Volume 20, Number 5
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
Friday, June 12, 2015
Hearing held on switch to public water By Mark Dionne
rounding the Superfund site. The hearing was primarily run by officials from the EnviMore than 40 Durham resi- ronmental Protection Agency dents attended a public hear- and Durham First Selectman ing on June 3 at the Durham Laura Francis. Unlike the last public hearFirehouse to discuss a plan to bring public drinking wa- ing in December of 2014, ter from Middletown into the which focused on risks posed area of central Durham sur- by the groundwater contamTown Times
inated with industrial pollutants, the latest hearing focused largely on a proposed groundwater ordinance. The ordinance, if passed, would prohibit groundwater use in what is called the “Groundwater Management Zone,” making it mandatory for property owners to
switch to public drinking water and to abandon their wells. The zone extends along Main Street and Maple Avenue in Durham from roughly Talcott Lane to the north and the intersection of Maple and Main to the south. The zone also now includes the Durham Fairgrounds and
RSD13’s Durham campus. A map of the zone is available on Durham’s town website. There are 110 properties within the zone and 54 of them currently have some degree of contamination in their wells. Ed Hathaway with the See Water / Page 23
Donations sought for town green By Mark Dionne Town Times
The Coginchaug Regional HIgh School Envirothon team with the Connecticut Envirothon championship plaque. From left: Troy Willis, Lilian Zhou, Amelia Bianchi, Matthew Sawicki, coach Susan Michael, Tyler McDonald, Natalie Charette and Ryan Gossart.
First-time champs prepare for nationals By Charles Kreutzkamp
“It’s really awesome… in the back of my head I knew there was the potential,” but most years, a vocaIn 20 years of participation, tional agriculture school takes the Coginchaug students have never top spot. “We worked very hard, but we taken home the title of Connecticut Envirothon champions – un- didn’t expect to win,” said the til this year. “I was in shock when team’s soils specialist, Natalie we won,” said the team’s coach, Charette. “Our win was amazing,” added Coginchaug Regional High School science teacher Susan Michael. Amelia Bianchi, who specializes Town Times
in aquatics. Both Bianchi and Charette said they are excited to head to the national Envirothon competition in Missouri July 27 to Aug. 3. The team received $3,000 to assist with travel expenses, but will need to raise more funds to make the trip. At the Connecticut Envirothon competition, Coginchaug placed See Champions / Page 2
When Durham residents open their next tax bill they will find an appeal for donations from The Town Green Revitalization Project. The task force, created in July 2013, created a plan to beautify, improve, and maintain the Town Green. The plan, presented to the Board of Selectmen on March 9, addresses soil maintenance, advocates for the replacement of unhealthy trees, and even suggests the installation of walkways, but lacks sufficient funding. The appeal with the tax bill, going out at the end of June, will ask for donations to assist with tree replacement, turf improvement, and the beautification of the monument area. Task force member Tina Gossner told the Town Times that both the soil, the monument, and the trees on the Town Green could use help. “It hasn’t been cared for,” Gossner said. “Basically, nobody’s paid attention to it.” The trees on the green have suffered because of soil compaction, aggressive pruning by Connecticut Light & Power, and diseases. Sugar maples have been victims of inexplicable deaths in Connecticut, including on the green. “We had a beautiful one just die,” Gossner said. See Green / Page 2