Volume 16, Issue 41
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Middlefield selectmen handle park issues By Chuck Corley Special to Town Times
The Board of Selectmen met with Park and Recreation director Chris Hurlbert during their Tuesday, Jan. 19 meeting to discuss a few regulations that Hurlbert wants to implement at the Lake Beseck beach. While the board noted that most of the regulations already exist, Mary Johnson called attention to one change that would allow for any town representative to enforce the beach regulations. Hurlbert explained that a representative could be any town employee, as well as the volunteers who take care of the beach. Resident Dave Lowry suggested that the term be a town designee and that a list of designees should be put together. One item that first selectman Jon Brayshaw brought up was the restriction on fishing. Brayshaw felt that there should be some way for children to fish at the lake. Though Hurlbert replied that the restriction is only at the beach, the selectmen stated that perhaps areas away from the sandy areas of the beach could be designated as fishing areas with a sign. While not in the regulation changes, Hurlbert proposed allowing dogs at the beach during the off-season from October to March. Johnson recommended against this, though, to avoid any messes left in March getting found in the summer. The most important matter related to the beach, though, is
the fact that none of the rules are actually ordinances approved by the town. This can make enforcing the rules at the beach a problem. As such, the selectmen recommended that Hurlbert look into making the rules into ordinances. Another matter Hurlbert brought before the commission was regarding the upcoming 40th anniversary of the Powder Ridge Rock Festival. Hurlbert wants to hold a concert at Peckham Park in celebration of its 40th anniversary. He hopes to have Melanie perform, who was one of the few musicians to show up at the original concert. In order to do this, he has contacted the Lion’s Club in search of funds. The selectmen gave the concert their blessing and recommended that he may want to contact the filmmaker putting together a documentary on the festival and its anniversary. One final matter Hurlbert brought up was to request that the board appoint two alternates to the Park and Recreation Commission, though the selectmen chose not to act on the request at the time. Resident Al Smith also brought up a few matters relating to Peckham Park. Illegal parking was his primary issue, as he approached the board in September to do something about it. According to Smith, the board said they would institute a program to deal with the parking problem. As of yet, though, no such See Middlefield BOS, page 10
You asked, and puzzles are back! We can’t promise a puzzle every single week, but we’re betting that nine weeks out of 10, we will carry the crossword and sudoku puzzles our readers have been missing. Check out page 12 for the sudoku and page 14 for the crossword. Answers are on page 17.
Friday, Januar y 22, 2010
Korn School’s first Science Fair winners
Pictured, from left, first place winner Alessandra Fronc, second place Keya Stahl, principal Laurie Sinder and third place Joey Venables and Trevor Scotto. See story on page 3. Photo by Deborah Sokol
Regional School District 13 to join emergency notification system By Stephanie Wilcox Town Times A very enthusiastic Francis Willett, Durham’s emergency management director, gave a presentation on the emergency notification system Regional School District 13 will soon be adopting to a very excited Board of Education (BOE) at their Jan. 13 meeting. The system, which is already used by the town of Durham and which Middlefield is considering, is ready for phase two: bringing on the school district. The notification system
In this issue ... Calendar ...........................4 Durham Briefs...........11-12 Libraries .........................17 Middlefield Briefs......13-14 Obituaries.......................19 Sports .........................20-23 Spotlight .........................15
will alert those connected to the district (primarily parents, administrators, staff, etc.) of emergencies, urgent information and announcements. The system will be particularly useful in situations such as alerting parents that their child will be late coming home from school because a road is blocked off; streamlining early morning delayed openings due to weather or emergency school closings due to substance leaks etc., and informing staff of a student fatality, even outside of school hours and to staff who live out of town. Willett feels that communication to parents will be a smaller part of the system’s use by the district than communications among staff, i.e. “emergency meeting in 15 minutes.” He demonstrated the timeliness of the system with a test notification sent to a few members of the board, who received the message within seconds. The system
will be ready for the district as soon as data is loaded and those using it are educated, Willett said, and it will be used among staff members first to work out any kinks before being used to reach parents. The system will be run out of the superintendent’s office, and each school will have access to it. Willett clarified to the board that the system for the district is not the town’s system, though it’s essentially under the same “plan.” It is paid for through June 2011, at which time the next renewal will cost $4,900. Superintendent’s report Superintendent Susan Viccaro reported on the Brewster School playground, one of the few playgrounds in the area that will be geared toward children aged three to five (there will also be a section for older kids). She announced the plans are going well, and the tentative installation date
See BOE, page 10