on Altice/Cablevision channel 79, Frontier TV channel 6109 and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/wgatv79 (or search for “wgatv79").
*Staff are also working to accommodate public participation at the March 19 Board of Finance budget hearing and the April 20 Preliminary Budget Hearing.
*Going forward, for the duration of this public health emergency, public comment may be emailed to Executive Assistant Gerry Shaw at gshaw@woodbridgect.org by 3 pm the day of the meeting and she will distribute the comments to the appropriate boards and commissions and ask that the comments be read aloud.
Visit the CDC website or the state website for the most up-to-date information: cdc.gov/coronavirus and ct.gov/coronavirus