Tax collector becomes appointed position in Cornwall

Selectman Rocco Botto, Selectman Jen Markow, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway and Moderator Scott Cady at Cornwall’s annual town meeting Nov. 1.

Riley Klein

Tax collector becomes appointed position in Cornwall

CORNWALL — The annual town meeting Nov. 1 saw the approval of an ordinance to change the tax collector position from an elected official to an appointed role.

Jean Bouteiller has served in the role for 17 years and will retire in 2025 at the end of her current term. With no qualified residents stepping forward to run in her stead, Bouteiller suggested Cornwall make the change enabling the Board of Selectmen to appoint the next tax collector.

First Selectman Gordon Ridgway noted many other Connecticut towns have already adopted such ordinances due to the increased training and certifications required to serve as tax collector.

Ridgway said the requirements make it “unlikely that there are people out there in [Cornwall’s] electorate that have this training.” He added, “It’s a part time position and there are people out there who do this part time for several towns.”

The motion passed unanimously with all three selectmen and eight residents in attendance voting to approve the ordinance.

Three other items passed unanimously at the town meeting in Cornwall Consolidated School, moderated by Scott Cady.

The 2023-2024 Town Report was reviewed and accepted. Cornwall ended the fiscal year with a surplus as revenues exceeded budgeted amounts by $409,571.

The Five Year Capital Plan was reviewed an accepted. A single line item increased for 2025-2026 in the area of storm damage repairs. An additional $50,000 was allocated to increase reserves.

An amendment was approved to increase the total number of commission members on the Cornwall Conservation Commission from six to eight. The request was submitted by the CCC after three qualified residents stepped forward to fill a single vacant seat.

“We are fortunate to have more people want to be on the commission,” said Ridgway.

Latest News

Six die in Copake plan crash

COPAKE — A Mitsubishi MU-2B-40 plane carrying six people crashed in an open field near Two Town Road shortly after noon on Saturday, April 12, killing all aboard.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the aircraft departed from Westchester County Airport and was headed to Columbia County Airport in Hudson.

Keep ReadingShow less
Connecticut approves merger of Northwell, Nuvance health systems

Sharon Hospital

Archive photo

Connecticut’s Office of Health Strategy approved a merger between Northwell Health, a large New York-based health system, and Nuvance Health, which owns Danbury, Norwalk, Sharon and New Milford hospitals in Connecticut, as well as three hospitals in New York, according to a Tuesday announcement by the agency.

The two systems now have to complete the step of formally joining the entities together under the Northwell Health banner, a spokesperson for Nuvance Health said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Out of the mouths of Ukrainian babes

To escape the cruelties of war, Katya finds solace in her imagination in “Sunflower Field”.

Krista A. Briggs

‘I can sum up the last year in three words: fear, love, hope,” said Oleksandr Hranyk, a Ukrainian school director in Kharkiv, in a February 2023 interview with the Associated Press. Fast forward to 2025, and not much has changed in his homeland. Even young children in Ukraine are echoing these same sentiments, as illustrated in two short films screened at The Moviehouse in Millerton on April 5, “Once Upon a Time in Ukraine” and “Sunflower Field.”

“Sunflower Field,” an animated short from Ukrainian filmmaker Polina Buchak, begins with a young girl, Katya, who embroiders as her world becomes unstitched with the progression of the war. To cope, Katya retreats into a vivid fantasy world, shielding herself from the brutal realities surrounding her life, all while desperately wanting her family to remain intact as she awaits a phone call from her father, one that may never come.

Keep ReadingShow less
William F. Buckley Jr.: a legacy rooted in Sharon
Provided

Sam Tanenhaus, when speaking about William F. Buckley, Jr., said he was drawn to the man by the size of his personality, generosity and great temperament. That observation was among the reasons that led Tanenhaus to spend nearly 20 years working on his book, “Buckley: The Life and Revolution That Changed America,” which is due out in June. Buckley and his family had deep roots in Sharon, living in the house called Great Elm on South Main Street, which was built in 1812 and bought by Buckley’s father in 1923.

The author will give a talk on “The Buckleys of Sharon” at the Sharon Historical Society on Saturday, April 12, at 11 a.m. following the group’s annual meeting. The book has details on the family’s life in Sharon, which will, no doubt, be of interest to local residents.

Keep ReadingShow less