Volume 18, Issue 29
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Alpine Ridge cancels Powder Ridge deal By Sue VanDerzee Town Times At an executive session meeting held on Tuesday, Oct. 25, the Middlefield Board of Selectmen spent two hours discussing and crafting a statement in response to a letter sent by Dennis Abplanalp of Alpine Ridge, LLC canceling his offer to purchase Powder Ridge ski area for $1 million. The statement, drafted by attorney Ken Antin for the board, reads as follows: “On Oct. 20, 2011 Alpine Ridge, LLC informed the Board of Selectmen that it
would not perform its agreement to buy Powder Ridge Ski Resort. Alpine Ridge’s letter came as a great surprise to the Board of Selectman. Town officials had worked for months with Alpine Ridge to prepare for the closing. During that time Alpine Ridge gave no indication that it would not perform. The town satisfied or was prepared to satisfy every contract requirement within its power. Alpine Ridge’s continuing failure to provide engineering plans for the intake facility and pump station prevented the town from obtaining an ease-
Friday, October 28, 2011
It’s pumpkin time!
ment from the state to pump water from Lake Beseck to Powder Ridge. “The Board of Selectmen is deeply disappointed with Alpine Ridge’s unexpected decision. The town must now consider its options with respect to Powder Ridge in general as well as Alpine Ridge’s refusal to perform in particular.” According to Antin, the cancellation “comes at the worst possible time for calm reflection on options and alternatives” due to rapidlySee Powder Ridge, page 34
Prescription drugs take back program Don’t flush that leftover medicine! Here is a safe, environmentally-sound option. Free collection and safe disposal of unwanted medications will be Saturday, Oct. 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Resident State Trooper’s Office (24 Townhouse Rd. in Durham). Flushing medications down the toilet or sink causes water pollution, impacts drinking water and has adverse effects on septic systems, fish and other aquatic wildlife. Keep medication in its original container. Cross out any personal information on the container with a black marker or duct tape, including name and address, but leave the name of the drug. Sharp needles, medical waste, mercury thermometers and illegal drugs or paraphernalia will not be accepted. If anyone should happen to bring such items, the police officers on site will take them. This service is free and anonymous, and no questions will be asked.
On Monday, Oct. 17, the Durham Co-Op Nursery School went on a field trip to Halfinger Farms in Higganum. The students enjoyed learning about corn, picking pumpkins and going on an exciting hayride! Picking pumpkins, above, are Luke and Josh Poturnicki. Below, the three-day class shows off their pumpkins. Submitted by Mica Machnik
Disagreements arise over new DMIAAB agreement By Cheri Kelley Town Times How much talk can there be about garbage? If the Oct. 24 public hearing in Durham on the new DMIAAB (Durham-Middlefield Interlocal Agreement Advisory Board) agreement was any indication, there is a lot to be said about garbage. The discussion went on for over an hour with lots of opinions voiced. About 15 residents were in attendance to ask questions and gain understanding. The biggest area of contention was in section 5-1, which speaks about the number of members representing each town on the
advisory board. The agreement states that there will be eight members on the board, with four from each town. Bruce Chaplin, a representative from the DMIAAB task force, addressed the reason why this language was not taken out of the agreement. “We decided that this was a hot potato item and that we were not going to go there.” Resident Donia Viola stated, “I don’t want to feel that we have to carry Middlefield.” She continued by saying that she wants this item to go to referendum since she believed that it was too late for it to be put as a question during the regularly-scheduled election in No-
vember. She continued, “If we went to a 50-50 payment, then I would be okay with it.” Dominic DelVecchio, a member of the DMIAAB task force, said the task force felt that if this issue was pushed, then residents in Middlefield might walk away and that sometimes it is best to compromise in order to avoid having to locate appropriate land for separate transfer stations. This explanation was not satisfactory to Viola and a few others. Some Middlefield residents feel that the majority of the environmental impact from the transfer station becomes Middlefield’s problem, not Durham’s, since the Cogin-
chaug River flows north toward Middlefield, and, therefore, they need to have equal representation on the board regardless of population. Another issue that came up was one shared by Middlefield residents concerning section 5-3. The suggestion was that making the first selectman confirm the chairman of the board may create political issues. First Selectman Laura Francis stated that one way to avoid the problem is to change the words “first selectman” to “Board of Selectmen” (BOS) because then all political parties are represented automatically. Chad Spooner, DMIAAB
task force chairman, thanked everyone for their suggestions and said that all comments from the hearings in Durham and Middlefield will be taken into consideration. The task force will now create a final document that will be presented to each town’s BOS, and then it will be put to vote at a town meeting.
In this issue ... Calendar............................4 Election section .........15-22 Letters .....................8-14, 18 Obituaries ..................30-31 Sports ..........................32-34 Town Briefs ................23-25