Printer Friendly Version - Essex in 2020: The Year in Review

It was a year that started with promise. The Essex Winter Series kicked off its 2020 Concert Season with Director Mihae Lee’s 10th Anniversary Concert. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The Essex Fire Department, along with area departments from Clinton, Deep River, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, and Westbrook, responded to a fire at the Black Seal Restaurant and second-floor apartments at 15c Main Street in Essex. The restaurant was closed temporarily.

Valley Regional High School (VRHS) junior Katherine “Kate” Konrad, missing since Dec. 20, 2019, was located in Oklahoma after a traffic stop for a motor vehicle violation. She was taken into police protective custody.

The Regional 4 School District hired Richard Huot as interim business manager, following the resignation of former business manager, Kimberly Allen.

A $7,963,711 budget for the Supervision District of the Regional 4 School District was approved by the Supervision District Committee. It represented a $249,309 or 3.23 percent increase from the 2019–’20 Supervision District Budget of $7,714,403.

Essex Elementary School (EES) was recognized by the Connecticut State Department of Education as a “School of Distinction” based on high performances on the State’s Accountability Index, which measures academic performance, absenteeism, physical fitness testing and other factors.

The Ivoryton Playhouse hosted a series of staged readings for its annual Women Playwrights Initiative. A panel discussion on “Inside Playwrighting” by the League of Professional Theater Women and Dramatists Guild was held in between performances at the Ivoryton Library.

The Colonial Fresh Market in Essex closed abruptly after the owner defaulted on his lease agreement.

The Essex Board of Education (BOE) unanimously approved a $7,708,432 budget for the 2020–’21 school year. It represented an increase of $244,456 or 3.28 percent compared to the 2019–’20 budget.

In response to the spread of COVID-19, Governor Ned Lamont declared public health and civil preparedness emergencies throughout the State of Connecticut, and the Town of Essex declared a local emergency.

Lamont ordered all schools in Connecticut closed, and joined surrounding states in ordering all restaurants, bars, commercial casinos, theaters, and gyms closed to on-premises business.

The budget funding operations at VRHS and John Winthrop Middle School (JWMS) was adopted by the Region 4 BOE. At $21,163,741, the budget represented a $591,066 or 2.87 percent increase over the 2019–’20 school year.

The Essex Board of Selectmen (BOS) unanimously approved a lower interest rate tax program for taxes due between April 1 and July 1, for a period of 90 days from the due date of the tax. This was one of two options offered under Lamont’s executive order to help ease financial burdens of the COVID-19 pandemic on taxpayers.

A $24,653,577 budget for the Town of Essex was approved. It represented a 1.89 percent increase from Essex’s 2019–’20 (FY 20) budget of $24,195,150. A mill rate was later approved by the Board of Finance at 21.81, an increase of .16 from the previous mill rate of 21.65.

Construction started on an affordable housing project spearheaded by the non-profit HOPE Partnership, Inc., at Spencer’s Corner, 90 Main Street in Centerbrook.

The accuracy and reliability of the Regional 4 School District’s accounting practices in fiscal year 2019 was raised as a major issue by an auditor hired by the district at a combined meeting of the Region 4 BOE and the Supervision District Committee.

The Region 4 BOE addressed a $429,729 deficit in its Capital Sinking Fund, revealed in the results of its 2018–’19 (FY 19) audit, by applying $158,215 in unexpended FY 19 funds to the deficit.

A long-term recovery committee, composed of key individuals from the local community, formed in Essex.

A small group of residents gathered nightly in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis ignited protests across the nation.

A virtual graduation ceremony and drive-through procession was held for the VRHS’s graduating Class of 2020.

Residents and members of the nonprofit Sister Cities Essex Haiti raised funds to support a project for handwashing stations in Deschapelles, Haiti.

Due to financial strain related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Connecticut (CT) Humanities awarded the Essex Historical Society with a relief grant under the Coronavirus Assistance, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Tropical Storm Isaias left fallen trees, property damage, and power outages in Essex after making its way through the state.

Registered Democrats and Republicans in Essex cast their votes for their preferred Presidential candidates at the party primaries with candidates Donald J. Trump (R) and Joe Biden (D) easily carrying their party votes. A significantly high number of voters cast their ballot by absentee, an option expanded to all under state law due to the pandemic.

Superintendent of Schools Brian White announced that the Regional 4 School District would employ a hybrid model upon reopening for the 2020–’21 school year, with students attending classes in person two days a week for the first six weeks of school.

The Region 4 BOE voted to retire the mascot and other Native American imagery used to represent any program at VRHS.

In-person classes at VRHS resumed after the school building closed earlier in the month to all students and non-essential staff due to two students contracting COVID-19.

The Essex BOE was informed at its special meeting that when it closed the books for the FY 20, there was a $348,331 surplus. The major drivers of these savings were from out-of-district transportation and tuition, utilities, and substitute teachers, according to Finance Director Kelly Sterner.

At a special meeting of the Supervision District committee, Sterner reported a surplus from FY 20 of approximately $169,272. The main drivers of these savings were attributed to transportation and diesel fuel.

Another incidence of COVID-19 at VRHS necessitated the quarantine of 39 members of the school community but did not necessitate a building closure.

Students in the Regional 4 School District started full in-person learning, with three new positive cases of COVID-19 confirmed later in the week.

Kelly Sterner announced her resignation from the position of finance director for the Regional 4 School District.

In-person classes were canceled at EES due to a positive case of COVID-19 in the school community that necessitated the quarantine of sixty individuals.

The Town of Essex held an in-person town meeting, a first since the onset of the pandemic, with an ordinance combining the Planning & Zoning Commissions gaining approval.

The Region 4 BOE approved using $220,000 in unexpended funds from FY 20 to help reduce a $366,328 cumulative deficit in the cafeteria fund.

A high number of registered voters in Essex cast ballots in this year’s election, with 2,142 of the 4,744 total ballots being absentee.

An electric vehicle charging station behind the United States Postal Service at 12 Main Street was installed, due to the efforts of the Sustainable Essex Committee.

Essex received $128,000 in Small-Town Economic Assistance Program grant funds to help with parking lot improvements at Spencer’s Corner, the site of an affordable housing project.

EES and Region 4 schools moved to remote learning due to several new cases of COVID-19 that necessitated quarantines, exacerbating staffing shortages in the Regional 4 School District. The move came as an uptick in COVID-19 infections state-wide led Gov. Lamont to revert Connecticut from a phase 3 reopening, to phase 2.1.

A security project at JWMS made headway, as the architectural firm hired for the project presented seven design options to the Region 4 BOE. Options ranged in cost from $200,000 to $1.8 million.

The school district’s request that football coach Tim King resign for his participation in an unsanctioned football game that resulted in 19 members of the school community exposed to COVID-19 and landing in quarantine was rescinded after community uproar.

Students at EES and Region 4 schools returned for in-person classes, after several weeks of remote learning.

A consultant from the New England School Development Council projected a decline in student enrollment, followed by a leveling, for all schools in the Regional 4 School District. A decline of 35 students, or approximately 6 percent, was projected for Essex’ K -12 population from the ’21 school year to the ’31 school year.

The first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19 arrived in Connecticut, with local health districts and those in the first group eligible to receive it, including a population of residents at Essex Meadows, prepared for its distribution.

The state’s COVID Relief Fund for the Arts provided grants to help two local nonprofit arts organizations, the Ivoryton Playhouse in Ivoryton with a $125,900 award and the Community Music School in Centerbrook with a $19,900 award.

Robert Grissom was appointed finance director for the Regional 4 School District.

The Essex Winter Series kicked off its 2020 Concert Season with Director Mihae Lee’s 10th Anniversary Concert. Photo by Kelley Fryer

A bright, sunny day brought the crowds (remember those?) to line Main Street on Jan. 26 with their pots, pans, and wooden spoons to wake up this year’s Essex Ed, who was dressed in honor of the Essex Fire Department. Photo by Kelley Fryer

Essex Elementary School held its Family Night party and fundraiser for the Essex Elementary School Foundation on Feb. 28. Here, Callie Tyrseck, Mason Faison and Jackson Tyrseck pose for a photo in the cafeteria. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

A copper beech tree was planted in front of the Copper Beech Inn on April 2, replacing the estimated 300-year-old cooper beech that was removed in 2017 due to disease. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

This is April, not December: The Ivoryton tree and gazebo were re-lit as a way to say thank you to all the healthcare workers and first responders as they battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

In a year when home improvement became an imperative, businesses like Riggio’s Garden Center were a favored destination. Here, Diana Siebold looks over the plants in the greenhouse. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The Griswold Inn reopened outside distance dining on May 20. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The Board of trade’s Al Fresco Thursdays and the Connecticut River Museum’s Thursdays on the Dock gave a great excuse to stroll Essex on Thursday nights this summer. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The scarecrows returned to Essex as part of the Essex Board of Trade’s 2020 Scarecrow FestiFall, one of the rare traditions to stay mostly normal in 2020. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The Essex Fire Department hosted a drive-by Halloween event with spooky displays created by local businesses and organizations. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

There’s no stopping this train: Steve Cryan completed his 27th year of the Holiday Train Show at the Connecticut River Museum. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier