www.towntimes.com
Volume 23, Number 11
Durham officials move to sell town-owned plots
| Bailey Wright, Town Times
A nice gift from the Class of ’19 Instead of sitting in class on a recent Thursday, Coginchaug Regional High School seniors met up at local parks for their first-ever group service day. The roughly 125 seniors gathered at Allyn Brook Park on May 23 for a donut-fueled start, before splitting off into groups to tackle clean-
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ing up Peckham Park, the Middlefield Dog Park and Brewster Elementary School trails. “We really wanted to form an activity for our senior class to come together one last time, to give back to the community that helped us for years and years,” said senior Anna Dipentima. Seniors cleaned up litter, painted over graffiti and
cleared out invasive species in an effort to beautify the parks. Dipentima was one of five seniors that spent the school year organizing the volunteer day. The other students include Elizabeth Collins, Chloe Matus, Kelsey O’Sullivan and Emma Bournival. The group is part of the Making a Difference in the See Class, A8
been shortened to nine now.
With reviews from relevant committees in hand, the Town of Durham will next look to outline sale requirements for at least eight town-owned surplus properties in hopes to sell them and increase the grand list.
If all nine properties sold, the town could see roughly $17,000 more in annual taxes, according to French, who referenced assessment values from the last revaluation in 2015.
“The ultimate benefit to Durham is that it would put these scraps back on the tax rolls,” Tax Collector Martin French said during a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. Martin is taking the lead on the project because it doesn’t fall clearly on a certain department. Last year, the town passed an ordinance allowing it to sell town-owned property that it can’t use. The ordinance was passed with certain properties in mind, which the town has collected in the last decade. About 19 properties were identified at first as townowned without any specific designation of use, such as for education or open space, and the list has
Sat, June 15, 2019 • 9:00am–2pm
Klingberg Family Centers, 370 Linwood St, New Britain, CT
The nine surplus parcels range in size from 0.4 acres to 11.6 acres and were acquired between 2005 and earlier this year. Most of the properties were abandoned and ended up with the town through foreclosure or bankruptcy. Over the last few months, French has gathered comments from Regional School District 13, the Recreation Committee and Conservation Commission, to determine whether the current list of nine properties had any potential use to the town. The Planning and Zoning Commission also reviewed the list. The Conservation ComSee Plots, A9
MOTORCA AGE R NT
General: $10 • Seniors (65+): $8 • Children 12 & under: Free Spectator parking will be at New Britain Stadium
KlingbergMotorcarSeries.org
• SERIES
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Benefitting Children & Families
June 15 is the second of three events in the 2019 Klingberg Vintage Motorcar Series. June 15 will be the big show, featuring a pre-war Concours d’Elegance.
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Coginchaug Regional High School seniors pose at Allyn Brook Park where they had breakfast before heading off to separate locations for Senior Service Day.
By Bailey Wright Town Times
VI
SENIOR SERVICE DAY
By Bailey Wright Town Times
Friday, June 14, 2019