Town’s Annual Report Is A Repository Of Local Trivia

By Steve Bigham

Last year, Newtown Police responded to 94 deer versus car accidents in town. There were 88 DWI arrests, and 17 stolen cars, not to mention two bomb scares, 18 drug paraphernalia arrests, and 32 animal bites. These are just a handful of the thousands of incidents the police responded to in 1999.

This kind of information was made public earlier this week as the town’s annual report for 1999 rolled off the presses. In addition to police department statistics, the 108-page booklet also details the annual reports of almost all town agencies and commissions – from the assessor’s office to the Zoning Board of Appeals. It is a compendium of municipal facts – some more trivial than others – that help to keep the public informed and the government honest.

“You can almost say it’s like a diary of the town for that year,” noted Town Clerk Cindy Curtis Simon, whose office is responsible for the publication of the annual book.

The annual report includes budget breakdowns, curriculums, independent auditor’s reports, grand lists and a long list of all Newtown teachers and other town employees. Did you know the town of Newtown employs 578 full-time school employees, which includes teachers, administrators, counselors, custodians and cafeteria workers?

The information is based on the fiscal year – July 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999.

According to the report, 21 Newtown teachers retired last year, while 66 new ones were hired. School opened this past September with an additional 211 students, further indication of a rapidly growing school system.

The annual report also includes general statistics about the town, such as the date of the original land purchase (1705), the date it was incorporated (October, 1711), total area (60.38 square miles), and population (22,504, although recent reports indicate the number has risen to 23,469).

And did you know there are a total of 267.91 miles of road in Newtown, and that the average elevation is 600 feet? The highest point in town is 830 feet at the top of Holcombe Hill off Great Hill Road. That didn’t make the book though.

Perhaps the most glaring omission in this year’s annual report is a report from the Legislative Council, the financial body of the town and considered by some to be the town’s most important board.

In 1999, according to the annual report, Newtown’s five fire companies responded to 1,135 calls – nearly 400 of which were false alarms. More than 200 septic systems were installed, 145,897 books and other material were checked out of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library and the number of residential building lots created through subdivisions during the fiscal year amounted to 64. This is in sharp contrast to the 304 lots approved during the 1996-97 year.

In 1999, 1,058 hunting and fishing licenses were issued, 203 marriages recorded and more than 2,000 dogs were licensed. A total of 145 deaths were recorded, as opposed to 329 births. And, according to the report, the number of housing units in Newtown is now approaching 9,000.

A total of 500 annual reports were printed this year.

“We used to do more, but we would always have some left over,” Mrs Curtis Simon said. “In order to save on cost, we reduced the number printed and managed to find a home for all of them.”

The annual report is available at the Cyrenius Booth library and at the town clerk’s office.

The town clerk’s office has on file every annual report for Newtown since 1904.