12/15/22 A Message from First Selectman Bindelglass
Good afternoon,
This week the people of Easton approved the Conservation Restriction on the remaining 10.9 acres at South Park Ave. by a vote of 804-87. For the first time in a generation, at least, the people of Easton will wake up knowing that this property will be preserved in perpetuity. South Park has had a long and tortured history with plans for building low income housing, a prayer center and multiple other possible developments, plus lawsuits and other disputes regarding its disposition. The town purchased the land in 2008, to avoid the possibility of low-income housing with the intent of recouping its investment which never happened.
In 2020, the town set up a bipartisan committee to look at options to resolve the fate of this property. While there were no definitive conclusions, the town was able to work with the Aspetuck Land Trust to get state funding and to engineer a sale of the most environmentally sensitive 19 acres along the Mill River, to the Land Trust. With an aim towards purchasing the remaining 10.9 acres, the Land Trust set about precuring an appraisal of the remaining land. Discussions between the town and Aspetuck Land Trust about a sale of the last 10.9 acres were ongoing. These discussions came to an end with the proposal of Conservation Easement. The vote puts an end to this long, complicated saga. South Park will be preserved. None of this would be possible without the close relationship and support of the Aspetuck Land Trust, and also the support of Citizens for Easton, and the town is grateful for that.
This past weekend more than 22 EMS volunteer members, lead into action by team leader of gifts, Margie Arnold and team leader of senior bread gifts, Susan Quatrella, delivered over 175 gifts to children and baked over 90 breads to deliver to our senior citizens. This was a tremendous undertaking for Santa. If it wasn't for the help of Easton Volunteer EMS they may not have been able to accomplish this tremendous job. There are many photos on Facebook of happy children, parents and senior citizens. EMS also answered several 911 ambulance calls and were thankful for those residents that surprised them with lunch both Saturday and Sunday! Chief Jon Arnold said, “We love giving back to our community”. If you would like to thank them with a donation please go to, https://eastonems.com/about-us/donate/.
At last night’s Board of Selectmen meeting there was discussion about the rules for a town meeting. If you are interested in the actual rules governing town meetings here is the statute: https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_090.htm. We also continued the ongoing discussion with one of the co-chairs of the Ethics Board about financial disclosures forms. This remains a work in progress.
There is blasting happening on Far Horizons that is being supervised by the Fire Marshall. If there are any concerns, please contact Town Hall.
Many of us will never forget the moment ten years ago when we learned of the unspeakable tragedy in Sandy Hook, the school shooting that took the lives of 20 first graders and six educators. All the more so because this is one town over from Easton. Then, as now, there are no words to express that grief and loss. This week we remember the cherished children and educators killed in Sandy Hook. While I thank our educators for all the hard work they put in to keep children in our community safe, I cannot stress enough how we as a community are all responsible to each other for our collective safety and especially to our children. Without being political, and regardless of your beliefs, we all benefit from giving community safety our serious attention.
Congratulations to Sergeant William Spencer for 35 years of service to the Town of Easton. He started his career as a dispatcher and was then hired as a Police Officer. I thank him for his service and dedication.
Have a good weekend,
Dave