4/28/2023 A Message from First Selectman Bindelglass
Good afternoon,
This week we held our annual town meeting. The budgets for Region 9 and the town of Easton were discussed. The bonding program for the Nest project to improve the Joel Barlow athletic complex was also discussed.
Tuesday May 2, the referendum on these three questions will be held at Samuel Staples Elementary school from 6 AM to 8 PM. Information on absentee ballots can be found at Absentee Ballots. We will vote on approval of the Easton budget. I discussed the numbers last week (check April 21 post) and they were presented at the annual town meeting. Also, on the ballot is the region 9 budget with an increase of .23% overall for the region, but that translates to a 4.24% increase for Easton because the number of Easton students at the high school continues to grow relative to Redding. Lastly is the bonding proposal of $4.5 million for improvements at the Barlow athletic complex. Again, I have written previously about the need for the field and building improvements as the field space will be important for our younger kids in Easton as well as for the high school programs. If you want to tour the facility and see what is planned there is an open house tomorrow April 29, from 12:30-2:30 at Barlow. I urge you to support all three measures. I believe the budgets are fair and reflect the needs of the town and schools while also showing fiscal restraint, especially in these inflationary times. Again, I want to thank our board of finance members, and town department and commission heads, and the region 9 and Easton staff and boards of education for their dedication and effort to put these budgets together.
One more comment on the annual town meeting. The town meeting is the legislative body of the town. Its purpose is to legislate which is to do the business of the town. While it is the province of all of the citizens of Easton, that does not change its purpose. It is not a place to have general discussions of the concerns of the day. I believe that Tom Herrmann as the moderator of the meeting did an excellent job of managing the meeting to ensure that comments were appropriate to the agenda items. Thank you, Tom. The town has provided forums for the people of Easton to voice their concerns such as brown bag lunches and public comment at board of selectmen meetings. The board of selectmen has shown a unanimous willingness to move issues of ordinance creation or change or other actions which are brought to us by the public forward.
Last week we recognized our animal control officers. This week we thank all our Town of Easton 911 dispatchers. A few weeks back was National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week and I want to thank you for all you do. You are integral to how emergency services functions in our town bridging all three services. The work you do each and every day is greatly appreciated. Thanks for helping to keep us safe!
We want to acknowledge the passing of Virginia O’Brien Fortin, a long time Easton resident. Virginia’s generosity was instrumental in the creation of the New Friends Playground at Helen Keller School.
The Easton Sister City Alliance appreciates the donations that have come in so far, exceeding $7,000 of our overall $300,000 goal. The Steering Committee and Ukraine Aid International are grateful to our town’s commitment to the cause and look forward to seeing residents attend upcoming local events and fundraisers. Easton-Sviatohirsk will host a live storytelling and zoom conversation with residents of Sviatohirsk on Sunday, May 21, 1:00pm to 3:00pm at the Easton Public Library and an outdoor Concert for Sviatohirsk will be held on Sunday, June 3, from 3:00pm to 6:00pm at Ashlar Aspetuck Lodge. More details to follow. The link to donate is Ukraine Aid International.
The Annual Garden Mart Plant Sale is coming! This is Easton Garden Club’s biggest annual fundraiser. The plant sale is Saturday, May 13, at the Easton Firehouse Green at 1 Center Road, Easton from 9:00am to 12:30pm. Learn more by visiting Easton Garden Club.
Please join the Easton Arts Council on Saturday, May 13th in celebrating their 25th Anniversary from 7:00pm to 10:00pm in the Easton Public Library Community Room.
The town has several open positions, please view Job Postings | Easton CT.
Have a nice weekend,
Dave