Figure into Putnam's future
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM —Would you like a hand in creating your own future? How about your town’s future? Absolutely possible.
John Guszkowski, principal of Tyche Planning and Policy Group LLC, is helping the town set its future by helping write the town’s next 10-year Plan of Conservation and Development.
State law requires every town to update its 10-year plan. Putnam’s is due in mid-2026. Key to Guszkowski’s work is a survey asking residents what’s important to them — about every aspect of the town.
The survey is online at:
https://surveymonkey.com/r/PutnamPoCD
In addition, for those who get completely frustrated by tech, printed copies of the survey are available in the Building and Land Use office and in the Putnam Public Library in the Municipal Complex.
Guszkowski said the surveys will be open for the next month or two.
The survey encompasses everything from economic development, housing, open spaces, trails, transportation, infrastructure, schools, affordable housing, climate change issues and much more.
“It’s basically how the town uses its land for the next 10 years,” he said. Where should the town make its investments? It asks the townspeople to prioritize, make choices. Should the town invest in more trails and parks? Or perhaps believe in not buying more property for uses but enhance what we have? For housing should the town concentrate on single-family housing or move toward town houses or mixed uses like Cargill Falls (without the mold and lead paint)? Expand its commercial zone around downtown? He said that a good bit of commercial property around downtown is unused/underused. Some 300,000 square feet of that type of space could be revitalized. And/or expand the commercial zones in East Putnam? Consolidate the Special Service District and East Putnam? And much more.
The survey also contains open-ended questions to take the pulse of residents’ hopes and fears. What concerns do residents have about living in Putnam? Flooding? Crime? What else? How do residents feel about the town’s future?
Everyone he’s spoken with so far is “united by the idea that Putnam is a special place,” he said. Downtown is more than the heart of Putnam, it is the heart of northeastern Connecticut. It’s a regional downtown, a hub.
He expects the plan will “lean in and build on that.”
How can we make downtown Putnam even better, as a regional downtown, he added.
Why take the survey? “There are real choices that the town faces in the next 10 years,” he said.
Participation in the survey portion of the plan is essential, he said. “It’s like what they say about democracy — the most important part of democracy is showing up.” He added that input is a “critical” part of this future.
The plan is a “celebration of the last 10 years and it will be our vision of what we want our future to be,” he said.
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