At the Annual State of the Town presentation, Mayor Scott Slifka touted entrepreneurial regionalism, envisioned a hotel in the Center and made assurances that the town’s pension liabilities are being reduced for the future.

His sixth annual address was to a crowd of 60 West Hartford Chamber of Commerce members at a luncheon at the University of Hartford’s 1877 Club yesterday. The university, a longstanding chamber member, sponsored the program. His candid talk about West Hartford – that “started as a chit chat” at a chamber luncheon – has since become a quasi-official address, Slifka said.

“The local economy is good,” Blue Back Square continues its success and the housing market here is stable, “in relation to what’s going on with our neighbors” because of measures put into place in the past 10 or so years. These include a continued investment in the schools, neighborhoods, business districts and infrastructure, while the delivery of services such as leaf collection, and the way the town purchases and uses energy for its buildings has changed, he said.

The new single stream recycling coming later this year will give residents a large bin like the one currently used for trash. “You will have more that goes into that bin,” Slifka said. While increased recycling will help the environment, it will also have a big impact on the budget by reducing tipping fees for items currently disposed of in the regular trash.

Saying that most attempts at regionalizing services “do not work,” Slifka said the town is looking at a new approach – entrepreneurial regionalism.

“We like how our people do it. We think we’re the best at it,” he said of the service delivery, adding, “The best performers in the market ought to be doing the work.”

So West Hartford is looking for “back door” methods regionalizing work. The example he gave were the 35 new streetlights the town installed for the Blue Back Square project. “Our department became experts in that field” and when it was learned Glastonbury was about to undergo a similar project, West Hartford sought to be hired for the job. While the proposal was turned down, it illustrates the possibilities.

“There’s a lot of things we’re good at… We’re going to give it a shot.” Some discussions have already begun that would result in “lower costs for all of us,” he said.

While big box stores look attractive, they make for a bad decision in the long run, Slifka said, much preferring the mixed use development found in the Center and in Elmwood.

Looking at the intersection of Raymond Road and Farmington Avenue, he said the vacant lot that was a Mobil gas station and two office buildings near the Subway restaurant are not the best use of that property. 

“We need a hotel” with a conference center to help “round out the Center,” he said. “People want to be here.”

Calling the proposed Hartford-New Britain busway a mistake and “a colossal waste of money,” Slifka said, “We’d like to see a rail line for Elmwood.

“West Hartford is now the new regional hub” with 500 to 1,000 residents traveling to either New York or Boston if not daily, then at least two or three days a week. Envisioning a mixed use development at such a stop, he said, “Think of the investment opportunities of a gateway to New York or Boston.”

“We did the job here in West Hartford, but the state did not,” Slifka said.

“Not much has changed from last year… nothing got fixed” by the governor or the legislature, leaving West Hartford largely on its own, strong, but “operating in a highly dysfunctional environment,” he said.

Last year, the town was able to produce a balanced budget despite a $10 million deficit while losing $6 million in revenue – and still remain one of 47 municipalities in the country to maintain a AAA bond rating with both Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s. But, Slifka said, “It’s going to be very hard to repeat that this year,” especially because as the economy declines, demand for services increases.

“No one wants to reduce services” yet there is “an almost inability to raise spending,” he said.

“Pension is a huge issue,” with the problem coming from those who retired long ago. This year, the town’s pension liability went from $7.5 million to $10 million. Slifka said the town has begun taking steps to avoid future health care and pension liabilities of retired employees by switching from defined benefits to defined contribution plans. Currently, 25 percent of employees fall under the new provisions and the town will seek “out of the box” ways to address funding older obligations.

While the next 10 years or so will be difficult, the good news is that “in the long run, we’re going to be OK,” he said.

More good news Slifka noted was that “crime has not gone up.”

Praising the chamber for holding a roundtable with several large manufacturers, he said, “Do not give up on manufacturing in West Hartford. It is here and it is here to stay.”

The discussion was taped by WHC-TV, the public access station to air on Channel 95 at times and dates yet to be determined.