Hiring of administrator, street projects and opening of new police station among city of Sandwich accomplishments in ′22

More new home starts than over the past decade combined, a new station for the police department after a multimillion-dollar renovation, the appointment of the first-ever city administrator and several street and sidewalk improvements all occurred in 2022 in Sandwich.

Mayor Todd Latham said that while dealing with setbacks and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city finished several projects, the City Council passed 17 new ordinances and saw a great deal of growth.

The city completed the resurfacing of County Line Road, improved Main Street after fixing a water main break and improved the sidewalks at W.W. Woodbury Elementary School.

The city also made improvements at the intersections of Center Street and Fairwinds Crossing, E. Center and Latham Streets, and Railroad and Main streets downtown that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Despite this progress, Latham said there is a great deal of more work to be done to improve the condition of the city’s infrastructure, including its streets.

“I ran hoping not to raise peoples’ taxes, but it’s evident that our city is in such a need of repair that we’ve got to come up with funds to at least make progress, or we’re going to continue to fall behind,” Latham said.

Other projects that were originally planned to be complete by now, such as the North Latham Street improvements and Route 34 traffic signal upgrades, have experienced setbacks.

“I mean, if you just look at our streets, they’re in poor shape,” Latham said. “Our sidewalks are in poor shape, our downtown has no streetscape.”

Latham said the city will continue to invest in its downtown, improving parking, street lighting and continuing sidewalk improvements in 2023.

Latham said plenty of work was done at City Hall this year, as Sandwich City Council passed 17 new ordinances and hired the first city administrator.

The council approved an ordinance to allow for outdoor dining and a food truck ordinance to enforce health and safety regulations and provide designated locations.

The council also amended the liquor license ordinance to allow for a brewery or winery and to allow for the sale of alcoholic beverages at the movie theatre.

Latham said he hopes City Administrator Geoff Penman will play a big role in future grant writing and economic development of the city.

Penman was appointed in October and already has spearheaded a plan to combat late water bill fees and an amnesty program to help Sandwich residents come current with their payments.

While Sandwich has not received its annual budget audit, Latham reported that the city’s revenue is up for the second year in a row and video gaming, sales and income tax revenues all are above what was expected.

Latham said there were 41 new home starts in Sandwich in 2022, more than the in the past 10 years combined, most of which are in the Fairwinds development by Ryan Homes.

Latham said from land cash agreements, developer Ryan Homes paid impact fees of $100,655 to Sandwich Community Unit School District 430, $6,200 to the Sandwich Public Library District and $12,500 to the Sandwich Community Fire Protection District in 2022.

Latham said the annual Taste of Sandwich event was a success this year, bringing in more than $1,000 for next years events.

Sandwich saw some new restaurants and some existing restaurants change owners in 2022. Scooter’s Coffee opened in August, Corral’s opened in the former Route 34 Pub & Grub. Bull Moose Bar & Grille and Sandwich Freedom Hall also changed owners.

Several new retailers such as Midnight Pine Studios, Magnolia on Main, Chef Heatly’s Pepper Farm and Crew and Company all opened in downtown storefronts.

Police Chief James Bianchi said he is proud of the high level of protection his department has provided for the city throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The police department has moved into their new public safety building at 1251 E. Sixth St., and is running nearly all operations out of the new facility.

The former Design Stairs building and land was purchased by the department in 2017 for about $500,000. After more than $3,000,000 in renovations, the building is nearly complete.

Bianchi said all that is left is IT connections to be installed by the state, to allow the use of the new lockup and detention area.

The department recently purchased cellular devices through Firstnet services, and Bianchi said he is hoping to have in-car and body cameras implemented by this time next year.