The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Volume 17, Number 2
www.berlincitizen.com
Thursday, Januar y 10, 2013
Town receives grant for Chotkowski property
A view of the Chotkowski property.
By Monica Szakacs The Berlin Citizen
Berlin has been awarded a $500,000 Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition grant to purchase and preserve the Chotkowski property. The grant will help buy two rear parcels of the property. 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 and which make up the town’s open space. The property, which used to be a hay and orchard farm, is essentially the hill east of where Southington Road enters the Chamberlain Highway.
The property is adjacent to other protected lands and will create a continuous open space corridor of 488 acres. It borders the old Girl
Scout Camp and Bicentennial Park. The land, once acquired by the town, will connect the two properties. Director of Economic Develop-
School buses may soon be equipped with exterior cameras By Monica Szakacs The Berlin Citizen
On Dec. 10, 2012, the Board of Education voted in favor of implementing the SmartBus program, a video enforcement system in which buses are equipped with exterior cameras. Director of Business Operations Roman Czuchta said the cameras are activated when the stop lights and sign for the buses come on. The surveillance gives a visual of the area surrounding the bus. The intent is to act as a deterrent for cars going through a stopped bus signal, Czuchta said. The proposal has now gone to the Berlin Police Commission for review. If the commission votes in favor, Czuchta said the program proposal might go to Town Council, just to make sure the town is on board. The police department has been reviewing the program alongside BOE since the intiial proposal, Czuchta said.
An average of 31 pedestrians are killed annually in the U.S. while getting on or off buses and half of pedestrian fatalities are children between the ages of 5 and 7, according to the SmartBus Live website statistics. SmartBus Live is a third party vendor that aides law enforcement in the protection of children riding, loading and unloading on school buses, according to its website. Several years ago, the State of Connecticut passed legislation that levies a fine up to $450 for those who drive through a stop sign and lights on a stopped bus. “In the event that someone does go through the light, the video is transmitted to the local police department,” Czuchta said. “The police department can then review the video which captures the vehicle and the license plate and has all the bells and whistles, such as time and date.” SmartBus Live employs live personnel to See Buses, page 15
ment James Mahoney said the town has over 2, 150 acres of parks and open space. Mayor Adam Salina said there are trails that run
through multiple open space properties in town from the Hatchery Brook Conservation Area to the Blue Hills Conservation Area. The Metacomet Loop Trail will be located on the Chotkowski property and link into the Metacomet Trail (New England Scenic Trail). The town has been working toward acquiring this property for some time. “There is open space land essentially going from Meriden all the way down the Chamberlain highway through South Kensington,” Salina said. “The town owns
See Grant, page 7
Challenging the great
Submitted by Helen A. deRito
The Greater Hartford Youth Wind Ensemble, offered by the Hartt School Community Division at the University of Hartford, provides high school students the opportunity to perform challenging wind ensemble repertoire. Students are selected by audition from high school musicians in southern New England. This year, GHYWE included three members of the Berlin High School band, Tommy deRito, Logan Kissane and Christopher Hauptfeld.