Go, Olympians!
Volume 16, Issue 46
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Friday, Februar y 26, 2010
Sharing. Will it work Are you tired of winter yet? for our towns? By Stephanie Wilcox Town Times Can Middlefield and Durham share certain services, personnel and departments? Some think it can and should be done. Already successfully sharing a school system and transfer station, how creative can the towns get in finding ways to save money, be more efficient and improve services? They asked each other this a few years back at a joint meeting, and the gears have not stopped turning. Here are the ideas discussed in a two-and-ahalf hour open-ended conversation with the boards of Selectmen (BOS) and Finance (BOF) of both towns on Wednesday, Feb. 17, when the question was raised again, “What areas should our towns share?” An assessor? Hmmm. How about public works functions — “probably won’t go over with the towns too well,” but why
not at least look into bundle contracts? That can be done. Housekeeping: Durham contracts out while Middlefield has part-time custodial staff. A shared dog warden and kennel? That’s an idea, as Durham will soon face a decision as their kennel is now on private property, and the Middlefield kennel is nearly empty, though it costs $2,000 a year for fuel oil to keep it heated. In terms of fuel, Durham currently buys gasoline at the pump because they don’t have their own, but would like to buy it in bulk. Is it possible to contract for a year to get a single price, or is that not allowed? While asking each other how certain services are handled or financed in each town, one idea evolved into the next, and the conversation soon turned to more significant ideas, like joining Park and Rec departments. See Sharing, page 5
Durham Board of Finance gets town budget up 6.9 percent from Selectmen By Chuck Corley Special to the Town Times The Board of Selectmen presented their budget for Fiscal Year 2010-2011 to the Board of Finance during a joint meeting on Saturday, Feb. 20. While there’s an expected growth of .066 in the grand list, amounting to $512,713, the mill rate is still anticipated to go up by .68 mills in the coming fiscal year. This is due to a loss of $165,000 in state and local revenues and a rise in the general government operating budget, as well as a in capital and contingency budgets. All told, the proposed budget is up $355,436 from the 2009-2010 budget, with a town budget of $5,480,316 proposed for 2010-11. In addition to the revenue
loss, First Selectman Laura Francis attributed some of the budget difficulties to the 27 percent increase in the town’s health insurance. However, she added that this is down from the 38 percent increase the selectmen anticipated. Aging buildings and equipment were also blamed as a reason for the increase, and the See Durham BOF, page 20
In this issue ... Calendar .......................4 Durham Briefs ..............7 Libraries.................26-27 Middlefield Briefs.........6 Obituary......................29 Sports .....................30-31
The winter weather was a hit for the children at BASREP, above! They spent much of the February vacation week building snowmen, coloring the snow with spray bottles and frolicking in the snow! Left below, Jenna Young cuddles up close with her snowman. Below right, snowman made by Ashleigh Rioux, Kacie Halligan and Niko Halligan on Feb. 16. Center, ice dragon entertains atten-
dees at the Lyman Orchards Winterfest last weekend. Photos submitted by Jennifer Rioux, BASREP, Karen Freelance Kean and Sheila Poitras