Volume 16, Issue 50
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Middlefield budget hearing ‘unnoticed’ but informative By Chuck Corley Special to the Town Times
Although the Board of Finance’s public hearing on the First Selectman’s budget wasn’t properly noticed, a public hearing was held on Thursday, March 18, to meet the Town Charter requirement for a hearing. Due to the lack of a legal notice, however, another hearing was scheduled for March 29 to allow the town to hear and comment on Jon Brayshaw’s proposal. The total proposed budget comes out to $15,002,084, of which the town portion makes up $4,077,934 of the amount (or 27 percent). The expected mill rate for 2010-2011 is 26.52 mills, an increase of .83 mills from 2009-2010. The average homeowner with an assessment of $192,300 would see $156 added to their tax bill for the year. Brayshaw explained that the mill increase is due to the school budget and a loss of state revenue. Despite the total budget increases,
Brayshaw had some good news to offer. The town’s expenses are down three percent, while he expects taxable property to go up by $500,000 due to the building planned for Happy Acres and the Merriam property. (Assessor Steve Hodgetts explained after the meeting that new building becomes taxable upon the granting of a Certificate of Occupancy, or CO. In order to impact next year’s tax collections, COs for either or both property would have to be granted during the time covered by the proposed budget – July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. The sooner a CO is granted, the more tax money could be raised.) In light of the decrease in revenue, Brayshaw also stated that funding will need to come from sources that the town is not used to. While he suggested leasing more land for cell towers or to the school district, his suggestion to sell property met with some controversy. See Budget, page 10
Helping HELO Haiti By Sue VanDerzee Town Times
Yes, indeed, our towns are generous. When the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck just outside Port au Prince, Haiti on Jan. 12, it struck closer to home than perhaps most of us realized. That’s because these towns have very strong connections to that impoverished island nation – through the Catholic Archdiocese of Norwich, which maintains several programs and an active presence in Haiti, and through HELO (Home Education Love Opportunity) Haiti, a non-profit orphanage established by Elisabeth Kennedy of Middlefield and a group of supporters in aux Cayes, a city on the southwestern coast. When the earthquake struck, Elisabeth’s group mobilized, using facilities and volunteers from DurhamMiddlefield Youth and Family Services (DMYFS) to collect water,
clothes and cash for Haitian relief. Elisabeth’s specific concern, once she found out that the children in the orphanage were safe, was that aux Cayes would be overrun by refugees fleeing Port-au-Prince and that the number of orphans in need of care would skyrocket. These concerns proved true, but at the same time, she has been overwhelmed by the response of local people to the disaster as water, clothes and donations poured into DMYFS at the Middlefield Community Center.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Friday Fun with Frogs Top right, Garrett Puchalski was one of 38 participants in the first Frog Friday program led by Lucy Meigs of Durham. Meigs , who also organized a Women of the Woods group to connect women to nature, was hiking on the Field property open space in durham on March 15 when she discovered a vernal pool full of spring peepers and wood frogs. She immediately thought of sharing this experience on what she dubbed a “Frog Friday.” Besides Garrett, participants included clockwise from top left below, Jack Huscher and Jackson Bracken checking out a frog; a net-armed trio intent on finding frogs or frog eggs; and Susan Johnson helping daughter Charlotte get up close and personal with spring critters through use of a pond scope. The first foray was so successful that Meigs has scheduled a two more Frog Fridays for April 2 and April 30 at 4 p.m. Call her at 860-395-7771 or email lucy@womenofthewoods.org to learn where to meet.
More on page 8 in the editorial space.
In this issue ... Babies...........................................17 Calendar ........................................4 Durham Briefs & Library ......12-13 Easter Worship............................19 Middlefield Briefs & Library.10-11 Obituary.......................................20 Spotlight/Engagements..............16 Sports.......................................23-27
Photos by Lisa Liesener