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Showing posts from March, 2018

Enfield eyeing $40 million road improvement plan for 2026 vote

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Charts show the draft list of streets being considered by Enfield for improvement. [See detailed street list below story.] The plan is not final. Town Council approval and voter authorization is needed. Enfield may ask voters to approve about $40 million to rebuild roughly 17 miles of town roads. The proposal continues the town’s long-running effort to modernize its street network as aging pavement and rising costs put pressure on the system. Since 2000, voters have approved about $163 million in road bonding. That work has covered more than 150 miles, or about 83% of Enfield’s roads. Major road programs have typically gone before voters every five years. The Town Council has not approved anything. At a recent council meeting, town officials outlined the status of road improvements and the next phase. The council will have to decide how much to spend on roads, and then ask voters to approve it in November 2026. The town's presentation can be viewed here . [The PDF begins with the t...

The rough and unfair criticism of the Enfield March for our Lives protest

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After the March for our Lives posted this on the Enfield Open Forum on Facebook . There was a lot of negative comments about student activism in Enfield. But Facebook forums are Facebook forums. They don't reflect the broader community. Here's what I wrote: Why are so many people on this Enfield forum so interested in tearing down the town's kids? Belittling their advocacy? There were a fair number of adults and families at today's Enfield event. It was very touching. There were several student speakers, whose names I don't know, who delivered articulate, passionate assessments of the problem. I was very impressed by them. Enfield has always had a little bit of an off-center streak to it. When I was growing up here, I knew a fellow who was involved with the John Birch Society. They had an office in Thompsonville. Early 1970s. There's always been a conservative streak to the town, and a strong liberal one, rooted in the New England, Catholic tradition. ...