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Mary Elizabeth Monnier
Mar 20, 2024
NORTH CANAAN — Mary Elizabeth (Mather) Monnier, 85, of 57 Bragg St. passed on March 18, 2024, at her home. She was the wife of the late Howard F. Monnier, Sr., who passed on June 1, 2008. Mary was born at Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on Dec. 28, 1938. She was the daughter of the late James A. and Mildred (Tracy) Mather.
Mary graduated from Housatonic Valley Regional High School in 1956 and went on to Bay Path Junior College where she majored in commercial arts, graduating in 1958. Mary went on to become a well-known artist here in the Northwest Corner and was a past member of several art guilds.
Mary loved Canaan dearly and in the early 1970s she and her family left their beloved home in Bakerville, Connecticut, and returned home to Canaan to live in the house that her great-grandfather built. She was on the board of the Canaan History Center and a member of the Cranford Club, the Beautification Committee and the Events Committee in town. She was extremely active in the revitalization of the Canaan Railroad Depot and supportive of all efforts to re-energize the town. As a part of this effort, Mary designed the “Canaan Back on Track” train that was widely seen.
Mary is survived by her son, Howard F. Monnier, Jr. of Canaan, her brother Tracy G. Mather and his wife Patricia of Huntington, Connecticut; her sister Jane M. Farrell and her husband Paul of Franklin, Massachusetts; brother-in-law Wayne Monnier of Alachua, Florida; two grandsons, Brandon J. Monnier and his wife Geri of Vermont, and Ryan S. Monnier of New York. Mary is also survived by her six great-grandchildren; Kayden, Kennah, Karmen, Jennifer, Elliot and Maverick. She is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews as well as countless dear lifelong and new friends. Mary is predeceased by her two daughters, Jennifer and Amy Monnier.
A Celebration of Life will be held graveside at Mountain View Cemetery 80 Sand Rd Canaan, CT on March 25, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. There are no calling hours. Memorial donations may be sent to either the North Canaan Volunteer Ambulance Corps PO Box 178 Canaan, CT 06018 or to the Canaan Fire Company PO Box 642 Canaan, CT 06018. Arrangements are under the care of the Newkirk-Palmer Funeral Home 118 Main St. Canaan, CT 06018.
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Arline D. Ward
Mar 20, 2024
LAKEVILLE — Arline D. Ward, 88, of Lakeville, died at home early in December of 2023. She was the daughter of Walter and Jenny Ward of Fairfield. She is survived by a nephew, Timothy Ward of Fairfield. She is predeceased by a brother, Walter Ward Jr., who died in 2022.
She attended nursing school in New York and was director of several nursing homes in New York City. Before moving to Lakeville she lived in Stamford, Connecticut.
She will be sadly missed by her friends at the Lakeville Senior Center. Special thanks to the Salisbury Family Services for their care and concern for Arline.
Funeral services will be private.
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Two public hearings set in North Canaan
Mar 20, 2024
NORTH CANAAN — With four special permit applications on the table, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has set two public hearing for April
The first will be held Monday, April 8, and include three applicants: a mining permit for Segalla Sand and Gravel; an accessory structure for dwelling unit at 178 Lower Road; and an accessory apartment at 141 Canaan Valley Road.
A second public hearing will be held Monday, April 22, for the resubmission of the subdivision application at Honey Hill Road.
The initial application was withdrawn earlier this year for further consultation. Since then, Allied Engineering and property owner Bruce McEver have consulted with archaeologists, outside engineering firms, wildlife specialists, and the Inland/Wetlands Commission.
“We want to work together to get this project approved,” said George Johanssen of Allied Engineering.
Johanssen said all consultants have approved the new proposal.
A notable change in the newly submitted application is a 300-foot setback from the Housatonic River. This stretch of land will be protected by a conservation easement to prevent development near the river.
Another change is that the road will be built to town standards: 26 feet wide.
The new application still calls for 20 lots with septic tanks. No home construction is proposed in the application.
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Kent Board of Ed presents budget
Mar 20, 2024
KENT — As part of the annual budget process, the 2024-25 Board of Education budget was presented for review at a regular meeting of the Board of Finance Wednesday, March 13.
As presented, the proposed budget submitted by the Board of Education for Kent Center School (KCS) shows an overall total of $5,121,157, an increase of $167,110 (3.37%) over the previous year’s budget. The Region One component totals an additional $2,538,879, an increase of $244,926 (10.68%) over the previous year’s budget.
When the two components, KCS and Region One, are combined, the overall total expense budget totals $7,660,036, an increase of $412,036 (5.68%) over the previous year’s budget.
Board of Education Chair Jenn Duncan presented the budget to the finance board reviewing the areas seeing change and describing enrollment figures.
The most current enrollment figure at KCS is 195 for pre-K through the eighth grade. Of those, 33 are tuition-paying students and six are nonpaying children of staff members. The current family tuition rate stands at $4,500 for the first child and $2,250 for each additional child.
Enrollment in pre-K stands at 14.
As of the October 2023 enrollment census, 37 students from Kent were enrolled at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
Areas of increase in the education budget include the addition of a school-year armed security guard ($60,000), student transportation (up by $26,515), insurance (up by $6,990) and textbooks (up by $17,100).
The Board of Selectmen was scheduled to present the town budget to the Board of Finance Wednesday, March 20.
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