Environmental Planner Groff: The Time Has Come for Me to Move On

Inland Wetlands Agent and Environmental Planner Cyd Groff handed in her letter of resignation May 15, ending her ten years on the job in town.

The decision to resign has been in the works "for a long time," Groff said Friday from her office. "My husband and I are building a home... so It's time for me to be there."

While her resignation comes one week after the approval of Dollar Tree's planned one-million-square-foot facility — an approval process during which the Planning Office, in which Groff works, was heavily criticized by residents opposed to the project — Groff made her reason for resigning clear Friday, saying the controversial project had no influence over her decision to resign.

"[My resignation] has nothing to do with what's recently happened," she said. "It was supposed to happen in December."

Groff continued, saying there weren't any conflicts regarding what she wanted to see and Dollar Tree's plans "mostly because everything I asked them to do, they did. Plus extra that I didn't ask them to do that they offered."

"When someone offers you more than what you're asking for, that's usually a pretty good sign that they're serious about things," she said.

Town Manager Peter Souza also said Friday he has no knowledge of there being a connection between Groff's resignation and the Dollar Tree project.

"To my knowledge, there was never any talk of their being a conflict. This is the first time I am hearing of anything of that nature," Souza said.

Despite public perception of the project having been moved through the system at an accelerated pace, Groff said "we started working on it last fall," and it went through "all the preliminary hoops" before getting to any town commission.

Town Planning and Zoning's approval of the project on May 8 was pending Groff's review of trees to be planted atop berms surrounding the planned warehouse. There was concern tree roots would grow deep into the soil, penetrating an artificial membrane that will encapsulate contaminated soils.

Adjustments have been made to the types of trees planted on the berms, and she has signed off on the project, saying trees with deep roots will not be planted on top of the man-made mounds.

Groff, who is moving out of state, declined to say where she is headed exactly, but said in her resignation letter, submitted to Town Planner Eric Barz, "I have learned a lot during my ten years here. However, the time has come for me to move on to the next phase of my life. No position like this one exists where I am going so I will be reinventing myself based on past experience."

During her ten years in Windsor, Groff has seen many changes in town, including the introduction of green energy, which was celebrated Thursday at Windsor High School with the ribbon cutting for the school's solar panels.

"It was pretty emotional for me when I handed in my letter," she said. 

Souza acknowledged it will be a tough task to fill the shoes of an employee who has worked in town for a decade, and someone who, as the environmental planner, has undertaken a wide range of responsibilities.

"Cyd's been versatile in not only doing the technical administrative work for the wetlands commission, but she's also been helpful in moving forward our overall environmental and sustainability efforts in town," said Souza.

"She single-handedly organized Earth Day clean ups for a number of years... she's also worked to promote residents to sign up for clean energy, which has allowed us to get the free solar panels recently placed on the high school.

"...This will give us an opportunity to take a fresh look at that position's responsibilities and how we fulfill those taskes," he added.

Groff's last day will be May 29.