Volume 19, Number 31
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
Friday, December 5, 2014
Middlefield pursues charter revision By Mark Dionne Town Times
The Middlefield Board of Selectmen took a fine-toothed comb to portions of the existing town charter at its regular meeting on Dec. 1. The town charter, the document that legally creates the town and details its governance, will be reviewed by an independent charter revision committee. The selectmen prepared issues, suggestions, and questions for the committee, although the separate committee will not be bound by the BOS directives. The charter revision committee, which will eventually have nine members and three alternates, is still short one member. First Selectman Jon Brayshaw has called for the revision to clean up what he called messiness in the charter and said he hopes the committee could complete its work by late spring. While an extraordinarily dry subject at first glance, charter revision could change the management of town entities and make other substantial changes in Middlefield. For example, the selectmen will ask the committee to examine what can be mandated about organizations that are not town entities but receive substantial town funding, like the Middlefield Volunteer Fire Department and the Levi E. Coe Library. “We don’t have any say in their government, but we fund them,” Selectman Ed Bailey said. Changing the charter to reSee Charter / Page 6
Joey Albert of Middlefield gets ready to turn on the lights with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the town green. | Mark Dionne / Town Times
A ‘Rockwell-esque’ tree lighting By Mark Dionne Town Times
Madison Burt and Ben Carroll take advantage of the time before the tree lighting to get in some sledding. | Mark Dionne / Town Times
When Middlefield First Selectman Jon Brayshaw addressed the crowd gathered for the Nov. 28 tree lighting on the town green, he was not the first to acknowledge the cold, but he did so bluntly. “Are we nuts or what?” asked Brayshaw. The freezing temperatures did not keep away the crowd for the annual event, which spread out to the Levi Coe Library, the Middlefield Community Center, and the Middlefield Volunteer Firehouse. After the tree was lit, courtesy of 4-year-old Joey Albert of Middlefield, the crowd moved quickly for warmth and food at the
firehouse, or warmth and a chance to visit with Santa at the community center. Brayshaw compared the event to a Norman Rockwell painting, a wholesome community gathering hosted by civic institutions and volunteers. Vicki Berry read Christmas and Hanukkah stories to children at the Levi Coe Library. Brass musicians from Coginchaug Regional High School played carols under the direction of Dean Coutsouridis. Crafts and heat were available at the Middlefield Community Center courtesy of the Durham Middlefield Youth and Family Services and the Middlefield DemoSee Lighting / Page 5