www.southingtoncitizen.com
Volume 18, Number 20
Friday, May 14, 2021
Town Council divided over the budget By Jesse Buchanan Record-Journal staff
Town leaders passed a budget with minimal spending increases along partisan lines Monday with Republicans supporting the measure and Democrats objecting to it.
Board of Education spending will rise by nearly $300,000 for the 202122 fiscal year to $100.6 million. The town’s Board of Finance had voted in favor of a general government spending increase from $53.5 million to $54.7 million, not count-
ing money used from the town's reserves. On Monday, the council voted to reduce the increase by $250,000. Republicans said the spending plan was designed to keep taxes low during a year with a lot of economic un-
See Budget, A2
By Nick Sambides Jr. Record-Journal staff
Bill Close, the well-known founder and former owner of one of the Plantsville section’s oldest businesses, died at his home in Cheshire, May 1. He was 86.
Photo by Dave Zajac, Record-Journal
Shops ready for customer surge Like many other businesses, consignment shops have struggled during the pandemic. However, several local shops have noticed an increase in business during the spring.
“This is really the second year of the pandemic. People are just returning to work,” said Victoria Triano, coun-
Close Harbour Seafood founder remembered
Jessie Adams, owner of Yours & Mine Consignment, talks about the business at 461 N. Main St. in Southington. The shop, which has struggled during the pandemic, sells and accepts women’s, men’s and children’s clothing and home decor.
By Faith Williams Record-Journal staff
certainty as well as a property revaluation.
Jessie Adams opened Yours & Mine Consignment on North Main Street in Southington in March 2020. It is tucked behind the Titanium Theater Event Hall. “We’ve made it a year, but it’s been a struggle,” Adams said.
The shop was closed from midMarch to the beginning of July. “During the summer, we had vendors come in, set up and we created events so that people could come into the shop,” she
An enthusiastic skier, jet skier, golfer and boatsman who stayed athletic well into his 80s, the energetic Close is probably best known for Close Harbour Seafood on Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike, a seafood restaurant Close and market that he opened with his wife Sandy in 1982 and helped resuscitate after a fire in 2015. “He meant a lot to the area. He was very well known, very likeable,” said Betsy Tooker, coowner of Tops Marketplace, a neighboring
See Shops, A2
See Close, A6
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