Local author and naturalist, John Himmelman will discuss his newest project, two new books on night-singing insects, crickets and katydids, on the WLIS/WMRD weekly radio program, 'CT Outdoors' with host Suzanne Thompson on Tuesday, August 22 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Listen to Himmelman's appearance live on WMRD 1150 AM, Middletown and WLIS 1420 AM, Old Saybrook on Tuesday afternoon or catch a rebroadcast at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday or 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 26.

CT Outdoors is a mix of local talk radio, from home gardening, plants and flowers to the many public parks, nature preserves and events and activities involving natural resources, wildlife and conservation. It's all about people and nature in Connecticut.

In addition to his latest project, Himmelman will offer advice on how to create a nature-friendly microcosm in your backyard and will give away a signed copy of his recent book, Discovering Amphibians: Frogs and Salamanders of the Northeast, to a lucky listener who calls in.

Himmelman has been writing and illustrating children's books for more 25 years, and has authored more than 60 books. He is the President of the Killingworth Land Conservation Trust and serves on the Town's Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission. The Land Trust's next program is a backyard 'show and tell' on November 9, that encourages residents to collect photos and stories of the odd and ordinary that live in their backyard.

Paul L. Bellemore, 75, passed away at his home, on Wednesday (August 16, 2006). He was the husband of Annette (Shurretto) Bellemore and son of the late Henry and Anna (Keenan) Bellemore. He was a U.S. Air Force Korean and Vietnam War Veteran; Paul was a member of St. Lawrence Church in Killingworth and a member of the B.P.O.E. Elks. He was a former employee of Barnick Trucking and also of Pratt & Whitney Industries.

He leaves his wife Annette; three daughters, Michele Dewey and her husband, William of Deep River, Robin French and her husband, James of Phoenix, AZ, and Paulreen Bellemore, of Bloomfield; three step sons, Josh F. Chomicz and his partner, Jackie Dorobkowski of Groton, Michael J. Chomicz of East Haddam, and Jonathan Chomicz and his wife Lisa, of Killingworth; two step-daughters, Ellena Tan and her husband Tjoan, of Braintree, MA, and Lorri Shatto and her husband Michael, of East Haddam; two sisters, Ellen Starno and Louise Bruneau, both of Hamden; ten grandchildren; six great grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his first wife Judith Knudsen Bellemore and his step mother Julia Bellemore. The Funeral service will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday August 19, from the Swan Funeral Home, 80 East Main St. Clinton. Followed by a mass of Christian burial at 11 a.m. at St Lawrence Church, Killingworth. Military Honors will conclude the service. Burial will be private. Family and friends may call from 5 - 8 p.m. on Friday evening at the Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Middlesex Hospice, 55 Crescent St. Middletown, CT 06457. Please visit our online memorial at www.mem.com.

The Household Hazardous Waste collection facility will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. The service is free for residents of Chester, Clinton, Deep River, Essex, Killingworth, Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook and Westbrook. The facility is at 5 Dump Road in Essex.

For a complete list of acceptable items and for more information, visit www.crerpa.org, or call 860-388-3497.

The Historical Society's goal to preserve the Town's cemeteries took a big step backwards according to Julia McCurdy, who with her sister Heather and Sara Dodson, has spent several hours a week helping restore the ancient headstones in the Union District Cemetery on Roast Meat Hill Road. According to McCurdy and Historical Society member Tom Lentz, approximately 10 headstones were damaged last month when tree trimmers used a bucket truck on the cemetery property to trim the large spruce trees that dominate the parcel. The cemetery is the home of several Revolutionary War headstones as well as some from Killingworth's oldest families.

The McCurdys and Lentz asked the Board of Selectmen on Monday night to take some action to repair the stones. First Selectman Marty Klein said, "If any damage was done, it was not intentional". He said he visited the site several times during the two-day job in late July, but didn't see any damage. He asked the Historical Society to put together an estimate of what it would cost to repair the headstones.

Jason Wilcox of Wilcox Tree Experts out of Old Lyme said Tuesday "we did exactly what Marty Klein told us to do". He said that his crew did not damage or break any headstones and "there was no way [he] was taking any responsibility for ancient headstones." He said he offered the option to trim the trees without the truck, but Klein would not agree to the higher costs involved. Wilcox said they moved a stone post and several headstones at the direction of Klein, but there were headstones already damaged when they got there. The project cost the town approximately $3000. Klein said he was quoted more than three times that to trim the trees by hand.

The Historical Society has been working for many years to preserve, restore and sometimes reclaim headstones from the moss and trees in the Town's cemeteries. McCurdy said she was "sad and frustrated to see such disrespect".

She said responsibility for the breakage should be shared. "The Historical Society should have been there to supervise the work; Klein should have better understood the importance of the cemeteries and Wilcox should have known better." She said she is certain the damage occurred during the trimming because she was working in the cemetery on the Sunday prior and witnessed the damage just days after. "I know the difference between an old break and the "bright white" of a fresh break." She said there has not been any vandalism in the past year so she doubted something like that occurred just days before the trimming.

Historical Society President Bob Broach originally approached Klein about trimming the trees in the town-owned cemetery several months ago. According to Lentz, Broach was unavailable at the time to supervise the work.

Fresh breaks are visible on several headstones in the Union District Cemetery. Tire tracks (lower right) trace a path through a broken footstone.

A field hockey clinic will be held Monday through Friday, Aug. 21 to 25, from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Haddam-Killingworth High School field hockey field. This clinic is for new as well as experienced players. The camp will focus on skill stations and game situations and is for students entering grades 4 - 8. The fee is $85 per child or $140 per family. Non-residents please add $10. Players must bring their own stick, shinguards, ball and mouthguard. Fee includes a T-shirt. Please add $28 to fee if player needs to purchase equipment and indicate height on registration.

For more information, fees, or to register, please call 860-345-8334 or visit www.hkrec.com for a registration form.

Legal Notice
Town of Killingworth
Notice is hereby given that a public hearing will be held at the Killingworth Town Office Building, 323 Route 81, Killingworth, CT at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, August 21, 2006 regarding the Proposed Charter Revision in accordance with sec. 7-191 of Connecticut State Statutes.

A copy of the Proposed Charter Revision is on file with the Killingworth Town Clerk.
Martin Klein, First Selectman
Dated at Killingworth, Connecticut, this 15^th day of August, 2006.

Killingworth has enjoyed a warm, wet summer, so your vegetable gardens should be overflowing with produce. Do you have a basket full of cucumbers, tomatoes or zucchini on your counter just waiting to be eaten? Why not donate some of your bounty to the local food pantry. Brownie Troop 2818 invites you to bring your vegetables to the Rocco Reale Field parking lot, this Saturday morning, August 19 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. The Brownies have had a bumper crop of tomatoes thanks to Running Brook Farms' donation of plants and growing advice earlier this summer.

Remember every garden counts! Make your garden a Giving Garden!

Prompted by the recent outcry from residents about speeding and other safety issues on Town roads, resident Phil Stull proposed the creation of a Town Traffic Study Committee at last night's Board of Selectmen's meeting. The Board approved the request with the condition that Acting Highway Foreman Walter Adametz and a member of the public safety community be included in its ranks. Stull agreed to serve on the committee and requested that anyone interested in serving contact First Selectman Marty Klein at 663-1765.

The Committee's charge would be to "gather information concerning vehicular, pedestrian, and other users of Killingworth's road system and make a report containing proposals to the BOS intended to increase safety and to help maintain Killingworth's rural character". Stull suggested the committee structure also include the Resident Trooper as an ex-officio member. The committee would be empowered to hold public meetings to acquire citizen's concerns and would create a report on its finding and recommendations for the BOS. Stull proposed that the committee be given one year to accomplish its goal.

Stull originally came before the Board in January to propose the creation of the committee, but the Board tabled the issue. In late June, when residents began expressing their opinions on speeding in letters to the editor, Stull decided the proposal was worth another try.

The Board of Selectmen approved limited changes in the Highway Department's regular road maintenance schedule earlier this year in order to put priority on two projects that would require extra hours from the crew. Acting Highway Foreman Walter Adametz Jr., a 12-year employee, said the number of complaints from residents has skyrocketed and the crew itself feels like they are "the town's whipping boy, micro-managed and singled out".

Adametz said he has received 104 complaints from residents regarding mowing, brush removal, maintenance of gravel roads, curbing, road signs, the Reservoir Road Bridge, and other miscellaneous complaints. He said his directive was that the road sweeping and other regular maintenance was not going to be done this year. First Selectman Marty Klein stated in his monthly column of March 21, 2006 that the Board "concluded that roads should not be swept carte blanche but only if an individual inspection indicates that sweeping is necessary". Selectman Fred Dudek said at Wednesday's Special BOS Meeting that the town crew was needed to work on the Alder's Bridge Raod project and the reconfiguration of the intersection at Green Hill Road and Route 81.

Adametz attended the meeting to bring the complaints of his crew and residents to the Board's attention and request that his open crew position be filled. He said the current four-man crew was in danger of being burned out. Since the crew, by contract, can't take vacation time during the winter because of plowing responsibilities, he said it was difficult to get all the work done with three men out and one position open. Klein said he didn't feel the position needed to be filled. He said they were working through the backlog.

Adametz also questioned the recent installation of a computerized fingerprint time clock at the Town garage. He said the $2500.00 for the machine came out of the crew's operating budget and created more work for the men because the machine didn't work properly and the crew had to hand write their timecards. He questioned why the Highway Department was the only department to have it installed. Klein said it was for accountability.

Dudek said he would be in favor of a public works commission to help the first selectman work with the highway crew and manage the many town road projects. Later in the meeting he reiterated that the Town Charter Revision Commission should look into it.

The Board also approved a proposal to send the latest charter revision suggestions back to the commission for further review in the areas of: adopting the bidding process approved by the Board of Selectmen in 1992, but never included in the charter; the creation of a Public Works Commission; employment policies for the First Selectman and the Selectmen and refinement of the appointment policy for the Planning and Zoning Commission. Read more about the charter revision timeline in the Hartford Courant.

The Killingworth Library will hold registration for its fall children's programs beginning September 1. Space is limited and priority will be given to residents. Signup is required and can be made in person or by phone, at 663-2000.

STORYTIME
* for children ages 3 and 4
* every Wednesday, 10am-10:30am
* in October: 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th

TERRIFIC TWOS
* for children between the ages of 24 and 36 months
* every Wednesday 10am-10:30am
* in November: 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th

MUSIC WITH MARGIE
* for children 2 1/2 years and older
* Tuesdays 10:45am-11:15am
* session starts September 12th

8.9.2006: Brian Mordecai, 22, of Guilford was traveling southbound on Route 81 and slowed to a stop for a vehicle making a left turn. Mordecai said his Ford F-250 landscaping truck was suddenly struck from behind by a 17-year-old female from Haddam driving a Honda Accord. The driver of the Accord stated Mordecai came to an abrupt stop causing the collision. She was cited with following too close.

8.5.2006: Christopher Maronna, 38, of Westbrook was traveling southbound on Route 81 when he struck a tree on the western side of Route 81 at the Green Hill Road Intersection. The car went out of control and came to a stop about 250 ft. south of the intersection. Maronna complained of pain from head lacerations and was transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital. He was cited with failure to drive in established lane.

Agenda
Regular Meeting of the Board of Selectmen
Monday, August 14, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.
Town Office Building

1. Call to Order
2. Approve Minutes of Meeting held July 24, 2006
3. Visitors: P. Stull
4. Tax Abatements & Refunds
5. Appointments/Vacancies:
6. Old Business:
    1. Traffic Commission - P. Stull
    2. Sludge Lagoon Testing - Update
7. New Business:
    1. Roll-Off Truck Bid
    2. Progress of Bonding
    3. Dev. of Athletic Fields
    4. Emergency Mgmt.& Homeland Security/Memorandum of Understanding
    5. CRERPA - Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan
8. MK Announcements:
9. Selectmen's Concerns
10. Adjournment
Agenda as of 11:30 a.m. Friday, 8/11/06
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