Branford Eagle

New Walsh School Contemplated

by marcia chambers | May 22, 2012 8:33 am

Branford school officials know that they are working on a band-aid approach as they await a compliance report that will or will not let them install a section of walls for the entering fifth-grade class at Walsh Intermediate School. Behind the scenes, they say they are also seriously moving ahead with a new intermediate school, a Walsh with walls. 

Walsh, built in 1972 in the heyday of the open-school style, is characterized by classrooms without walls. The emphasis is on open space and community sharing that largely depended upon a teaching approach that never quite took off, Board of Education Chair Frank Carrano said in an interview. Most of the open school style schools are now gone, he added. Now Carrano is thinking about a more traditionally designed school.

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New Rules Cheered

by Diana Stricker | May 18, 2012 6:00 am

Branford’s Board of Selectmen meetings are beginning to run more efficiently, as residents Wednesday voiced support for the recently enacted rules of conduct.

“Most of the people I’ve spoken to are very appreciative of the new rules,” resident Marie Kelly told the selectmen. Kelly, who has spoken with neighbors about the issues, said people want rules to be enforced so that town business can be conducted.  Her words met with applause from many in the crowd of about 25 people at the meeting.

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Open Space Lives On

by Diana Stricker | May 17, 2012 1:47 pm

When Branford residents gathered on the Town Green to celebrate Open Space Day, the old-timers said it was a “Land Trust kind of day.”  It seems that whenever the Land Trust plans an event, the sun always shines.

And there were plenty of longtime Land Trust members at last Saturday’s celebration as town leaders hosted the first-ever celebration of open space.

“Today is all about celebrating the donors and the entire community. Every time we have a fund raiser, they show up,” said Joan Merrick, a past president of the Land Trust and a member of the celebration committee. “Between the donors and the community, we have created fabulous places for people to walk and wonderful habitats for nature.” 

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Confessed Pit Bull-Killer Greeted With Protests

by marcia chambers | May 15, 2012 1:44 pm | Comments (3)

A boxer-pit bull mix, allegedly killed by one of his owners, was stage center on the steps of Superior Court on New Haven’s Elm Street Tuesday morning as 25 to 30 protesters held up signs demanding “Justice for Desmond.”

The 6-year-old dog, who was allegedly strangled in a Branford apartment and then dumped in a lake in Madison, was loved by those who cared for him at the New Haven shelter. Now they want the courts to act.

The protesters showed up for a court appearance for the man accused of killing the dog.

“We are just devastated,” said Micah Rapini, one of Desmond’s shelter moms and the primary organizer of the protest. She said after the brief court appearance that the demonstrators would be back on June 5, the next date Judge Susan Connors set for the case.  Rapini said she wants the courts to act in a meaningful way.  She has created a Facebook page about Desmond.

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Cell Service Sought

by Diana Stricker | May 14, 2012 11:05 am | Comments (1)

Cell phone service could be coming to the Short Beach neighborhood in Branford and the adjacent Riverside neighborhood in East Haven if AT&T’s proposal to build a cell tower in either municipality is approved.

AT&T has filed an application with the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) outlining its proposal to build either a 120-foot tower at 171 Short Beach Rd. in Branford, or a 103-foot tower at 82 Short Beach Rd. in East Haven just over the Farm River. The CSC has scheduled a public hearing July 10 to discuss both proposals. The hearings will be held at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the East Haven Senior Center, 91 Taylor Ave., East Haven. Public field reviews and a balloon launch to demonstrate height of towers will be held at 2 p.m.

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Frantic Texts Save Law

by Diana Stricker | May 11, 2012 11:35 am | Comments (3)

Only minutes before the midnight deadline for the legislative year came to a close Wednesday, State Rep. Lonnie Reed’s cell tower bill was unanimously approved by the state Senate.

Reed (D-Branford) said the legislation, which updates the way the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) approves cell towers, is expected to be signed into law by the governor. The Assembly approved the bill unanimously in April. 

The legislation is particularly important to people in Branford who have seen an onslaught of cell tower proposals in their community in the past three years.

Reed told the Eagle yesterday that she was happy and relieved that the legislation will finally become a reality.

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Roads Win, Schools Lose

by marcia chambers | May 10, 2012 7:41 am

Branford’s Representative Town Meeting adopted a $96.5 million budget Tuesday, a budget that keeps the town’s budget intact, cuts $100,000 from the schools and gives the average homeowner a $5,000 a year tax bill with a $150.00 hike.

Here’s the breakdown.

If you own a waterfront property on Blackstone Avenue, in Pine Orchard, a property assessed at $1.3 million, your taxes are going up by $931 to $34,164 if the new budget gets final approval from the Board Finance (BOF) this month. 

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Will Stony Creek Become Its Own Official Village?

by Diana Stricker | May 8, 2012 12:01 pm

The eclectic village of Stony Creek is considering whether to adopt an official Village District designation that would help preserve the community’s unique character.

A series of meetings were held over the weekend, with about 75 people attending the Sunday afternoon session to listen to a consultant’s report and to ask questions.  A total of about 50 attended Saturday sessions.

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Quarry Life Recalled

by marcia chambers | May 7, 2012 11:18 am

Carl Balestracci, the former first selectman of Guilford, and Unk DaRos, the current first selectman of Branford, have spent years talking politics, government and shared town concerns. But on Saturday the topic was granite as they returned to the place of their youth, to the Stony Creek quarry, a place that bisects their borders, their town’s histories and their own lives.

Under grey and cool skies, they shared stories of the impact of the quarry on their lives. Their grandparents came to this country from Italy to work in the quarries. The immigration of thousands of workers over decades transformed the once tiny towns of Guilford and Branford and changed their economic, religious and cultural make-up. These immigrants created the great monuments in the world, including the base of the Statute of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. 

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Cop (Communication) Down

by marcia chambers | May 4, 2012 8:46 am

The Branford Police Department’s communications system went down on Wednesday for about eight hours, the chief of police told a town legislative committee as it discussed financing for a new police radio emergency system. 

Chief Kevin Halloran said the breakdown of the old system, now 17 years old, required the department to share band space with the fire department in order to answer and receive emergency calls. “At this moment,” he said in an interview at about 10 p.m. Wednesday, “we are functioning at about 50 percent of our capacity, but we are tied in through the fire department.”

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