“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ~ Marcel Proust
Prst. Std. U.S. Postage Paid Naugatuck, CT #27
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Bee Intelligencer Informing the towns of Middlebury, Southbury, Woodbury, Naugatuck, Oxford and Watertown A FREE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Volume IX, No. 18
Budget votes next Wednesday
Friday, May 3, 2013
Le Bobadel’s grand opening
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM Voters in Middlebury and Southbury will head to the polls Wednesday, May 8, between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. to vote on the proposed Regional School District 15 2013-2014 budget and their town’s respective budgets. Middlebury residents from both districts will vote at Shepardson Community Center, and Southbury residents will vote at the Fire House on Main Street South. The questions on the Middlebury ballot will be: 1. “Shall the 2013-2014 proposed Town of Middlebury Municipal Budget in the amount of $10,052,636 be approved?” ___Yes ___ No 2. “Shall the proposed 2013-2014 Budget of the Pomperaug Regional School District #15 in the amount of $61,952,264 be adopted?” ___Yes ___ No The Region 15 budget of $62 million is a 2.82 percent increase over the current year. Middlebury’s share will be $19.7 million compared with the current year’s $19.1 million. Middlebury’s proposed town budget of $10.1 million is 6.4 percent higher than the current $9.4 million budget. However, it is nearly $1 million lower than the budget originally presented to the Board of Finance. In the process of reducing the budget, the Board of Finance cut nearly $500,000 from capital budget items. The largest reductions were $116,379 from public works equipment reserves, $187,050 from upgrades to town facilities and $172,016 from town infrastructure repairs. Asked how he felt about those cuts, First Selectman Edward B. St. John said Wednesday, “You never get exactly what you want. I think we can make it work.” The Board of Finance also cut from the budget the entire $22,961 allocated for the town’s proposed elderly tax relief program. The program was intended to give a small amount of financial relief to Middlebury homeowners who are seniors, qualify for state assistance and meet certain criteria established by the Elderly Tax Relief Committee. “The Board of Selectman put that into their budget, and it was taken out by the Board of Finance,” St. John said of the amount. “When I responded to it, the group (Elderly Tax Relief Committee) was thinking they would fold up their tent and call it quits, but I urged them to continue.” St. John said it’s always tough to balance the town’s needs with its ability to pay. Asked if he supported the current budget, St. John said, “I would urge our residents to vote for it.” Chief Financial Officer Lawrence Hutvagner said the town will need to charge property owners more in property taxes to cover $922,000 in needed revenue. He said the mil rate, if the proposed budget passes, will be 28.86, a 2.82 percent increase over the current 28.07 mil rate. Tax Assessor Daniel Kenny was not in his office, so we asked Hutvagner why expected revenues from personal property audits, which are $120,000 in 2012-2103, were expected to drop $65,000 to $25,000 in 2013-2014. Hutvagner said he couldn’t speak for Kenny, but his understanding was the amount dropped because residents have begun doing a better job of properly declaring their personal property. The money has been paying for audits of personal property declarations and has resulted in increased revenues for the town. Hutvagner said property taxes and supplemental auto taxes were left in the budget at their current rates because it isn’t clear whether Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposal to take some of the revenue associated with motor vehicles away from municipalities will go into effect. Hutvagner said there was no way to predict what will happen at the state level. “We based it (the numbers used) on whatever we had when the Board of Finance voted on it April 10,” he said. Middlebury voters in past years have voted for the school district budget in May and the town budget in June. This year, they will vote for both budgets the same day. Copies of the budget are available in the town clerk’s office, which is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Middlebury First Selectman Edward B. St. John, in suit, cuts the ribbon at Le Bobadel’s grand opening Friday. The New York-style deli owners are Aref Ahmed, in white shirt holding the ribbon; Chef Olimpia Cristaldo, to the right of St. John; and Elisabete Ferreira-Ahmed, far right. Le Bobadel is at 819 Straits Turnpike in Middlebury. (Marjorie Needham photo)
Police chase ends with crash Acting Police Chief Richard Wildman reported that, on Tuesday, April 30, at approximately 2:19 a.m., a vehicle being pursued by Connecticut State Police and Waterbury Police got off Interstate 84 at Exit 17 eastbound and then turned left onto Woodside Avenue in Middlebury. The vehicle proceeded up Woodside Avenue and struck a vehicle on the grounds of Woodside Heights Senior Housing at 500 Woodside Avenue. The driver then lost control, and the car left the road and crashed into the Woodside Heights building. No one in the building was injured. The operator was identified as Juan Nieves, 18, of Waterbury. Nieves was charged with operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, evading responsibility and reckless driving. Nieves was tazed when he resisted arrest by Connecticut State Police. The vehicle Nieves was driving was a 2010 Mercedes Benz reported as carjacked earlier on West Main Street in Waterbury. Middlebury Police handled the accident. Connecticut State Police and Waterbury Police are expected to add additional criminal charges.
Above: Juan Nieves of Waterbury is shown in Middlebury Police custody following his arrest on several motor vehicle charges Tuesday morning. At right: A 2010 Mercedes Benz reported as carjacked in Waterbury rests against the Woodside Heights Senior Housing building at 500 Woodside Heights in Middlebury Tuesday morning. (Middlebury Police Department photos)
Donate to the Middlebury Food Bank The Middlebury Food Bank needs donations. Please donate nonperishable items such as tuna, peanut butter, jelly, cereal, macaroni and cheese, pasta and rice. Drop off donations at the Senior/ Social Services Department office at 1172 Whittemore Road during office hours Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Adoptable Pets................ 8 Classifieds....................... 7 Community Calendar....... 2 Fire Log........................... 2 In Brief............................ 4 Library Lines.................... 2 Library Happenings.......... 5
Nuggets for Life.............. 7 Obituaries....................... 5 Puzzles........................... 7 Region 15 Calendar........ 3 Senior Center News......... 3 Sports Quiz..................... 6 Varsity Sports Calendar.... 6
Editorial Office: Email: mbisubmit@gmail.com Phone: 203-577-6800 Mail: P.O. Box 10, Middlebury, CT 06762 Advertising Sales: Email: mbiadvertising@gmail.com
Upcoming Events
Inside this Issue
saturday
May 4
wednesday
May 8
Two Tag Sales! Middlebury Congregational Church (MCC) and St. George’s Episcopal Church When: What: Where:
8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at St. George’s; 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at MCC (8:30 a.m. admission for $10) Furniture, toys, china, glassware, household goods and more. St. George’s includes hanging baskets and small plants. St. George’s is at 393 Tucker Hill Road in Middlebury; the MCC event is at Shepardson Community Center at 1172 Whittemore Road in Middlebury
Referendum on 2013-2014 budgets for Regional School District 15 and the Town of Middlebury
When: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. What: Get out and cast your vote on the budgets for the school district and the town. Where: Shepardson Community Center at 1172 Whittemore Road (both districts)
Published weekly by The Middlebury Bee Intelligencer Society, LLC - 2030 Straits Turnpike, Middlebury, CT 06762 - Copyright 2013
Referendum day events, specials
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