Commission Appointees

Old Lyme River's Edge, Kathleen DeMeo

The membership of the Connecticut River Gateway Commission is comprised of two representatives from each of the eight member towns appointed by their municipal governments for two-year terms, plus two representatives and two alternates selected by the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments (RiverCOG). A representative of the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) also serves on the Commission.

The Gateway Commission conducts much of its work through subcommittees which include Communications & Outreach, Finance, Grants Review, Land, and Rules & Procedures.

Officers

Suzanne Thompson

Chair

Old Lyme

William Webb

Vice Chair

Old Saybrook

Michael Farina

Secretary

Haddam

Erin Ortega

Treasurer

Haddam

Connecticut River Gateway Commission Appointees

Chester

Misha Semënov-Leiva

Tom Brelsford (alternate)

Deep River

Jerry Roberts

Vacancy (alternate)

Essex

Peter Fleischer

James Hiller (alternate)

East Haddam

Crary Brownell

Deborah Langdon (alternate)

Haddam

Mike Farina

Erin Ortega (alternate)

Lyme

Susan Fox

Vacancy (alternate)

Old Lyme

Suzanne Thompson

Greg Futoma (alternate)

Old Saybrook

Bill Webb

Lisa Wadge (alternate)

RiverCOG

South

Vacancy

Vacancy (alternate)

North

Raul Debrigard

Alan Ponanski (alternate)

DEEP

Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection

Kathleen Perzanowski
Environmental Analyst, Commissioner’s Representative

Commissioner Emeritus

J. Melvin Woody

The Commission is represented in legal matters by Attorneys Mark Branse and Matt Willis of Halloran & Sage.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Connecticut River has a very impressive list of honors.

The lower river and its wetlands complex were named by the International Ramsar Convention as being “internationally important.” The river tidelands, including the Zone, are considered one of the Western Hemisphere’s “40 Last Great Places” by the Nature Conservancy. It is the first, and only, National Blueway per the federal Department of the Interior. And it is an “American Heritage River.”