Webutuck BOE holds organizational meeting for 2022-23 school year

WEBUTUCK — With school out for summer, the Webutuck Board of Education (BOE) wasted no time in preparing for the upcoming 2022-23 school year at its annual reorganization meeting on Tuesday, July 5.

Starting at 7 p.m., the meeting was held in the Webutuck High School library. In addition to attending the meeting in-person, members of the public were invited to tune in via Zoom.

After the meeting was called to order, Webutuck District Clerk Tracy Trotter administered the oath of office to newly elected BOE members Nichole Reyes and Anthony Robustelli.

Current BOE President Judy Moran was re-elected president for the 2022-23 school year with Rick Keller-Coffey as vice president. Trotter administered the oath of office to both Moran and Keller-Coffey, as well as to Superintendent of Schools Raymond Castellani.

Turning its attention to appointments for the coming school year, the BOE appointed Trotter as district clerk; Gabriella Lejeune as treasurer; Mary Clinton as deputy treasurer; Kim Coon as visitor/security badge system administrator; Louise Giewont as claims auditor/property control manager; and Dawn Marie Klingner as tax collector.

Girvin & Ferlazzo was appointed legal advisor for the North East (Webutuck) Central School District (WCSD) while The Workplace was appointed as the school physician. The Workplace was later appointed as the transportation department physician and school physician as needed. It will also run the new, in-house school clinic for the WCSD (for more on that story, go to www.tricornernews.com).

Barclay and Damon LLP (formerly Hiscock & Barclay) was appointed as bond counsel while Fiscal Advisors, Inc. was appointed as the district’s fiscal advisors; the firm Sicker, Torchia, Allen & Churchill was appointed as independent auditor.

The BOE authorized Castellani to participate in the New York Schools Insurance Reciprocal (NYSIR) and Moran to sign the agreement so Webutuck would become a subscriber and be afforded the coverage underwritten by NYSIR for the policy period that began Friday, July 1.

Tammy Nethercott was appointed director of special education and Committee on Special Education (CSE) chairperson; Cara Tomasetti was appointed alternate CSE chairperson, alternate chairperson for the Committee on Pre-School Special Education (CPSE) and as school psychologist.

Webutuck Elementary School Principal Jennifer Hengen was appointed Random Moment Time Study coordinator.

After assigning BOE members to standing committees and making emergency planning committee appointments, the BOE authorized Castellani to employ Complete OT/PT/SLP Services, PLLC as the district’s consultant for the coming school year.

For the Dutchess Educational Health Insurance Consortium representative designations, Business Administrator Robert Farrier was designated as DEHIC trustee, with Castellani as the DEHIC trustee alternate.

The BOE authorized Castellani to designate M&T Bank, Bank of Millbrook, Key Bank, Fleet Bank, Citizens Bank, Bank of New York, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase and M&T Bank (NYLAF New York Liquid Asset Fund) and Salisbury Bank as official bank depositories. The Millerton News and Poughkeepsie Journal were named the official newspapers.

Latest News

State awards $2M to expand affordable housing in Sharon

State awards $2M to expand affordable housing in Sharon

Local officials join Richard Baumann, far left, president of the Sharon Housing Trust, as they break ground in October at 99 North Main St., the former community center that will be converted into four new affordable rental units.

Ruth Epstein

SHARON — The Sharon Housing Trust announced Dec. 4 that the Connecticut Department of Housing closed on a $2 million grant for the improvement and expansion of affordable rental housing in town.

About half of the funding will reimburse costs associated with renovating the Trust’s three properties at 91, 93 and 95 North Main St., which together contain six occupied affordable units, most of them two-bedroom apartments. Planned upgrades include new roofs, siding and windows, along with a series of interior and exterior refurbishments.

Keep ReadingShow less

Bumpy handoff in North Canaan after razor-thin election

Bumpy handoff in North Canaan after razor-thin election

Jesse Bunce, right, and outgoing First Selectman Brian Ohler, left, exchange a handshake following the Nov. 10 recount of the North Canaan first selectman race. Bunce won the election, defeating Ohler by two votes, beginning a transition marked by challenges.

Photo by Riley Klein

NORTH CANAAN — The transition from outgoing First Selectman Brian Ohler to newly elected First Selectman Jesse Bunce has been far from seamless, with a series of communication lapses, technology snags and operational delays emerging in the weeks after an unusually close election.

The Nov. 5 race for first selectman went to a recount, with Bunce winning 572 votes to Ohler’s 570. When the final results were announced, Ohler publicly wished his successor well.

Keep ReadingShow less

Norfolk breaks ground on new firehouse

Norfolk breaks ground on new firehouse

Officials, firefighters and community members break ground on the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department’s new firehouse on Dec. 6.

By Jennifer Almquist

NORFOLK — Residents gathered under bright Saturday sunshine on Dec. 6 to celebrate a milestone more than a decade in the making: the groundbreaking for the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department’s new firehouse.

U.S. Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (D-5) and State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64) joined NVFD leadership, town officials, members of the building committee and Norfolk Hub, and 46 volunteer firefighters for the groundbreaking ceremony.

Keep ReadingShow less

Kent moves closer to reopening Emery Park swimming pond

Kent moves closer to reopening Emery Park swimming pond

It may look dormant now, but the Emery Park pond is expected to return to life in 2026

By Alec Linden

KENT — Despite sub-zero wind chills, Kent’s Parks and Recreation Commission is focused on summer.

At its Tuesday, Dec. 2, meeting, the Commission voted in favor of a bid to rehabilitate Emery Park’s swimming pond, bringing the town one step closer to regaining its municipal swimming facility. The Commission reviewed two RFP bids for the reconstruction of the defunct swimming pond, a stream-fed, man-made basin that has been out of use for six years. The plans call to stabilize and level the concrete deck and re-line the interior of the pool alongside other structural upgrades, as well as add aesthetic touches such as boulders along the pond’s edge.

Keep ReadingShow less