Daily Five: Town to Finalize '13-14 Budget Proposal Tonight

1. Today, showers and heavy winds are predicted, with temperatures around 39, according to the National Weather Service. Tonight should be partly cloudy, with a low around 27 and winds between 15 to 18 mph, according to the service.

2. Tonight, the Board of Selectmen will meet at 5 in Town Hall to review the last three municipal department budgets and then finalize its budget proposal for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

Tonight the selectmen will review the retirement budget, the insurance budget and the debt service budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year. Then, the board will take final action on the budgets of all municipal departments and send its complete proposal along to the Board of Finance and Representative Town Meeting for final approval.

The Board of Education has already finalized a $44.62 million budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year, a 0.96 increase from this year’s total. Once the Board of Selectmen finalize their budget proposal tonight, the town’s complete budget will be finalized and submitted for final approval to the Board of Finance and Representative Town Meeting.

3. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Board of Selectmen did approve their proposal for the 2013-14 fiscal year for the capital and non-recurring expenditure fund, with no money set aside in that budget for a new animal shelter.

That hardly comes as a surprise, as First Selectman Dan Steward has previously said he doesn’t anticipate a new animal shelter being built in 2016. However, in town documents, it says the town is "in planning stages for a three-town facility." Right now, just Waterford and East Lyme share a regional animal shelter, and more than .

At a press conference on Wednesday, New London Mayor Daryl Finizio said he is talking with Waterford and East Lyme on regionalizing animal control. We will continue to update this story once more information is known.

4. On the Waterford School District's website, there is a link to a survey asking parents what qualities they would like to see in the next Waterford High School principal. The administration is encouraging parents to take the survey and the results will be used in the search for the next principal of Waterford High School.

Current Principal Don Macrino is retiring at the end of the school year. Superintendent Jerome Belair has said he is hoping to have a new person hired and on staff by the end of May.

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5. On this date in 2010, Avatar became the first film to gross $2 billion worldwide. And on this date, the first McDonald’s opened in the Soviet Union.

Quote of the Day

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-Allen Ginsberg

Trivia of the Day

What state has the smallest population?

Yesterday’s Answer: In 1835, Richard Lawrence tried to assassinate President Andrew Jackson, which was the first assassination attempt against a United States president.