2008 Wrap-Up In West Hartford

Published Dec. 31, 2008 at 6:56 p.m.


Was it a good year for West Hartford? Let's take a walk down memory lane and take a look. (And thanks to West Hartford News online archives.)

January 2008
A Runaway was discovered in a West Hartford home.

Police discovered a missing 15-year-old Bloomfield girl alive in a cubby hole in a West Hartford home and sordid details of her bizarre year with 41-year-old Adam Gault...West Hartford and Bloomfield officers discovered the girl, presumed dead, very much alive in Gault's home in June as they executed a search warrant for his DNA and evidence related to her disappearance.

Redistricting of schools was hotly contested during the last months of 2007 and the month of January 2008. School redistricting was voted down at the end of January by the Board of Education.

The Board of Education voted against redistricting the elementary schools on Jan. 15, a decision that took three months of consideration to make. Instead, the board decided the overcrowding problem could be resolved with other options.

Plans for pedal cabs in West Hartford emerged.

Dr. David Sklarz, Superintendent of West Hartford Public Schools, announced his intention to "retire"...BOE planned to assemble a team of people to do a search for a suitable replacement.

He is considering freelancing his services on occasion by acting as a sub-superintendent for school districts throughout Connecticut, or maybe offering superintendent training classes for those who want to learn from experience.

February 2008
The Board of Education unanimously approved a Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for the West Hartford School System. The CIP includes work at Charter Oak, Bugbee and Braeburn schools.

According to the plan, the project will include $700,000 to be spent during this year, and approximately $7.5 million will be spent the following year.
The CIP budget will also include a $3.7 million expansion at Bugbee School and a $500,000 expansion on Braeburn School. Both expansions are geared to address the overcrowding issues.
Additionally, about $3.2 million of the budget will cover asbestos removal, repairs and furniture replacements.

The town grand list grew by 9%.

The new total on which 2008 taxes will be based is $4.893 billion as compared to last year's Grand List, reported by the town as $4.465 billion.
However, the total before exemptions was over $6 billion, with more than $1 billion in exemptions given for phased-in residential property that is not being assessed at its full valuation this year.
The pre-exemption total includes $4.61 billion residential, $679,693,000 commercial, $68 million industrial and the motor vehicle total is $377 million.
Although some residents believe new businesses in the town, such as Blue Back Square, have brought the residential assessments up, according to the town assessor's office, that is not the case.

March 2008
The 2008 budget battle begins.
School Budget proposal includes 6.53% increase.
Proposed Town Budget offers 7% increase.

Although the proposed 2009 budget is intended to maintain the status quo, this year's budget proposal represents an increase of more than $14 million - a nearly 7 percent increase - over the 2008 budget. Non-tax revenue is projected to increase by less than $33,000, said Francis, citing the state of the economy, higher conveyance tax rates and a drop in interest rates as factors.
During his presentation, Francis said that in order to support the budget, an 8.3 percent increase in property taxes would be required, for a total of almost $183 million. Residents would pay an average of about $7,362 in property taxes this year.

Residents look to create a dog park.

Altogether, over 100 residents showed up to the first public meeting of the West Hartford Dog Park Coalition, a group whose sole expressed purpose is to bring a free public dog park to West Hartford. Members of the group were surprised by the turnout and pleased that so many residents came out to show their support for the group.

April 2008
New plans are presented for Bishop's Corner.

Gregg Nanni, general manager of Prospect Enterprises, a development firm that owns and manages several properties at Bishops Corner, met with members of the Bishops Corner Neighborhood Association last week at the Bishops Corner Branch Library, where he presented conceptual plans for the 2558 Albany Ave. property to area residents. With him was Peter Rader, an architect from Crosskey Architects, LLC, who helped to draft the development plans.
At the meeting, the duo outlined the anticipated project, for which they would raze the old farmhouse, lessen the current grade of the property, and among other modifications to the existing property, erect a 10,000-square-foot New England-style commercial structure. The existing farmhouse, which in the past has housed offices, stands at only 3,500 square feet in size.

May 2008
Parking problems plague Blue Back Square

At a recent Connecticut Mainstreet Center-sponsored parking workshop for officials from neighboring towns, West Hartford's Economic & Community Development Officer Rob Rowlson said while on-street parking meters at Blue Back Square are operating at 95 percent utilization, the garages are operating at an average of 40 percent

Residents petition for a budget referendum

According to Town Clerk Essie Labrot, as of Monday, May 19, the town had received and verified 2,324 signitures on a petition to conduct a budget referendum vote. Under town charter rules, the signatures of 6 percent of the town's electors - 2,264 residents of voting age - were needed to obligate the town to hold a vote.
Spearheading the petition was the West Hartford Taxpayers' Association, which has been vocal in criticizing Town Council for adopting the $215.9 million town budget. The budget stands at an increase of $14.4 million over the 2007-2008 budget and will require $180.6 million in property tax revenue...[WHTA president] Chris Torino said members of the association feel the tax increase of 7 percent is too high, that it would negatively affect senior citizens and "average folks."

Traffic Calming becomes part of Town policy.

The resolution, spearheaded by Deputy Mayor Chuck Coursey, called for Town Council to accept the town manager's Traffic Calming and Pedestrian Safety Report, a document outlining the need for and suggesting traffic calming measures in West Hartford. Adoption of the resoluion effectively established a policy of considering "complete streets" and traffic calming measures whenever a road is reconstructed or repaved. Following the items of the resolution, the town will designate safety zones near schools and eldery residential areas and institute a funded program by which historically problematic streets could be addressed with traffic calming measures.

June 2008
The Town Council voted to replace parking meters because the current "two-headed" meters are too complicated for people to use.

Town Council members passed a resolution on Tuesday, May 27, to appropriate money from the town Parking Lot Fund to purchase and install new parking meters in the center of town, along South Main Street, Farmington Avenue and LaSalle Road. Town Manager James Francis said funding for the new meters, part of a $400,000 resolution package for the meters and new lightbulbs in the Blue Back Sqaure garages, would come from parking meter and lot revenues.
The resolution was drafted after the town received numerous complaints from residents who - believing they had correctly paid to park at the center - were surprised to receive parking tickets. Some officials have said the meters' complexity could be the source of the problem.

Budget referendum date was set for June 17.

School Bus drivers voted to unionize.

PriceRite supermarket moved to old Caldor building in Elmwood.

Board of Education refunds a half million dollars to the town.

At a Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, June 3, board officials voted unanimously to return the unused budget funds to the town of West Hartford. Director of Finance and Planning for West Hartford public schools Chip Ward said the bulk of funds came from a turnover in personnel, wherein higher salaried, retiring teachers were replaced with 50 new teachers with an average salary of $55,000. Additional budget savings were accrued in the form of liquidated damages the town received for underperformance on the school bus contract with Durham School Services.

July 2008
In response to the defeat of the budget on June 17, the Town Council adopts a new budget. A budget of $213.5 million was adopted.

The budget was adopted at the Tuesday, June 24 Town Council meeting in a 6-3 Town Council vote split right smack along party lines. The slimmed down budget results from $2.4 million in item cuts and will cruise on $2.6 million less in property taxes than required by the 2008-2009 budget Town Council adopted in April...To increase revenue, the town will put a number of town property lots up for sale on the real estate market, and increase fees for false emergency service alarms and fees at the Senior Center and outdoor pools. The town will also charge a new town clerk notary fee, increase solicitors' license fees and institute a fee for disposal of some appliances. In its efforts to boost revenue, Town Council has worked in the fallout of a General Assembly decision to halt dissemination of PILOT grant funds, on which the town lost $615,000 in anticipated revenue...Among the items intended to reduce expenditure were the reduction of private school transportation and the elimination of 20 library, public works, police records, employee services, or community services positions. The town will eliminate vaccuum leaf collection, reduce library and pool hours, close the assessor's and tax offices on Fridays, reduce police department overtime, and reduce training in the fire and police departments. Town Council cut the West Hartford public schools budget by $1.4 million, from $125,360,572 to $123,410,140.

Budget cuts result in a vote by the Board of Education to increase class sizes.

The Board of Education announced last week that class sizes will be increased in an effort to match post-referendum budget cuts mandated by Town Council. Every grade in the system - from kindergarten through 12th - will be affected, they said.
The vote to increase class sizes across the board came at a special Board of Education meeting on Wednesday, June 5. Members of the Board of Education met that night to discuss options for meeting the dramatic $1.4 million in cuts demanded by a Town Council wrestling with the consequences of a townwide budget referendum.

Connecticut Mastery Test scores acceptable but not stellar.

The results showed the percentage of students in West Hartford who met goal on the Connecticut Mastery Test was consistent with last year's results, with around 72 percent of students meeting the 60th percentile mark for nationwide scores. This was up from the results of the test administered in 2006, when scores took a significant dip, said West Hartford Public Schools Director of Finance and Planning Chip Ward.
But while scores goal and proficiency scores amongst students without an identified educational risk were pleasing to officials, Ward said he expected the results amongst at risk subgroups - students receiving special education services or subsidized meals, and minority students - would not be surprising.
"We are a district in need of improvement," Ward said. "One of our challenges is, we have a diverse population."

Pedal Cabs given the green light

Among the more vocal supporters of St. Germaine and pedal cab transportation here is Mayor Scott Slifka, who helped to pass legislation regulating the industry in town. Deputy Mayor Chuck Coursey was the primary sponsor of the ordinance. Slifka said Town Council's regulatory action was meant to encourage pedal cab businesses, but to make sure they were conducted "the right way." He said the town councilors are thrilled to see St. Germaine's business up and running.
"I had a little excitement when I first saw [David] riding around," Slifka said. "I said, 'That's pretty cool. It's a reality.' It's another unique wrinkle in West Hartford Center that you don't find anywhere else."
According to St. Germaine, who is hoping to have three cabs out in the next few weeks, there is no set price for a cab ride from, say, a boutique in Blue Back Square to one of the popular LaSalle Road restaurants. When a potential customer approaches St. Germaine and asks the price of a ride, St. Germaine asks them, "What's do you think the ride is worth?"
Offer a reasonable price, and that's what you'll pay to turn "where you want to be" into "where you are," pedal cab-style.

August 2008
A Second budget referendum looms.

West Hartford will hold a second referendum vote on the 2009 general budget, after budget opponents submitted referendum petition signatures last week in excess of the minimum required to force the measure.
Town Clerk Essie Labrot verified this past Friday that the office of the town clerk received 2,507 petition signatures in time for the Thursday, July 31 deadline. That figure exceeds the minimum 2,233 signatures - representing 6 percent of the electorate - necessary to force the referendum. It also exceeds signatures gathered in the first wave of petitioning, in May, when opponents of the 2009 budget forced a referendum vote on 2,324 signatures.
That first referendum vote, held in June, brought 10,748 West Hartford residents to the polls, where 7,037 residents - or approximately 18 percent of registered voters - voted to reject the initial $215.9 million budget. The budget had represented an increase of $14.4 million over the 2008 budget and would have required $180.6 million in property tax revenue.

Because the date of the referendum conflicted with the Jewish holidays, the date for the referendum was moved.

Town Council last Wednesday adopted a resolution to change the budget referendum vote date from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7, as the previous date coincides with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

Jim Francis, Town Manager, resigns and Ron Van Winkle assumes Town Manager responsibilities.

September 2008
West Hartford fares better than most towns with regard to foreclosures.

West Hartford has recently seen a signficant rise in foreclosures and pre-foreclosure sales, but local real estate and economy experts say the increase has had a neglible impact on the West Hartford real estate market as a whole.
Despite suffering some fallout from the national recession, the West Hartford real estate market - and the Connecticut market, as a whole - is faring well in comparison with other municipalities natiowide, the experts said last week.
According to West Hartford's Director of Community Services Rob Van Winkle, "West Hartford has a significant number of homes in pre-forclosure" - a status typically incurred when a homeowner has missed payments on their mortgage - but the number of pre-foreclosures and foreclosures in West Hartford is "up from some really low numbers," previously

Fire department overspends its budget.

With the days of the budget surplus gone, some are saying something is going to have to give.
At a Wednesday, Aug. 27 Public Safety Committee meeting, Fire Chief William Austin said the real problem is the amount budgeted - which, he said, the department has never "met outright" - has never been enough. The department had flexibility in the past due to anticipated budget surpluses that could cover the extra expenditures. But, this year, with no budget surplus in sight, the Fire Department will likely out-spend their budget by approximately $450,000.

Vacuum leaf collection was re-instated.

Town officials last week acted to restore the vacuum leaf collection service, which was cut during referendum from the general budget in April. However, a lengthy future for the service in West Hartford may be dubious, according to some town administrators.

October 2008
The 2nd Budget referendum date was set for October 7th.

The Town Council reacts to forecasts of economic downturn...They cancel and defer approximately $20 million in capital projects as a result enacting restrictions on town spending.

"The magnitude of this crisis and its looming impacts on our residents demonstrates that we are dealing with challenges well beyond the West Hartford town budget." But "West Hartford is as well positioned as any community to survive these economic perils. By acting now, West Hartford will remain a wonderful town with top-notch schools and services. We will get through this," Slifka said.

The budget was again defeated and budget cuts were enacted. No other referendum was possible in accordance with the Town Charter.

Almost 11,000 of West Hartford's 38,596-resident electorate turned out Tuesday, Oct. 7, to vote in the town's second budget referendum of the year. Of the 10,996 residents who voted, 6152 voted against the budget.
Many residents opposed the $213.5 million substitution budget that Town Council adopted in late June after a firm rejection of the general budget at referendum earlier that month. Cut down from a proposed $215.9 million, the budget rejected last week still represented an approximate 6 percent increase over the 2007-2008 budget.

$600,000 in budget cuts approved by the Town Council in response to defeat of budget. The $212.8 million dollar budget was instituted.

Their reductions to the rejected $219.5 million general budget included $100,000 in Board of Education utilities savings, $50,000 in town utilities savings, $325,000 cut out of the Captial Non-Recurring Expenditures budget, $25,000 planned for police traffic enforcement, and $100,000 saved in the hiring freeze of several months ago.

November 2008
Democrats swept the November polls...Congressman Larson re-elected, and CT House seats were won by Fleischmann, McCluskey, and Bye...CT senate seat is returned to Harris.

Sizeable budget deficit forecast for next budget cycle.

Town officials forecast the town-wide deficit this year would grow to reach approximately $1.4 million. This projection was based, in part, on a spending pattern that has the town's annual coffers 46 percent exhausted only three months into the financial year, according to figures cited by Town Manager Ron Van Winkle.
In light of the seeming inevitability of large budget deficits for West Harford, officials have proclaimed recently the need for unified public discourse and deliberate, judicial action to protect the town for what may be several difficult years for the town, in terms of finances. Such was the case when, in a move town officials called "extraordinary," "historic" and "unprecedented," Mayor Scott Slifka made an appearance at a Tuesday, Oct. 21, Board of Education meeting to talk about what he said was the town's need to craft a long-term "survival plan" through a series of as yet unscheduled public forums this year.

West Hartford Food pantry in need of donations. Students help out.

Regionalism discussed as a means to help communities share expenses.

School based arrests raise concern.

Published by the American Civil Liberties Union, the report found that minority students committing certain common disciplinary infractions in West Hartford are twice as likely to be arrested than white students committing the same offenses.

December 2008
School improvement plans were laid out.

West Hartford Public School's administration last week rolled out school improvement plans for Hall High and King Phillip Middle schools, a move federally mandated after the schools continued last year to fail to make "adequate yearly improvement" in state test scores for minority and economically disadvantaged students. School officials said they modeled their improvement plans on successful steps recently taken at Conard High School to close the achievement gap amongst disadvantaged students.

Town Council calls for comprehensive energy plan.

Town Council's democratic caucus this week put forth a resolution calling for a comprehensive energy plan to be developed for West Hartford. Described as a "next step" toward energy efficiency in a town where a series of recent measures have demonstrated commitment to energy conservation, members of the democratic caucus say the plan will set "a very high standard" for energy use in West Hartford.

West Hartford Credit Union closes.

The West Hartford Credit Union, in Farmington, has closed its doors, State Banking Commissioner Howard F. Pitkin said last Friday.
According to Pitkin, the credit union was unsafe and unsound, and he petitioned the Superior Court for the Judicial District of Hartford County to name the National Credit Union Administration as receiver.
The state Department of Banking took control of West Hartford Credit Union Inc. and appointed NCUA receiver after determining the credit union had inadequate capital and was suffering significant loan losses and elevated risk due to poor credit administration practices and recordkeeping.

West Hartford teachers got a pay raise in their new contract.

In a year in which West Hartford's budget deficit is expected to grow to a formidable $1.4 million, the ratified contract reflected significant concessions on the part of district teachers, which Assistant Superintendant Timothy Dunn called a recognition of financial difficulties faced by the West Hartford community. Reached on Dec. 1 and ratified by the teachers' union on Dec. 9, the contract is "a low settlement in comparison to reported settlements across the state" and the nearby towns, Dunn said.
This contract "underscores their willingness to work with us," Dunn said.
Set to go into effect in July 1, the two-year contract grants teachers a 1-percent salary increase over the first contract year and a 1.25-percent increase over the second year. Healthcare premiuims will increase slightly for teachers under the contract, as will some medical co-payments and the maximum out-of-pocket deductibles paid by teachers.

Quest, gifted program, in need of overhaul.

Presenting their findings to officials at a Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16, the report's authors said they recognized West Hartford's "strong if somewhat inconsistent commitment" to educating gifted students, but said a number of changes would improve the program and education for the students.

This is by no means all of what has happened in West Hartford this past year. (Surely there have been some omissions - please feel free to add others in comments)

It looks like West Hartford had a rough year financially as we worked to grapple with a bleak economy in the state and the nation. On the bright side, we've had some new businesses cruise into town, and recently have seen the opening of Cocoa in the Center and Elements in Elmwood, along with PF Chang's in Westfarms Mall...Our school system has undergone some scrutiny and found to be lacking in some areas, although it is still generally regarded as a very decent place to educate children...We have seen some efforts in town, by residents, to help others by planning charity balls, filling the needs of our food pantry, and trying to educate kids and parents on many important topics...We strive to keep ourselves educated on topics like drunk driving and energy conservation...Just like a regular family, we have squabbles amongst ourselves, but try in the end to resolve our differences.

There is no doubt that even with all of our disputes and problems, we truly live in a great town that is filled with recreation opportunities and various other wonderful experiences...We would be well to remember that it isn't how much we spend on programs and services as much as who we are and what we accomplish, even on limited resources. Let us count our blessings.

Talk of West Hartford wishes you all a happy and healthy New Year and hopes that we all work together to work through the financial difficulties that certainly lay ahead of all of us. Let us all work to keep our town a fine place to live, raise a family and do business in.


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