The Borough: Newtown’s Town Within A Town

By Jan Howard

Most of the people who live in the Borough of Newtown probably know its history and the reasons for its creation and continuing existence. But newcomers to town might not know what a borough is or what its function is.

The Borough of Newtown is one of nine remaining in the state. It was established in 1824 through the efforts of Judge William Edmond and other residents who petitioned the General Assembly for the right to become incorporated as the Borough of Newtown.

It came about, according to Borough Warden Joan Crick, because the more densely populated area of town needed additional services than those required in more rural neighborhoods.

“This center of town was different than the outskirts,” Ms Crick said. Houses were closer than those on farms in other areas of the town, which may have been miles apart.

The area needed more amenities, such as fire coverage, sidewalks, and streetlights. “They were willing to pay for it themselves,” she said, through a separate tax, “to control their piece of land and keep it, without affecting others in more rural areas.”

The borough has maintained itself well over the years, she said. A major decision was the institution of zoning in 1932, approximately 20 years before its institution by the town of Newtown.

Most of all, Ms Crick said, the borough is dedicated to the preservation of the historical aspect of Main Street and the entire borough.

A plus for preservation was the creation of the Borough of Newtown Historic District. Ms Crick said though the borough had initiated a Historic District Study Committee several years ago, it had not been approved until 1996 when residents were given the choice of being included.

She said the borough was commended by the Connecticut Historic Commission for its perseverance in seeking a historic district.

Ms Crick noted that the borough contributes some of its tax dollars to the Newtown District Department of Health, which benefits everyone in town.

Most people do not understand what the borough is, she said, noting she hopes to create a pamphlet that would contain information about the borough to be distributed through local realtors.

Ms Crick has been the borough warden since 1988 when she was appointed to replace then warden Jim Geis, who retired. She was elected for the first time in 1989 and reelected for successive two-year terms since, presiding over a six-member Board of Burgesses.

Prior to becoming warden, she had served on the Board of Burgesses since 1980 and as treasurer from 1981 until taking over the position of warden.

As warden, she is the chief elected officer of the borough and, as chairman of the Borough Board of Burgesses, presides at all meetings of the electors of the borough.

The warden, she said, is like the first selectman. “If someone in the borough has a problem, they call the warden.”

The Borough of Newtown covers 1,252.32 acres and includes approximately 800 properties, Ms Crick said, including residences, retail businesses, banks, Edmond Town Hall, Cyrenius H. Booth Library, churches, and other buildings. There are approximately 1,800 to 2,000 residents in the borough and about 1,200 voters, she noted.

The borough is bounded on the north on Route 6 by Blackman Road, on the east by the railroad tracks, on the west by Sugar Lane on Route 302, and south by Borough Lane.

The first meeting of the borough was held on June 14, 1824, in the public house of Czar Keeler. Charles Chapman was elected clerk. Others elected included Asa Chapman, warden; Benjamin Shelton, senior burgess; and Eli Bennett, Ezra Glover, Thomas Blackman, Squire Dibble, and David B. Botsford, junior burgesses; Henry Beers, treasurer; and Theophilus Nichols, bailiff.

The following appointments were made: Elijah Botsford and McPherson Sherman, street inspectors; Arcillus Hamlin, Philo Whitney, and Czar Keeler, fire inspectors; John Johnson, tax collector; and Thomas Seeley, John Rogers, and Harry Sherman as haywards, in charge of fences and hedges to keep cattle from straying onto the roadways.

Elections for borough officers are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May every two years. The next election is in 2005.

Elected officers, in addition to the warden and burgesses, are borough clerk, treasurer, tax assessor, and tax collector.

Current members of the Board of Burgesses are James Gaston, senior burgess; Joseph M. Maher III, second senior burgess; Marie Walker, treasurer; Darlene Spencer, borough clerk; Gretchen Hyde and Betsy Kenyon. Dawn Ford is the tax assessor and tax collector.

The duties of the Board of Burgesses include preparation of the budget and administrative duties, such as changes in borough ordinances. Ms Crick said a public hearing is held on all ordinance changes, and public participation depends on the topic. Newtown police enforce the borough ordinances, she noted.

The borough government also includes several appointed positions, including building administrator, engineer, zoning officer, borough historian, tree warden, borough counsel, auditor, and commissions, such as the Board of Assessment Appeals, Zoning Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, and Borough of Newtown Historic District.

A borough charter defines its laws and requirements, including taxes to be levied and election laws, among others. It has had several changes throughout the years, in 1831 and 1848, and in 1907 when borough boundaries were changed.

The charter also has some antiquated sections, Ms Crick said, such as enforcing the speed of animals and vehicles, which most likely refers to horse-drawn vehicles, and an ordinance regarding the “going at large” in the borough of various animals.

Ms Crick said the nominated slate of officers usually runs unopposed. Only once, in 1991, she said, did the slate face a challenge by anti-Borough residents who hoped to dissolve the borough.

However, she noted, the effort failed. While 35 to 50 borough residents usually turn out to vote, in 1991 approximately 500 voters cast ballots, with the majority backing the nominated slate.

“They obviously wanted to retain the borough,” Ms Crick said. “There was strong support for it then.”

She said she hopes it remains so because the borough continues to provide amenities not received by other areas of town, such as sidewalks, fire hydrants, street lights, maintenance of traffic islands, and sewers.

“The sewers were a big issue for the borough,” Ms Crick said. “They helped contain pollution.”

The presence of Newtown Hook and Ladder and fire hydrants is also a plus for borough residents, she said, by reducing the cost of home insurance.

Though the borough is a separate entity, it has a “very good relationship with the town,” Ms Crick said, with the town often helping to finance borough projects.

The borough is very close to Ms Crick’s heart because of her life there both as a child and adult. “It has so many memories for me,” she said, the movie theater in Edmond Town Hall, and “sliding down Route 25 in the winter — there weren’t as many cars back then — and roller skating on the sidewalk.”

The preservation of Main Street has been the result of the initiation of good zoning regulations, Ms Crick said, and zoning boards that maintain the way of life in the borough.

“It’s an area of town where people want to live,” she said, because of care and preservation of a historic area that has remained residential as well as its proximity to schools, commercial areas, and entertainment.

“There are a lot of alterations going on” to houses in the borough, Ms Crick said. “People don’t want to move.”