Observer - Southington Library and Museum
Observer - Southington Library and Museum
Observer - Southington Library and Museum
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PAGE 6<br />
The. <strong>Observer</strong><br />
An imkpendmt newspap open to Mlparties, influenced by none.<br />
Published by The Step Saver, Inc.<br />
Aatheoy L. Urillo, pre=dent Jennie M. Uril[o, secretmy/tr asurer<br />
Amho J. Ut llo, executive vice president<br />
garcn . Avitabile, cdimr-in-chid<br />
A hur Se ndo, associate editor Kenneth DiMauro, family living editor<br />
News & Editorial Advertising & Circulation<br />
P-O. Box 648, 213 Sl ng S --e P.O. Box 548; 213 Spring Sueet<br />
S,xahmgro CT O6489 <strong>Southington</strong>, CT O6489<br />
CAC AuDrTED CIRCIYI T1ON • pUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY OF THE YEAR<br />
NdT'IONM. NEW APER/I$ gCJATION " NBW ENGL4ND PR 5d.. OCIA'ITON<br />
EDITOI IA $<br />
A big surprise-<br />
Guess what happened while you were sleeping?<br />
The Boston-based office of the U.S. Environmental Protection<br />
Agency r leased it's original media report that a parcel of l<strong>and</strong> off Buckl<strong>and</strong><br />
S --eet is contaminated.<br />
Surprised?<br />
-ifiie We can't say we are totafiy taken back by this latest news of<br />
things that cupid cause us health problems, we must confide that<br />
. .z , never warned the public, the media, nor town offcials that a former<br />
scrap dealer's operation had polluted some l<strong>and</strong>.<br />
Budd<strong>and</strong> Street runs parallel to Old Turnpike Road ... you've heard<br />
_ . -"---- - , uc ,uu u arteries suppuscuty<br />
carried mains from the old l<strong>and</strong>fill to residential water wells m ¥have<br />
also-exttnded beyundto -#here oh er con - nts ."--<br />
Street.<br />
The EPA, however, has sought to calm an already nervous<br />
<strong>Southington</strong> public. It states that the cleanup cost, estimated m probably<br />
be around $850,000, will be paid for by the federal government.<br />
Since nobody has filed a claim to the estate of the now deceased scrap<br />
dealer, the EPA has no other choice.<br />
But how about the dozens of nearby homes <strong>and</strong> the residents, who<br />
for years worried about their health from the l<strong>and</strong>fill? Now, they must<br />
concern tEemselves about a piece of l<strong>and</strong> that a scrap dealer allegedly<br />
used to dump pollutants in order to retrieve valuable scrap metals.<br />
What are the residents of a fairly new residential area off Bucld<strong>and</strong><br />
Street thinking about their water?<br />
There are nun e rous questions that .the EPA has yet to answer<br />
lil why did it'tak¢ s6 lOng'to-discover this prohlemg. VC F w ren't town<br />
officials alerted a long time ago? What's the official health status report?<br />
Is it a sealed conclusion that residents in PlantsvHle are free from worry?<br />
We can't appredate being hit with this surprise after nearly I0 years<br />
of health scares about Old Turnpike Road,<br />
Town officials should dem<strong>and</strong> the answers.<br />
Showcasing <strong>Southington</strong><br />
We endorse <strong>and</strong> applaud the expansion of Briarwood College to a<br />
four-year institution. Besides the obvious benefits to the college, the expansion<br />
will be an asset to the community as well <strong>and</strong> a good way to<br />
showcase what we offer.<br />
A bigger college would attract more students from around the country<br />
which would be a plus to the local economy. Most likely, more students,<br />
who would live in,campus dormitories <strong>and</strong> off-campus housing,<br />
would be spending more money <strong>and</strong> ume in <strong>Southington</strong>, thus getting<br />
to know the community very well <strong>and</strong> becoming a part of it.<br />
In fact, after graduation, many students might get jobs in town or<br />
the area <strong>and</strong> make <strong>Southington</strong> their home in the future.<br />
Briarwood already has plans to build a new library on its campus <strong>and</strong><br />
a maintenance facility-bookstore which could become a resource fur the<br />
whole town. Additional buildings which might be of use to the community<br />
also would be built in the future to accommodate the expected enrollment<br />
increase from the expansion.<br />
Furthermore, residents who may not have seen the Briarwood campus<br />
or attended classes there might become regular visitors if college<br />
sports teams become part of the school's makeup.<br />
How nice it would be to drive down the road <strong>and</strong> see college sports<br />
teams play here. Maybe the college might build a stadium!<br />
The community should be excated about Briarwood's proposed expansion.<br />
It's a win-win for the college, students, <strong>and</strong> the community.<br />
SECOND LOOK "<br />
1HE ERVER,<br />
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 19 6<br />
Superfun d Armageddon is fast approae hing/<br />
The municipal leaders of<br />
our town government are<br />
getting edgy. .<br />
For every elected'o cial<br />
there are moments of gratification<br />
that come with the job<br />
-- like ribbon-cutting ceremonies,<br />
groundbreaHng<br />
emouies, <strong>and</strong> riding in a parade<br />
waving to mi|ing-<br />
But there are also the<br />
other times when municipal<br />
leaders have to face the bullet <strong>and</strong> make<br />
unpopular choices <strong>and</strong> decisions. One of<br />
the most pubhcizcd <strong>and</strong> agonizing time<br />
for councilors is the annual budget<br />
process. Some ta. a ._t .<br />
-with eir vote <strong>and</strong> o - "c ' €<br />
for months.<br />
Now, the nin ;otmcilors <strong>and</strong> the<br />
town manager are faced with<br />
mn s most expensive decision a decision<br />
that cannot be negotiated, compromised,<br />
<strong>and</strong> leveled with any con tious.<br />
this thin called Sdl rfond. I literally<br />
took yea s for the p Elic to comprchend<br />
what aft the f ss was about. Many drove<br />
past the old l<strong>and</strong>fill to ee e=actly the<br />
site that brought the federal government<br />
bn_reaue to tMs s:n ll communi:y.<br />
at they s w did no-:<br />
site didn't alarm them.<br />
them. The<br />
ArtSecondo<br />
Hundreds of newspaper<br />
articles have attempted to<br />
inform the ,taxpayers of the<br />
impending day when the<br />
piper would have m be paid.<br />
Those ex-councilurs know<br />
quite well tha when the day<br />
finally arrived, very few people<br />
would be smiling.<br />
_J _o._b_Q.dy is smiling at<br />
wn Hall today nor Will<br />
they in several weeks when<br />
the EP. s b;I.!!l<br />
It will be an unhappy day for Town<br />
Manager John Weichsei, who in all his<br />
wisdom, could not explain the logic of<br />
the government punishing innocent citi-<br />
Wdichsel knew from the beginning<br />
that once the EPA got its grip on the old<br />
l<strong>and</strong>fill, it would make the Solvents Recovery<br />
Superfitnd site look like a church<br />
carnival negt toqRiverside Park. Furthermore,<br />
it was So]vents Recovery that con-<br />
For almost •dee ,de .-' F¢- -of/bu<br />
ted he ly r.o pn ng th l<strong>and</strong>fill<br />
on the EPA target.<br />
Council Chairman Andrew J.<br />
Meade, a veteran politico <strong>and</strong> town usfive,<br />
lived less than o foot l cld<br />
ftom the l<strong>and</strong>fill when he was a youth.<br />
Meade knows the unfairness of the Su-<br />
r/, manufacturers of yea ago had no<br />
specific place m dump excessive waste<br />
" Cita zeus expe see someh g--- fi m their goads.<br />
horrible. Instead, they visibly were con- No government agency in the 1950s<br />
fronted with normal buildings sitting on addressed the problems of how big <strong>and</strong><br />
l<strong>and</strong> that looks pretty docile. The trees small companies would deal with the<br />
look normal, the grass <strong>and</strong> weeds con- scrap of their success. Products were befinue<br />
to grow, <strong>and</strong> birds inhabit the lOginning m be made with ingredients<br />
acre site.<br />
But the U.S. Environmental Protec-<br />
body could even pronounce. Factories<br />
routinely dumped things in places that<br />
tion Agency sees it differently. The EPA things didn't belong. People changed<br />
was unleashed by the President Carter their car oil <strong>and</strong> left it floating on the<br />
administration in 1980 m seek <strong>and</strong> find ground. People innocently assumed that<br />
sections of l<strong>and</strong> across the United States chemicals dissolved into the ground <strong>and</strong><br />
that are no longer virgin in substance. In went somewhere.<br />
other words, find the l<strong>and</strong> that man has Now, after years of national atten-<br />
saw fit to use as a dumping ground <strong>and</strong> tion, the air we breathe <strong>and</strong> the other<br />
punisl/those ho consequefftiy divvy"<br />
rifled to the point oF " "" "<br />
other things that d6 imt disslp te--or uieoce arid . Superfemi ee ear.<br />
have chemicals inside them.<br />
m set an example at the expense of corn-<br />
paulus <strong>and</strong> towns like Southln ggm.<br />
The hw is mijust, a travcsty easy<br />
career for lawyers, claimed Weib.hsel,<br />
Meade, <strong>and</strong> every council person who<br />
sat in Town Hall for the p st five elections.<br />
Yet, nobody could promise we<br />
would be immune from all this <strong>and</strong> nobody<br />
could predict the final out:come.<br />
I'm sure many politicians figured<br />
the EPA would ha k off <strong>and</strong>_file the dd<br />
Tan-d'flll-'probiem a ay in some government<br />
archive. There was talk five years<br />
ago that the EPA would eventually force<br />
hundreds of companies to pay thous<strong>and</strong>s<br />
m cleanup the dirt. Not too much was<br />
said about you <strong>and</strong> me paying our share.<br />
Nobody paid attention. spire of a'<br />
€on.sLstent news media that bro 8 t the<br />
text that admitte h , was boring<br />
still nobody really cared ... or worried.<br />
By the end of fall, Snnthington taxpayers<br />
will know what tee biIl will be to<br />
cover the dirt on Old Turnpike Road.<br />
Nobody from the federal government<br />
asked your permission. Nobody will<br />
write you <strong>and</strong> taft you they arc sorry<br />
you're paying for sumcone else's environmental<br />
sins.<br />
.' e w;ll h ve to pay millions.<br />
It may not be the $S0 million mentioned<br />
years ago, or even $20 ill-:o , It could<br />
$ million. Whatever the amount,<br />
keep in mind that with your<br />
have already 0onu-ibuted more than $<br />
m/Ilion in fe filet wmt m<br />
vimnmental testing compam ea, ana administrative<br />
custs. A lot of money for<br />
nothing worth bragging abo-t<br />
Weichsel, Meade, <strong>and</strong> each <strong>and</strong><br />
every councilor isn't happy over this <strong>and</strong><br />
they aren't proud of the fact that they<br />
weren't unsuccessful in fighting the EPA<br />
warlord<br />
The insulting part comes when each<br />
of us will be asked m drive to a polling<br />
place m approve the money.<br />
Remember those cliches? Iz's not<br />
over until the fat lady sings, or it's not<br />
over 'til it's over? Well, the lady is hum-<br />
Maybe we shnnld stay home oa veferendnm<br />
day.<br />
Fusco outlines key goals for new legislative tertn<br />
State Rap. Angelo M.<br />
Fusco oudined his key goals<br />
for the next legishnve term,<br />
saying he will focus his attention<br />
on the serious challenges<br />
acing the state with<br />
specml emphasis on the issues<br />
most important to<br />
<strong>Southington</strong>.<br />
"My job over the next<br />
m accomplish for our<br />
he added. =I believe I<br />
have the experience <strong>and</strong> the<br />
p ability to<br />
If re-elected, Fusco, Ridentified<br />
several key at-<br />
: will focus attention<br />
on in the next legislative<br />
term if elected.<br />
two years will be the same as They are: responsible,<br />
at has been "throughout my resp°nsiyelg° responsibi ity"ver which"e in- dfi udea '/<br />
service in the General Assembly,<br />
<strong>and</strong> that is to be a strong advocate<br />
in Hartford for the town of<br />
<strong>Southington</strong> <strong>and</strong> for the people of<br />
<strong>Southington</strong>," said Fusco, who serves as<br />
an assistant leader =n the House of Representatives.<br />
"Make no mtstake about it, I am<br />
running on my record because I am<br />
proud of my record <strong>and</strong> all that I have<br />
preserving programs such as Conn<br />
PACE, welfare reform, <strong>and</strong> continuing<br />
constituent service. •<br />
ff there is one area that I consider<br />
the hallmark of my service in the General<br />
Assembly, it is responding to the<br />
needs <strong>and</strong> concerns of the people who<br />
elected me," Fusco said. =I have done all<br />
that I can to solve every problem <strong>and</strong><br />
answer every question that has been<br />
brought'to me by a €onstimant."<br />
Also, Fusco plans to focus on jobs<br />
<strong>and</strong> education. =As a working man, economic<br />
development has been an ongoing<br />
ptlority of mine <strong>and</strong> it will continue to<br />
be, he sai& '%Ve are seeing signs of recovery<br />
in the Connecticut economy, but<br />
there is" still much more that must be<br />
done. The enterprise zone legislation<br />
that I helped to pass for Southingmn/s<br />
an example of how we have put in place<br />
she tools <strong>and</strong> now must use those tools<br />
m get the iob dnne-<br />
The decisions that will be made in<br />
Hartford in the next term will have<br />
tremendous impact on Somhingmn <strong>and</strong><br />
ira people <strong>and</strong> the town needs a strong<br />
advocate <strong>and</strong> so'ong voice, Fusco said.<br />
=I believe that I have the proven<br />
ability <strong>and</strong> skills m get the job done,= he<br />
added. "<br />
Fraud addressed in legislature; vendor fraud<br />
By STATE SEN. STEPHEN SOMMA<br />
In 1995, Guy John G. Rowl<strong>and</strong><br />
formed a Blue lhbbon Commission on<br />
Welfare m study fraud within Connecticut's<br />
welfare system. The commission<br />
found that vendor fraud (fraud commit*<br />
ted by hospitals, doctors, pharmacists,<br />
year. This first session co-sponsored vendor<br />
fraud legislation in an effort to<br />
We now have a bw on the books that<br />
allows the state to terminate contracts<br />
with doctors, pharmacists, <strong>and</strong> other vendors<br />
convictedof fraud against the state.<br />
The bill, which rook effrct July !,<br />
on rme<br />
sures complement anti-fraud legislation<br />
on the part of recipients by passing legislation<br />
to create a system whereby recilfiants<br />
were fingerprinted <strong>and</strong> were .reqnired<br />
to pick up their chesks in person.<br />
But wo knew welfare fraud went far be-<br />
<strong>and</strong> nursing homes) was more prevalent so increases fines imposed against yen- yond recipiants <strong>and</strong> promised m address<br />
An optimistic future than any other kind. dors who defraad the state <strong>and</strong> creates a vendor fraud in the19961egislative ses-<br />
Welfare fraud committed by vendors special uni within the Chief State's At- sion. We kept our promise <strong>and</strong> now have<br />
who serve the state's pt' blic assistance toroey's Office to investigate <strong>and</strong> prose- a complete welfare reform package which<br />
Kennywood Entertainment has done a good job in making itself program cost the state 12 million last cute welfare fraud. These anti-fraud mea- include all the essentialcomponent<br />
available to community leaders <strong>and</strong> local newspapers in getting the<br />
word out about fi mre plans at Lake Compounce.<br />
Lots of changes are being planned at the 15 l-year-old park which<br />
hopefully will make it flourish once again.<br />
We're glad Lake Compounce opened over the Labor Day weekend<br />
<strong>and</strong> held onto its record of being the oldest continuously-operated<br />
amusement park in America.<br />
Although it was a very brief season <strong>and</strong> limited rides <strong>and</strong> attraction<br />
were offered last weekend, we look forward to an exp<strong>and</strong>ed season<br />
,next year following the upcoming construction of new rides <strong>and</strong><br />
facilities.<br />
But it's nice to see that the new owners are committed to continuing<br />
traditional Compounce rides <strong>and</strong> attractions, such as the carousel,<br />
ballroom, <strong>and</strong> roller coaster, that have become an integral part of the<br />
amusement park. old will be glad when Lake Compounce is once <strong>and</strong><br />
running for longer than a weekend each season.<br />
g the tax issue with <strong>Southington</strong> has<br />
to boost its st<strong>and</strong>ing in the community.<br />
POLITICAL BRIEFS<br />
GOP PIZZA PAR13'<br />
IKIND-IL ISER<br />
The Fusco '96 campaign committee<br />
is having a pizza party fond-raiser at<br />
Teresa Restaurant on Sept. 10from 6 to<br />
8 p.m. Tick. are free for childrun under<br />
12 <strong>and</strong> $10 for aduhs. The theme 0fthe<br />
event is leadership that works. Thlsis the<br />
last evening for a mini va'rati6n raffle to<br />
Washington D..C., sponsored by the Republican<br />
Town Committee.<br />
ANNIE'S<br />
A day of co mty Western entertainment,<br />
called Annie's Ho-Down, spnntared<br />
by the Rep0blican Town Coinmittee,<br />
will take place on Sept. 14 fram 3 to<br />
7 p.m. at the home of Ri.ckanl <strong>and</strong> Margo<br />
Montagoe, 504 Kansington Road.<br />
For tickets, call Ann D<strong>and</strong>row, at<br />
621-5660, Edward Pocock I 276-7916,<br />
or Jo]m T. Nugcot, 621o1550. Th.ere b a<br />
cost to attend. A full buret, mime, <strong>and</strong><br />
beverages will be avai le. Music will be<br />
provided by disc jo 'y Cadillac Seville<br />
from WATR-AMD20 in Waterbmy.<br />
study ofAmetic t lam protecting peo'ple<br />
D<strong>and</strong>row joined other C.onne ti /R<br />
adrocates for the disabled at a lun di n<br />
on July 7, 1995. He has resl omibili .for<br />
DANDROW A .OMES eP.JIISH all disabmty L - s, indn ihe'<br />
OFFICIAL STUDYING DISABIUIY try D nmmauoft Bill.<strong>and</strong>,the<br />
ISSUES tionof/ll Bdtisli __.gp € nm eh p0lld s or<br />
StateRep. Ann P. D<strong>and</strong>row/ lonle- - dlsabled-pcople,-H6 - of<br />
time advocate for the disabled, recenfl-y disahility-related/benefit ' tnff-:llt.¢, n<br />
tar who was in Cunnecticut as pgrt of his be efi ahd homlng im