A full house for the official opening of the new Auditorium (photo by Jerome Wilson).

DEEP RIVER— More than 200 residents turned out Wednesday evening to celebrate the reopening of the second floor auditorium at the historic 1893 town hall after a renovation project that was brought to completion over the past year by a committee of volunteers.

Former Selectman Art Thompson, who chaired the Deep River Town Hall Auditorium Restoration Committee, welcomed the crowd to an event “that only happens once every 120 years.”  Thompson, who had pushed for completion of a restoration effort, served as master of ceremonies for a program that celebrated the role of the town hall auditorium in the town’s history.

Thompson introduced former First Selectman Joe Miezejeski as “honorary chairperson,” for the event. Miezejeski, who served four terms as first selectman through the 1980s, was a member of the Deep River Town Hall Restoration Association that began the restoration effort when it incorporated and began collecting donations for the project in 1979.

The association collected about $270,000 in donations and coordinated various improvements over the past 30 years, including installation of an elevator that was funded by the late Emma Marvin, a former selectwoman. But many improvements remained unfinished, including renovations needed to bring the auditorium in to compliance with current building codes to allow full use of the balcony.

Looking down on it all, the Auditorium’s new ceiling (photo by Jerome Wilson)

At Thompson’s urging, the board of selectmen in 2011 appointed the new 11-member committee and gained control of the funds amassed by the former restoration association. The committee included four members of the association, Bruce Edgarton, Sally Carlson-Crowell, Frances Strukus and Kenneth Wood Jr. The new members included Claudia Epright, Janice Kmettz, Richard Nagot, Kim Olson, Linalynn Schmelzer, and Dennis Schultz. The committee used the $270,000 in available funds to complete the restoration project over the past 14 months.

Attending the program Wednesday were more than a dozen elderly graduates of the former Deep River High School, which closed when Valley Regional High School opened in 1952. The high school was located in a section of what is now Deep River Elementary School, but it lacked an auditorium. For more than 60 years, students used the town hall auditorium for group events that ranged from dances to the annual graduation ceremony. The construction and April 1893 dedication of the town hall was recounted by Dan Conners, a retired history teacher who was a member of the original faculty at Valley Regional High School and author of a book on the history of Deep River.

Wednesday’s program, which also featured music from the Deep River Junior Ancient Fife and  Drum Corps and the elementary school chorus and clarinet ensemble, opens a period of active use of the 279-seat auditorium. Over the next month there will be concerts, movies, and a May 31 dance. The new chairs on the main floor of the auditorium are movable, allowing for a return of dances to the historic facility.

DEEP RIVER— A proposed $3,701,379 town government budget and a proposed  $5,511,158 appropriation for Deep River Elementary School goes to a public hearing on May 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the newly renovated second floor auditorium at town hall.

The town government budget is combined with a $43,000 capital expenditure plan and $348,060 in debt service for a total town government expense of $4,094,439. The town government and elementary school spending plans are combined with the town’s $5,160,854 share of the Region 4 education budget for a total proposed 2013-2014 spending levy of $14,779,521.

The $3,701,379 town government budget is up by $192,113, or 5.47 percent, from the current appropriation The town budget includes a three percent wage-salary increase for all town employees, including elected officials and part-time employees.. Debt service is up by $155,357, mostly due to new lease payments for a new fire truck and highway department truck, while the capital expenditure plan has been reduced by $291,000.

The $5,511,158 appropriation for the elementary school is up by $110,371, or 2.04 percent.  A shift in student enrollment, with additional students from Deep River attending Valley Regional High School and John Winthrop Middle School, contributed to the $281,854, or 5.78 percent, increase in the town’s share of the Region 4 education budget.

The total $14,77 million spending levy, including Region 4, is up by $448,695, or 3.13 percent. The board of selectmen and board of finance has endorsed a plan to increase the tax rate by four tenths of a mill to fund the proposed spending plan for 2013-2014. The increase would bring the tax rate to 25.08 mills, or $25.08 for each $1,000 of assessed property value. The proposed tax increase matches a 0.40. tax increase that was required to fund the current budget.

or the first time since 2001, the board of selectmen has decided to hold the budget vote by paper ballot at a May 20 town meeting, rather than by a referendum vote. Extremely low voters turnouts for the budget referendums in recent years led the selectmen to call for a town meeting vote on the budget.. The Region 4 budget goes to the voters of Chester, Deep River, and Essex in a 12 noon to 8 p.m. referendum on May 7, the same day as the town budget hearing.

DEEP RIVER-– For the first time in 11 years, voters will decide on a town/elementary school budget plan by a town meeting vote without a referendum.  The town meeting vote on a spending plan that is still being finalized will be held on Monday May 20 in the newly renovated town hall auditorium. The annual budget hearing is set for May 7.

The board of selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday not to hold a referendum vote on the budget plan for 2013-2014. First Selectman Richard Smith said Wednesday he had consulted with members of the Deep River Taxpayers Association before making the decision, and pledged that the vote at the May 20 town meeting would be by paper ballot. “There will not be a referendum this year unless we’re petitioned for one,” he said.

Smith said most residents, and elected officials such as members of the board of finance, had advised that a referendum vote on the budget should be skipped this year after extremely low vote turnouts for the budget referendums held in recent years.

Last May, a total of 190 voters turned out to approve a $14.3 million town/elementary school budget plan on a 147-46 vote. A total of 361 voters turned out for the budget referendum in May 2011. “It’s just too costly based on the turnout,” Smith said, noting that with a budget referendum costing the town about $1,800, the 2012 turnout amounted to an expense for the town of almost $100 per vote.

The town began holding annual referendums on the town government/elementary school budgets in 2001, when a depleted fund balance and steep tax increase led to controversy, and three votes before a spending plan was approved by voters. The taxpayers association formed that year, and indicated to the selectmen that they would seek a referendum vote on future budgets.

Rather than allowing a petition process to delay the budget vote, the board of selectmen, led by Smith, agreed to send the annual budget directly to a referendum vote. But turnout for the referendum that is usually held in the last week of May has decreased in recent years.

Referendum voting will continue on the Region 4 education budget, which is subject to approval by voters of the three district towns of Chester, Deep River, and Essex. The Region 4 Board of Education had adopted a policy of referendum voting on the budget in 2001, after spending plans were rejected twice before wining voter approval in a third referendum. The Region 4 budget referendum will be conducted on May 7 from 12 noon to 8 p.m. at the regular election polling places for the three towns.

DEEP RIVER— Assessor Robin O’Loughlin has filed an October 2012 grand list of taxable property that totals $488,099,951, an increase of $5,842,067, or 1.21 percent, from the 2011 grand list total. The list shows increases in real estate and personal property, with a small drop in the motor vehicles assessment total.

The town’s 2,182 real estate accounts showed a net assessment total of $438,166,830, up by $3,397,540 from the previous year. The town’s 428 personal property accounts had a total of $16,917,571, up by $2,677,877 from 2011. The 4,795 motor vehicle accounts had a new net total of $33,015,550, down by $233,350 from the 2011 total.

The 1.21 percent increase was stronger than 2011, when the grand list increased by only 0.73 percent. The 2012 increases would generate about $144,000 in new tax revenue at the current tax rate of 24.68 mills.

First Selectman Richard Smith said he was pleased with the increased revenue, even as higher teacher salary costs are expected to lead to higher education spending this year. “It helps,” he said, adding “if it were flat then we would really be behind the eight ball.”
Smith said the increases in real estate and personal property reflect a handful of new homes, a new building at Brewer’s Deep River Marina, and the relocation of PCI Medical to the former Champion building on the north side of town. “It’s a good indicator that Deep River has a healthy business climate,” he said.

The town’s list of the top ten taxpayers was unchanged from 2011. The top ten taxpayeers and their 2012 assessments are as follows, 1– Connecticut Light & Power Co.- $5,176,987, 2- Brewer’s Deep River Marina Inc.- $4,443,901, 3–Silgan Plastics Corp.- $4,435,461, 4– Mislick Family Limited Partnership- $3,137,190, 5–Deep River Associates LLC- $2,605,680, 6–Thomas Boyd & K. Dernocoeur-$2,430,610, 7– 180 Main Street Partners LLC (Adams)-$2,277,450,8– Goodspeed Leasing Co. LLC–$2,145,010, 9– Jerome and Marlene Scharr–$1,923,180. and 10–Virginia B. Linburg–$1,881,950. The Scharr, Linburg and Boyd-Dernocoeur properties are all high value residential properties located near the Connecticut River.

Charles Stannard is a lifelong resident of Essex and a graduate of Valley Regional High School and the University of Connecticut at Storrs.  Charlie worked for the Middletown Press from 1979 to 1995, covering Haddam and Killingworth and later Middletown city hall and schools.  From 1997 through 2010 Charlie was a reporter for the Hartford Courant and has covered Chester, Deep River, Essex and Killingworth for the past decade.  Charlie lives in the Ivoryton section of Essex.  Contact Charles at stannardcharles@yahoo.com

DEEP RIVER— Actions by the zoning board of appeals last summer on requested variances for a proposed used car dealership at a former industrial building on Route 154 have led to a lawsuit filed against the board. Local resident George Bartlett Jr. filed a lawsuit in November asking the court to direct the board to amend its minutes from a contentious June 19 public hearing, and to approve two variances needed for Bartlett to pursue planning and zoning commission approval of a used car dealership at the 444 Main Street property.

The lawsuit filed in Middlesex Superior Court by Essex lawyer John Bennet contends the board in September improperly rejected a request from Bartlett to amend and correct allegedly inaccurate minutes from the June 19 public hearing and meeting on the variance appeals. The lawsuit contends minutes prepared by long-time zoning board of appeals chairman Donald Grohs did not accurately report Bartlett’s request for two variances at the June 19 session. The suit also notes that Grohs had recused himself from hearing the appeal because he owns nearby property, and that there is no tape recording of the board’s discussion and vote on the variance appeals.

The plan to open a used car dealership at the former Champion Tool & Die Co. building had drawn strong opposition from the planning and zoning commission at the June 19 hearing. Variances were needed to pursue approval of a used car dealership in the parcel because zoning regulations require at least 150 feet of road frontage for businesses in the Turnpike Industrial Zone on the south side of town. The 444 Main Street parcel has only 144.7-feet of road frontage.

The lawyer for the commission, Middletown attorney William Howard, had maintained that Bartlett, who was represented by Essex lawyer and Bennet partner Michael Wells, was seeking both a 5.3-foot dimensional variance, but also an illegal use variance of a separate regulation that required at least 150-feet of road frontage for used car dealerships. The board approved the dimensional variance on a 4-1 vote, but there was also a clear sense after the June 19 meeting that the board had also approved a separate variance of regulation 7B.9.3 that had drawn objections from the planning and zoning commission.

The commission at a June 21 meeting directed Howard to file a court appeal of the ZBA decision, setting up a possible legal battle between the zoning board of appeals and the planning and zoning commission, with town taxpayers paying the legal expenses for both panels. But the commission vs. board lawsuit appeared to have been averted after First Selectman Richard Smith set up a July 2 meeting between members and legal counsel for the board and commission.

Cathy Jefferson, zoning enforcement officer, said Wednesday the commission is not involved in the lawsuit between Bartlett and the zoning board of appeals. Jefferson said Bartlett received approval during the fall to lease a portion of the building to a small manufacturing business, but has not filed any applications for approval of the proposed used car dealership.

DEEP RIVER— The planning and zoning commission has approved a special permit for an 8,400-square-foot of the Centerbrook Sales/Eve’s Addiction industrial building at 16 Grove Street in the town’s north end.

The commission approved the permit on a unanimous vote after a public hearing Thursday. Cathy Jefferson, zoning enforcement office, said Monday the conditions on the permit approval are related to completion of recommended fire protection and drainage improvements. The approval will allow company owner Raymond Galeotti to expand the existing 6,600-square-foot building where he has operated the company since 2007. The building is located on a 2.5-acre parcel at the end of Grove Street, a dead-end street extending south off Bridge Street.

Galeotti needed approval from three town land use commissions for the expansion project, including a permit from the inland-wetlands commission and a variance from the zoning board of appeals. A variance was needed because new village district regulations approved by the planning and zoning commission last fall imposed a 2,500-square-foot limit on the size of buildings in the village district, which includes the previous light industrial zone in the north end. The ZBA approved the variance on July 17 after a two-part public hearing than opened on June 19.

Galeotti said Monday construction of the expansion would begin later this year. He said the project would add about five new jobs, with some of the positions to be filled  before construction of the addition begins. The company, which currently employs 20 people, sells jewelry through an internet web site. Light assembly, including setting of stones and engravings, are done at the Grove Street facility.

DEEP RIVER— The zoning board of appeals Tuesday approved a variance that should pave the way for an 8,400-square-foot expansion of an existing industrial building located at 16 Grove Street in the town’s north end.

The variance approval, on a unanimous vote of the board, will allow Raymond Galeotti, owner of Eve’s Addiction/Centerbrook Sales, to proceed to a public hearing before the planning and zoning commission Thursday on a special permit application for the proposed business expansion. The commission’s public hearing begins at 7 p.m. in town hall.

A variance was needed because new village district zoning regulations approved by the commission last November impose a 2,500-square-foot limit on the size of buildings in the village district, which includes the area in the vicinity of Grove Street and Bridge Street that had previously been a light industrial zone.

The ZBA had opened a public hearing on Galeotti’s variance appeal on June 19, but postponed a decision until Tuesday amid questions about the extent of requirements in the new village district regulations. David Royston, the board’s attorney, opened the session by confirming the board had the legal authority to grant a variance on the new building size limit, despite language in the new regulations which implied the requirements were not subject to a variance.

John Bennet, a Chester lawyer representing Galeotti, said Galeotti purchased the industrial building that had been vacant for several years in 2007 with the hope of eventually expanding his business that involves the manufacturing and sales of jewelry items . Bennet said the new regulations with the 2,500-square-foot building size limit impose a legal hardship on a pre-existing non-conforming use. “A few months ago we wouldn’t even have to be here for this,” he said, adding “this is the kind of business that every community would like to have.”

First Selectman Richard Smith, speaking in support of the variance, said he had urged Galeotti to open his business in the 16 Grove St. building five years ago, and last year urged him to pursue a building expansion after neighborhood complaints about tractor trailer trucks that were remaining on the property while waiting to be unloaded. Bennet said the planned expansion would eliminate any need for large delivery trucks to linger on the property.

The expansion project, which has received a required permit from the inland-wetlands commission, calls for an 8,400-square-foot expansion of the existing 6,600-square-foot building on the 2.5-acre parcel at 16 Grove Street, a dead-end street located off Bridge Street.

In approving the variance, the board determined the new regulations imposed a hardship on a legal; non-conforming use, and that the planned expansion conformed with the existing building on the parcel.

DEEP RIVER-– Voters at a July 24 town meeting will consider a proposed $550,000 appropriation to purchase a reconditioned aerial ladder fire truck for the Deep River volunteer Fire Department. The town meeting convenes at 7 p.m. in town hall.

The proposed appropriation and purchase was approved on June 26 by the board of selectmen and board of finance based on a request from the volunteer fire department. The aerial ladder truck, while previously used, is newer than an existing ladder truck the fire department is expected to attempt to resell.

The truck will be purchased under a five-year lease-purchase arrangement with Sun Trust Leasing Corporation. The annual payment from the town will be $118,000 year, with the interest rate for the five-year agreement fixed at 2.25 per cent per year. The town has used similar lease-purchase agreements previously to purchase fire trucks and other heavy equipment.

DEEP RIVER— Carmela Balducci has been appointed to the board of finance to fill the seat held by her husband, former Speaker of the House Richard Balducci. The board of selectmen appointed Balducci, a Democrat, to the vacant position at a meeting Tuesday.
A former teacher, Carmela Balducci had served previously on the library board of trustees and the inland-wetlands commission. She was recommended for the opening by the Deep River Democratic Town Committee. Richard Balducci resigned from the board last month.

Richard Balducci had served on the finance board for nearly a decade, and was re-elected to a six-year term on the board in 2009. After serving as a longtime state representative from Newington, Balducci was elected speaker of the house in 1989. He ran the chamber until 1993, a period when Republican-turned-independent Lowell P. Weicker Jr. served as governor. The Balduccis moved to Deep River in 1996.

First Selectman Richard Smith said Balducci resigned from the finance board after learning he could not hold a local elected position while also serving on the state  Board of Regents for Higher Education, which governs state colleges and universities. Richard Balducci’s six-year term on the board of finance ends in 2015, but the seat will be on the ballot in the 2013 town election.

DEEP RIVER– The town is close to obtaining control of about $261,000 that was held by the now disbanded Deep River Town Hall Restoration Association Inc.

That was the message last week from former Selectman Arthur Thompson as he briefed the board of selectmen on the activities of the Deep River Town Hall Auditorium Restoration Committee. Thompson is on the 11-member volunteer committee that was established in December to replace the restoration association, and complete long-planned improvements to the second-floor auditorium at town hall.

The former restoration association held the $261,000 that was donated over several years by residents to support the renovation of the town hall auditorium. The town meeting resolution that established the new committee included a provision specifying that funds held by the former association would be placed in a separate town fund dedicated to completing work on the town hall auditorium.

Thompson said the funds have been taken out of stock market investment accounts, and placed in a single account at Essex Savings Bank. Thompson also reported the town would not need a probate court ruling to secure control of the funds because the 1979 incorporation documents for the town hall restoration association had specified that any funds held by the association would revert to the town if the association was disbanded.

But the final transfer of the funds to the town requires a review by the state Attorney General’s office, which reviews final disbursements of charitable funds. Thompson said the committee expects a report from the attorney general soon.

Thompson said the funds would then be used to pay for improvements to the town hall auditorium, including work needed to allow full use of the balcony, and create a suitable entrance to the auditorium from a side door to the 1892 town hall building. He said the committee is working to prepare a specific improvement plan for the auditorium, along with cost estimates, to be presented to the selectmen.

Thompson also announced the committee would handle any bookings for use of the town hall auditorium, ending the services of Linalynn Schmelzer, a local resident who was hired last year by the association to coordinate bookings of the auditorium. “There are not a lot of bookings right now and we believe committee members can handle it,” he said.

DEEP RIVER— Voters at a town meeting Tuesday authorized the formation of a new committee to coordinate the ongoing effort to restore the auditorium at town hall.

About 15 residents turned out for the meeting, approving the board of selectmen’s recommendation for a new committee and a special town fund on a unanimous voice vote. The resolution had three parts, beginning with the rescinding of a February 1981 town meeting resolution that gave the Deep River Town Hall Restoration Association Inc. sole authority to coordinate restoration of the historic 1892 town hall.

In recent years, the restoration effort has focused on upgrading the second-floor auditorium for wider community use. The board of selectmen earlier this fall urged the association to expedite the restoration effort utilizing a fund made up of private donations to complete the fire safety and building code improvements. The funds held by the association total about $250,000.

After meeting with the board of selectmen on Nov. 8, the association directors agreed to disband the organization and support the selectmen’s goal of establishing a new town committee to complete the improvements to the auditorium as soon as possible.

The second part of the town meeting resolution establishes a new 11-member Deep River Town Hall Auditorium Restoration Committee to coordinate the effort to restore the auditorium. A third part of the resolution creates a special town fund, to be called the Town Hall Auditorium Restoration Fund, that would be comprised of the donated funds now held by the restoration association.

Former Selectman Arthur Thompson, who pushed for a revised structure for the restoration effort during the final weeks of his term, said the transfer of the funds to the new town special fund would require approval from the state Attorney General’s office, and the regional probate court in Old Saybrook, because the association was both a non-profit corporation and a charitable organization. Thompson said it could take up to two months to secure the required approvals.

First Selectman Richard Smith said the board of selectmen would appoint the new committee during this waiting period, with some members of the association board of directors expected to volunteer to serve on the new committee. Smith said he already has received a list of required fire safety and building code improvements for the auditorium from Building Inspector Richard Leighton.

Smith said the new committee would develop a plan to complete the improvements using the donated monies in the Town Hall Auditorium Restoration Fund. “It should move pretty quick,” he said.

In other business, the town meeting confirmed reappointments to the planning and zoning commission and the zoning board of appeals. Confirmed for a three-year term on the planning and zoning commission were incumbents Janet Edgarton, Nancy Fischbach, and Thomas Walsh. Confirmed for three-year terms on the zoning board of appeals were incumbents Jerome Ackerman, Margot Gamerdinger, and William Harris.

Smith announced there is a new opening on the seven-member planning and zoning commission with the resignation of Angus McDonald Jr., who began his term as the new Democratic selectman this week. McDonald, who replaces Thompson on the board, participated in his first meeting Tuesday. Smith said there is also an alternate vacancy on the commission.

DEEP RIVER— The board of selectmen is hoping a joint meeting next month with directors of the Deep River Town Hall Restoration Association Inc. will bring consensus on how to complete a long-running restoration of the town hall auditorium and utilize funds donated to the association.

Selectmen met with members of the association board of directors on Sept. 27, urging the association to assist in drafting an updated town meeting resolution and authorization for the association, which was established under a 1981 town meeting resolution and later became a non-profit corporation. Before the joint meeting was held, the board on Oct. 11 adopted a resolution expressing opposition to placing funds held by the association in an irrevocable endowment fund.

Sally Carlson-Crowell told the selectmen at Tuesday’s meeting the group was “a little bit concerned,” about receiving “demands” from the selectmen before the joint session was held. She said directors of the group, including long-time director Ted Mackenzie, had recently discussed dissolving the association based on concern with the direction of the review process.

Selectman Arthur Thompson said the board is not seeking to disband the association, but needs to clarify the future plans of the association and the use of more than $200,000 in donated funds held by the association. The funds were donated by residents to support the restoration of the town hall auditorium, a project that began in the late 1970s.

Most of the funds have been invested on the stock market, with the value shifting in recent weeks based on gains and declines in the market. Thompson said the funds should be held in safer investments, and used to complete all necessary improvements to the town hall auditorium. “I’m not sure the people who donated that money want it to be played on the stock market,” he said.

First Selectman Richard Smith said the board needs to have the association “let us know what you want to do,” to complete all necessary improvements to the auditorium. He suggested the funds held by the association could be combined with some town funding to complete the project. Smith said he has no objections to having a local resident hired by the association continue to coordinate scheduling the use of the auditorium.

Concluding Tuesday’s discussion, Carlson-Crowell said the association directors are “looking forward,” to the joint meeting with the selectmen.