Update on the Airport Hangar Project and Digging Through Old Cemetery Records

A quick synopsis of what happened at last night's meeting.

• First Selectman Derrylyn Gorski said the Airport Hangar committee has been working hard to raise the necessary funds to complete the hangar renovation project, however without the ability to confirm that the project will definitely happen, fundraising has been hampered. The $200,000 STEEP grant awarded several years ago towards the work is not enough to begin the $1 million project. Gorski said that Governor Malloy has vowed to provide enough money in STEEP funds to actually complete the projects they are awarded for, so Gorski said she is going to reapply for the balance; if the town had a total of $500,000 towards the project, work could begin and fundraising should progress more rapidly.
• New members appointed to the cemetery commission are Selectmen Don Shea and Steven Thornquist, Town Historian Will Brinton and Carol Goldberg.
• Will Brinton presented his research regarding the Carrington Cemetery Endowment Fund with the ultimate goal being that the money in it can legally be used to fund the repair of the fallen and broken stones in all of the town’s cemeteries. According to information Brinton discovered in old meeting notes, in 1955 the old cemetery association was dissolved and the cemetery was turned over to the town. At that point the association had no money, so the “endowment” the cemetery has now is actually the result of plot sales over the years. According to Town Attorney Kevin McSherry a new amended resolution can be drafted and voted on at a town meeting that will allow Bethany to use the funds to properly maintain all of its burial grounds.