Town's fiscal outlook still up in the air

WINSTED — Mayor Candy Perez said last week that she hopes the towns’ newly elected Board of Selectmen and new town manager will be able to straighten out finances for the current fiscal year by the time members meet for their Dec. 7 regular meeting.

Perez said she is happy to have an old face back at Town Hall, in the form of former Town Manager Wayne Dove, who last week signed on to serve as the town’s interim town manager for the next six months.

“He has a knowledge of the town and he has had a career background with financial institutions where he was asked to take on increasing responsibilities,� Perez said of Dove. “We are in a situation where we need someone to come in and be able to move right away.�

Last month, the Board of Selectmen received news that the town could be more than $500,000 in the red by the end of the year, due in part to late reimbursement payments from state and federal beneficiaries. The board scheduled a special town meeting for Monday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m., for the purposes of scheduling a referendum on Dec. 19 in which voters would be asked to approve a plan to borrow against future tax receipts. Both the town meeting and referendum are considered tentative, pending reconciliation of the town’s finances.

On Dec. 7, selectmen will meet with the new town manager to decide if the town meeting and referendum are necessary, and if the town will be able to get through the end of the year without suspending payroll or mandating a furlough of town employees.

“We are in a complete spending freeze right now,� Perez said, adding that it was too early to tell if the town will find itself in the black and able to meet its financial obligations. “On Monday we will have a better idea of whether or not we have to continue forward with the town meeting and referendum,� she said. “Obviously, it’s everybody’s hope that we do not have to continue down that road.

The Board of Selectmen meets Monday, Dec. 7, 7 p.m., in the P. Francis Hicks Room at Town Hall.

Latest News

Barbara Meyers DelPrete

LAKEVILLE — Barbara Meyers DelPrete, 84, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, at her home. She was the beloved wife of George R. DelPrete for 62 years.

Mrs. DelPrete was born in Burlington, Iowa, on May 31, 1941, daughter of the late George and Judy Meyers. She lived in California for a time and had been a Lakeville resident for the past 55 years.

Keep ReadingShow less
Shirley Anne Wilbur Perotti

SHARON — Shirley Anne Wilbur Perotti, daughter of George and Mabel (Johnson) Wilbur, the first girl born into the Wilbur family in 65 years, passed away on Oct. 5, 2025, at Noble Horizons.

Shirley was born on Aug. 19, 1948 at Sharon Hospital.

Keep ReadingShow less
Veronica Lee Silvernale

MILLERTON — Veronica Lee “Ronnie” Silvernale, 78, a lifelong area resident died Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, at Sharon Hospital in Sharon, Connecticut. Mrs. Silvernale had a long career at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, where she served as a respected team leader in housekeeping and laundry services for over eighteen years. She retired in 2012.

Born Oct. 19, 1946, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, she was the daughter of the late Bradley C. and Sophie (Debrew) Hosier, Sr. Following her graduation from high school and attending college, she married Jack Gerard Silvernale on June 15, 1983 in Millerton, New York. Their marriage lasted thirty-five years until Jack’s passing on July 28, 2018.

Keep ReadingShow less
Crescendo launches 22nd season
Christine Gevert, artistic director of Crescendo
Steve Potter

Christine Gevert, Crescendo’s artistic director, is delighted to announce the start of this musical organization’s 22nd year of operation. The group’s first concert of the season will feature Latin American early chamber music, performed Oct. 18 and 19, on indigenous Andean instruments as well as the virginal, flute, viola and percussion. Gevert will perform at the keyboard, joined by Chilean musicians Gonzalo Cortes and Carlos Boltes on wind and stringed instruments.

This concert, the first in a series of nine, will be held on Oct. 18 at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, and Oct. 19 at Trinity Church in Lakeville.

Keep ReadingShow less