Friday, January 25, 2019
www.towntimes.com
Volume 23, Number 32
Weekend storm knocks out power, closes roads By Bailey Wright Town Times
Thousands of residents in Durham and Middlefield experienced power outages and closed roads after this weekend’s snow and ice storm, which was followed by sub-freezing temperatures Monday.
Powder Ridge Mountain Park and Resort in Middlefield.
Dave Zajac, Record-Journal
Judge dismisses ex-employee’s lawsuit against Middlefield
“I know Durham and Middlefield, we were both knocked out pretty badly,” Middlefield First Selectman Ed Bailey said Monday. “We are very grateful for the work Eversource did, for the prompt reply.” Bailey said by around noon Sunday, about 750 residents were without power, which is about 40 percent of the town’s population. The number dropped to about 40 around nightfall and kept decreasing through the night. As of 1:30 p.m. Monday, Eversource reported five customers still without power.
By Bailey Wright Town Times
A superior court judge has dismissed a wrongful termination lawsuit by a former municipal building official who was seeking to have his job reinstated and to receive back pay.
“The power got restored to the vast majority of the outages well before nightfall and the temperatures really plummeted overnight,” Bailey said. “It's one thing to lose power, but if the weather's severe like we had that's a very serious situation.”
Robert Meyers, of Moodus, was Middlefield’s building inspector for almost six
He said the town’s emergency management team considered opening the community center up as a warming center overnight, but enough people had their power restored that they didn’t have to.
years until he was terminated in February of 2017 by a vote of the Board of Selectmen. “There is substantial evidence in the record to support the board’s decision to terminate Meyers from his position as the building inspector and the board did not act illegally or abuse its discretion in reaching its decision,” Judge Martin E.
Frechette said in a Jan. 17 ruling. Meyers filed a complaint against the town in March 2017 claiming the town did not provide him with written notice of the specific grounds of dismissal and failed to prove that he failed to perform his official duties. He also claimed that he preSee Lawsuit, A9
The Durham Volunteer Fire Company at 41 Main St. on Friday, Jan. 18. The town is considering a proposal that would create a public safety complex around the current firehouse at 41 Main St., that would include two neighboring parcels.
Middlefield Public Works’ five employees worked a 20See Storm, A2
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Bailey Wright,Town Timesl
Town explores plan for public safety complex
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By Bailey Wright Town Times
Leaders of local emergency response teams are mostly expressing satisfaction over the town’s current proposal to build a new public safety complex around the fire station on Main Street.
The proposal includes an addition to the firehouse – with at least one new bay and three new rooms – and full renovations to two vacant residential buildings into office and storage spaces. The plan also calls for construction of a carriage house with three bays and an addi-
tion to one of the residential buildings. The cost is estimated at around $7 million. “It is a project that is intended to renovate both (residential) buildings, bring them back to their historical nature and adaptiveSee Complex, A2