Weston: The Year in Review

The year 2011 marked a year of stops and starts for the town of , with a trifecta of bad weather, a worse economy and slow progress on a variety of significant initiatives.

Snowstorms and Hurricanes and Power Outages, Oh My

Local residents repeatedly awoke in the cold mornings of winter 2011 to find new snow and no school. The Weston Board of Education took the extraordinary step of to remediate the number of weather-related cancelations that occurred in January, an event that greatly affected the calendar negotiations for the 2011-2012 and .

After a too-brief respite from Mother Nature, pounded the Atlantic coastline, causing widespread power outages in Weston, Easton and Redding. Downed trees made numerous town roads impassable, and Weston’s schools lost four “snow” days before .

Just when residents re-stocked their freezers, , putting a snowy and powerless damper on Halloween trick-or-treating. A soft postponement to the following weekend caused a miniature revolt among many who used the opportunity to collect candy not once, but twice. More importantly, most town residents lost power, again for a full-week; ultimately, Connecticut Light and Power’s Jeff Butler, President and COO, stepped down, after telling the New York Times that CL and P was shocked by the number of trees in Connecticut.

Welcome to Weston, Quiet Suburban Community

Following the resignation of Dr. Jerry Belair, . In her first 6 months on the job, Dr. Palmer has overseen the last-minute hiring of a kindergarten teacher, opened not one but two comfort stations at Weston Middle School during two infamous fall storms that caused 9 days of canceled school, , administered significant changes to the school calendar, managed a scandal pertaining to popular , opened salary negotiations with the Weston Teachers Association as well as budget discussions for 2012-2013, and won a negotiation with the federal government pertaining to wetlands remediation in the field between the high school and Weston Middle School. The A.I.M initiative, the brainchild of Assistant Superintendent of School Thomas Scarice, promises to be an exciting topic of conversation among Weston taxpayers, who are anxious to see how an estimated $300,000 multi-year expenditure on an experimental, unprecedented and vital teaching tool will affect Weston’s quality of education.

Weston Cemetery Plan Dies At Vote …

at the Fromson-Strassler property when a spring referendum asking voters to approve a $30,000 survey failed. Although the cemetery’s supporters were committed and vocal and then-Selectman Daniel Gilbert insisted that the referendum question was incorrect and unnecessarily dampened enthusiasm for the project, ultimately residents failed to support the initiative. One resident observed that a memorial to deceased residents located in the vicinity of town hall would be more appropriate; many residents stated that they thought the project was a waste of money.

… But Lachat Gets a New Lease on Life

after it was nearly ordered demolished in late spring. The property, dually owned by Weston and the Nature Conservancy, is home to the Lachat house, once thought too expensive to repair and maintain. However, resident Carol Baldwin – among others – stepped forward and expressed an interest in raising funds to save the home and the property. Discussions for demolition were called off and Weston and the Conservancy reached a separation agreement; Baldwin continues to raise funds and manpower to save the home and surrounding property, which many would like to see turned into a town farm.

Field of (Bad) Dreams

Revson Field, the chronically wet expanse that has been the subject of intense complaint and debate over a multi-year period, is still not finished, despite months of work in the committee room as well as on the field itself. Dr. Dest, hired by Weston to manage the project as an independent third party, quit after getting deluged with phone calls, letters and emails from residents who expressed concern about the project’s specifications, proving that the squeaky wheel does not always get the grease. In recent weeks, complaints about the pace of work performed by Aqua-Turf, hired to perform the remediation, have grown louder and include negative comments from First Selectman Gayle Weinstein, who is visibly frustrated over the project’s late start and slow progress.

Politics? What Politics?

An otherwise quiet election cycle in Weston was marked by two key events:, and involving Finance Board member-elect David Finkel, also a Republican. Both Weston town attorney Pat Sullivan and the Board of Ethics ruled that Finkel would be in violation of town ethical standards were he to serve on the finance board due to his financial relationship with the school district. Finkel promised to extinguish his business relationship with the schools if elected; the matter is currently back under consideration by the ethics board, when it was revealed that member term expirations were improperly communicated.

There’s This Thing Called a Town Charter, and It’s Really Important

Finally, a committee was established to review , which decides the rules on everything that matters to town government, including the Annual Town Budget Meeting, the value of which is subject to debate but is nevertheless a longstanding New England tradition. Although charter revision processes often take as long as two years, Weinstein indicated a desire to complete the project in a year’s time. The recommended charter will be put to a town vote after the committee work has been completed, hopefully in 2013.