“Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.” ~ Peter Marshall
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Bee Intelligencer Informing the towns of Middlebury, Southbury, Woodbury, Naugatuck, Oxford and Watertown A FREE COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Volume IX, No. 25
Friday, July 5, 2013
Selectmen meet briefly By MARJORIE NEEDHAM Monday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting wasn’t the shortest on record, but it came close. As Selectman Ralph Barra made the motion to adjourn he noted it was 6:14 p.m. The meeting had begun shortly after 6 p.m. First Selectman Edward B. St. John and Selectman Barra (Selectman Strobel was out of town) appointed the Torrington Health District’s Robert Rubbo as Middlebury’s Director of Health for the term of June 30, 2013, through June 30, 2014. Four residents were reappointed to the Land Preservation and Open Space Committee for the term of July 17, 2013, through July 17, 2014. They are James G. Crocicchia, Robert J. Jokubaitis, Joseph J. Salvini, and Paul J. Shea. The amendment to the grant from the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) was next on the agenda. The $203,780 in grant money originally was to be used for tennis courts at Meadowview Park, but the Parks and Recreation Department decided instead to use it for artificial turf for the soccer fields at Meadowview Park. The change required DEEP approval, which was granted, along with additional
time to complete the project. The change also required the town to pass a resolution authorizing the first selectman to enter into agreements for the project, and the selectmen Monday night passed that resolution. It authorizes St. John to enter into agreements and contracts and execute the documents necessary to the grant. Selectman also voted to renew the town’s agreement with Behavioral Health Consultants LLC to provide an employee assistance program to the town. The program covers 50 employees and their dependents and is in effect from July 1, 2013, to July 1, 2014. The cost is $25 per employee per year. As the final item on the agenda, St. John read into the record a letter of appreciation from Woodside Heights Administrator Gail Allegretto. She asked St. John to pass on to Public Works Director Dan Norton and his crew a big “thank you” for the “fantastic” job he and his staff do with the landscaping along Woodside Avenue and Senior Drive. Allegretto said she receives many compliments on the landscaping and feels it is one of the main reasons so many people apply for residency at Woodside Heights.
Conservation Commission notes By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE The Middlebury Conservation Commission (CC) at its June 25 meeting unanimously approved plans for a house on Christian Road and for downsizing a proposed Benson Road building for Pilot Seasoning. It also asked for revised drainage plans for Whittemore Crossing, accepted an application for a swimming pool on Watertown Road, and agreed to hold a special meeting to rule on the pool. Plans for a single-family house with asphalt driveway at 639 Christian Road were unanimously approved. A report by George Logan, a wetland specialist and soil scientist at Rema Ecological Services LLC, described the proposed house with driveway to Christian Road replacing a house demolished in the past. A total of 4,995 square feet of wetlands would be disturbed, but it would be compensated by about 8,100 square feet of new wetlands on the 2.49-acre property. Pilot Seasoning Co.’s application to downsize plans for a pre-engineered, mostly onestory building at 68 North Benson Road to 15,360 square feet including future expansion from the 22,000 square feet approved Feb. 26 was unanimously approved. Woodbury professional engineer Mark Riefenhauser of Smith & Co. told commissioners wetlands disturbance would be reduced to 1.3 acres from 2.3. 1365 LLC d/b/a Whittemore Crossing was instructed to file revised site plans for running a drainage pipe from 1.88 acres of property it recently acquired from Tara Perrotti into a drainage
pipe approved in June 2011 but not yet installed. A letter from town engineer John Calabrese commented on plans to install the 36-inch drainage pipes in two phases. It said the velocity of water from the first phase would cause erosion and runoff into Junipers Restaurant property. He recommended building the entire stretch of pipe at once or else installing a velocity reduction device and outlet protection area to control the water. Calabrese also mentioned buffer requirements from other land use boards might affect the placement of the drainage and driveways. An application by Louis Persico to construct a pool at 642 Watertown Road was unanimously accepted. Mike Cosmos of Connecticut Pool & Spa said the 20-by-40-foot pool would be energy efficient and utilize cartridges that require no backwash, adding that all excavated material would be removed from the site. He said Persico was anxious to have the pool installed this summer and asked Chairman Paul Bowler if a special meeting could be arranged to avoid waiting a month for the regular meeting. Commissioners agreed to set a special meeting Tuesday, July 9, at 7 p.m. in a place to be decided. Persico was instructed to get a letter from the town permitting construction on an easement-restricted lot and to stake out the area so commissioners could walk the property. The next regular CC meeting will be Tuesday, July 30, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 26 at Shepardson Community Center.
Middlebury Land Trust directors assembled prior to the MLT annual meeting are, left to right, Donald Tuttle, Curtiss Smith, Scott Peterson, Peter North, Don McRae, Jack Manning and Bill Crutcher. (Chris Parker photos)
Land trust holds annual meeting The 44th annual meetings of members and the board of the Middlebury Land Trust Inc. (MLT) were held the evening of Wednesday, June 19, at Lake Elise in Middlebury. President Scott Peterson presided and opened the meeting by dedicating it to the memory of George Largay, formerly of Middlebury, a long-time director of the MLT who died May 28. Peterson noted it was the Largay family that donated Lake Elise and the surrounding Largay Preserve to the land trust, and it was here on June 3 that George Largay’s memorial service was held. “George and his family are in all our thoughts and prayers,” Peterson said. Also honored was retiring Director Joseph Salvini of Middlebury. Among the many things Salvini has done for the land trust during his tenure on the board, Peterson said, has been “the organization of monitoring of every single one” of the land trust’s more than 50 properties. “Beyond just the organizing,” Peterson said, “Joe has pushed and prodded us all to get our monitoring reports done and turned in, and in so doing he has caused 100 percent of our properties to have their monitoring reports filed.” Salvini will be presented with a framed original panoramic photograph of Fenn’s Farm and Pond by fellow Middlebury resident and noted local photographer Dr. Chris Parker. Fenn’s Pond, former President Lem Sperry noted, was the very first prop-
erty preserved by the land trust when it was founded in 1969. Treasurer Jack Manning said the land trust had a good past year with support exceeding expenses by $113,657. Total endowment increased to $1,904,793 at the end of 2012 from $1,786,466 at the end of 2011. Five directors were re-elected to threeyear terms. They are: John Manning, Jane Connery, Donald McRae, Curtiss Smith and Janine Sullivan-Wiley. Officers elected for the upcoming year are: President, Dr. W. Scott Peterson;
Vice-President, Peter North; Treasurer, John Manning; and Secretary, William Crutcher. Middlebury Land Trust Inc., is a nonprofit conservation organization whose primary objective is to acquire and preserve land or conservation easements by gift or purchase to be held in perpetuity as open space in order to maintain and preserve a healthy, attractive and balanced environment for living in Middlebury. Total lands overseen total 1,747 acres. More information is at www.middleburylandtrust.org.
EIDC adopts revised Tax Incentive Policy By TERRENCE S. MCAULIFFE The Middlebury Economic and Industrial Development Commission (EIDC) at its June 25 meeting lifted the moratorium on new Tax Incentive Policy applications after voting to accept the Board of Selectmen’s (BoS) approval of the updated policy. It also approved the architectural design of Pilot Seasoning’s downsized plans and set work assignments for the evolving Guidebook for Commercial Development. Commissioners unanimously voted to accept the June 18 BoS approval of the Tax Incentive Policy revision sent to the selectmen as a draft May 28. Co-chairman Michael Kenausis said the revision was intended to provide greater clarity to procedures and information requirements to better serve the interests of taxpayers.
Commissioners also unanimously voted to end the April 23 moratorium on new applications that town counsel Robert Smith recommended to protect against lawsuits if the policy was changed to disqualify pending applications. Mary Volpe’s downsized building and site plans for Pilot Seasoning Co.’s pre-engineered building at 68 North Benson Road were unanimously approved after lengthy discussion of appearance standards in that LI-200 light industrial zone. Land surveyor Curt Smith of Smith & Co. told commissioners the 15 parking spaces in front of the building would not be built, leaving that area undisturbed. He said the previous white roof would become an earth tone, and trees and natural vegetation would shield most of the building from sight. Kenausis asked com-
missioners to consider standards consistent with neighboring properties such as Long Meadow Elementary School, Edgewood Bath and Tennis Club, and Benson Woods, but Smith pointed out they were all special exceptions and not light industrial uses. Volpe said upgrading the building facade at a cost up to $100,000 would be prohibitively expensive. In other matters, work on the Guidebook for Commercial Development was continued until the next regular meeting. Kenausis asked commissioners to prepare twopage summaries and bring pertinent forms for review and discussion. There will be no July meeting. The next regular EIDC meeting will be Tuesday, Aug. 27, at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall conference room.
Adoptable Pets................ 8 Book Review................... 3 Classifieds....................... 7 Community Calendar....... 2 Fire Log........................... 2 In Brief............................ 4 Legal Notice.................... 7
Library Happenings.......... 2 Library Lines.................... 2 Nuggets for Life.............. 6 Obituaries....................... 5 Puzzles........................... 7 Senior Center News......... 3 Sports Quiz..................... 6
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Upcoming Events
Inside this Issue
JULY & AUGUST
thursday
July 16
Hunger Doesn’t Take A Summer Vacation Food Drive What: Where:
Middlebury Congregational Church, St. George’s Episcopal Church, St. John of the Cross Church and Word of Life Family Church collect and distribute food during the summer months when the hungry have less food available. Within each church. Representatives are listed in “In Brief” on page 4.
Middlebury Republican Town Committee Special Elections Meeting When: 7:30 p.m. What: MRTC members choose candidates to support in the fall elections. Where: Shepardson Community Center Auditorium at 1172 Whittemore Road.
Traffic accidents occupy officers
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