“To be ignorant of one’s ignorance is the malady of ignorance.” ~ A. Bronson Alcott
Bee Intelligencer
FR EE
Prst. Std. U.S. Postage Paid Naugatuck, CT #27
Informing the towns of Middlebury, Southbury, Woodbury, Naugatuck, Oxford and Watertown AN INDEPENDENTLY OWNED FREE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Volume X, No. 18
Friday, May 2, 2014
Vote on Wednesday The polls will be open Wednesday, May 7, from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Shepardson Community Center in Middlebury for voters to cast their votes on the following three questions: 1. Shall the 2014-2015 proposed Town of Middlebury Municipal Budget in the amount of $9,969,887 be approved? 2. Shall the proposed 2014-2015 Budget of the Pomperaug Regional School District #15 in the amount of $64,228,446 be adopted? 3. Shall the Town of Middlebury adopt the Leash Ordinance, as moved to ballot by the Board of Selectmen on April 21, 2014? Those who own property assessed at $1,000 or more on the last completed grand list are eligible to vote provided they are U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old.
Absentee ballots available Middlebury Town Clerk Edith Salisbury points to online information about Middlebury land records that is now available to anyone with access to a computer and the Internet. The town recently started offering access to the records through uslandrecords.com. (Marjorie Needham photo)
Middlebury land records now online By MARJORIE NEEDHAM Middlebury land records became available online last week. Now title searches and other land record research can begin right at your own computer. How far one goes with the online program, uslandrecords.com, may depend on weighing time versus money. That’s because each page of information viewed or printed through the new program costs $2, and those using the program can’t choose to view or print just one page. If the
document they need is 20 pages long, they will have to pay for all 20 pages even if only three pages are of interest to them. Despite this, the system likely will be helpful to many who need to access Middlebury land records. Users can, for example, find out if the property next door sold just by going into the indexes without viewing or printing any of the documents. Middlebury Town Clerk Edith Salisbury said she began looking into this type of software several years ago. “I didn’t want services to cost money, and I didn’t want
the town to lose revenue,” she said. By state statute, the town charges $1 a page for copies of land records. Last year, those charges brought in more than $9,000. An online program that allowed users to view and print land records at no cost was not an option, Salisbury said, because the town couldn’t afford to lose that much revenue. Since the town contracts with ACS/Xerox to microfilm and verify land record indexes (as state law requires), Salisbury said it
Absentee ballots for electors who cannot vote in person at the May 7, 2014, referendum due to active service in the Armed Forces, absence from town during all of the hours of voting, illness, religious tenets forbidding secular activity on the day of the election, duties as an election official at a different polling place or physical disability are available in the Middlebury town clerk’s office at 1212 Whittemore Road in Middlebury. The three questions on the ballot are the Town of Middlebury budget, the Pomperaug Regional School District No.15 budget and the Leash Ordinance. Electors and property owners owning property assessed at
$1,000 or more on the last completed grand list are eligible to vote. They also must be a U.S. citizen and at least 18 years old. Ballots may be obtained in person; they will not be mailed. An application must be filled out before an absentee ballot can be issued. Applications are available at the town clerk’s office or can be downloaded from the secretary of the state’s website at www. sots.ct.gov under Elections and Voting. Print the application form for referendum only. The town clerk’s regular hours are Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please call the town clerk’s office at 203-758-2557 with any questions.
– See Land Records on page 5
Dog park project under way Beverly Dassonville of Middlebury said she is ready to start raising funds for the dog park she would like to see open up in Middlebury. The first big fundraiser will be an appearance by psychic spirit medium and paranormal researcher Lisa Lanno, Saturday, June 21, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Middlebury firehouse on Tucker Hill Road. Lanno will donate 50 percent of her proceeds to the dog park. More information on the event and ticket sales will follow. Dassonville has met several times with the Board of Selectmen and the Parks and Recreation Commission to discuss where the dog park might be located and how it can become a reality. She reports First Selectman Edward B. St. John has agreed to provide a piece of land (5 acres or more) if
the group can raise the funds needed to construct a dog park. She has established a trade name, “Friends of Middlebury Dog Park” and registered it at town hall. She also has put together a small committee she will chair. She said the members are a volunteer group of Middlebury resident dog lovers who are joining forces to establish an official “off leash” dog park here in town. The committee is taking responsibility for marketing, fundraising, park design, establishing park rules and advocating among the necessary town committees and constituents impacted by this project. The dog park committee also will provide day-to-day oversight and sustain the park through financial support and volunteer
activity. Members will maintain the facility, erect signs and stock the dog bag dispensers. Dassonville also is filing paperwork so the group can be recognized as a nonprofit organization. The group hopes to raise funds through grants and donations to pay for construction materials and ongoing maintenance of the park. The group also will place donation jars in businesses around town to make it convenient for people to donate. Dassonville said the first major expense will be the fencing for the dog park. She has been talking with Dave from Colonial Fencing of Middlebury, and she said he will be
– See Dog Park on page 5
Conservation Commission approves timber harvesting By TERRENCE S.MCAULIFFE The Middlebury Conservation Commission (CC) at its March 31 special meeting approved timber harvesting on South Street property owned by the Larkin family and, at its April 29 regular meeting, accepted applications for permit modification for a house on Christian Road, waterway alterations at Hop Brook, and field repair and a new shed on Lake Quassapaug. No action was taken on a permit for brush removal on Regan Road. New member Justin Scott Stanziale was introduced at the April meeting. The March 31 special meeting was held to vote on the South Street timber harvesting
Inside this Issue Library Lines.................... 2 Obituaries....................... 5 Puzzles..................................7 Region 15 School Calendar....4 Senior Center Events....3, 5 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
friDAY
May 2
Upcoming Events
Adoptable Pets................ 8 Book Review................... 2 Classifieds....................... 7 Community Calendar....... 2 Fire Log........................... 5 In Brief............................ 4 Library Happenings.......... 2
because a quorum was not present at the March 25 regular meeting. Commissioners unanimously voted to allow activity that certified forester Eric Hansen of Ferrucci & Walicki LLC said would remove mature and poor-quality trees, leaving behind about 40 percent of mostly mid-sized oak, maple and yellow poplar trees to regenerate. The permit, stipulating a fee of $20 per acre plus $200 for filing, allows logging on about 32 acres along Sandy Hill Road and eight acres along South Street, with the temporary construction of a bridge and a corduroy crossing. Revisions to plans approved June 2013 for a single-family house with asphalt driveway at 639 Christian Road were unani-
saturday, monday & tuesday May 3, 5 & 6
mously accepted for review. David Theroux told commissioners the proposed house would be more appealing to buyers if it were located farther back from Route 188 and offered more back yard room. He said the same amount of wetlands would be disturbed as in the original plan. The driveway remained the same; only the house footprint shifted. Plans for the Town of Middlebury to correct the course of a brook encroaching on sewer lines near the Hop Brook pumping station and remove accumulated silting were unanimously accepted for review.
– See CC on page 5
Pies and Pints co-owners, Chris Gogas, left, and Theo Anastasiadis, right, flank Todd Ruggere of the Connecticut Pour Tour as they stand in front of his Pour Tour vehicle outside Pies and Pints during a recent visit. (Marjorie Needham photo)
Pour tour visits Middlebury Todd Ruggere, through his Connecticut Pour Tour, is raising funds for pediatric cancer patients at Smilow Cancer Center by drinking a beer in each of Connecticut’s 169 towns and raising funds at the places he visits. He recently stopped at Pies and Pints of Middlebury and will return to the area Friday, June 6, for a fundraiser at the Pies and Pints at 25 Leavenworth St. in Waterbury. The Grafton, Mass., resident said he started his fundraising
Brass City Ballet (BCB) Ribbon Cutting and Open House
What: See the new studio and enjoy refreshments and a performance by BCB students When: 5:30 to 8 p.m. Where: 1255 Middlebury Road (the Hamlet) in Middlebury
Friends of the Middlebury Public Library Annual Book Sale What: When: Where:
More than 40 categories of books, along with audio books, CDs and DVDs Preview sale ($5) 8 to 9 a.m. Saturday. Free admission 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; 10 am to 4 p.m. Sunday and Monday Middlebury Public Library at 30 Crest Road in Middlebury
Troop 444 Annual Pasta Dinner
sunDAY
May 4
by drinking a beer in each of the 351 towns in Massachusetts over a nine-month period. The $43,000 raised during that tour went to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Massachusetts. He’s already raised $20,000, or nearly half of what was raised in Massachusetts, on his Connecticut tour. Ruggere said he started touring Connecticut’s towns Jan. 11 and thinks he will finish sometime in September. Learn more at ctpourtour.com.
What: When: Where: Info:
Meal of tossed salad, Italian bread, pasta and meatballs with beverage and dessert is a fundraiser to support Troop 444 programs 5 to 7 p.m. Middlebury Firehouse at 65 Tucker Hill Road Ticket prices are $8 adults, $5 children, $4 seniors, $25 for family of four (two adults, two children)
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