Whether it was welcoming a newly elected crop of local officials, determining the fate of several well-worn town facilities, rewriting the local charter, embracing (or rejecting) economic development initiatives, mulling the scope and preferred site for a 12/14 memorial, or passing a local budget with relative ease — 2015 marked a year packed with progress and civic engagement.

The following represents a sampling from among The Newtown Bee’s top news stories of the year:

‘One And Done’ Budget Passes

The 2015–16 school district and town budget proposals both passed with overwhelming support from the 3,207 voters who turned out for a single April 28 referendum. As a result, taxpayers saw the first, albeit modest, dip in taxation and the mill rate, with a slight uptick in spending, for the first time in memory.

The approved spending plan delivered a net reduction in taxation of 0.71 percent, with a new tax rate of 33.07 mills, down from 33.31.

Roughly 20 percent of local voters who cast budget ballots endorsed a town request of $40,142,567, which includes all capital borrowing debt service for the coming fiscal year, along with a proposed school district budget of $71,587,946. Capital debt service represented $10,110,702 of the overall municipal request.

First Selectman Pat Llodra remarked that this year’s budget(s) “offered something for everybody,” noting that the education budget had “appropriate reductions to account for declining enrollment, for example.” The first selectman also said voters recognized the merits of the budgets and understood that the town officials worked well together developing their respective spending plans.

After more than a year’s work by a dedicated group of appointed commissioners, and an 11th hour request for a final few tweaks, a comprehensive charter revision was accepted by the Legislative Council.

In turn, the council promised to promote an extensive outreach and information campaign to ensure voters understood and could embrace changes and improvements to the community’s constitutional document once it goes to referendum in late 2016.

After authorizing an early December publishing of the full revision in The Newtown Bee, newly re-elected Council Chair Mary Ann Jacob encouraged townspeople to save the printed charter draft as a reference tool leading up to Election Day when residents will be asked to endorse or reject proposed changes on the Presidential ballot.

A planned outreach and information campaign was promised to help residents see where existing articles fit into the new design; understand some of the “structural” changes proposed; and the resulting action if they are approved by voters.

One primary revision proposes a 4-3 party split for the purposes of minority representation on the Board of Education. If that revision fails, a current 5-2 split consistent with state statutes remains in effect.

A second structural change involves a new process by which the town can sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of public land. And a third major change, if approved, eliminates the current town meeting form of government, instead creating guidelines for putting certain spending proposals before taxpayers during the annual budget referendum.

During an October public hearing, the revision panel — Chairman Jeff Capeci, Vice Chair Robert Hall, and commissioners Kevin Burns, George Guidera, Tom Long, Eric Paradis, James Ritchie, Dan Wiedemann, and Deborra Zukowski — received kudos for honoring a council charge to overhaul the entire document with a goal of making it more relevant and user-friendly for both Newtown’s citizens and the many local government agencies and policies serving them.

Facilities Panel Recommendations Tendered

Another citizen-led panel charged with preliminarily weighing in on the fate of three key town-owned facilities completed its initial charge late this year.

Newtown’s Municipal Building Strategic Plan Committee consisting of residents Bill Brimmer, Walt Motyka, Jay Maher, Paul Lundquist, Jim Filan, Scott Cicciari, Mike Marinaccio, Michelle Ku, Kathy Hamilton, and Rebekah Harriman had been working along with consultants Geralyn Hoerauf of Diversified Project Management and Ken Best of DRA since 2014.

While the group is expected to continue its work in 2016, most of this year was spent completing recommendations to selectmen on any possible future use of the current Hook & Ladder headquarters behind Edmond Town Hall; the Sandy Hook Multipurpose Building that houses the local Senior Center and a preschool; and Town Hall South, home to the local Police Department, Emergency Communications Center, Social Services, Parks & Rec administrative offices, and registrar of voters storage.

After more than a half-dozen meetings in 2015, the facilities committee voted to recommend razing the Hook & Ladder building, and that no further efforts should be made, nor resources devoted, to studying possible future uses for that deteriorating structure.

At the same time, the panel agreed to recommend the community invest in several key improvements to sustain and improve the Multipurpose Building, estimated at $814,000, to replace the roof and boiler, as well as renovate and resurface all the parking areas.

The committee also advised the Board of Selectmen to abandon a more costly idea of renovating Town Hall South so that Newtown Police Department can eventually expand into the entire facility. Instead, the commission suggested proceeding with plans to design and build a new police facility, presumably on publicly owned property at Fairfield Hills.

According to the commission’s report during a regular selectmen’s meeting November 16, building a new police facility presented a number of advantages beyond the unrefined bottom line cost saving projection of nearly three quarters of a million dollars.

12/14 Memorial Commission Prefers High Meadow

A Permanent Memorial Commission that was seated in late 2013 spent much of 2015 crunching data compiled from a year’s worth of surveys, public hearings, and feedback solicited from dozens of officials and responders regarding establishment of a memorial honoring those lost during the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy.

In mid-June, Commission Chairman Kyle Lyddy circulated a short report and survey responses to the Board of Selectmen. He said the panel went beyond simply reviewing what had been done in communities like Columbine, Colo., and at Virginia Tech, by asking what those communities might have done differently as they moved to develop their own memorial projects.

By early August, the memorial commission was busy putting together an inventory of land possibilities in the Newtown community for where a permanent memorial could be sited. Mr Lyddy said the criteria being considered included availability of infrastructure and accessibility, a location secluded and free from noise, natural settings and views, as well as the property’s proximity to Sandy Hook.

A little over three months later, Mr Lyddy told The Bee that a three- to four-acre-site tucked into a corner of the High Meadow at Fairfield Hills could provide the optimal location for a 12/14 memorial.

“All future conversations will center on this piece of land,” he said.

Access to the site would be provided via a trail extending from the turnaround circle at the eastern end of Keating Farms Avenue, Mr Lyddy explained during an early December visit with the Police Commission.

About three weeks later Mr Lyddy told selectmen that his group learned about and understood concerns from the local Conservation Commission — and affirmed that conservation officials and volunteers would remain “part of the process as we proceed.”

The memorial panel will also continue to partner with Newtown Park & Rec and its Phase III trail upgrades “to ensure what they’re proposing from a layout standpoint works with the memorial and not against it.” Mr Lyddy said the Fairfield Hills Authority is also supportive of the project.

Newcomers Join Incumbents Following Local Elections

When all the ballots were counted after local polls closed November 3, local Democrats who campaigned on a platform of balancing out party affiliations on a number of boards and commissions proved to be ultimately successful.

With all three Board of Selectmen candidates running unopposed, there was no top of ticket competition, leaving contenders for the Boards of Education and Finance, Legislative Council, and several underticket boards to vie for voters’ attention.

Republican First Selectman Pat Llodra and running mate Selectman Will Rodgers welcomed former first selectman Herb Rosenthal who ran for the Democrat’s open selectman seat vacated by James Gaston, Sr — who ran for and won seat on the Board of Finance.

As numbers were tallied on election night, Mrs Llodra saw that “clearly the Democrats prevailed” in certain districts and “picked up seats” on several elected bodies. Competition for the Legislative Council was heated, with Democrats and Republicans vying for every seat.

In District 2, Republican Dan Wiedemann reclaimed a seat he lost two years ago by a narrow margin. However, the small number of votes between Mr Wiedemann and Democrat Jennifer Padilla forced a recount of that entire district’s balloting.

Mr Rosenthal pointed out that Democrats earned a majority on the Police Commission for the first time since that board was formed in 1971; that the Board of Finance would now have a 3-3 Republican-Democratic split, compared to its previous 4-2 Republican majority; and that Democrats won two of three seats on the Board of Education, gained a seat on the Planning and Zoning Commission, and came within a few votes of gaining a majority.

Republican Town Committee Chairman Jeff Capeci told GOP supporters and candidates who gathered after polls closed that, “The results are good. Overall, we did very well.”

New Economic Development Projects Popping

From new large-scale commercial and residential developments along Mt Pleasant Road’s so-called “Medical Mile” to nearly two dozen small businesses and several proposed residential, commercial, and mixed-use initiatives, Newtown saw economic development projects popping up like mushrooms during 2015.

Local political and economic development officials joined proud new owners at ribbon cutting events at businesses ranging from new eateries, a flooring center, a quilt shop, children’s museum, dog grooming salon, and physical therapy office to a new juice bar, home design center, a mobile communications provider, liquor store, and a high-profile gas station and mini mart just off Interstate 84 at Exit 10 — Newtown’s gateway.

Newtown Savings Bank also announced this year that it would be relocating its Main Street commercial banking operations to a new facility being developed at the former Lexington Gardens site on Church Hill Road, while a new mixed retail and residential facility took shape along lower South Main Street.