11/12/2021 A Message from First Selectman Bindelglass
Good afternoon,
I had the pleasure of attending a ceremony for the Easton and Monroe American Legion in Monroe to commemorate Veteran’s day. We all express our gratitude to those who have served our country, both past and now. We admire them as all Americans, and in so doing we recognize that what binds us together as citizens of this great country is far greater than that which separates us.
On Tuesday we completed the municipal election recount. All results are final and posted. This took a tremendous effort by our poll workers and other staff, both on Election Day and for the recount. Thank you to all for your hard work.
The Easton Garden Club is holding their annual Wreath and Poinsettia sale now until November 22. Each year, the EGC sells Wreaths, Poinsettias and White Pine roping to support some of our charitable endeavors. The proceeds from this particular event provides the beautiful wreaths that adorn Easton’s town buildings and the Poinsettia plants that are delivered to our Seniors in need. This year’s sale features Double Wreaths, White Pine roping, assorted Poinsettia, and Holiday Gift Kits – hard to find Native Ecotype Seed truffles or “Seed Bombs” for Winter Seed Sowing. To learn more and place your order through their online store, visit www.eastongardenclubofct.org/wreath-and-poinsettia-sale. Orders accepted until Monday, November 22nd with scheduled pick up at The Easton Library Community Room on Wednesday, December 1.
On Tuesday, November 23, we will be holding a public forum at Samuel Staples Elementary School Cafetorium at 7:30 PM on public act 21-29 and affordable housing. The forum will include State Senator Tony Hwang, Rep. Anne Hughes, and chairman of the Easton Planning and Zoning Commission, Ray Martin. We plan to broadcast the forum on Facebook live. Those wishing to ask questions should attend in person. As we have said before, there is much misinformation on this subject so here is an opportunity to hear directly from our legislators about the act and affordable housing.
Several important issues for our seniors: I have forwarded info from Optimum to the senior center and to municipal agent Alison Witherbee, regarding programs for seniors offered by the cable provider to potentially lower rates and provide more services for our seniors. We are reinstating a program with the middle school where students and seniors develop a “pen pal” relationship, and another program where students from the speech academy work in and around the senior center helping with the center. These programs have worked very well in the past, and are enjoyed by our seniors.
As promised, the South Park Ave. Bridge is now paved and we are only waiting for guard rails which should be done in the next 2 weeks.
Most of you received notification of the revaluation of your homes this week. As you can see, the value of your homes has almost universally risen which is good. However, that worries many people that their taxes will be increasing. Property taxes are based on the value of your home and the mill rate which is a fractional multiplier of that value which determines your taxes. If the budget were to stay the same, and housing values were to rise, then the mill rate would probably be reduced to keep taxes equivalent. We expect an increase in the grand list (the combined value of all properties) that should reflect not only the increase in value of individual properties but also the value of new properties (ie, new construction) added to the total which helps to reduce everyone’s tax burden for a given level of spending. In any event you may contest the valuation through the appeals process which is spelled out in the letter you received.
The Joel Barlow High School Theater Production will be performing Beauty and the Beast on Thursday, November 18 through Saturday, November 20th. Tickets can be purchased at http://jbhs.booktix.com/
Have a great weekend,
Dave