Woodstock CT Café

Pomfret approves their $11 million budget and a .59 increase in mil rate – a 5.69% increase in the operating budget and a 4.25% increase in the education budget.

Last weekend I spent some time looking through the most well known blog sites in the state to try to determine how the Cafe fares in activity compared to these other sites. I was surprised by how little is going on at most of these sites.  Many of the leading sites were loaded with U-Tube links rather than writing interesting opinion essays on important subjects.

One thing is certain – most visitors to these sites rarely if ever post comments while some individuals like our ‘A taxpayer’ and others submit many comments. The second certainty is that most visitors will read an article once … but will click through many times to read the new comments. So the comments are as important as the articles. No one has the time to critically review the articles, so the only objective measure of success is the number of comments posted as long as it’s understood the the commentors are a very small subset of the number of visitors.

I decided to tally up the number of articles and comments posted last week (Saturday to Sunday) for each of the sites listed in the table below and, if possible, determine the number of visitors to the sites that offered this information. Having followed CT Local Politics and My Left Nutmeg for the last two years, its easy to conclude that these sites are two of the more successful political blog sites in Connecticut. Consistency is important and the Cafe as well as CTLP and MLN definitely have consistency. Two surprises were “yourCT.com” and the “Bristol Blog” which last week out did the king (CTLP) with 210 and 179 comments, respectively. Consistency is the key though.

On average the Cafe posts 9 articles a week but last week we had only seven articles (writers’ block syndrome). Frankly, I never know what will be written or submitted next. I had no idea that Promfretite and Randy would enter the picture when I left for work this morning.

The Cafe had 71 comments posted last week which means that the Cafe has a good comment to article ratio. We are not interested in piling up the articles and when we have a special author like ‘Knowing Smile’ we give those articles some time on top.

Read the rest of this entry »

Both Pomfretite and Randy provided useful information on the impending oil crisis in Woodstock for next winter.

Pomfretite provides some information on the cause and possible solutions, and further below Randy provides a real life solution already acheived. 

Here’s Pomfretite’s offering:

“Because your politicians are not looking ahead, Amory Lovins is! I went to a lecture he gave a few weeks ago at Mass MoCA. He has a lot of solutions that will help you and the economy. It may not help domestic oil companies, but it could be good for domestic car manufacturing. Let’s see if they get ahead. He expects that companies will soon need to drop oil in order to remain viable businesses.

http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid191.php
http://www.oilendgame.com/index.html

and

Some other things to read:

http://www.icta.org/press/release.cfm?news_id=12
http://www.progress.org/2003/energy22.htm

The CTA press release was written in 1998, imagine what the real cost of gasoline is now. What isn’t fair about these and similar subsidies is that those who have and use public transportation and can not afford cars are paying for our gasoline.”

Here’s Randy’s offering – hopefully he will provide some more info on his unit:

“I’m glad I thought ahead. I built a passive solar house, put in a wood burning stove (I have tons of trees) and installed a solar hot water heater (cost 3K a few years ago, it’s 5K now) that pre heats the water for my heating. I don’t use oil and don’t need an outdoor furnace.

Of course, we are just catching up to the rest of the world for oil prices. Canada was always about 1-1.50 more per gallon (not liter) than us. Oh that’s right, they have nationwide healthcare to pay for.”

Here’s an example of a solar hot water heater Read the rest of this entry »

Since no one goes to ther numerous websites, CPS published this ad in the Shpper’s guide. No doubt it will show up in the bush Villager on Friday (fortunately I won’t see it because I never sent in that signed card). CPS hopes to save everyone $50 dollars in property tax so that taxpayers can pay their $10,000 heating oil and gasoline costs for next year. Maybe Shultz should sell his gas-guzzling SUV. Reminds me of Mrs. Clinton wanting to save every taxpayer $30 by stopping the gas tax for a few months. If we let our Town infrastructure decay it will cost us more in the long run…just like the salt barn. Viva Wholean!!! who is a part of this group for giving herself and Alan Walker a 9% raise last year and this year. What hypocrisy! Meanwhile they are attacking the school system at great cost to the taxpayers.
no coversation going on here.

That is, except for those who have invested $25-$30 thousand and up for solar power or solar efficient houses. It’s not clear to me that their solar systems have replaced their oil burners, but perhaps we will get some feedback. Then there are others in town that heat with outdoor wood furnaces. But many cannot afford the $8000+ for the smaller outdoor furnace – at least these investors have alternative energy sources.

I was fascinated by the bill a Woodstock resident received for his last shipment of heating oil. Saveway gave him a locked price last October for $2.70 a gallon which expired in April. So he just received 217 gallons and a bill for $953 at $4.399 per gallon. In 2003-04 the lock-in price was $1.199 per gallon and in 2004-05 the lock-in price was $2.36 per gallon.

Below I have calculated our personal consumption of oil and its rising cost for each year since 2000-01. Assuming that we will burn the same amount of oil next winter as we did this last winter, I have plotted what our heating oil will cost us in 2008-09. There’s no way around it. Our cost of heating oil next year will be at least $6400 unless we do something drastic, but it’s hard to think of a way to put a dent in this cost given that we have already done a lot to seal up our house and get the most out of our wood burning stove. The cost of heating oil is still rising, so it is entirely likely that we will be able to lock in a price next October of $4.80-$5 per gallon next October. 

I’m not even paying for wood, I’m scavenging, cutting, and splitting it at no cost except for my back. I make no secret about the fact that Becki is a better log-splitter than I am (hoping that she will split some more).

There’s a bigger issue here than my own cash flow, however. Read the rest of this entry »

See Dustin Racioppi’s article in the Norwich Bull on the expansion of the Tufts University Veterinary service in Woodstock. Our horse has benefitted from this service. John

Steffans: 

I am actually a supporter of the Academy field expansion and football program, subject to a proper funding mechanism that balances the needs of the K-8 public education system, as well as sensible conditions on the improvements due to their sensitive location.   

But the important point Paul makes is the Academy has never provided a scope of the project and associated budget.  The Academy will make a modest effort to raise private funds and force the taxpayers to pay for the rest, and not even provide them the courtesy of an estimate of the cost.  

Now you have run on for months here at the Cafe about the nature of this “private” school and the critical independence of the Trustees, etc.  But your statements here contradict all that, as the Academy has no legal obligation to provide any of this information to anyone.  This is precisely the problem the BOE has tried to address through the contract negotiation; and Breen tried to address through the legislative proposal.  You were highly criticial of both of these efforts (although you never read them).  

So how can you contradict months of your own statements here at the Cafe and suddenly support Paul’s request for information? 

A Taxpayer:

My fear and distrust stemmed from what I have perceived as a long history of irresponsible government, failed education policies, the lack of transparency in education/town budgets, tax dollar waste, unfair education funding, poor quality education, teacher’s union tactics, and liberal politics (please, I am not up to arguing about these issues).

I realized quite some time back when “Taxpayer Too” reminded me that he was a taxpayer, too, that what I wanted from government and what others want may be different, but he had a right to fight for it, too.

I would be a hypocrite if I preached for accountability, transparency, tax payer rights, fiscal responsibility (blah, blah, blah)  when it suited my own needs but did not support these same values when it came to anyone elses.  Hypocricy of such a nature cheapens these values to convenient political platitudes. 

I am not raising a false issue between Shultz and Paul.  Their legal right to act is the only issue from which I am making a comparison of the two.  Others here are the one’s guilty of making false assumptions about this because they do not read carefully.

Taxpayer Too:

OK now we are getting somewhere. Read the rest of this entry »

If you think education isn’t important, read this!

A high school drop out’s earnings average $ 23,000 per year ($11/hr.+/-)
A high school graduate’s earnings average $ 31,000 per year ($15/hr. +/-)
It costs $38,000 per year in income to support the average family of four.
A college graduate’s earnings average about $ 50,000 per year ($24/hr. +/-)
A master’s degree’s earnings average about $ 64,000 per year ($31/hr. +/-)
A doctorate degree’s earnings average about $ 102,000 per year ($49/hr. +/-)

Over a 45 year working life the difference in earnings is considerable. Based on the figures above, a high school drop out will gross $1,035,000; a high school graduate will gross $1,295,000; a college graduate will gross $2,250,000; a college graduate with a master’s degree will gross $2,880,000; and a college graduate with a graduate degree will gross $4,590,000.

Now, if you are someone in high school thinking that dropping out isn’t such a big deal (because you’re still going to make over a millions bucks), let me help you out. First of all, a million bucks is NOT a lot of money if you’re spreading it over 40-50 years, or longer. The kinds of jobs that are going to be available to you are some of the harder jobs in the marketplace. They are also jobs that tend to have a lot of turnover (because of the low pay level and low skill level). They are jobs that are often a strain on the human body (read physical labor) and can have high injury rates. Often employers do not provide health insurance and even if you’re injured at work, Workman’s Comp doesn’t pay for your living expenses. While is doesn’t seem fair, as a low wage worker, you’ll also probably have to pay for your own health insurance, so that little bit of money you will be making will have to pay for things that higher skilled workers (read college graduates) probably will have included in their base pay. That alone should encourage you to stay in school. Read the rest of this entry »

There was an old woman who was schooled in a shoe
She promised so many favors she knew not what to do
She tried as she might and she tried as she could
But as hard as she tried it came to no good

But this old woman was a resourceful old miss
And still, all in all, much fell quite off her list
She took from the larder until it was bare
Postponed and delayed, far beyond what was fair Read the rest of this entry »

Margaret Wholean has a long and tedious Letter to the Editor in the Villager tomorrow (May 16th). More than half of this political document is a pedantic summary of why the mil rate increased in 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994 up to 2000. First of all, after 2 years in office Ms. Wholean still doesn’t know how to spell “mil” as in “mil rate.” I wonder what she’s trying to mill here???

A second failing of Ms. Wholean was not quoting the actual language of Prop 46 which is as follows:

“Resolved, the town shall limit the increase in the town’s combined annual budget to revenue generated by growth in the Grand List, in State and Federal assistance, and in other income, except for increases, voted upon by town meeting, necessary to cover debt service on legal obligations, court judgments against the town, State mandated programs and emergency expenditures.

In the event of property revaluation, the actual dollar increase in the combined town budget shall be limited to the dollar amount of increase in the preceding year’s budget or the average amount of increase over the preceding three years, whichever is lower.”

Perhaps this is because she wishes to put her own spin on Prop 46 rather that quote it literally (it is what it is). Why doesn’t she just come out and say that for political reasons she agrees with Dave Richardson’s interpretation? Of course she wouldn’t do that, because she would have to live with that come next election when she hopes to be the Democratic nominee for First Selectman. My interpretation of her article is that she is trying to appeal to the village idiots in town who don’t actually read her article but have the capacity to remember the headline. Why does this remind me of Mrs. Clinton?

I could pick through Ms. Wholean’s entire article, but why bother. Toward the end there’s one point that she tries to make, albiet passive-agressively:

Well Ms. Wholean, stop worrying. You raised your salary 9% last year and 10% for the other senior town hall executives. These increases came at a time when teachers were being fired and the rest of Woodstock was not receiving raises because of the poor economy. Remember what you said in our WINY debate? You said ‘you raised your salary so that there would be money in the budget so that the town could afford a “Town Administrator” ‘ (not a Town Manager, hah, hah).

Funny thing that your paycheck went straight to your own bank account, and the town is continuing to pay for these raises in purpetuity. We know you better than you think, Ms. Wholean.

John Leavitt

Woodstock Academy football coach, Jemal Davis, resigns after three years. See statement in the Norwich Bull.

See the article on Fight Design (S. Woodstock Airport) and this company’s success that showed up in the Woodstock News Feed at the lower right.

The current application of the Woodstock Academy for expansion of its athletic fields does not display good planning and thoughtful design. It calls for large-scale excavation, filling and grading of wetlands and natural habitats and will clear-cut old growth woodlots up to abutter’s property lines. It calls for removal of historic stonewalls within the property.

This plan in its current form foretells devaluation of properties adjacent to and within a Historic District. This may, in turn, devalue properties town wide. It promises to adversely affect a downstream drainage system that flows into the drinking water source of Putnam. With steep grades and high water table over an area of approximately 30 acres — stabilization of “non-structures” such as regulation sized football/soccer, baseball fields and tennis courts, as well as structures such as team rooms, storage barns and concession stands will require specialized construction and on-going maintenance.

The plan designates one ingress/egress road that comes off a severe curve along a scenic highway. Compound curvature near to the ingress/egress will create unsafe traffic conditions during events of high attendance due to inadequate sight lines. Consultant firm, “Design Professionals,” recommend an accurate traffic study along with a review by the State of Connecticut Department of Transportation. The report submitted by CME Associates “does not provide any information regarding impacts associated from the development” although this is a requirement within Planning and Zoning criteria for approval of Special Permits. Read the rest of this entry »

The Cafe is not getting a lot of comments but yesterday (5/13) we had 347 visitors. The subject of this article is of fundamental importance to the Town of Woodstock. Let’s hear your opinion. Admin

To Café Readers, I write as a Woodstock citizen, and do not speak in this message for the Woodstock Board of Education.Following is a letter sent to Woodstock Academy which concerns the Academy’s plans for expansion of the Bentley Field. I submit this to the Café in an effort to increase community awareness of the potential financial implications that this development may have: (1) on other educational priorities at the Academy; (2) on the displacement of funding for educational priorities in the K- 8 system; and (3)ultimately, on Woodstock’s taxpayers.Community members concerned about cost and funding of the athletic expansion, and interested in requesting information on these topics, should make their concerns known: to Woodstock Academy’s Executive Committee (next meets this Wed., May 14, 7pm at the Academy); to the Academy’s Board of Trustees (next meets on Tues., May 20th, at 7 pm in Eastford); to the town’s Board of Finance (which has no jurisdiction but should be aware of greater demands on the education budget and/or taxpayers); and to other citizens and taxpayers.

Regards,
Lindsay Paul

Headmaster Foye’s videotaped interviews concerning the development of the athletic complex.

May 12, 2008
Ms. Sandra Fredrickson
Chair, Woodstock Academy Board of Trustees
Woodstock Academy
57 Academy Road
Woodstock, CT 06281

Dear Ms. Fredrickson,

I write to you and the Woodstock Academy Board of Trustees as a Woodstock citizen. I do not speak here for the Woodstock Board of Education.

You are likely aware of the concerns raised by Woodstock citizens regarding the proposed development of the Bentley Field. These concerns include environmental impacts; traffic safety; appropriate drainage, runoff and soil erosion remediation; proper buffer zones and landscape; setbacks; impact on adjacent properties; impact on the historic and rural character of the community; lighting and noise; and other issues.

These concerns are being brought to the PZC and IWWC bodies which have appropriate jurisdiction over them, although responsibility for prudent and appropriate development ultimately rests with the Trustees.

As a concerned citizen, I raise another issue to the attention of this Board. There has been no public discussion of the estimated cost of this project or the means of funding it. No estimates have been given publicly by the Academy, nor have the Academy’s Trustees nor its Finance Committee publicly discussed any estimates. This is not within the jurisdiction of any town agency, board, commission or taxpayers or voters. However, it is an issue which properly needs thorough understanding and vetting among citizens because it can directly impact the quality of and resources available for Woodstock students’ education. Funds spent on athletic fields necessarily displace funding for other educational priorities at the Academy. Funding for the athletic complex will be passed along in increased tuition costs to sending towns. Tuition increases come right off the top of Woodstock’s education budget, leaving less available for the K- 8 system’s priority needs such as technology enhancements, academic program development, classroom materials, and buildings and grounds maintenance. Read the rest of this entry »

Congratulations to Dwight Ryniewicz (our former Highway Foreman) on his new position managing the town of Vernon’s fleet! We appreciate his management of Woodstock’s infrastructure while he was the Highway Foreman. Good Luck! Admin

The two graphs below plot the growth in the Woodstock budget year by year from two different perspectives.

The UPPER GRAPH shows the relative growth of the three major budget components – Education, Debt Service, and the Town Operating Budgets – over the last nine years in comparison to the inflation rate. This graph shows that both the education and town operating budgets have grown at a marginally faster rate than inflation, yet bond debt service has diminished. The Town Operating Budget has increased at a higher rate than the Education Budget. The decline in the Debt Service off-sets some of the increases in the Education and Town Operating Budgets.

The LOWER GRAPH reports the budget numbers from the perspective that we are used to seeing.

As most Cafe readers already know, Cafe elves have been scurrying around town distributing coffee mugs, caps, and wink stickers. A secondary mission of the Cafe elves has been to find that pot of gold buried somewhere on Academy property that will fund the expansion of the Academy Athletic Fields. One evening the elves were down in the hollow behind several houses on the Hill where they came upon a clandestine meeting of Academy Trustees and other leaders huddled around a camp fire with beer cans in hand, dressed in strange costumes with big numbers on their backs and blue caps with “WA” on their heads. The elves overheard fragments of a strange discussion where things like “bottles & cans” “cookbooks” were uttered, and someone even called somebody a “moron” which was followed by lots of laughter. 

After the campfire was doused and the meeting broke up, the elves came out from behind the trees to explore the meeting site more closely. One elf found an interesting document (below) that appeared to illustrate a plan for raising funds to pay for the expansion of the Academy athletic fields.

There were other scraps of paper lying around on the campground floor that had the following scribbled on them: “FOYE BENTLEY FIELD” “LINEMASTER BENTLEY FIELD” “CRABTREE & EVELYN BENTLEY FIELD” “RAPOPORT BENTLEY FIELD” “WOODSTOCK CAFE BENTLEY FIELD… not!” ”MEAN JOE BREEN BENTLEY FIELD…not!” “ELECTRIC BOAT BENTLEY FIELD” “PRATT & WHITNEY BENTLEY FIELD” … etc.

It seems that RC was right. It looks like the Academy Trustees DO have a plan afterall.

A collection of neighbors who live within the Historical District commissioned a well recommended professional planner to review the Woodstock Academy’s proposal for expansion of the athletic complex. The following is David Schweid’s report.

The Planning & Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing on this topic on May 15th at 7:30. This decision by PZC affects all who live in Woodstock. We, as taxpayers, will be called upon to fund a sizable portion of this complex if approved. Admin

Special Permit Evaluation Criteria (Article IV, Section 4.D):

Zoning Compliance – appears to generally meet zoning. See concerns below for specific zoning issues.
Conformity to the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) – the Planning and Zoning Commission must find that the development conforms to the POCD and the Plan of Open Space and Conservation.

Adverse Traffic Impacts – according to the Town’s consultant, Design Professionals, the applicant has failed to fully analyze traffic impacts. Specifically, the sight line analysis was not based on actual travel speeds (see Appendix F of the Zoning Regulations). This is critical, as sight lines are somewhat constrained by both vertical and horizontal curves. Also (according to Design Professionals), the traffic analysis did not include impacts to traffic on Route 169 during events. Since this activity will probably require an STC permit from CONNDOT, they might as well do this analysis now as later.

Off-site Impacts – little or no effort has been made to minimize the off-site impacts of the proposed development. On the western side of the property, the grading for five tennis courts is shown within 12 feet of property line, and to the north, the grading for the parking lot is right up to the property line, totally eliminating the existing woodlands, which could serve as a natural buffer if not removed. Likewise, clearing for the baseball field is within a few feet of the northern property line. There is little doubt that this design would in fact have an “adverse impact on property values and the reasonable use, enjoyment and development of properties in the surrounding neighborhood.

Adequate Landscaping and Buffering – the proposed development makes no effort to provide for buffering to adjacent properties, and in fact, it even clear cuts right up to the property line the existing woodland vegetation, thereby removing any existing buffering. How can the buffering be adequate? There is none.

Adverse Impacts from Storm water – the project design has no storm water management system proposed such as detention or infiltration. Presumably due to high water tables, there are numerous under-drains proposed for the athletic fields, but there is no effort to control runoff. It seems pretty clear that the playing fields, the gravel road, the gravel parking lots, the new structures, and the tennis courts will impact both volumes and peak flows from storm runoff, but no effort has been made to offset these impacts. The Town’s consultant, Design Professionals, has indicated they are not clear as to the basis for the co-efficient used in the applicant’s storm water analysis. If the co-efficient is incorrect, the analysis will yield false numbers. Moreover, the drainage calculations presented do not clearly summarize pre-development and post development runoff. There are also questions as to how the under-drains will affect the velocity of runoff. More work needs to be done by the applicant before concluding that the project will not “adversely affect downstream drainage systems, wetlands, watercourses , or structures.” Read the rest of this entry »

Congratulations to Sarah Cook, 7th grader at the Woodstock Middle School for winning the Meyer and Young Women Scientist Award at the Connecticut Science Fair. Her winning Science Project was “How different Substances affect oxidation of fruits.” See the article in the Norwich Bulletin .

The Woodstock Board of Education urges all Woodstock voters to VOTE at the Town Budget Referendum on June 3, 2008!

The WBOE is proposing a budget of $15,655,513 for 2008-09, representing a 4.3% increase over the prior year.  We’ve put forth a lean, maintenance budget, which includes no new programs or positions (except for one special education teacher required to meet students’ placement needs).  This budget addresses our highest priorities in meeting student learning and student health and safety objectives.  While we had to eliminated  the administration’s requests for classroom technology upgrades and computer support, enhanced student programs, repairs and maintenance to buildings and grounds, and district support needs, we do believe it is a budget which will allow us to continue to provide a quality education for Woodstock students. This budget maintains important programs such as full-day kindergarten, instrumental music, athletics, and gifted and talented instruction at both schools. 

The major drivers of the increase in our budget request for 2008-09 are non-discretionary items including special education costs, contractual and other salary increases and benefits for existing staff, and heating and fuel costs. 

This budget reflects continuing initiatives by the school administration to gain cost savings and increased efficiency in our operations. Significant ongoing savings were achieved from the teacher Early Retirement Incentive program offered last year. Additional savings will be realized next year from an energy audit and lighting retrofit.  Cooperative purchasing and consortium membership, along with diligence, planning, and negotiation, help achieve ongoing savings in supplies and purchased services.  Effective management results in cost efficient bus fleet operations and building maintenance.  Additionally, the administration seeks grant funding annually as appropriate, realizing over $495,000 in the past fiscal year. Read the rest of this entry »

It was Friday morning and it would only be a matter of time before the rain started. I was just starting to pick up my kids on my first run when another bus driver called in to the school base to report an accident at the intersection of Route 169 and County Rd. My heart skipped a beat, but I quickly relaxed when the other driver made clear that the school bus was not involved. It was right around 6:45 AM.

Through several radio exchanges it was determined a car and a pick-up truck were involved and that several people were on site – someone had probably already called in. I heard some portion of a transmission from another of our drivers that is also in the fire department and my impression was that someone had called notified the department. Woodstock is such a big town and the geography is such that our radios won’t work all the time… depending on whether one is in a valley or what the weather is like. We manage the situation rather well by relaying calls when needed, but it isn’t unusual for only parts of transmissions to be received – after all, we are all in constant motion.

As I finished my stops Green Road, I headed south on 169. My last stop before County Road is at Northwood Daycare. As the bus rounded the curve, Northwood’s sign was in sight and so was the intersection of County Road. It was just 7:00 and there were probably 10 or more vehicles from the Muddy Brooke guys lining the sides of the road. The ambulance was already there. There may also have been a state trooper or two as well, but I can’t say for sure.

In the space of fifteen minutes, maybe a couple more, a good number of the department had turned out. I’m assuming most were from Muddy Brook, but I didn’t have the time to take attendance because I was easing Bus 25 through the scene. County Road was blocked off by the dark gray Taurus, so Bus 24 had to detour. I saw several familiar faces, most were responders that I knew or at least knew were attached to the department. Read the rest of this entry »