By: Charles Stannard
CHESTER– Town Republicans have selected a 23-member Republican town committee for the 2010-2012 term that includes nine new members.
Republicans have been gaining strength in Chester in recent years after failing to field a candidate for first selectman in the 1997,1999, and 2003 town elections. Republican First Selectman Tom Marsh unseated six-term Democratic First Selectman Martin Heft by 30 votes in 2005, and was re-elected by wide margins in 2007 and last year.
The new town committee was selected at a Jan. 7 caucus. Incumbents returning to the town committee include current town Chairman Mario Gioco, Marsh, Katherine Marsh, Ashley Marsh, former Selectman Bruce Watrous, Beverly Watrous, former Tax Collector Joyce Aey, Joel Severance, Selectman Tom Englert, Terri Englert, Karl Ohaus, Joni Malcynsky, David Clark, and John Hudson. New members include Laura Gioco, Betty Palka, Frank Palka, Kristian Seifert, Melvin Seifert, Carolina Marguez-Sterling, Maria Ruberto, John Hoehnebart, and Alexa Jamieson Carlson.
Members of the 2008-2010 town committee not returning for the new term include David Testa, Christopher Komondy, Richard Nankee, Christian Johnson, and Richard Strauss.
By Charles Stannard
CHESTER— The board of selectmen is preparing to bring a proposed purchase of 4.6-acres on the Connecticut River to a townwide vote in the early fall.
First Selectman Tom Marsh said the board of finance would discuss the proposed purchase of the Parkers Point Road parcel at a meeting Thursday. The board is expected to discuss options for financing the acquisition, including whether to issue a bond or pay the town’s share of the purchase price using undesignated surplus funds.
The property, which became available last year, has a purchase price of $948,000. The town secured a grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection for $464,500, with other grants, including funds from the Connecticut River Gateway Commission, reducing the town share of the purchase price to about $395,000.
The selectmen held a public hearing on the proposed land purchase last year, but later decided in consultation with the finance board to defer any action on the purchase until after adoption of the regular town budget for 2009-2010. The nationwide economic downturn that began last fall was also a factor in the decision to defer action on the purchase.
Marsh said he believes it is now time to bring the proposed purchase to a vote. The parcel would become the first town-owned open space land with frontage on the river.
“It certainly is something that should be decided by the town’s voters,” Marsh said, adding that Chester residents currently have “no place to go and have a riverfront picnic.”
Marsh said the other two selectmen, Bruce Watrous and Martin Heft, also favor bringing the issue to a town vote. The board has also agreed that any vote would be through an eight-hour referendum, rather than at a town meeting.
Marsh said options for financing the purchase include bonding, or using funds from the town’s undesignated fund balance that currently contains about $1.3 million. Chester ended the 2008-2009 fiscal year with unexpended funds totaling about $236,000. Marsh said a referendum vote on funding for the land purchase could be held in late September or early October.
By: Charles Stannard
CHESTER— Republican First Selectman Tom Marsh will seek a third term this fall with a new running-mate, as Tom Englert replaces six-term incumbent Bruce Watrous as the candidate for Board of Selectmen on the party ticket.
Watrous, a 63-year-old life-long town resident, said Thursday he decided last month to step aside from the seat he has held since 1997.”It’s been a long time,” Watrous said, adding that he and his wife, Beverly, hope to spend more time out of town travelling. ”I don’t want to be tied down to something as important as being a selectman,” he said.
Marsh said he approached Englert about running for the board after Watrous told him he definitely would not run again this year. “I was happy about finding Tom,” he said.
Englert, a Deep River native who has lived in Chester since 1996, currently serves on the zoning board of appeals and the water pollution control authority. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and works as a programmer at Whelen Engineering Company.
Marsh, owner of a cleaning company who served previously on the board of finance and local school board, unseated six-term incumbent Democratic First Selectman Martin Heft by a narrow margin in 2005. He was re-elected to a second term in 2007, defeating Democrat Justin Good by a wide margin.
Marsh, Englert, and other candidates on the GOP slate will be formally nominated for the Nov. 3 town election at the party’s nominating cauicus in late July.
Town Democrats have not announced candidates for board of selectmen. Heft, who now works as an aide to State Comptroller Nancy Wyman, has served as the minority Democrat on the three-member board since losing the top seat in 2005. Chester Democrats have scheduled a nominating caucus for July 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chester Meeting House on Liberty Street.
