WASHINGTON — On Tuesday night, April 1, the town of Washington Planning Board held a public forum at the Millbrook fire department to discuss an application by Homeland Towers of Danbury, Conn., which wishes to erect a 105-foot-tall cell phone tower within a 75-foot by 75-foot fenced-in area at 4377 Route 44. Representatives from Homeland Towers and the public each had an opportunity to voice their comments regarding the matter. Approximately 50 members of the public attended. Some brought with them hired professionals, who gave presentations to the board. The meeting lasted some three hours and 15 minutes. Other Planning Board businessBefore the Homeland Towers matter was discussed, however, two motions were both carried unanimously by the board. The first motion approved a donation of one acre by Christian Lang-Assael to St. Peter’s cemetery that adjoins her parcel on the south. The second motion approved Scott and Alison Meyer conveying 15.94 acres from their existing 30.84-acre lot which will be merged with a 134.80-acre lot owned by Erich Mauff and Adele Griffin-Watson. Land surveyor services were provided by Brian Houston of Bly and Houston LLP, Millbrook.Cell tower basicsThe cell phone tower discussion then commenced. One of the earliest speakers was Homeland Towers President Manny Vincente. Vincente brought up various features that a cell tower could provide such as:• Enhanced 911: tracing the location of the 911 caller to within a few feet.• Reverse 911: a system that allows the government to broadcast critical information and instructions to wireless phones in the event of an emergency.• Wireless Amber Alerts: an alert throughout your community when there is an abduction with information updates.• New phones geared toward children: they offer location, tracking, two button combination for 911, one-touch dialing to parents and GPS tracking devices for additional safety.Tower impactsVincente went on to address the visual aspect of a 105-foot tower and presented to the public a printed handout that showed simulations of a mono-pine style tower designed to resemble a pine tree. Other representatives for the company discussed environmental and wildlife issues and the negligible impact they believed a tower would have. One example presented was the noise predicted to be generated by the tower, estimated to be approximately 24 DBA (“A” weighted decibels). To put this environmental noise measurement figure into context, typically the quiet needed in a recording sound studio is about 20 DBA and quiet rural nights are generally observed to be around 30 DBA. (Figures quoted from www.dot.ca.gov/dist2/projects/sixer/loud.pdf.) Tower detailsPlanning Board member Paul Schwartz questioned why the tower needed to be 105 feet tall, when there seemed to be industry evidence that a 75-foot-tall tower would suffice. It was agreed that Homeland Towers would be given until May 6 (the next regularly scheduled Planning Board meeting) to fully respond. Homeland Towers provided the following specific measurements regarding the proposed project: • Tower height: 105 feet • Tower pad: 2 feet by 25 feet• Equipment shelter: 12 feet by 28 feet• Generator: 11 feet by 5 feet• Access road, unpavedMillbrook School in the mixOne of the more pointed remarks made by the consultant put forth the argument that Homeland Towers was not so much interested in providing service to town of Washington consumers but really had its sights set on Millbrook School, a coeducational high school of 210 boarding and day students (possible cell phone customers) located in the town of Stanford. It was around this time in the evening that a round of applause broke out among the public spectators. Indeed, while much of the meeting seemed to focus on the visual impact the tower might create, there was also a concurrent discussion that centered on the dollars and cents of the matter.One area not touched on regarding the Millbrook School was while it is true that the actual school is located in Stanford, many of its employees do live in Washington. One might easily argue a technological boon to a major employer in the area could only help Washington and its residents. Tax impactsPaula Redmond, a local Millbrook Realtor, presented some specific data. She gave the land circling the proposed tower location a general assessed value of approximately $52 million, generating around $800,000 in tax revenue. Her opinion was that a cell tower would lower the value of the property thereby lowering tax revenue. The flyerOf course, determining exact consequences of infrastructure development is not an exact science nor are the consequences solely economic, hence the public debate. Things got a bit dramatic when Washington resident Alec Pandaleon rose and aired his views. One was his opinion of a flyer he received in his mailbox. The flyer’s headline “Do you want this in historic Millbrook?” showed a photograph of a wooded hillside with a cell tower superimposed, with: “Let your voice be heard at the next Town Planning Board Meeting …” in writing. Pandaleon’s displeasure focused not so much on what the flyer had to say, but the fact that the flyer did not identify who sent it. He said that if its creator(s) couldn’t take ownership, then its value was negligible, at which point he tore the flyer into pieces. Before the meeting adjourned, this reporter stood and asked if the creators of the mysterious flyer would identify themselves, upon which time Claudia and Jonathan Heunis, Millbrook residents, eagerly raised their hands and declared that they had sent the flyer out. Ms. Heunis later discussed the issue of the flyer privately. She explained that she felt that identification of an individual or a group attached to the flyer would have predisposed segments of the community whether to attend the meeting. By keeping the flyer “resident neutral” she hoped residents from both sides of the issue would attend the meeting and get involved.
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One systemic consequence of slavery is the loss and obscuring of the histories of those who were enslaved. Records were often not kept about where Africans had been stolen from or who they were related to. Families were torn apart, leaving nothing but the faintest traces of the past. The delineation point, where genealogists can no longer trace histories back, is refered to this as the “document wall.”
Today, 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and more than 160 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, there is a growing effort to restore some of the history stripped from enslaved people and their descendants. Among the leaders of these efforts is Mills, president of the Alex Breanne Corporation, a nonprofit organization that works to identify previously anonymous Black Americans from history and connect them with their living relatives.
The work began with Mills’ sister, who started digging into their family’s past in the 1990’s and introduced him to this emerging world of genealogy. Through that process, the Mills family discovered their great-great-grandfather, Ned Mills, who had been enslaved in Texas. His last name came from his final enslaver and remains the family surname. Through their research, they found that the document wall directly affected their ancestor, who learned of his liberation on June 19, 1865, now commemorated as Juneteenth.
“For the first time,” Mills writes on his website, “American slavery wasn’t something that had happened to anonymous people in a history book. It had happened to my family.”
The discovery gave Mills a familial pride he had been missing for years. That pride fueled his desire to help others find their own history. In 2023, Mills received his certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. He has used his expertise to help descendants of enslaved people uncover histories they never dreamed of learning.
To do this, he uses a process called “reverse genealogy,” identifying a person from the past and working forward to discover their descendants. Along the way, Mills has found some remarkable people who fought for freedom on American soil, some of whom were never freed.
Pay Bill for Robin Starr’s service in the Continental Army.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
At the Cornwall Historical Society event, Mills will present the stories of four Connecticut families: Job Lathrop of Norwich, the son of Pirmus Armes, about whom Mills has published a book; Prince Mortimer of Middletown, also the subject of a book by Mills;, the three sons of London Wallace of Simsbury; and Robert “Robin” Starr of Danbury, who later lived in Cornwall and Sharon.
A few years ago, Cornwall Consolidated School social studies teacher Will Vincent reached out to Mills for research guidance on a local history project his students were undertaking. Together, they learned about Naomi Freeman of Cornwall. After purchasing an acre of land on Great Hollow Road in 1828, Naomi Freeman became the first Black female landowner in Cornwall.
The students petitioned the town to rename a road after the historic Cornwall resident In April 2025, Great Hollow Road was officially renamed Naomi Freeman Historic Road. U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes joined Mills and the Cornwall Consildated School students for a presentation of their research.
Since then, Mills has guided the students in their quest to learn more about Starr’s story. Starr was a Revolutionary War soldier who joined the Continental Army to earn enough money to buy his own freedom, receiving the Badge of Merit in the process. The stories of his descendents’ services are equally worthy of their own books.
In recognition of Mills and the students’ work, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway proclaimed Feb. 8 as Robin Starr Day.
Preregistration is required for the event at the Cornwall Historical Society. To learn more about Mills’ work, visit
alexbreanne.org.
John Mills speaking at Quinnipiac University.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
Stephanie Saetta runs Charlie Chicken Bones, a sanctuary in Salisbury.
Dogs have been at the center of Saetta’s life since childhood. She remembers going to the library to research different breeds and trying to convince her parents the family needed a dog. She had her heart set on an Irish Wolfhound, but she was more than happy when her mom brought home a West Highland terrier.
After college, she adopted Charlie as a puppy from a rescue on Long Island. He was a hound-shepherd-Rottweiler mix who suffered from intense seizures. Some veterinarians recommended euthanasia, but Saetta wasn’t ready to give up on him.
When Charlie would have an episode, she would sit with him, nose to nose, talking him through it. She learned to look for the moment he began to come around — when he could smell her again and his tail started to wag.
“You only get one or two of these soul connection dogs, so I do this in his honor,” Saetta said. “I like to think that all the dogs that come through are going to have that person that they connect with just the same.”
Through a network of women working to rescue animals in Texas, she learned about the desperate situations facing many dogs.
With limited space, some public pounds euthanize even healthy animals to make room. Limited access to veterinary care leaves sick dogs or unvaccinated puppies especially vulnerable.
Saetta saw that reality firsthand with a puppy named Gus, a Labrador mix she fostered who has since been adopted. Gus and his sisters had been dumped beside a road, where they were living under an abandoned car. People would leave food for them, but no one would take them to the pound.
“Even the people who rescue animals down there were like, ‘sadly, the best place for them to be is on the side of the road,’” she said. “That’s safer. Someone might actually help them that way.”
Saetta knows that there are far more dogs than any one person can save, but she also knows that helping one dog means one fewer on the street.
Stephanie Saetta,with her rescue dog George and Blue (left), a shepherd mix awaiting his forever home.Madi Long
Charlie Chicken Bone Sanctuary operates entirely through foster homes, a model that Saetta believes is best for the dogs and the humans hoping to adopt them.
Rather than moving directly from a difficult environment into a permanent home, the dogs have a chance to settle into a quieter setting. They can learn what it’s like to live with a family, sleep somewhere comfortable and receive affection without fighting for attention. Fostering also allows the rescue to really get to know each dog.
“As fosters, we’re honest,” said Saetta. We’ll tell you everything that’s been bad, everything that’s been good. What their temperament is and how they’ve responded to all the things they’ve experienced.”
A successful adoption is not just about finding a dog a home; it’s about finding the right home where the dog and family can thrive together.
Saetta is looking for more people willing to open their homes to foster dogs. She understands that the thought of growing attached and eventually saying goodbye can feel daunting. But she sees that goodbye a little differently.
Fostering means being part of a dog’s journey, even if only for a short time. It gives dogs a safe place to rest, the chance to trust again and the love they have gone without for much of their lives. And when the time comes for them to leave, it is not really a loss. It is the reward of knowing they are moving on to a forever home.
Blue, Saetta’s current foster, is hoping to find his perfect home.
Blue, a 7 year-old Shepard mix, is waiting for his forever home. Madi Long
Now around 7 years old, Blue spent most of his life wandering the streets of Texas. People sometimes left food out for him, but his mangy, dirty coat kept them from stopping to pet him. Today, he has a chance to experience something different.
Blue is still waiting for his forever home. Saetta believes he would do best as the only dog in a household or alongside another senior dog. He will need someone willing to continue working with him on his training and understand that a dog with his history needs patience.
But what he gives in return is a whole lot of love.
“He’s so enthusiastic, he’s so excited for life, he’s so friendly, and he’s got such a good heart, and he loves to cuddle,” Saetta said. “He’s a good, good, good dog.”
For more information on adopting Blue or how to foster, visit ccbsanctuary.org.
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