Volume 19, Number 47 Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
Business owners make the case for signs By Mark Dionne The Town Times
At a Feb. 21 informational hearing, small business owners told a Planning and Zoning subcommittee that signs, particularly temporary or “sandwich board” signs, were essential to their business success. Members of P&Z solicited opinions from the business owners as they undergo a reevaluation of the regulations governing signage. “Sandwich boards for me are major,” said Brenda Eddy of Brenda’s Main Street Feed. Eddy said she uses sandwich boards to draw attention to items that people might not be aware she sells, like roof rakes and shovels. “If we don’t have [the signs], we’re going to have empty buildings and those aren’t going to be pretty to look at either.” Sandwich boards provide “a great, affordable way for me to advertise,” said Caro-
line Mormile, the owner of Middlesex Driving Academy. “My actual location is on the back of the building so it just draws attention to what I do.” Although regulations cover the entire town, all of the business owners at the meeting represented Main Street businesses. Kim Terrill from Kim’s Cottage Confections told the hearing of the difficulty owning a business at 16 Main Street, where the business are set back from the road or out of sight and have to rely on the shared Durham Village sign. “People get lost trying to read all those little signs.” Town Planner Geoffrey Colegrove agreed, saying to Terrill, “I don’t envy the location you’re in because there’s no happy solution.” Current regulations allow two sandwich boards per property regardless of whether the property has one See Signs, page 3
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Blue and white — and pink
Cheerleaders celebrate breast cancer awareness by wearing pink ribbons during boys basketball Senior Night at CRHS Feb. 20. See more photos of Senior Night on page 17.
School budget proposed with 4.39 percent net increase By Mark Dionne The Town Times
Town Times Photo by Mark Dionne
Permanent signs, gas station signs, and sandwich board signs each have different regulations. A subcommittee of Durham’s Planning and Zoning is currently revising decades old regulations.
Friday, March 1, 2013
While the spending increases in Superintendent of Schools Sue Viccaro’s proposed 2013-14 school budget amount to a 3.27 percent increase, a drop in revenue, primarily from state reimbursements, makes the net school budget increase 4.39 percent. Citing those decreases in Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposed budget, demographic changes, curriculum implementation and technology needs, Viccaro called this budget the hardest she had ever worked on. “This budget is going to be
a budget of making choices,” said Viccaro during her presentation to the Board of Education at its Feb. 20 meeting. While salaries (at 56 percent of the expenses) and benefits (at 18 percent) continue to make up the bulk of the budget, the salary line only increases by .35 percent (one third of one percent). Within this proposed budget is the elimination of one kindergarten teacher at John Lyman Elementary. Lyman’s first and second grade classes also would be reduced by one, with a retiring teacher not replaced. The proposed salary line accounts for replacing seven
other retiring teachers and one retiring administrator. A recently commissioned demographic study pointed to future declining enrollment in the district. Viccaro pointed to this study and “history” as a source for enrollment projections that
See Budget, page 3
In this issue ... Calendar ..........................4 Government ....................8 Schools.............................5 Scouts.............................20 Seniors...........................22 Sports.............................16