By: Charles Stannard

REGION 4– Linda Hall, an eight-year member, has been selected as the new chairman of the Region 4 Board of Education. Hall, a Democrat, was selected on a unanimous vote of the board last week.

Hall replaces Terry Stewart, an Essex Republican who has led the board since 2005. Stewart did not seek a new six-year term in the town election this year. Mary Beth Harrigan, an Essex Republican who has served on the board since 2005, is the new vice-chairman. Richard Strauss, a Chester Republican, was picked as the board treasurer.

The panel left open the position of secretary because one newly elected member, Pamela Christman of Chester, was still awiting confirmation from an election recount when officers were selected on Nov. 5. The nine-member Region 4 Board of Education governs the operation of Valley Regional High School and John Winthrop Middle School.

Hall is the director of the CDE Cooperative Nursery School in Deep River. The mother of two grown children who graduated from Region 4 schools, Hall was elected to the Region 4 board in 2001 and re-elected for a second term in 2007. She previously served eight years on the Deep River Board of Education, including two years as chairwoman from 1999-2001.

Hall said a developing a proposal for a full regionalization of Region 4 schools is a top priority for 2010. While the Region 4 board runs the secondary schools, local school boards run the elementary schools in Chester, Deep River, and Essex.

In a complex arrangement that is unique in the state, a supervision district board of education comprised of 36 members of all four boards manages shared services, such as the central office, special education services, and transportation. The regionalization proposal, which must be approved by voters in referendums in all three towns, is expected to call for creation of a single elected Region 4 Board of Education to run all five schools in the district.

Hall said Friday “the timeline is fluid,” for holding referendums on a regionalization plan as school administrators and board members work to adress all details related to the proposed change. “We could hopefully vote by June but we’re not wedded to that,” she said.

Hall said developing a budget for 2010-2011 that can win voter approval at the annual three-town referendum in May is another priority. “The budget is something we’re going to have to do a real good job of looking at,” she said.

By: Charles Stannard

CHESTER— A recount conducted Monday has confirmed that Republican Pamela Christman was elected to the town’s Region 4 Board of Education seat over Democrat Lori Ann Clymas.

The recount produced no change from the result recorded last week on election night, with Christman receiving 585 votes to 579 votes for Clymas. Christman, who joins the nine-member regional school board, had been serving as chairwoman of the Chester Board of Education.

In an election related correction, John DeLaura Jr., elected to the zoning board of appeals last week, is a Democrat. A report of election results incorrectly listed him as a Republican.

Polls on the second floor of town hall will be open again Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m,. for the referendum on bonding up to $1 million for the town acquisition of a 4.6-acre parcel on Parker’s Point Road. A combination of grants and a donation will cover about half of the purchase price for the parcel, with the town actually expected to bond $455,00 over ten years for the purchase. All five referendum ballot questiions, including three questions on acceptance of the grants and donation, must pass for the purchase to receive final voter approval.

By Charles Stannard

CHESTER— A recount is set for Monday in a close race for the Region 4 Board of Education seat after a municipal election that brought Republican First Selectman Tom Marsh a third term in the top job.

In the Region 4 race, Republican Pamela Christman, who currently chairs the local board of education, led Democrat Lori Ann Clymas by a vote of 585-579, a six-vote difference that requires a recount. Town Clerk Debra Calamari said Wednesday the recount would be conducted Monday at 9 a.m.

Marsh won a third term Tuesday over Democrat Chuck Della Rocco on a 758- 465 vote. Repubo8ican Tom Englert, with 655 votes, and Democrat Lawrence Sypher, with 549 votes, won seats on the board of selectmen. Just under half of the town’s2,563 registered voters cast ballots Tuesday.

Winners for the board of finance were mixed, Republican Joyce Alley and Democrat Jennifer Rannestad each won seats. Incumbent David Cohen was unopposed, and incumbent Democrat Virginia Carmany won a two-year vacancy term over Republican James Bisaccia on a 596-521 vote.

All candidates for the Chester Board of Education will be seated, including Democrats Amy Safran, Lianne Rutty, Majorie Della Rocco, and Eileen Sypher, Republicans Ashley Marsh and Carol Johnson, and Common Ground Party candidate Margaret Reyer. The top vote-getter was Rutty, with 697 votes.

Republican Steven Merola, and Democrats Errol Horner and Keith Sherber were elected to full terms on the planning and zoning commission, with Democrat Michael Joplin, the panel’s current chairman, elected for a two-year vacancy term. Common Ground Party candidate Lynne Fredriskson, Democrat Louis Desjardins, and Republican Stephen Sepowski were elected as planning and zoning commission alternates.

Democrat Michael Desnoyers and Republican John DeLaura Jr. were elected to the zoning board of appeals, with Democrats Robert Gorman and Justin Kronhelm elected as ZBA alternates. Democrat Dudley Clark Jr. was elected to the board of assessment appeals.

Democrats John Bellows and Elizabeth Gourlay were elected to full terms on the inland-wetlands commissioin, with Caryl Horner and Peter DeLisa elected to two-year vacancy terms on the panel.

By: Charles Stannard

CHESTER— Town Republicans have nominated First Selectman Tom Marsh for a third term, joined by a nearly full slate of candidates for other positions on the Nov. 3 election ballot.
Marsh was unanimously nominated at the party caucus Wednesday.

He will be joined at the top of the ticket by Thomas Englert, a current member of the zoning board of appeals and water pollution control authority, as the party’s candidate for board of selectmen. Englert replaces six-term Republican Selectman Bruce Watrous, who declined to seek re-election this year.

Republicans endorsed Town Clerk Deborah Calamari, an unaffiliated voter, and Democratic Town Treasurer Elizabeth Netsch for new terms. Republicans endorsed incumbent Tax Collector Madaline Meyers for a full term. Myers, an unaffiliated voter, was appointed Tax Collector earlier this year after the retirement of Republican Tax Collector Joyce Aley. Meyers had worked previously as an assistant tax collector in Deep River.

Republicans nominated Aley and John Brodzinski, an unaffiliated voter, for full six-year terms on the board of Finance. David Cohen, a Democrat appointed this year to fill a vacancy, was endorsed for the four-year vacancy term, with Lynn Giroux nominated for a two-year vacancy on the finance board. Bruce Bickford was nominated for board of finance alternate.

Republicans nominated Pamela Christman for the Region 4 Board of Education. Christman currently serves as chairman of the Chester Board of Education that supervises the operation of the local elementary school. Republicans nominated Carol Johnson, Ashley Marsh, and Susan Fetter for the local board of education, with Wendy King, an unaffiliated voter, endorsed for a two-year vacancy term on the local school board.

Republicans nominated incumbent Virgil Lloyd, Steven Merola, and Brett Boland for planning and zoning commission. David Van Dyke was nominated for a two-year vacancy on the planning and zoning commission. Steve Sepowski and Vic Hoehenbart were nominated for planning and zoning commission alternates.

Republicans nominated incumbent Mario Gioco for zoning board of appeals. Gioco currently serves as chairman of the ZBA. Alex Stein was nominated for ZBA alternate.

Republicans nominated incumbent Edward Ward, a registered Democrat, for a new term, on the water pollution control authority. Ward, who currently serves as WPCA chairman, led the panel during the sewer expansion project that was completed earlier this year. James Pease was nominated for a two-year vacancy on the WPCA.

Republicans nominated Betty Polk, John Bellows, and Sally Sanders for inland-wetlands commission, with Kevin Smith nominated for a two-year vacancy on the IWC. Republicans nominated Daniel Watts for board of assessment appeals.

Town Democrats will nominate municipal election candidates at a caucus scheduled for Tuesday July 28 at 7 p.m. at the Chester Meeting House on Liberty St.