The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Volume 16, Number 26
www.berlincitizen.com
New recycling program starts next week By Daniel Jackson The Berlin Citizen Recently, residents have called the town wondering why the large recycling bins were delivered to their homes. Jim Horbal, deputy director of the Public Works Department, has received 50 phone calls about the new system in the last week.
By Daniel Jackson
A trasch can and recycle bin wait for pickup. Service begins July 1.
While the town has tried to educate residents about the changes, the Tunxis Recycling Operating Committee, the company that handles the trash of Berlin and 13 other towns, sent out a flyer with incorrect information in the early part of the year. Horbal said TROC sent out a flyer about the recycling policy around April without the town’s knowledge. The information on the flier was incorrect but in later distributions of the flier the errors were corrected. The town converts to an automated single stream recycling on July 1. At that time, residents will be asked to place their papers, plastic and other recyclables into the bins, wheel them to the curb and let the automated truck do the rest. “Once we get through the summer, I think everything will work itself out,” Horbal said. To complicate matters, the July 4 holiday will push back the recycle pickup for some residents. Residents who usually get their recycling carted away on Wednesday will wheel the blue bins to the curb for the first time on Thursday. Thursday and Friday pick-up is also pushed a day forward. See Recycling, page 5
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Town seeks grant for Chotcowski property By Daniel Jackson The Berlin Citizen The Town Council authorized, at its June 19 meeting, Economic Development Director Jim Mahoney to apply for a state grant so the town could purchase the old Chotcowski farm on Chamberlain Highways to add to its open space. The 71 acres is the missing link between a continuous string of fields, forests and ponds that extend from Bicentennial Park to the Meriden town line that make up the town’s open space. The property is essentially the hill east of where Southington Road enters the Chamberlain Highway. It borders the old Girl Scout Camp and Bicentennial Park “This is the first of many steps and we’re going to see this on our agenda a number of times before we get to the final phase,” Mayor Adam Salina said.
Salina said the town has tried to acquire this property ever since he started working with the council. Last year, the town sent a letter to the Chotcowski family which told the family the town was interested in the property as open space. Sentimentally, adding the property to the town’s open space would make sense, said Salina, because the late Dr. Ludmil Chotcowski, who lived on the farm, was in favor of open space in town. “He was probably the biggest advocate for the town to acquire Bicentennial Park,” Salina said. Salina said the town has backup plans if the town doesn’t get the grant. Councilmember Dave Evans asked if the town will maintain the property. Town Manager Denise McNair replied, in most open space, the town blazes trails but it
See Farm, page 27
The proper care and disposal of American flags By Daniel Jackson The Berlin Citizen
The flags rest on the table in the grove at the American Legion property. 1,500 to 2,000 of them lie on a table and in bags, according to Post Commander Vin Trigila. They are faded, some torn. They range from small flags that flew over a soldier’s grave in town to a large one with gold tassels and a brown stain. Now, at the end of their usable life, they have been handed over to the American Legion Post 68 for proper disposal by burning.
Trigila said most people don’t know how to properly dispose of a flag. “A lot of people don’t know what to do with them,” he said. The American Legion collects the flags year round and every Flag Day, June 14, they retire the American flags. The U.S. flag code states that a flag no longer usable must be disposed of in a dignified way, preferably by burning. It’s a short ceremony, said Trigila, so that’s why he gets Boy Scouts involved. It stretches the ceremony a bit longer, making it 15 minutes long instead of five.
The legion members wheel barrels, that will hold the fires, toward the grove and place five in a line in the parking lot. “Nice night for it,” said Sargent of Arms Miles Sperry. “It’s not raining; it’s not snowing, not humid” The scouts arrive. Some have flags of their own and they place them on the table, some a bunch of cloth, others folded into sharp squares. Trigila wants the scouts retrieve the flag flying in front of the American Le-
By Daniel Jackson
The Boy Scouts help the American Legion by placing See Flag, page 4 the old flags in the fire.