KENT, Conn.—In a quiet annual town meeting that lasted only half an hour, residents authorized the selectmen and town treasurer to borrow funds needed to operate the town, approved acquiring ownership of two old cemeteries, endorsed appointments to the Parks and Recreation Commission and reviewed the five-year capital plan.
One item, the acquisition of the cemeteries, elicited a single negative vote from a resident who questioned whether the town would have to assume maintenance of the two locations at additional cost to taxpayers.
First Selectman Eric Epstein said the care of the sites would fall to the town’s Cemetery Committee, which was formed nearly two years ago when the former Kent Cemetery Association disbanded.
Appointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission were David Schreiber, Kevin Frost and Keith Johnson, with Miranda Lovato and Jordan Iovino named as alternates.
The review of the capital plan, which accumulates tax dollars over a period of five years to meet large, non-operational town expenses, revealed that over the next five years the Board of Education would budget $1,755,208 for items that include roofing a portion of Kent Center School, paving and new boilers. The Public Works Department will need to amass $5.1 million to cover bridges, building improvements, equipment, acquisition of trucks, and road maintenance.
Emergency management will need $105,000 for a generator and sheltering equipment; the fire department will budget $1,875,000 for a new ambulance, two trucks, and upgrading its communications equipment, while the land use department will need a total of $90,000 to update zoning regulations and the Plan of Conservation and Development.
Parks and Recreation, which has an energetic program for upgrading facilities and program development, is asking for $705,000 to cover a variety of items, including paving and drainage, trail development, showers and a bathroom at Emery Park, a pavilion, a playground, tennis courts, and a vehicle.
Fifty thousand dollars was included in the five-year plan to pay for a property revaluation, while maintenance for the town’s several public buildings was entered into the plan at $1,840,000 to cover costs associated with roofing, exterior painting, windows sidewalks, upgrades at the transfer station and the like.
Many of these proposed projects have already been partially or fully funded. The capital plan reserve fund has a year-to-date balance of $3,965,143.
The plan drew no negative comments, but Catherine Bachrach, who has long been involved in developing and supporting local senior services, made a plea for a better parking plan around the Kent Senior Center. She said a lack of parking causes people attending programs at the center to park on the grass adjacent to the center on Swift Lane. In winter, when there is snow or ice, this can create dangerous conditions for walking.
“It’s only a question of time before someone falls,” she said, adding the situation “needs serious attention.”
