The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en
Volume 14, Number 14
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
House on auction block has ties to Emma Hart Willard By David Huck Special to The Citizen
A historic home in Berlin is up for sale — a place that may have ties to some of the town’s most notable residents. The house, located at 446 Lower Lane — on the corner of Norton Road near the elementary school that bears her name — is commonly referred to as the homestead and birthplace of women’s education advocate Emma Hart Willard. The home is up for sale due to a foreclosure. The current owner, Anthony P. Centurelli, purchased the home in November 1998 for $70,000. The house is open for inspection at 10 a.m. April 10. The auction starts at noon. Recently
Citizen photo by Olivia L. Lawrence
Did Emma Hart Willard live here? assessed at $248,100, the property is listed by Creative Realty. The real estate company could not be reached for com-
Not a peep
ment. “The house that’s there now, no one really knows who built it,” said Steve Kearns, a board member at the Berlin Historical Society. Kearns is optimistic the house will be brought back to life. “Hopefully a good buyer will get it and bring it back again.” A rock situated on the edge of the home’s property is engraved with the notation that the site is the birthplace of Emma Hart Willard; born 1787 and died 1870. The engraving states that the rock was placed there by the Emma Hart Willard Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1913. The engraving also recognizes Emma’s sister, Almira Hart Lincoln-Phelp, noting that the women were educators and authors. The engraved rock lists the
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Teams ‘spring’ into action
Photo by Paul Salina
Lindsay Erickson, pictured, and the Berlin High School softball team opened their 2010 season this week. Check out page 23 for BHS spring team previews.
See Auction, page 30
Town’s 2010-2011 budget asks for two percent increase By Olivia L. Lawrence The Berlin Citizen
Katie Connors got a bird’s-eye view of the subject of Chick Day when she and her parents, Sheri Sala and Brian Connors of Berlin, attended A.S. Labieniec’s spring event, held March 27.
The town’s budget hearing is set for April 13 and Mayor Adam Salina says the council will ask for a two percent increase over the previous $66.5 million budget. “We tried to keep it as low as possible,” Salina said. The total proposed budget for 2010-2011, including the Board of Education, is $67,842,998, an increase of $1,389,211 or 2.1 percent over the previous year’s $66,453,787. This translates into a mill rate increase of .96 which would bring the mill rate up from the current 22.69 to 23.65. Previously, Town Manager Denise McNair had submitted a proposal for a 5.7 percent increase, but as typically happens, the finance committee trimmed it substantially. The entire seven-member council acted as the fi-
nance commmittee this session and “it was a very positive experience,” Salina said. The public hearing for the budget will be held at McGee Middle School at 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 13. The referendum will be on Tuesday, April 27. All five polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. During the preliminary budget meetings which took place over the past couple of months and are open to the public, no members of the public attended, The Board of Education 2010-2011 budget is $37,060,337. The capital expenditure budget is at $731,417, which is a reduction from $2,627,767 initially proposed. This $731,417 includes $120,000 for BOE capital items, which is in addition to its operating budget. Figures were provided by Director of Finance, Jim Wren. He outlined some of the
See Budget, page 17