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Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Volume 17, Issue 3
Public gets their chance to weigh in on proposed Middlefield budget By Sue VanDerzee Town Times
The public hearing on the proposed Middlefield town budget last Monday, April 26, was not very well-attended. Nevertheless, the dozen or so folks who showed up asked pointed questions and listened to interesting discussion. The upshot of the two-hourplus dialogue was that the Board of Finance (BOF) will have held a special meeting on Thursday, April 29, to finalize the budget they will present to a town meeting on Monday, May 10, at 7 p.m. in the Community Center audi-
torium. Some of the topics touched upon at the hearing were the planned tax increase of 1.7 mills for the fiscal year beginning July 1, following the current year’s .23 mill decrease. According to BOF member Bob Yamartino, .63 mills of the increase is due to less money coming in based on a host of reasons including a drop in the grand list (or list of taxable property in town), and just over 1 mill is due to the proposed education budget. Middlefield’s percentage share of the District 13 education budget has shifted upward for the first time in many years as it is based on
It’s a big week in our towns! Tuesday, May 4, 6 a.m.-8 p.m. is your chance to vote on the proposed District 13 education budget. Durham residents vote at Korn School; Middlefield and Rockfall residents at the Middlefield Community Center. Thursday, May 6, is the first day of the 2010 Durham Farmer’s Market on the Green from 3-6 p.m.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Little League Opening Day
the actual percentage of students attending District 13 schools from Durham and from Middlefield. Additionally, .21 mills of this year’s budget will begin to pay down the cost of the town’s acquisition of Powder Ridge. Residents commented on the planned 20 percent drop in street light expenses (from $50,000 to $40,000), a project See Hearing, page 19
In this issue ... Calendar.........................4-5 Durham Briefs................20 Lots of Letters.........8, 25-27 Middlefield Briefs ......17-19 Movie Review .................23 Obituary..........................27 Reunions .........................31 Scouts ..............................14 Sports/Opening Day ....28-29
Wild, wild Middlefield!
A few grass stains never hurt anybody, just ask Hailey Byrne (on ground) and teammate Alyssa Lecza, from team Around the Clock. See more Opening Day photos on page 29. Photo by Stephanie Wilcox
Durham residents to get letter about Blue Trail study By Stephanie Wilcox Town Times
These photos were sent by a wildlife enthusiast with a pretty nice zoom lens. The fawn photo was taken last spring and the fox kits this spring directly behind his house. Looking (and snapping photos from a distance) is fine, but do not touch or bother wild babies!
A large number of Durham residents will be receiving a letter in their mailboxes from James Road resident Pat DiNatale. “There are parts of the town that are still in danger (from bullets) and are definitely in the surface danger zone, and there’s a moral obligation to do something,” said DiNatale. Since 2006, DiNatale’s property west of Tri-Mountain Road has been struck by gunfire at least four times, and it has been the same story for many neighbors. In response to residents’
concerns, an independent study was recently completed to assess the safety of Blue Trail Range, a shooting range in Wallingford near the Durham line, where the bullets appeared to be coming from. Golden, Weise and Associates, LLC, who performed the study, concluded that shots fired at Blue Trail and an adjacent range are not fully contained and that redesigning the ranges is necessary for safety. “Thanks,” says DiNatale, “but now what?” According to DiNatale, there are over 700 properties within the surface danger See Trail, page 20