New Type of Voting Machines

[cruzrt]

Wethersfield is 1 of the approximately 20 towns in the state that is using the new kind of voting machines for the November election. Is the town going to provide hands-on demonstrations of the new machines prior to Election Day? Is the town going to provide a video to Public Access beforehand to show us how they work? I don't plan on waiting in line for hours on Election Day while voters try to figure out how toi vote.

[morganika]

I liked the new machines, they were much easier.

[Simpleton]

Call me a simpleton, but I neglected to cast my vote on the questions. I don't think that would have been the case using the mechanical lever machines, where everything is on one row.

[oldetowne]

The new process was pretty easy, all in all, but there was still a lot of confusion - does it go in the machine face up or face down? what was the red folder for? did the machine read them accurately? don't we get some kind of confirmation slip or something to show that? I am just assuming it worked.....

Next issue - who will be the next mayor?

[morganika]

I see the referendum for the MDC passed, what about the other one for open space?

[oldetowne]

It passed. Here's the article from the Courant this morning:

Plan Approved For Open Space



By ANN MARIE SOMMA
Courant Staff Writer

November 9 2006

WETHERSFIELD -- Voters on Tuesday approved an ordinance to issue $4 million in bonds for the acquisition of open space in town for either municipal or recreational use.

The 6,136 to 4,291 vote ensures that the town will have money on hand to bid against developers and to negotiate with sellers when and if farmland becomes available.

"It gives the town a little more leverage - it's like a line of credit," said W. James Schumaker, a member of the town's conservation commission.

The commission had urged the town council to put the ordinance proposal on Tuesday's ballot.

Schumaker said the open space that remains in town, mainly farmland, is zoned residential. So when the land becomes available for sale, developers can bid on it with the intent of building housing developments.

A feasibility study conducted by The Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit conservation organization, found that there is very little open space left in Wethersfield.

Town Manager Bonnie Therrien said town officials have for years talked about ways to preserve the town's farming roots. The town council made the preservation of open space a priority and looked into ways of financing the purchase of open space or the development rights to open space.

"This is a town that is almost completely built up," Therrien said.

Eugene Grayson, a member of the conservation commission, said the ordinance also gives the town the ability to purchase development rights on farmland.

By selling development rights to the town, farming families could continue to operate on and own the land, but they couldn't sell it to developers.

"It's great that the people of Wethersfield chose to approve it," Grayson said.

The $4 million in bonding will cost the average household about $19 to $23 per year in additional property taxes, according to the study.

Contact Ann Marie Somma at [e-mail].
Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant