$1 Million Trimmed from Capital Expenses, Robalino Pushes to Restore Surplus to Budget in Local News This Week

The capital expenses for all departments, originally totaling $1.9 million, were reviewed and trimmed to $925,450 with many expenses being reduced in scope or completely eliminated.

The vote carried, with Councilman Austin Ashley casting the only dissenting vote. Ashley said that although he agreed that many of the items included in the capital budget are needed, he felt that many of the purchases could wait.

At Monday's meeting of the mayor and council, Robalino made a motion to restore $143,000 to the budget, bringing the surplus back up to $314,000. Citing concern that an insufficient surplus would leave the town vulnerable if there was another Hurricane Irene, and in an effort to keep New Milford's bond rating from any further downgrades, Robalino said he did not feel comfortable leaving so little in surplus. 

"We went from having one million dollars of surplus in 2009, to $171,000," Robalino said.

A 27-year-old New Milford man was driving while intoxicated when he slammed into a tree on River Road. Alejandro Beasley and his 24-year-old sister, Ariana K. Beasley, both suffered internal injuries in the crash.

Patch learned that  between January 2007 and January 2012, all for administrative reasons.

At Monday's meeting of the mayor and council, up to $5000 in funding was approved to perform a Perc soil test on the  field to determine if it can even be considered a viable contender in the search for a field of dreams. 

New Milford has recently been awarded the designation of "Tree City USA" by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters. 

Officials have reported that the  near his Pine Street home on Friday tested positive for rabies.  

New Milford Fire Co. 1 is hosting their annual 5K Run/Walk and Kids Dash on Saturday, June 16. The 5K will kick off at 8:30am for runners and walkers. 

The New Milford Knights 6th grade Travel Basketball Team was recently recognized by the mayor and council for their outstanding season.

The undefeated Knights were crowned 2012 BTBL Champions in the National Division, ending the season with a 16-0 record. 

NMHS Senior, Gabriel Colucci, is eighth year in remission from Nephrotic Syndrome, a rare kidney disease. He will celebrate this milestone at the New Milford NephCure Walk on Sunday, April 29, a walk that he has organized as part of his  senior project to raise awareness for NephCure.