Update for 1/29/2021
Good afternoon,
It seems we are really settling into winter here in Easton. This week’s snow led to another great effort with clean up by our Department of Public Works. In order to combat the dreariness of winter and to continue the celebration of our 175th birthday, there is a trivia bee tonight at 7 p.m. Please join us. For details, please click here for the Park and Rec website link.
Please check the forecast as it is supposed to be extremely cold this weekend. We are closely monitoring the situation and could open a warming center if necessary at the Senior Center and EMS headquarters. Please prepare, and also look out for your neighbors, especially seniors.
We continue to vaccinate our 75-and-over seniors, and I believe that we have aided most of our seniors who needed help to sign up for appointments. This represents a herculean effort by our Senior Center, providing outstanding support for our seniors in need.
As of today, there are 286 cases of Covid 19 in Easton since the start of the pandemic with 15 new cases in the week ending Jan. 23 for a per 100,000 rate of 34.2. This is great news — the curve is slowly bending in the direction we want. We still have a long way to go, so still please be careful. In terms of the vaccine. Supply is still not consistent, unfortuneately, but we are diligently vaccinating as many people as we possibly can. If you would like to follow those numbers, you can do so at www.ct.gov.
There will be appointments available in Easton on Feb. 4 (currently full, but there may be cancellations) and March 4 at the Library through the health district. Unfortunately, there is no way to make these appointments specifically for our residents, so the key is to check frequently and try to schedule for these slots through the VAMS website, if that is how you signed up. (Many of you signed up through the Yale website, so this is not an option.)Â If we move to vaccinating the 65-75 age group, this may become an option when you are allowed to register.
I want to take this opportunity to again commend the Easton Senior Center for continuing to safely and carefully provide some activities for our seniors. Mental health and socialization are critical, particularly for our seniors with limited social options. It has been difficult to balance safety and the need to provide activities and services, but we have done just that. For our children, we continue with in-person learning, which is also key in our kid’s growth, development and well being.
I continue to get complaints about noise, litter and the upkeep of neighboring properties. I, and my colleagues on the Board of Selectmen, believe that these situations are best managed by honest and open communication between neighbors. We hope that our citizens will take that to heart. Respect for each other is what makes us such a great community. We are also reaching out to our new Eastonites, and hope to have some welcome and educational events for them moving forward.
Finally, the annual audit of our town finances was presented to the Board of Finance this week by our new auditors PKF O’Connor Davies. They found no issues with our accounting, so kudos to Director of Finance Christine Calvert. Our overall financial strength is good. Despite the pandemic, we were able to keep spending under budget, and collected more revenue than was predicted.Â
Heading into budget season, this is good news. For our new residents, the budget process is the single biggest undertaking in our town government, so I urge you to follow the Board of Finance agendas and minutes on the town website, Subscribe to News. You are also able to access links to attend their meetings via Zoom.Â
If you have children, follow the Board of Education meetings and their budget process, the Region 9 Board of Education, or any other town services that you feel strongly about. The decision to accept the town budget will ultimately be yours by referendum, so the more you know, the better the process. More about that to come.
Otherwise, stay warm and stay safe.
Dave Bindelglass
