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12/26/2017 11:00 PMJanuary
• The town won a state Transit-Oriented Development grant for $125,000 to develop engineering plans to upgrade Stage Road infrastructure.
• Three Old Saybrook High School (OSHS) students were selected as monologue finalists at Connecticut Drama Association contest in Hartford.
• Work to repair the leaking roof and replace two heat pumps at Acton Library for $71,550 was completed.
• On Jan. 10, the Board of Selectmen discussed a draft demolition delay ordinance for historic structures.
• Saybrook Point Inn & Spa held its annual Fire & Ice Festival on Jan. 14.
• On Jan. 21, 800 people marched on the Old Saybrook Town Green in solidarity with women at the Women’s March on Washington.
• The Board of Education adopted a proposed budget for Fiscal 2017-’18 that would increase school spending by 1.3 percent.
• Grand List values, certified Jan. 31, rose by one percent year to year.
February
• The Kate’s Executive Director Bree Elliott accepted a Neighborhood Assistance Act tax credit check from Eversource; the energy-efficiency upgrades completed this month for about $200,000 were 80 percent funded by grants, tax credits, and incentives.
• The Board of Education agreed to pay $125,000 to settle a dispute with the Guerrera Construction over the high school turf field installation.
• The Ad Hoc Preserve Committee planned a work party to remove weeds from around Pequot Bog.
• On Feb. 7, the Board of Selectmen approved $200,000 to buy the town’s streetlights from Eversouce; the Board of Finance asked for more data before moving the funds request to Town Meeting.
• Tighe & Bond’s grant-funded Phase II environmental assessment of nine contiguous industrial parcels along Roamtree Drive and Boston Post Road ended and Phase III ESA work began.
• The Board of Selectmen on Feb. 14 proposed a $45.2 million 2017-18 budget for town and schools that reflects a 1.9 percent net increase.
• Local dog Channel
won the Best Boy in Breed ribbon at Westminster Dog Show.
March
• The Annual Chili Fest of the Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce brought many hungry samplers to Main Street on March 4.
• Goodwin Elementary School celebrated reading day with celebrity readers, a Magic Tree House in the lobby, and a visit with children’s book author Tish Rabe.
• Three Old Saybrook Middle School students auditioned for and were accepted to the Connecticut Music Educators Association Southern Region Middle School Festival.
• Bids for the $1.1 million North Main Street rebuild project were opened on March 23. Bids for the Main Street Parking and Connection Park were due back on March 28.
• OSHS staged the musical The Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy
from March 23 to 25.
• At a March 6 Town Meeting, voters approved up to $585,000 to buy town streetlights from Eversource and for a firm to convert the streetlights from sodium-vapor to LED fixtures.
• At a March 9 public meeting, town consultant Civic Moxie unveiled concepts for streetscape improvements to the one-mile long Mariner’s Way corridor along Route One.
• The project to add 15 new low-income units to the Saye Brook Village elderly housing complex on Sheffield Street got underway.
April
• The closure of Fortune Plastics at 1 Williams Lane left the firm’s 90 employees without jobs.
• State funding cuts force the 9Town Transit agency to cut three of its daily Shoreline Shuttle bus runs.
• The Board of Selectmen voted to send a revised demolition delay ordinance for historic structures on to a future Town Meeting.
• A May 9 referendum vote is set for the proposed town and schools’ 2017-’18 $45.4 million budget.
• Three of the nine bids to construct the Main Street Connection Park were within the $400,000 project budget; the lowest was from Schumack Engineering Construction for $395,624.
• The Board of Selectmen voted to approve $40,000 to pay for exterior painting and carpentry to upgrade the Youth & Family Service agency building.
• To honor Arbor Day, the town planted four elms, three pin oaks, and five hawthorns at Fort Monument Park, on College Street, and along Route One in front of the high school.
• The Board of Selectmen authorized First Selectman Carl Fortuna, Jr., to contract with low-bidder Siemens to convert the town’s 1,108 streetlights to LEDs for $258,000.
• The Estuary Council of Seniors, Inc., appointed Stan Mingione its new executive director.
May
• The Memorial Day parade and waterside naval ritual was held on May 29.
• On May 7, 30 Mile Brewing Company had a Family Day to support Ronald McDonald House in Connecticut.
• The Old Saybrook Garden Club held its annual May Market on the Town Green on May 12 to 13.
• A Public Works employee mowed down daffodils growing along Ingham Hill Road next to David Brown’s farm to community outcry; First Selectman Carl Fortuna promised the town would buy bulbs to replace those lost.
• The town awarded the contract to rebuild North Main Street to Mizzy Construction for a bid of $1.1 million.
• Old Saybrook High School held its Senior/Junior Prom at Water’s Edge on May 12.
• Voters approved a proposed 2017-’18 budget of $19.6 million for general government and $25.7 million for the school spending by 328 to 62 votes at referendum. The Board of Finance set a new mill rate of 19.66 mils.
• On May 2, the Old Saybrook Police Department executed a search and seizure warrant simultaneously at Old Saybrook and Westbrook Town Hall for documents pertaining to Old Saybrook Fire Marshal Donn Dobson; Dobson was the full-time fire marshal for the Town of Old Saybrook and the part-time deputy fire marshal for the Town of Westbrook.
• The Board of Selectmen awarded a contract to Schumack Engineered Construction Company, Inc., for a bid price of $395,624 to construct the Main Street Connection Park and parking lot.
June
• Fire Marshal Donn Dobson resigned his post as Old Saybrook’s town fire marshal as of June 16.
• The Old Saybrook Historical Society held its fifth annual Antiques & Appraisal Day on June 3 and a June 25 celebration of the General William Henry Hart House’s 250th Anniversary.
• At the June 12 Town Meeting, the town agreed to sell a house at 185 Bokum Road for $200,000; the town acquired the property as part of The Preserve property purchase and the seller, Trust for Public Land, agreed the town could sell it.
• The town endorsed state award of two Neighborhood Assistance Act tax credits; one is for various energy conservation measures at The Kate and other is for installation of solar panels on the new Connecticut Sports Foundation Against Cancer headquarters now under construction on North Main Street.
• The Board of Selectmen adopted a 401(a) defined contribution plan for the town’s non union employees, shifting the town away from the traditional defined benefit model.
• GZA Environmental reported on the risk to the town’s neighborhoods and essential infrastructure from flooding and sea level rise.
• The OSHS Class of 2017 graduated on June 14.
• Youth & Family Services staff relocated to Town Hall on June 23 while paint, siding, and other exterior work continued on the Y&FS building exterior.
• Former Acton Library executive director Janet Crozier and former Old Saybrook Volunteer Fire Department chief and Town Public Works foreman Ron Baldi passed away this month.
July
• The town’s new SunGard accounting system, organized in the Uniform Chart of Accounts format, went live on July 1; the cost to buy the software and convert from the old system cost $168,444.
• The 54th annual Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce Arts & Crafts Festival was held on July 29 and 30 on the Town Green.
• First Selectman Carl Fortuna, Jr., appointed Peter Terenzi as the town’s acting/interim fire marshal.
• The Connecticut Port Authority voted to lease office space at Saybrook Junction for its headquarters.
• The Federal Railroad Administration announced that its final plan for improving the Northeast Rail Corridor will not include construction of a new high-speed rail bypass.
• The town shifted non-union employees into a high-deductible health insurance plan.
• The RiverCOG begins developing a regional plan for the 15-town region.
• The town approved $123,000 for exterior fixes and upgrades to the Youth & Family Services building.
• Ellen Rabin was named the new executive director of the Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries.
August
• The Kate hosted the annual Chestnut Hill Concert chamber music series.
• Old Saybrook’s political party caucuses chose candidate slates for the fall election.
• Old Saybrook students returned to school Aug. 30; the Board of Education appointed Dr. Krista Bauchman as the new middles school principal.
• The Board of Selectmen voted to ratify a four-year contract with the 25-member Support Staff Union and a three-year agreement with the eight-member Supervisors Union.
• The former Katharine Hepburn estate at 10 Mogehan Avenue was sold for $11.5 million.
• The newly rebuilt North Main Street re-opened to through-traffic on Aug 23.
• RiverCOG held an open forum to solicit ideas for a regional plan of conservation and development.
September
• Salt Marsh Opera presented Opera in the Park
on the Town Green on Sept. 1.
• Anselmo Delia beat Kevin Hecht in the Republican primary for Saybrook Probate Court judge.
• The Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce held its second annual Car Show.
• Actress Glenn Close was honored at The Kate with the Spirit Award
.
• Swooping swallow swarms returned to the lower Connecticut River as a stop in their annual migration.
• The Board of Selectmen continued to tweak a draft of the demolition delay ordinance for historic structures.
• The Benny’s store at 1654 Boston Post Road closed.
• The Scarecrow Fest showcase opened this month.
• The Army Corps of Engineers awarded the contract for North Cove maintenance dredging to DonJon Marine for $42 million.
October
• Work to replace wooden siding with AZEK, to abate lead paint, to blow in insulation, and make other upgrades at the Youth & Family Services Main Street home were completed and staff returned there this month.
• As of Oct. 2, The Nature Conservancy’s Turtle Creek Preserve was closed for dog use due to overuse.
• The Lose Your Locks with Luke
event was held at Old Saybrook High School to benefit Camp Rising Sun.
• Carol and Stephen Huber wer given the Preservation Bowl
award from the Old Saybrook Historical Society.
• The State Legislature adopted a new biennial budget preserving most town and school aid but slashing programs that benefit low-income seniors: cut to zero were the Renter’s Rebate and Circuit-Breaker programs and eligibility for full benefits from the Medicare Savings Program cut to those with annual incomes of $12,040 instead of earlier $25,000.
November
• Youth & Family Services started a new year-long series called Essential Life Skills.
• The November election returned incumbent Republican First Selectman Carl Fortuna, Jr., to office. Joining him on the Board of Selectmen are incumbents Republican Scott Giegerich and Democrat Carol Conklin. Jeannine Lewis was elected the new Saybrook Court probate judge.
• The Bushnell Farm held its annual Harvest Home Festival and HEAT its annual Spaghetti Dinner to raise funds to help low-income residents heat their homes.
• The final landscaping, benches, lights, and granite blocks were installed at the Main Street Connection Park, opening the space to public use.
• Veterans Day ceremonies were held at Old Saybrook High School and at the Old Saybrook Firehouse.
• The boards of Selectmen and Finance voted to put $1 million from an old Anthem reserve account into the town employees pension fund.
• Saye Brook Village opened 15 new units at its Sheffield Street residential complex for low-income elderly.
December
• State contractors replaced a Route One bridge at Center Road during a week-long road closure.
• Tighe & Bond’s final brownfields assessment report estimated clean-up costs for each of the nine parcels examined along Roamtree Road.
• The Torchlight Parade lit up Main Street as light snow fell.