Public hearing March 23 on $18.8 million E.O. Smith budget for 2010-2011

E. O. Smith High School

Residents of Regional School District 19 – which includes Ashford, Mansfield and Willington – are invited to attend a public hearing on the 2010-2011district budget presented by Superintendent Bruce Silva.

The hearing is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23 in the E. O. Smith High School library/media center.

Tuesday is the only scheduled public hearing regarding the high school’s budget, Silva said.

However, the public can also offer comments at the District 19 Board of Education meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 6.

As it now stands, the proposed 2010-2011 budget is $18,843,570 – which is a $413,570 or 2.2 percent increase over the school’s current budget.

The finalized budget will be voted on at a May 4 referendum.

According to Silva, the budget’s increase includes a 2.8-percent hike in staff salaries and benefits.

In a budget memo send to district school board members in February, Silva said the budget was crafted to maintain current offerings at the high school.

District 19/E.O. Smith High School Supt. Bruce Silva. File photo © 2010 by Brenda Sullivan

“Great efforts have been made by school department chairs and administrators to aggressively contain costs wherever possible, while maintaining programs and services at levels expected from our school community,” he said.

Silva said his proposed budget does not reduce staff at the high school, but also does not include funding to increase programs offered at the high school.

“It’s a stay-put budget, so to speak,” he said in an interview on Monday.

As the high school is a district school, each member town pays a share based on the town’s enrollment.

With the current proposed budget, Ashford’s share increases 8.9 percent, Mansfield’s share increases 1 percent and Willington’s increases 0.4 percent.

Next year, Ashford’s student enrollment will increase by 18 students while Mansfield’s and Willington’s will only increase by one student each.

Translated into dollars, Ashford’s share is up $309,645 to $3,779,424.

Mansfield’s is up $94,594 to $10,019,441.

Willington’s share would increase $16,831 to $4,096,165.

Posted March 22, 2010, edited by HTNP.com Editor Brenda Sullivan

Hearing tonight on land purchase

The town has been offered a 9/10-acre parcel that would create a new link to the town-owned Albert E. Moss Sanctuary. Map from info packet distributed to Mansfield Town Council March 22, 2010.

The Town Council will begin its meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. with a public hearing on the proposed purchase of what’s known as the Ossen/McCoy property on Birchwood Heights Road.

According to Town Manager Matt Hart’s memo to the Town Council, in 1995, during the Planning and Zoning Commission’s (PZC) review of the Fellows Estates subdivision, town staff contacted Jeffrey Ossen to explore the possibility of the town acquiring the Ossen/McCoy property for a pedestrian link between Birchwood Heights Road and Monticello Road.

At that time, acquisition was not an option, but the PZC, in conjunction with approval of the developers of the Fellows Estates subdivision, approved a conservation easement with trail rights on those portions of lots 1 and 2 that abut the Ossen/McCoy parcel.

Now, Eileen Ossen – representing the estate of her husband – is offering to sell the 9/10-acre parcel to the town for $500. The property currently has an assessed value of $5,390. And the property’s co-owner, James McCoy, also has agreed to this offer.

The Ossen/McCoy property is undeveloped and is situated between existing homes at 41 and 55 Birchwood Heights Road. It is zoned RAR-90 and is wooded, with wetlands and moderate slopes.

It lies within the Schoolhouse Brook, Fenton River and Willimantic reservoir drainage basins, but not within designated flood hazard or stratified drift aquifer areas, Hart writes.

The town’s planning director and parks coordinator walked the property and confirmed that a trail connection can be easily created.

“A trail segment on these properties would add a direct pedestrian connection between two adjacent neighborhoods and would enhance access to the recently acquired -135-acre, town-owned] [Albert E.] Moss Sanctuary for residents living on Monticello, Fellen and Davis Roads,” Hart writes.

The town’s Open Space Preservation Committee also has deemed the parcel’s purchase as meeting the guidelines of the town’s Plan of Conservation and Development, and fits Open Space Acquisition Priority Criteria #7 – “creates or enhances connections” (see Appendix K of Mansfield’s Plan of Conservation and Development).

According to this committee, the town’s easement agreement with the Fellows Estate subdivision developers includes “the right to establish construct and maintain a trail/path for walking and bicycling within the conservation easement area.”

The committee recommends the purchase because it would provide a new link from an existing residential neighborhood to an open space, and protect a wildlife corridor.

The area being considered for the new trail is dry land. The committee noted that this trail would not require a special surface or any structures.

“It would need periodic clearing, and this work is usually done by parks volunteers,” the committee’s memo states.

The Planning and Zoning Commission also has given the purchase a thumbs-up.

Hart writes that if approved, the purchase would be funded from the existing balance (approximately $98,000) in the town’s Open Space Acquisition Fund.

Posted March 22, 2010

Calling all women golfers

Tallwood Women’s Golf Club will hold its annual orientation meeting at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 6, at the Tallwood Country Club, 91 North St., in Hebron.

All women golfers (9- and 18-hole players) interested in joining this Tuesday morning league are invited.

Please join us for coffee and donuts as we kick off our new season.

All current members are also welcome.

Please call 860-646-3437 for more information.

Posted March 22, 2010

Proposed legislation includes farm-jobs training and boost to dairy farmers

Families enjoy a tour of Graywall Farms in Lebanon - one of the members of the Farmers Cow dairy company. Leading the tour is Lincoln Chesmer (green T-shirt). Photo © 2009 by Brenda Sullivan

Legislation to encourage the production of more Connecticut-grown food is currently under discussion.

HB5419 would allow farmers to sell “acidified” food products they produce – such as pickles and salsa – directly from their farms or at farmers’ markets.

In addition, current limits on the number of turkeys and chickens poultry farmers can produce yearly would increase to 5,000 and 20,000 respectively.

“Too often, we forget that farming in Connecticut isn’t just a hobby, it’s a multi-billion dollar industry that sustains thousands of jobs throughout the state,” said State Rep. Bryan Hurlburt, whointroduced the bill and who serves as vice-chair of the Environment Committee.

“Unfortunately, we continue to witness a decline in our agricultural heritage and it is compromising our ability to produce locally-grown food,” he said.

The legislation also establishes a Farm Training Jobs Program through the Department of Agriculture.

Some of the instruction topics would include fresh-food processing and packaging, as well as retailing and the use of renewable energy systems.

Elizabeth MacAlister has overcome many obstacles to grow her business of artisan cheeses at Cato Corner Farm in Colchester, CT. The farm produces small batches of handmade cheeses, aged onsite in a “cave” – designed to control temperature and humidity – built with the help of an Agriculture Viability Grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. Photo © 2009 by Brenda Sullivan.

Another provision redirects federally-collected milk fees to the Connecticut Milk Promotion Board for the purpose of promoting dairy farms and more milk consumption.

Hurlburt noted that the federal government sets milk prices and that Connecticut farmers are now losing as much as a dollar a gallon, based on fast-rising production costs that puts them at a severe disadvantage compared to out-of-state agribusinesses.

There are about 150 dairy farms in the state, a decrease from 210 in 2007 and 500 in 1990.

According to a University of Connecticut report, the dairy industry supports about 4,200 jobs and generates more than $1 billion in annual sales.

Hurlburt’s proposal is currently being considered by the Legislature’s Environment Committee.

Hurlburt represents Willington, Ashford and Tolland in the General Assembly.

Posted March 22, 2010

Related Links:

“The art and politics of cheese-making”

http://www.remindernews.com/node/7/&url=COL-2009-06-12-12-Ar01200

“Farmers market off to a busy start”

http://www.remindernews.com/node/7/&url=NOR-2009-07-10-7-Ar00700

“Local dairy farmers offer tours”

http://www.remindernews.com/node/7/&url=BROADS-2009-06-19-10-Ar01000

The Farmers Cow http://www.thefarmerscow.com/home.html

Cato Corner Farm http://www.catocornerfarm.com/

Connecticut Farmers on Farming http://www.workingtheland.com/int_farmers.htm