When Will The Lies Stop????

“The voters in Middlebury have been lied to more than in any other Connecticut town...  

In lie number two, they want the taxpayers to fork over more than half a million dollars for a new fire truck because they say the privately owned Middlebury Fire Dept has no money. Not true. L. Condon gave the Fire Dept a bequest of $200,000. Are they using any of that money for a new fire truck? No. The fire dept ambulance service makes a profit of $ 200.000 a year. Are they using any of that money for a new fire truck? No. How about the $ 825,000.00 they report on their IRS forms? Are they using any of that towards a new fire engine? No. Mr. Gormley and Mr. Desarais didn’t want to authorize a free, open machine vote relative to this vote. Why? Because Mr. Gormley and Mr. Desmarais said. 

“Nobody votes”. The truth is that approximately 1400 “nobodies” voted in the last referendum. Another lie.

When will the lies stop? When will the voters in Middlebury stop believing the lies? Vote “no” to part 2 of the budget on Oct. 29th.”

Good question. When will the lies stop?  Mr. DeAngelis is very correct...  The voters in Middlebury have been lied to more than in any other Connecticut town, and all the lies have come from OMP.  

The motivation behind Mr. DeAngelis is to attempt to block the replacement of Engine 2. This is a continuation of the animosity towards the MVFD started by Mr. St. John and Mrs. Strobel. This animosity jeopardizes firefighters and the safety of the public, and needs to end.

Here are some of the lies.

1) The L. Condon bequest can be used to purchase a new fire engine. Wrong! The L. Condon bequest had very specific terms. Purchasing a pumper was not included. So, you can take that right off the table.  It can’t be used...period. You can’t change the Will. It should be noted that these funds are being spent in a manner that benefits the community.

2) The MVFD Ambulance does not make a profit of $200,000.00 a year.  That is also a lie. This blog has outlined in detail on several occasions how the Ambulance Billing Funds are spent.  They are detailed in the following posts:

Middlebury Has A Better Deal Than Winsted, And Winsted Has A Pretty Good Deal.

Mischaracterizing The MVFD Ambulance Fund.

Read the above links for details, but in a nutshell, all funds received by the MVFD Ambulance go towards maintaining the ambulance.  Any profit left over at the end of the year, is saved up to purchase the next ambulance.  In about three weeks the MVFD will be receiving the new FD12.  The price tag of this ambulance, approximately $190,000.00. None of this will be funded through taxes.  It is 100% paid for through the MVFD billing.

3) The $800,000.00 lie. Mr. DeAngelis thinks this can be used to purchase a new pumper. There is no $800,000.00. The Chief of the Department responded to this back in January of this year.  Although some of the figures have changed a little, the general outline is still accurate.  Click Here To Read The Chief’s Letter.

4) Mr. Gormley and Mr. Desmarais (as it is really spelled) didn’t want to authorize a free, open machine vote relative to this vote.  Town Meetings are the purest form of democracy. 

Some of the Town Meeting items are house keeping items, like selling equipment. Every time the Town has a referendum it costs the taxpayers $3000.00. That’s certainly going to cut into the profits of some of the sales.

But, what about the big items on the list.

A) The Long Meadow Bridge Project. The Town has a Federal Grant that will pay 80% of the cost to replace Long Meadow Bridge.  The Town has a $400,000.00 contribution.  It seems to me that it would be obvious to take advantage of the Federal Grant.  There is no reason why a Town Meeting can’t handle that question.

What are the alternatives? Reject the grant, and saddle Middlebury residents the full cost of the project sometime down the road? Or,  as some have suggested, just close the bridge all together?

B) The replacement of Engine 2. Mr. St. John and Mrs. Strobel have stalled the replacement of this important safety equipment since 2003.  Middlebury’s fire apparatus fleet is rapidly aging, and stalling replacement any longer will just make matters a whole lot worse for our taxpayers down the road.

When Mr. DeAngelis says that you are voting for spending $474,000.00 of new funds he is not telling you the truth. The taxpayers have already paid for $315,000.00 of the cost. Taxpayers are actually voting to spend $159,000.00 of the remaining balance. The remaining amount can be paid off using a short-term loan. 

It has been said by more than a few residents, none of who are in the Fire Department, that they would hesitate to sign any petition that would try to stand in the way of public safety and the good work of the Fire Department.

Further delaying the replacement of Middlebury’s “First Due” apparatus seriously affects firefighter and public safety. Not replacing such apparatus increases the Town’s liability.

If this pumper is not order before December 1, 2008, there will be an immediate price increase of $20,000.00.  After January 1st, 2009, there will be an additional $20,000.00 to $25,000.00 in the cost.