3/8/2024 A Message from First Selectman Bindelglass
Good afternoon,
The Board of Finance spent the week hearing budget presentations from the departments in town and will finish that stage of the budget process on Tuesday. The individual budgets will then be combined into a preliminary budget. That budget which includes the Easton board of education budget will be presented in a public hearing on March 25. The Region 9 budget (budget for Joel Barlow H.S.) will be presented that night as well.
At last night’s abbreviated Board of Selectmen meeting we accepted bids for the repair of the fence at the Easton dog park and the refurbishing of the tennis courts at Helen Keller M.S. including lining for pickleball. Work on both projects should begin this spring. As a reminder most of the cost of the tennis courts are being paid for by a grant which we received from the state. We also heard a preliminary report from the task force for the protection of town volunteers and officials led by Selectman D’Addario.
In addition to presenting their budget to the Board of Finance last night, the Board of Education also made a request for an additional appropriation for this year of $600,000. An explanation of the need for this allocation is attached to the February board of finance meeting which can be found on the town website; direct link: https://www.eastonct.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif3071/f/minutes/board_of_finance_regular_meeting_minutes_02-06-2024_3.pdf.
Today the Board of Selectmen met to finalize the agenda for our next town meeting which will precede the public hearing on the budget on March 25. The town meeting will begin at 7 PM, at Samuel Staples Elementary school. The public hearing will immediately follow the town meeting. At the town meeting we will vote to accept the revised ordinance for senior tax relief. The revised ordinance is also attached to the February board of finance minutes, at the link above. We have previously discussed the grant from the state bond commission of $396,270 to Easton for site work at the EMS and adjacent property where we are renovating the old building. One of the requirements of receiving the grant is acceptance by the town meeting. The town’s council will be present to answer any questions about the grant. The grant award document will be posted on the town website, with the information for the town meeting. Lastly, we will consider the Easton board of education’s request for a for a special appropriation of $600,000 as discussed above. We have a significant undesignated fund balance, (our “rainy day fund”) and the board of finance is comfortable recommending to the town that this appropriation be made.
As a reminder, In Easton, the legislative body of the town is the town meeting. All citizens eligible to vote are asked to attend. Decisions are made by a vote at the town meeting unless there is a petition by 200 people or a decision by the board of selectmen to send the question to a machine vote. We have frequently made the decision to go to a referendum so that the entire town is able to vote on important questions, also considering whether the outcome of the vote is questionable or controversial. When we feel that is not the case we have held votes directly at the town meeting, as we are doing at this town meeting. Because this is a “special Town Meeting”, by statute, the items on this agenda for March 25, are the only items open for consideration. The state statutes governing town meetings can be found at: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_090.htm.
Again, as a reminder, save the date for the Annual Boy Scout Gourmet Breakfast, March 23rd at Easton Community Center from 7:30am to noon. Tickets may be purchased at the door or by emailing Troop66Breakfast@gmail.com.
Save the date! On April 27, from 10 AM to 1 PM there will be a touch a truck event to raise money for our sister city of Sviatohirsk, Ukraine. There will be a food truck, games, raffle and plenty of trucks to view and explore. Do you have a vehicle or truck you would be willing to display at the event? Please reach out to Kelly Higgins at 203-650-3483 for details.
As we have been discussing, there has been a great outpouring of support for modifying the state statute 830g to exempt watershed towns from being subject to the appeals process which can allow developers to sidestep local zoning regulations if they are building affordable housing. The concept of exempting watershed towns like Easton did not advance. A subsequent proposal to mandate a study of modifying the statute has been proposed. Protecting our watershed remains a priority as always and we hope to be able to bring this back to the legislature next year.
The presidential preference vote, or primary will be held on April 2, from 6 AM until 8 PM at Samuel Staples Elementary School. Early voting will be held at the library community room during the following hours:
March 26, 2024- 10:00a.m. to 6:00p.m.
March 27, 2024-10:00a.m. to 6:00p.m.
March 28, 2024- 10:00a.m. to 6:00p.m.
March 30, 2024- 10:00a.m. to 6:00p.m
To be eligible to vote in the Primary one must be registered in either of the major parties, i.e. Democrat or Republican Parties. Individuals who are not registered but want to register and enroll in either political party and then vote during early voting before the primary, may do so if their voter registration application is filed with the registrars of voters by noon on the business day immediately before the day when they want to vote.
Unaffiliated voters who want to vote during the early voting period before a primary may do so if their enrollment application is filed with the registrars of voters by noon on the business day immediately before the day when early voting begins.
An in-person enrollment session will be held at Town Hall on Friday, March 15, 2024 from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm. In addition, in person enrollment deadline for new voters and unaffiliated voters enrolling in a party, in person at Town Hall, for voting in the primary, is 12:00 noon, Monday, April 1, 2024. Absentee Ballots for the April 2, 2024 Presidential Preference Primary will be available staring on Tuesday March 12, 2024. More information can be found here at https://www.eastonct.gov/home/news/absentee-ballots-for-the-presidential-preference-primary-will-be-available-starting-on
As a reminder, Saturday we turn our clocks ahead for daylight savings time. This is also a good time to check the smoke detectors in your house.
Have a great weekend!
Dave