Volume 17, Issue 48
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Local and very talented art students
Friday, March 11, 2011
Superfund site clean-up to begin in April By Cheri Kelley Town Times
Coginchaug students whose artwork was selected for exhibition in the Shoreline Arts Exhibit “Future Choices” are Korinne Stockdale, Michelle Geary, Carleen Doyle, Tyler Berry and Sarah Oppelt. Tyler Berry’s piece “Eiffel” was chosen to be the cover of the Exhibition catalog. Michelle Geary is the recipient of the Guilford Art Center Award and Sarah Oppelt is the recipient of the RJ Julia award. The art showcase is selected from hundreds of entries and gives young artists the opportunity to exhibit. The exhibit runs until March 15 at the Sill House Gallery, Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, 84 Lyme St. in Old Lyme. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Sundays. Photo submitted by Jan Wenzel
Controlling expenses can’t stop school budget increase By Mark Dionne Special To Town Times District 13 Superintendent Sue Viccaro presented the proposed 2011/12 school budget to the Board of Education (BOE) at their March 2 meeting. Although projected expenses increase only 1.74 percent, the final figure of $33,905,896 is 6.25 percent higher than the current school year, due largely to a depletion of the district’s
fund balance. Expenses in the proposed budget total $35,295,141, compared to the current school year’s $34,693,143. The net figures, however, are farther apart. The current school year’s budget subtracts $2,782,863 in revenue; next year’s revenue is anticipated to drop to $1,389,245, because of the lower projected fund balance. In recent years the BOE, under pressure from citi-
Pooled solvents in the cracks in the bedrock at the Merriam Manufacturing Company (MMC) site are providing ongoing sources of contamination, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not expecting to see quick improvement to the ground water after the soil excavation project begins in April. On March 8, there was a well-attended public hearing on the MMC study area, also known as Durham Meadows. EPA project manager Anni Loughlin presented the information clearly about the approximately 38 residential homes that have contaminated private wells and are on carbon filter systems and the finalized clean-up design for the area. The Durham Mead-
ows sites consists of two residential parcels at 281 and 275 Main Street, the MMC site, as well as the Durham Manufacturing Co. study area. The public meeting concentrated on the MMC study area only. The recommendation for the permanent fix for drinking water is to have a water line from Middletown come to the Main Street Durham Area. Durham is hosting another public meeting on March 23 at 7 p.m. at the Durham Public Library to discuss the waterline study. See Superfund, page 29
In this issue ... Calendar...........................4 Durham Briefs ...............12 Middlefield Briefs..........11 Sports .........................29-31
Can I come out now?
zens, the Boards of Finance and defeated budgets, used the district’s fund balance to offset expenses. For example, according to figures in the budget proposal, the 2010/11 budget uses $1.79 million from the fund balance and anticipated carryover. The 2011/12 school year is projected to have a fund balance of less than $490,000, a difference of over See BOE, page 28
Web update Our poll question asked, “What do you think of the D13 Board of Education’s proposed net budget increase of 6.25 percent?” By press time, 64 people responded: 78 percent said “Too much of an increase — our towns can't afford it”; 14 percent said “The proposed budget sounds fine as is” and eight percent said “Not enough of an increase — our community underspends on education.” If you would like to communicate your thoughts to the Board of Ed, there are budget workshops every Wednesday in March in the Strong School library at 7:30 pm.
This robin was found outside the Middlefield Community Center at the end of January, eager to come out of this long, cold winter. This week, our feathered friends give us hope ... Could spring be far behind? Submitted by Lisa Larsen