Centrella: Town’s general fund balance is only $300,000

WINSTED — According to town Finance Director Henry Centrella, the town has approximately $300,000 left in the general fund balance portion of its 2010-11 fiscal year budget.The 2010-11 fiscal year is set to end on June 30.Centrella said that the figure is an estimate and the town will have a better estimate on the figure when the fiscal year ends.“We still have a month-and-a-half to go,” Centrella said. “As of right now, the town has not run out of money.”Mayor Candy Perez said it might be possible for the Board of Selectmen to find budgetary savings of up to $200,000, if necessary, and put the savings into the fund balance of the budget.“I’ve been worried about [the fund balance] for a long time,” Perez said. “The interesting thing is that in fiscal 2007 we had $1.7 million, but it’s been going down ever since.”Speaking at a special Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Wednesday, May 11, Selectman Glenn Albanesius said he is also worried.“This town is a couple hundred thousand dollars away from going out of business, and that’s reality,” he said. “This town is almost bankrupt. The fact of the matter is that we have to make decisions to keep the town afloat.”In December, Moody’s Investor Service downgraded the town’s general obligation bond rating from Aa3 to A1. A general obligation bond is a type of bond secured by either state or local governments that acts as a pledge to use resources to repay bond holders. Moody’s Investors Service, which was founded in 1909, is a national credit rating agency that conducts financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. According to the report issued by Moody’s, a major factor in downgrading the town’s rating is due to the decline of the general fund balance.At the end of fiscal 2009, the town ended with a total general fund balance of $991,000, down from $1.63 million in fiscal 2007. Back in December, Moody’s projected that fiscal 2010 would see a further decline in the balance to $686,898, representing a 30.1 percent decline from fiscal 2009. “Operating deficits have been driven primarily by unfavorable budget to actual variances caused by overspending on education, employee salaries and public safety,” the report states. “The town did not budget to appropriate any fund balance in 2011, but management indicated that continued overspending on education is likely, which could require the use of reserves.”

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Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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