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The 3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Festivities at Beardsley Park is scheduled for Saturday, April 7 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Along with the Easter Egg Hunt, the event, free for children ages 2-12, will feature music, the Easter Bunny, face painting, egg decorations, beverages and snacks, gift certificates and school supplies.
The event is presented by Kydz Life Foundation and Young I.Ran Entertainment.
DERBY – Fire Marshal Phil Hawks said the blaze on Olivia Street Thursday afternoon was caused by a cigarette discarded on the porch of a third-floor dwelling.
He said winds Thursday “fanned the flames” causing the fire to quickly spread. Hawks said the fire was contained to the third floor and an attic space above it.
Hawks didn’t have a dolllar amount of damage, but said all of the apartments in the six-family dwelling are uninhabitable at this time and it could be quite a while before they can be reoccupied, due to the amount of smoke and water damage.
However, he said, tenants will be able to go into the building to get their personal belongings. Seventeen people were displaced by the blaze.
He also said there were working smoke alarm detectors in the building.
SHELTON — The Board of Apportionment and Taxation Thursday night presented its 2012-13 budget to the Board of Aldermen during a brief meeting in City Hall.
The tax board’s proposed budget is $113,118,719, slightly less than the $113.4 million budget Mayor Mark A. Lauretti proposed in February.
The $228,044 difference was the result of decreases in requests from a number of departments including the fire marshal, administrative and library.
The tax board’s budget carries the same 21.85 mill rate as Lauretti’s, according to Christopher Besecheck, tax board chairman.
That compares to the current 18.57 mills, an increase that is due to a 16 percent decline in the city’s grand list, caused by recent property reevaluation, Lauretti said in February.
At that time the mayor said that, despite the mill increase most homeowners — about 95 percent of them — will see “a reduction in overall taxes.”
This is because residential property values have dropped while the commercial and industrial properties have held in value, creating a shift in the tax burden from residential to commercial, he said.
Aldermen have the final say on the budget.
Press release:
Mayor John A. Harkins will cut the ribbon officially opening the newly renovated Stratford Academy Fields to the public at a brief ceremony scheduled for Friday, March 30th at 9:30 AM.
These fields, which will be among the Stratford sites hosting the Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA) 10U and 12U Girls’ Eastern Regional Softball Tournament this August, underwent a complete renovation in the last six months, which included new backstops, fencing, bleachers, player benches, bases, and infields for each of the four baseball/softball diamonds at the site, re-grading and repositioning of the diamonds themselves, a re-graded and expanded outfield area that can be now used for multi-sport activities such as football, lacrosse, and soccer and a state-of-the-art irrigation system to maintain the fields throughout their three seasons of use.
Another important feature of the renovation is a six-foot wide asphalt walking track that winds its way around the perimeter of the site and includes park benches at the main park entrance on Birdseye Street in addition to various tree plantings sprinkled along its length to complement the mature trees already on site.
The project represents Phase II of the larger Birdseye/Stratford Academy Field Improvements Project that began with the renovations and improvements to Birdseye Field completed in 2009. For Phase II, the total investment was $643,900, comprised of $485,000 in bond sale proceeds contained within the Town of Stratford Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for the 2010 through 2012 fiscal years and $158,900 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds as set forth in the CDBG 2010 and 2011 Annual Action Plans. The CDBG Program, operated by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and administered locally by the Town of Stratford’s Office of Community Development, funds programs, projects, and activities designed to improve the quality of life in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. The completion of the fields brings to a close a goal of both the Town CIP and the CDBG Action Plan documents to bring Stratford’s South End athletic fields and facilities up to par with those of other neighborhoods around Stratford. In addition to the completion of Birdseye Field in 2009, the Woodend Road Courts underwent a significant rebuilding in 2011.
Stephanie Philips, the 2nd District Councilman, who, as a member of the Community Development Subcommittee of the Economic and Community Development Commission, and former chair, advocated for the project along with Alvin O’Neal, her predecessor in the 2nd District Council seat, highlighted the economic and community development benefits of the project. “The renovated fields and walking track will certainly provide venues for top tier activities that benefit the whole town. As the final phase of the Birdseye Field, Woodend Road Courts, and Johnson Field Project, I am very pleased to see how it has uplifted neighborhood value, and increased the desirableness of the area.”
While the fields will be formally closed until June 1, 2012 to allow the sod laid last winter to take hold and mature and to finish project punch list items, the Stratford Academy community wanted to participate in a spring event to celebrate the completion of “their” fields. So to celebrate the project completion and the fields re-opening, the Stratford Academy Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) is hosting a PTSA Bobcat Walk-a-thon after the ribbon cutting to benefit the PTSA cultural arts and academic enrichment programs and the PTSA General Fund. The walk-a-thon will conclude a “Be-Fit” program that the PTSA has encouraged students and their families to participate in for the last six weeks. Students at Stratford Academy, the K-6 magnet school in Stratford, have been soliciting pledges from sponsors throughout the month of March. Significant corporate sponsorship has included contributions from Vaz Quality Works, LLC, the main subcontractor on the project, and other local business and family partners, including:
All of the funds raised through the Walk-a-thon will go directly to fund programs and activities offered to the children of Stratford Academy through the PTSA.
Olga Peña, the Stratford Academy PTSA President, expressed her appreciation to Vaz Quality Works and the Town of Stratford. “The kids are very excited about having these brand new fields to play on.” She added, “The walking track will be a great asset to the school and will encourage our whole community to stay active and be fit.”
Mayor Harkins also had a word of praise for the project. “The improvements to these fields will not only benefit the school community and the neighborhood at large but also our expanding sports leagues and other amateur and recreational athletes throughout Stratford. The Town put this project on the fast track for completion, so that the fields would be ready for the ASA Girls’ Tournament this August and, thankfully, we had a mild winter which helped us to complete it in record time. My thanks goes out to the contractor, their subcontractors, and all members of the project development team for making it possible,” stated Mayor Harkins. “The work done at this location shows a larger commitment to making all of our town parks places for Stratford residents to enjoy.”
The Project Landscape Architect was BSC Group with offices in Glastonbury, Connecticut and the General Contractor was Tiago Construction, LLC of Bridgeport.
A memorial mass for Chantel and Tiffany Osorio, the sisters who were killed in a fiery crash on the Merritt Parkway at the Westport-Fairfield border earlier this month.
The sisters, both Stratford residents and graduates of Notre Dame High School in Fairfield, were found dead inside a Chevy Cobalt at about 6:30 a.m. Saturday, March 17.
They died of smoke inhalation just hours after celebrating Chantel’s 24th birthday in New York City.
The mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 31 at St. James Church at 2110 Main Street in Stratford. Friends, family and members of the public are welcome to attend.
SHELTON — Board of Education members Wednesday night got an earful from an irate Mayor Mark A. Lauretti, who had the public portion of the meeting reopened so he could air his concerns.
First, he said, he took offense after his “truthfulness” was “called in to play” by a certain board member.
Lauretti didn’t name the board member, who, he said, made “snide” comments about him in a newspaper article, but said that person wasn’t at the meeting. (Two members were not in attendance.) Lauretti also didn’t say what the comments were.
The mayor also told the board he wanted to define what a surplus is, adding what he considers a surplus is something the board calls “encumbered” money, which at times, has been as much as $842,000. “At the end of the day, a surplus is a surplus,” the mayor said.
He also took the board to task for spending money on “rock gardens” and “surveys” when they are still charging students to “Pay to Participate” in sports programs.
Lauretti also told the board that he is considering addressing such issues in the future via “other vehicles” including “direct mail” and postings on the city’s website.
He ended his comments by telling the board: ”If you want to continue down this path, I will oblige you.”
Press release:
The Stratford Health Department is sponsoring a Lead Awareness and Safe Renovations Program. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the program originally scheduled for tonight is postponed until Wednesday April 25th, from 6 to 8 PM. It will be in room 110 at the Birdseye Municipal Complex located at 468 Birdseye St.
This program is geared toward owners and employees of family daycare homes and daycare centers, families of children who attend these child care programs, school nurses and anyone who chooses to take on their own renovations.
Presentations by public health professionals and a lead-safe certified contractor will help you learn how to keep children safe from lead exposure and poisoning. Lead poisoning in children has longterm harmful effects, but it is preventable.
If you have a home, rental property or child care business that was built before 1978, Federal law now requires contractors to operate in a lead-safe manner. That means they need to be lead-safe certified by the EPA and follow specific work practices to prevent lead contamination while performing renovation, repair or painting jobs that disturb painted surfaces in homes or child care facilities.
Attend this seminar and gain information on how to choose a lead safe contractor, where to find a certified contractor and be familiar with the harmful dangers that lead poses to your family, children and your business.
The program is free but registration is required. To register or for more information, call 203-385-4090.
The Monroe Democratic Town Committee elected new officers for its 2012 – 2014 term at its monthly meeting on March 27. Returning to the MDTC’s Executive Board is constable Pat Tomchik, as secretary. Jason Maur, a member of the Commission on Aging, will be the Committee’s new treasurer. Vice Chairman for the new term will be the minority leader of the Town Council, Dee Dee Martin. The new Chairman of the MDTC will be recently appointed member of the Town Council, Nick Kapoor.
Patty Ulatowski has stepped down after four years of leading the Town Committee.
The Democrats hold only minority representation seats on all elected boards and hold the majority on one of appointed boards and commissions.
Copyright © 2013 Hearst Communications Inc.
