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Town Hall Notes

The Guilford High School Building Committee conducted a groundbreaking ceremony on June 6 to ceremoniously begin construction of the new Guilford High School. Actual construction will tentatively commence between late July or early August. During the actual construction period access to and from the existing Guilford High School will be re-routed. Officials will be very vigilant in maintaining the present security at the high school throughout the duration of the construction process.

Construction of the new bulkhead at the Town Dock has been completed and the Marina Commission made another major improvement to the marina by replacing the fencing.

The Jacobs Beach project is moving along. Phase I, which has included improved drainage, reconstruction of the parking lot, creation of planting islands with trees, an irrigation system, and bathhouse improvements, should all be completed by mid-June when the beach will be officially open to the public for their enjoyment. Phases II and III are delayed until further funding is obtained.

As we head toward the summer season, you will see our town crews and subcontractors performing summer road maintenance, such as chip sealing on various town roads. You can log onto our website www.ci.guilford.ct.us to see which areas of town will be done and the approximate days. In the meantime, Public Works is extremely busy doing spring cleanup throughout the entire town. Summer road projects will include the elevation of Old Quarry Road, construction of a retaining wall on Falcon Road, and the improvement and grading of many of our unimproved town roads using millings from the I-95 project, which are given free of charge to the town from the state.

The 375th Anniversary Celebration Committee is moving along with its plans. The members are in the process of soliciting sponsors. Their three major current sponsors are the Guilford Savings Bank, Page Hardware, and Bishop's Orchards. The committee is actively selling celebratory banners, which you will begin to see around town this fall. If you would like help the committee and volunteer, please contact the Selectmen's Office at 203-

453-8015.

The Finance Department has finalized our FEMA application for Hurricane Sandy and we are awaiting FEMA's review, audit, and reimbursement for storm expenses. We are involved in a similar process for the February blizzard as well.

The assessor has reported that 834 applications have been approved for the Elderly Tax Relief (Freeze) Program for the 2012 Grand List. This is a net change of 35 applications, the difference between new applications and deletions when compared to last year. As a reminder this program attempts to freeze senior and 100 percent disabled taxes at the amount for the Grand List year that they are applying. They must reapply each year and continue to meet the qualifications to keep their taxes frozen.

The town has met with Developers Diversified Realty (DDR) on the Rock Pile and DDR has changed its strategy on the property. It is no longer for sale and DDR is in the process of trying to acquire leases for a shopping center. The owners of the old Fonicello's property, which is currently being temporarily leased to a nursery, are also actively looking to acquire leases and construct a medical office complex.