Volume 18, Number 2
www.berlincitizen.com
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Thursday, Januar y 9, 2014
Storm Hercules hardly of heroic proportions By Charles Kreutzkamp The Berlin Citizen
Despite the impressive-sounding name, in Berlin, Winter Storm Hercules resulted in no significant accidents and did not overwhelm snow removal teams. He rc u l e s re s u l te d i n about six inches of snow in Berlin, which is a little more than Winter Storm Electra dumped on the town Dec. 15, 2013, and not even close to last February’s Winter Storm Nemo.
Speaking of Hercules, Deputy Chief John Klett said there were no significant weather-related accidents in town. Reported incidents were “relatively normal for weather like that,” Klett said. Public Works is responsible for clearing snow on 107 miles of road within Berlin, nearly all of which melted with the rain Jan. 6. Public Works Director Arthur Simonian said that crews were called in at 9:30 p.m. Jan. 2 and worked overtime shifts until Jan. 3 at 7
a.m., when normal duty hours resumed. The current season’s snowfall has left Public Works with about 50 percent remaining in See Storm / Page 9
Snow accumulating on the roads at the corner of Newton Street and Farmington Avenue Jan. 2. (Charles Kreutzkamp / The Berlin Citizen)
BUMPY ROAD
Town anticipates tight budget year By Daniel Jackson The Berlin Citizen
This has been an unusual winter for the Berlin High School girls basketball program. At press time, the usually-formidable Lady Redcoats were still in search of their first victory. The locals lost to Cheshire, 44-32, Dec. 28 to fall to 0-5 on the season. See more on page 15. Pictured: Berlin’s Abby Underwood attempts to get past a defender during a recent matchup. (Photo by Matt Leidemer)
Around the turn of the new year, Town Manager Denise McNair meets with the heads of the town’s departments to form the first draft of next fiscal year’s budget. While it’s a process that happens every year, McNair expects the next town’s budget to be difficult. “I was very pleased with the department heads,” she said. “A lot (of the department budgets) were less than they were last year.” Finances may be tight for the town because of dwindling revenue streams and known increases in costs. McNair said the revenue from the state may be less because of forecasts of large deficits in the state’s budget and the values on the town’s grand list decreased. “This year, we are hoping for a small increase if possible,” McNair said. The town will have to pay more in health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act and it needs to start paying back more debt because of the high school renovation project and police station. “It’s not so bad this year as it will be in the next year,” McNair said.
The town manager added she doesn’t know if the recovery has reached all the town residents yet, and many people may still be struggling to make ends meet. The preliminary budget McNair is creating now will be presented to the Town Council at the end of February. In March, the council will hold hearings on the budget and then, after revision, it will move to the voters in town in a referendum. “My budget may seem high,” McNair said,” but it’s a starting point.” The town manager said the budget catalogs what improvements and costs are needed and the budget will have to be pared down and the Town Council will need to prioritize where the town should spend its money. “I’m not doing my job unless I tell them the real condition of things,” she said. Councilman William Rasmussen said while he’s not involved in the early, budget-forming process, he gathers information about the budget so he is not “blindsided” by anything later. Every year, he says, is a difficult budget See Budget / Page 9