About Our Town

WELCOME TO MADISON

The Main Street area sports an award-winning, user-friendly book store, a cinema, quaint sandwich and sweet shops, linen appointed restaurants, and a growing number of clothing and gift boutiques. In addition, the town green hosts a variety of summer art and craft fairs, antique shows, musical and dramatic performances.

Guests can choose a charming beach hotel or a warm country inn, each with proximity to historical homes, antique shops, hiking, biking, fishing and, of course, beautiful beaches.

Year-round residents boast of a superior school system, an expansive recreational program and many opportunities to volunteer their service. Madison is, indeed the perfect combination of small-town closeness and urban sophistication. It is a wonderful place to live, no less a must to visit.

Tom Scarpati, First Selectman
THE TOWN
General Description

The Town was first settled in 1641 as part of Guilford. It was organized as a separate community in 1707 and incorporated in 1826. The Town was the one hundred twenty-eighth town established in Connecticut. The Town encompasses approximately 36.3 square miles within New Haven County, approximately 15 miles east of New Haven and 35 miles south of Hartford. Interstate 95 and state highways 80 and 1 (Boston Post Road) intersect the Town for east and west transportation access, while state highway 79 provides north-south access. Today Madison is bounded on the east by Clinton; on the north by Durham; on the south by Long Island Sound; and on the west by Guilford. The Town is primarily a suburban, residential community with single-family homes.

Since the 1860's the Town has maintained a large summer resident community attracted to the Town's beaches and Long Island Sound. Most year-round residents are in the executive, professional, technical, and managerial categories, with employment in Hartford, New Haven, Fairfield County and New York. The 1990 U. S. Census figure was published at 15,485 persons. Bus, air and rail service are available from the New Haven, Hartford, Providence, Rhode Island and New York area facilities. The Town has a railroad stop near the central business district provided by Shore Line East, a State of Connecticut Department of Transportation Commuter Railroad that provides commuter service between New London and New Haven during rush hours. Other Metro-North and Amtrak connections are available from the New Haven Union Station.

Located within Town are two state parks, the Cockaponset State Forest in the northern portion of Town, and the Hammonasset State Park and Beach located on the southeastern edge of Madison. The Hammonasset Park consists of 930 acres and 558 campsites provide concessions, bathhouses, a pavilion and picnic areas. Parking for 7,000 vehicles is available for bathers and campers alike, with overall park capacity rated to serve 16,000 people. The Park also provides a fishing jetty for surf and boat fishing.

The Town utilizes an adopted Plan of Development to maintain its rural and seashore character of Town. Under the Town Charter, the Planning and Zoning Commission is responsible for approval of all projects. Current zoning regulations were adopted on April 10, 1953, with various revisions being adopted since that time. The Town is completely zoned with approximately 80% of the land zoned residential, with one to two acre lots. The balance of the Town is zoned commercial or light industrial. The areas zoned for one acre can include apartment or condominium units. As part of the Town Plan of Development, open space and preservation of the seashore and rural character of the Town are major goals. To that end, the Town has provided for 3 parks, including the Surf Club Beach area, a 45-acre beach/recreation facility owned by the Town that provides beaches, ball fields, football and soccer fields.

The values of new homes range from $188,000 to $881,000. The average selling price of all single family homes sold in 2000 was approximately $374,000, with prices ranging between $126,000 and $3,250,250.

The Madison downtown business district has an active Chamber of Commerce organization, Business Council Group and an active shopping and commercial area located in the south central part of the community, extending both east and west along the Boston Post Road. In addition to the many businesses in Town, there are numerous banking institutions, including First Union National Bank, Fleet National Bank, People's Bank, Citizens Bank, Webster Bank and Guilford Savings Bank.

The Town provides educational opportunity with public schools grades K-12. In addition, within Town there are two private schools grades K-8 and one private school K-12, along with eight different pre-school programs. Colleges and Universities a short distance from Town include Middlesex Community College and Wesleyan University, both in Middletown, approximately 20 miles north of Madison. To the west is Albertus Magnus College, South Central Community College, Southern Connecticut State University, The University of New Haven, Gateway Community College, and Yale University, all located in the Greater New Haven area. For more information on the Madison Public Schools, visit www.madison.k12.ct.us.

Summary of Services

Police: The Town is provided with 24-hour police coverage by a force consisting of 27 police officers and 1 executive officer. Hammonasset State Park, located in Madison, is served by the Connecticut State Police Barracks at Westbrook, with occasional assistance by the local department. There is one full-time animal control officer and one part-time animal control officer.

Fire: All areas of the Town are covered by 2 volunteer fire companies, Madison Hose Co. #1, which covers the southern sector of Town south of the Pines, and the North Madison Volunteer Fire Company which serves the northern sector of Town. Each company is a private corporation which is substantially supported by the Town and owns land, buildings, and some equipment. Both companies are activated by radio contact with the Town Communications Center located in the Police Station, which operates on a twenty-four hour basis. The companies belong to a mutual aid system with nearby towns. There are currently approximately 30-35 volunteers in each department. Each department has a corps of Junior Fire Fighters.

Emergency Medical Assistance: The Town is served by a local private non-profit association which is supported by Town subsidy. Emergency medical services are also provided by the North Madison Fire Department. The area hospitals are the Middlesex Memorial Hospital, 20 miles north in Middletown; Yale New Haven Hospital and St. Raphael's Hospital which are located in New Haven, 23 miles to the west. These facilities are aided by a shoreline clinic in the town of Westbrook. This clinic provides basic and paramedic emergency services.

Health: The Town engages a full-time Director of Health and a full-time Sanitarian. The Town also employs an Environmental Inspector. They are responsible for enforcing State and local public health laws.

Sewers: There is no sewage system as all businesses and homes have separate septic systems. As part of the Town's Comprehensive Plan of Development, the Town has had an active Water Pollution Control Authority that is approved and monitored by the State Department of Environmental Protection.

Solid Waste: There is no municipal trash pick-up. Residents may use private haulers or bring their trash to the solid waste transfer station in Guilford, which the town operates jointly with Guiflord.

Water: The Connecticut Water Company provides water service to the downtown area and other areas south of the I-95. Other areas are served by private individual wells. Approximately 50% of all housing units are served by the Water Company.

Electric: The Connecticut Light and Power Division (CL&P) of Northeast Utilities provides electrical service. CL&P maintains a regional maintenance facility in Madison.

Park & Recreation: The Beach & Recreation Director works under the direction of the Beach & Recreation Commission and the Board of Selectmen. His staff consists of a year-round complement of five individuals to which approximately 50 are added in the summer season when the Town's 3 beaches, fourteen hiking trails, and numerous playgrounds and playing fields are operational. The Town operates more than 130 programs throughout the year, including action oriented opportunities such as aerobics, backpacking, badminton, dancing, skiing, sailing and swimming.

Public Works: The Department of Public Works consists of 10 road maintenance workers, one landfill operator, one landfill attendant, an Assistant Town Engineer, an Engineering Inspector and a secretary, in addition to the Director of Public Works. These divisions are responsible for the various town buildings, grounds and land. The Department operates a brush/stump landfill area and is in partnership with the Town of Guilford in the Guilford/Madison Transfer Station. There are approximately 107 miles of Town roads which are maintained, plowed, patched and swept by the Town crew.

Grounds Maintenance: The Department of Grounds Maintenance consists of 6 building and grounds maintainers, one part-time building and grounds maintainer, and one Manager of Facilities, who serves both the Town and the Board of Education. This Department is responsible for the various town buildings, grounds and land.

Social Services Director: The Town employs a full-time Social Services Director to oversee the needs of the needy and/or elderly. There are programs for surplus food and fuel assistance, in addition to financial aid.

Youth Services: There is one full-time Youth Services Director with a staff of two full-time counselors, two part-time counselors and one full-time clerical worker. Their function is to work and plan for the youth of the community and his/her problems.

Senior Citizens Coordinator: There is one full-time Senior Citizens Coordinator, one full-time Program Coordinator and one part-time clerical worker. The coordinator and her staff plan and implement programs for the Town's senior citizens, as well as assisting in various problems with the elderly. Two regular part-time bus drivers are also employed to provide transportation.

Library: The E. C. Scranton Library, established in 1900, is a private corporation which is mainly supported by Town funds. Additional funds are raised by the library board through donations. The facility has a collection of 62,000 books, records, language tapes along with over 200 newspapers and magazines. Services also include video cassettes for overnight use, community calendar listings for coming events, and home delivery services for the home bound. For more information, go to www.scrantonlibrary.com.

Town Organization

The Town of Madison operates under the provisions of its Charter, most recently revised in 2001, and the General Statutes of the State of Connecticut. The Town Meeting form of government prevails. The legislative body is the Town Meeting. The Executive body consists of a Board of Selectmen, a five member board, with the First Selectman acting as the chief executive officer. Election to the Board of Selectmen is for a two-year term. A six-member Board of Finance is responsible for presenting fiscal operating budgets to the Annual Town Meeting. Board of Finance members are elected for four-year terms. A nine-member elected Board of Education is responsible for the operation of the school system.

The Planning and Zoning Commission is responsible for adopting and enforcing regulations governing the growth of the Town. The Commission is authorized by the Town to retain a Planning Consultant to evaluate the present and future growth of the Town and to study the demographics and recommend changes in the current development regulations. The Economic Development Commission is a nine-member board appointed by the Board of Selectmen. The Town's most recent Comprehensive Plan of Development was adopted in November 1, 2000. There is also a seven member appointed Economic Development Commission.

For more information, please visit the Town Government's web site: www.madisonct.org