Raymond C. Crosby, 26, of 129 Lynch Road, Lebanon, was charged Friday in Griswold with failure to carry registration and insurance card, driving with a suspended license, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and failure to drive in the proper lane.
Julie Lang, 20, of 339 Beaumont Ave., Lebanon, was charged Saturday with third-degree assault, disorderly conduct, and risk of injury to a minor.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Lebanon's 6 Million Dollar Question
The town of Lebanon is going to be faced with a large and expensive decision very soon. Lebanon has been under a consent order, from1987, to deal with the water pollution problems that exist on and around Amston Lake. This problem has been featured in the Hartford Courant as a front page article which has led to negative press attention to the problem and political pressure. The problem is that it will cost each citizen in the town about $802 and will benefit only a small portion of the towns residents.
The question is do we need it? Apparently, the town is being forced into this decision by the State of Connecticut because of water quality issues on Amston Lake. If we do not agree to a remedy we will be taken to court and forced to do something about the issue. The First Selectmen, Joyce Okunuk, has already signed a consent order that has the force of a Court Decree and the time line if very tight. Hebron settled their pollution problems in the late 1980's when the original order came out and now we are going to be paying for a system that will cost far more to install than it did when Hebron installed their sewers. The waiting game is over.
There is an attempt to obtain a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pay for half the project. The problem is Lebanon does not currently qualify for the grant because our household median income is greater than the state median. There is a current study of the residents incomes, in the Amston Lake district, to see whether they meet guidelines for receiving the grant. The town may still not qualify for the grant if the incomes are greater than the median income of the state.
Many residents of the Amston Lake area are already asking for their properties to be added as year round residences after the project is completed. Clearly there are some indirect costs that are involved with this project because the majority of the residences around the lake are seasonal at this point. The Willimantic Chronicle has already wrote a opinion article that supports the contention that there is no reason to keep those seasonal homes from transitioning to rear round residences once the project is completed. There are about 200 residences in the Amston Lake district and about 160 of those are seasonal residences. By allowing these residence to transition to rear round residences then we will have the addition of at possibly 200 new residents and the addition of more students to the school system.
The addition of more residents to Lebanon could lead to increased costs to the town as a whole. The seasonal homes are only paying partial taxes at this point. What will the addition of year round residents and children do to the towns tax rate? No one knows. In fact no one knows whether there will be additional homes built on empty lots that surround the area now. All of this could lead to increased taxes to the residents as a whole because it is well known that residential developement does not pay for itself through taxes on the new developement but leads to increases in taxes on residents as a whole.The town has commissioned a study to see what could happen if these homes do transition to year round residences.
The newly appointed Water Pollution Control Authority says on the town of Lebanon's website that "the Amston Lakes residents will pay their fair share". No one knows what that means at this point. Does it mean that they will bear the full cost? If that is the case then each residence in the district will be responsible for about $29500. If they receive the United States Department of Agriculture grant then the grant will pay for about 50% of the cost of the project.
At this point it is a wait and see period for the town. There is a push to have the project voted on and approved at the annual town meeting that is held in May.It may not pass. The question is what if? What if it's not passed? The State of Connecticut has already forced other communities to fix their pollution problems. This has occurred after protracted and expensive court battles. Our options have clearly run out. The question now is is who is going to pay for the project.
The question is do we need it? Apparently, the town is being forced into this decision by the State of Connecticut because of water quality issues on Amston Lake. If we do not agree to a remedy we will be taken to court and forced to do something about the issue. The First Selectmen, Joyce Okunuk, has already signed a consent order that has the force of a Court Decree and the time line if very tight. Hebron settled their pollution problems in the late 1980's when the original order came out and now we are going to be paying for a system that will cost far more to install than it did when Hebron installed their sewers. The waiting game is over.
There is an attempt to obtain a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pay for half the project. The problem is Lebanon does not currently qualify for the grant because our household median income is greater than the state median. There is a current study of the residents incomes, in the Amston Lake district, to see whether they meet guidelines for receiving the grant. The town may still not qualify for the grant if the incomes are greater than the median income of the state.
Many residents of the Amston Lake area are already asking for their properties to be added as year round residences after the project is completed. Clearly there are some indirect costs that are involved with this project because the majority of the residences around the lake are seasonal at this point. The Willimantic Chronicle has already wrote a opinion article that supports the contention that there is no reason to keep those seasonal homes from transitioning to rear round residences once the project is completed. There are about 200 residences in the Amston Lake district and about 160 of those are seasonal residences. By allowing these residence to transition to rear round residences then we will have the addition of at possibly 200 new residents and the addition of more students to the school system.
The addition of more residents to Lebanon could lead to increased costs to the town as a whole. The seasonal homes are only paying partial taxes at this point. What will the addition of year round residents and children do to the towns tax rate? No one knows. In fact no one knows whether there will be additional homes built on empty lots that surround the area now. All of this could lead to increased taxes to the residents as a whole because it is well known that residential developement does not pay for itself through taxes on the new developement but leads to increases in taxes on residents as a whole.The town has commissioned a study to see what could happen if these homes do transition to year round residences.
The newly appointed Water Pollution Control Authority says on the town of Lebanon's website that "the Amston Lakes residents will pay their fair share". No one knows what that means at this point. Does it mean that they will bear the full cost? If that is the case then each residence in the district will be responsible for about $29500. If they receive the United States Department of Agriculture grant then the grant will pay for about 50% of the cost of the project.
At this point it is a wait and see period for the town. There is a push to have the project voted on and approved at the annual town meeting that is held in May.It may not pass. The question is what if? What if it's not passed? The State of Connecticut has already forced other communities to fix their pollution problems. This has occurred after protracted and expensive court battles. Our options have clearly run out. The question now is is who is going to pay for the project.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)