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The Granby
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Published by Citizens for a Better Granby
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Volume XLIII, No. 10 • July/August 2013
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P & Z hears proposal to convert equestrian center into a church by Chris Levandowski At the June 11 Planning & Zoning Commission meeting, the Valley Brook Community Church presented an application for a special permit to convert the former Equistrides equestrian center at 160 Granville Road into a church. Abutters and neighbors who attended the hearing expressed concerns about allowing this use in a residential neighborhood. VBCC proposes using 79.44 acres of the 85-acre property for: church services and activities; two-week long, half-day summer camp; training and special events. The existing single-family
house, riding arena, barn and outbuildings would remain and be repurposed. Property along Silver Street would not be part of the plan. Clark Pfaff, pastor of the Valley Brook Community Church, addressed questions about anticipated uses and activities, and said that he and the church members want to fit into the neighborhood and be “the best neighbors we can be.” Engineer Ed Lally presented maps and a recent survey of the property. He discussed anticipated site work that would include additional gravel parking lots to accommodate a total of 192
Thumbs up to the class of 2013! Spirits were high at the GHMS graduation ceremony June 21 as evidenced by the joyful approval of these classmates. photo by Rita Isaacson
Equestrian Center cont’d. on p. 4
A walk in the garden
Board of Education rejects program reinstatements
Patty Sansone (l.) and Marie Reluga admire one of the gardens included on the Salmon Brook Historical Society Garden Tour. photo by Rita Isaacson
by Kim Becker With a four to four vote, the Granby Board of Education failed to pass a motion to reinstate the gifted and talented program, world languages for grades 3 and 4, and a math and science instructional coach for grades 7-10. These programs would cost $170,000; however, an unexpected increase in Quality and Diversity funding from the state would have offset the cost. Currently, Granby holds $560,000 of Q and D money in reserve which is used, in part, to fund the tuition for students who attend magnet schools. This year, the state raised the tuition that districts receive for Open
Bill Carmon’s death a significant loss for Granby by Shirley Murtha If there was ever any doubt that Bill Carmon was one of Granby’s favorite people, it was dispelled on the steamy afternoon of May 30 when the line of visitors waiting to pay their respects snaked through the funeral home and out into the parking lot. A stunning number of mourners waited with great patience to talk to his family members and tell them how Granby will just not be the same without Bill, who passed away on May 23 after a valiant effort to conquer his cancer. Frank William (Bill) Carmon, III came to Granby in 1977 when his family acquired the Hayes-Huling Funeral Home. Bill and his wife Wanda moved into the facility and Bill immediately
Inside:
became part of the Granby community, joining the Chamber of Commerce and becoming a life member of the Salmon Brook Historical Society. Among many other gifts to the town, Bill arranged for one of his employees, Jim Hall, to restore and paint the Society’s horsedrawn glass-sided hearse and worked with Carol Laun when the Cemetery Association initiated its book, “Burials in the Granby Center Cemetery.” He also gave the Society 75 chairs for use in the Preservation Barn. Bill was an enthusiastic cheerleader for all things Granby, even after he and Wanda moved back to Windsor. He got his hair cut here at JD’s; he had his lunches at Lite-N-Up; he bought his Valentine’s Day candy gifts at Mike Keating’s drug store. He was definitely Bill Carmon cont’d. on p. 6
Road Race founders memories
Choice students from $6,000 to $8,000, which created an extra $168,000 in Q and D funding for Granby in FY 201314. The board split over how and when to use this additional funding. Over the superintendent’s strong recommendation for reinstatement, four board members objected to spending any Q and D money until the board decides how much needs to be held in reserve and sets parameters on how such money could be spent. Additionally, there was some concern that the voters had rejected a budget that contained these programs. With no consensus reached, the new programs will not be funded in FY 2013-14.
BOE cont’d. on p. 6
Upgrades boost GCTV’s broadcasts by Mark Bombard GCTV has moved forward and improved services to all of its three towns in many facets of daily operations. Some are obvious and others are somewhat behind the scenes. One of those major changes is the method that GCTV uses to broadcast its programming. When GCTV first went on the air in July 2007 programs were played for broadcast using tape decks and DVD players. This limited the number of programs that could be played and the hours of broad-
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casting on any given day. Two years ago GCTV upgraded to a system that plays these programs from hard drives on GCTV computer-controlled servers. This gives GCTV instant access to over 500 shows and the ability to broadcast 24/7. This surpasses Cox Channel 15’s own methods of broadcasting shows. Cox still uses tape decks and DVD players to play its programming. A noticeable improvement is the way the signal leaves GCTV for broadcast. As of March, GCTV has broadcast via
GCTV cont’d. on p. 3
SBHS summer tours Page 28
Special photo section Page 37