Volume 17, Issue 5
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Friday, May 14, 2010
Durham passes town budget National Day of Prayer: May 16, 2010 By Stephanie Wilcox Town Times
Durham voters passed the proposed 2010-11 town budget at the May 10 annual budget meeting. The gross budget, the amount the town intends to spend in the next fiscal year, is $5.3 million; and $3.97 million, the net number, is what the town needs to raise in taxes after state aid, fees and other income items are factored in. Before the budget was passed, resident Donia Viola stood at the podium and made a motion to the 100 or so townspeople in attendance to reduce the line item for salaries by 1.25 percent, bringing the salary increase to 2 percent from 3.25 percent. When one resident asked the Board of Finance for their thoughts on this, chairman Fran Korn explained that the reason for the proposed 3.25 percent increase was because some elected officials, the library director and one Town Hall staff member decided to forgo raises in the current year. At the same time the sanitarian
received a raise but didn’t accept it. Union employees received a 3.25 percent increase this year, Korn stated, “and we don’t want to discriminate between nonunion workers from union workers, so this seemed fair.” After Korn’s explanation, Viola’s motion was seconded but ultimately failed, and the proposed town budget passed on a voice vote. Education board election Also at the meeting, Elizabeth Gara and Mary Jane Parsons were re-elected to the Regional School District 13 Board of Education. Parsons, who was nominated by Korn, “is a dedicated public servant…with unique insights into the town and children.” Former State Rep. Ray Kalinowski nominated Gara, saying, “She is focused on supporting initiatives for student academic success.” There were some “nays” heard when the Board of Education candidates were voted on, but no challengers were nominated. Gara and See Durham budget, page 21
Photo by Sue VanDerzee
About 30 area residents met at 9 a.m. at the flagpole in front of the Middlefield Firehouse to offer prayers for our country as part of the National Day of Prayer.
In this issue ... Calendar............................4 Durham Briefs ...........18-19 Libraries .........................22 Middlefield Calendar .....20 Obituaries .......................24 Sports ..........................28-31
A Taste of the Durham Farm Market Left, Juliana, Claire and Katherine DeFlora, of Durham, sample some ice cream from 50 Licks at the first Durham Farmers’ Market on May 6. The farm market will be open every Thursday through September from 36 p.m. on the Durham Green, and all are welcome to come support local food producers. Photo by Sue VanDerzee
Middlefield town meeting recessed after elections By Sue VanDerzee Town Times Eighteen voters showed up for what was a decidedly anticlimactic town meeting on May 10 at the Community Center. On the agenda was a scheduled vote on the town budget and elections for two members of the Region 13 Board of Education and two members of DMIAAB, or Durham Middlefield Interlocal Advisory Agreement Board, the transfer station management board. The first item was quickly tabled to the same time next week (May 17 at 7 p.m.) because, according to Board of Finance chair Rebecca Adams, several numbers were still up in the air due to circumstances beyond the board’s control. One item up in the air was the defeat of the Board of Education
(BOE) budget on May 4. (The BOE is meeting after press time on Wednesday evening to decide what to submit at a second referendum, tentatively planned for Tuesday, May 25.) The second up-in-the-air situation involves MIRMA, a state alternative to the workers’ compensation organization CIRMA. Middlefield bought insurance from MIRMA, which was allowed by state government to be under-capitalized in order to offer competition to CIRMA. However, MIRMA is unable to pay claims. Due to end-ofthe-session confusion at the State Capitol in Hartford, Adams is meeting with town officials from other MIRMA towns and state officials today, Friday, to try to figure out what the budget number should be. See Recessed, page 11