Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Middletown Budget & Council Meeting

The room was full last night & remained so for most of the evening. The first hour was on the effects of the recent school budget facing a cut of $210,000. The final budget has not yet been voted on. On the block are the same-old, same-old- all day K, Gaudet sports, etc. There were a number of speakers all speaking in support of restoring these budget cuts. Check out Projo's Meaghan Wims for more details.

Restoring the cut amount would add appx. $23 for a homeowner with a house assessed at $385,000. Particularly moving was Gaudet student Ally Borges pleading for sports not to be cut. She had a written speech & after giving it she sat in her Dad's lap & cried.

So how many years has this been going on? Gee, I think every yr. since I've lived here- and that's a LONG time. It's time for the State & the Feds to step up to the plate here. They've created this mess & leave it up to us to solve it.

10 town employees were honored for their military service. I'll post their names later. Two groups were there to make their pitches for bonds- one for 2 mil for Open Space (there currently is $2 mil available in these funds) & 5 mil for a new beach bldg.

Barbara VonVillas make a speech in regards to the letter she sent the Council (see previous post).

The open space bond passed. The beach bond did not, although the result was not announced (at least I missed it) & it was definitely confusing. The 3 voting against the bond felt that with the school budget cut, mounting town debt, & the need for a new fire station (and priorities to be set) belayed this bond amount currently. Voting "nay" were DiPalma, Silveira, & Sylvia. "Yes" votes were were Rodrigues, Mello, & Santos (Barrows was a no-show).

The town solicitor would not place the Kempen letter for an Exec. session on the calendar. He wants more research time. Hey, open session would be a LOT more fun.

The War Memorial group is looking for 5 more names to add to the town's memorial. This was confusing since I thought (as did Councilor Silveira) that this meant veterans. No. It's names of residents that have made a contribution to the town. So send in your nominations. They must be deceased. See the town's website for more info later.

I'll post more soon. The police were there- sometimes as many as 3.

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