Last Day Of The Year

This year has certainly been a successful one at the Milford Daily Blog. Our most sincere thank you to all our dedicated and loyal readers who keep visiting our site, supporting our mission and offering your insightful thoughts.

We look forward to 2010, where we will continue to blog about the wonderful town we live in. We invite you to keep writing us, and lets challenge our politicians together.

Next post will be in 2010, and until that time arrives enjoy the holidays and have a happy and safe new year.

Best Wishes

Rocco J. Frank

Downtown Dunkin Donuts Set To Close

The CT Post reported that the downtown Milford Dunkin Donuts is set to close in the near future. The problem happens to be an issue of profitability. Peter Spalthoff, of the neighboring Shoreline Mortgage and the former Independent Candidate for mayor believes that the lack of a drive thru was their biggest handicap.

The popular spot was a gathering place of sorts, and many locals have been spotted there waiting for a cab, the bus or just reading the paper. Milford already has several Dunkin Donuts with the newest one having opened less than a year ago across from Aldi's.

As of today there are Six Dunkin Donut stores in and around Milford. This does not include the several other competitors who also sell Coffee. The loss of the downtown store will certainly be an inconvenience to many nearby residents, but it will certainly be a business push to the smaller "Mom and Pop" establishments like Cafe Atlantique who will welcome the new business.

Like Dunkin Donuts, Cafe Atlantique is also a meeting spot. More upscale with free wireless Internet access and several meeting rooms. Local residents in town will soon get over the "mega corporation" in favor of this local "down to earth" friendly Establishment. Their coffee will be just as pleasing and it is only a very short walk away.

Milford's downtown will look much more attractive without the mega chains. Nothing adds charm to our local community than small community owned businesses. The large "megacorps" have long been argued as being loud, detractive and destructive of the beauty and individuality of New England charm.

TO READ MORE AT THE POST CLICK HERE

Black Out On New Haven Avenue

This evening at about 6:00 P.M. New Haven Avenue went completely dark. The bitter cold weather, and a great many electric heaters, holiday lights, high winds and the peak period of normal electrical use, was too much for an electrical system.

Reports arrived that the nearby substation, malfunctioned and possibly caught on fire. Other reports indicate downed power lines that caught fire, Emergency responders arrived at the scene, along with utility workers, to begin the process of restoring the electric to several thousand people in the North end of Milford.

UI Operators said the power may be down for several hours until the work was complete. There was no immediate feed back on the official nature or cause of the blackout. Our source Mike Giordano a former firefighter, indicated that under such circumstances utility workers are not even permitted access to the the substation until all fires are out and the area is deemed safe. These periods of time can vary depending on the intensity, and severity of the problem.

Mike witnessed several fire trucks working at the scene when he passed by it by way of the I95 exit ramp in the North End of Milford. He was not permitted to get close or directly question anyone while the emergency work was ongoing.

The problem will be fixed in the late of night and business will should resume on schedule Wednesday morning. Fortunately this problem happened at the end of the work day limiting the amount of downtime suffered by local area businesses on New Haven Ave. Residents left without heat, should expect things back to normal in the next few hours.

(Photo of a blackout, not the one mentioned in article)

The Late Milford Diner Seeks New Lease On LIfe

Community passion, and dedication to the Milford Diner is now center stage. Unfortunately the Diner/restaurant will most likely never serve another meal. This is because the kitchen that was once used decades ago does not meet the building and safety codes of today and the ECD office has no interest in pursuing another restauraunt in an area that has limited parking and excessive costs attached.

The Milford department of Economic and Community Development (ECD) has instead set up a 501-C3 style corporation that is charitable in nature. Donations made during future fund raisers like that recently held at Stone Bridge restaurant will be tax deductible.

Organizers of these charitable events, planned on restoring the Milford Diner as a Visitors Center to Milford. This center would be useful during the many "on the green" events that bring in out of town people. This could also double as a vehicle to direct consumers to local businesses and attractions in our area.

Although the cost of the Diner restoration is far from met, the committee chair, and its members are optimistic that through future fundraisers they will reach their restoration goal of $80,000.00. This high cost is due to Initial engineering and construction reports that estimate the cost of full restoration to be that much.

The main contact person for this project is Genevieve Salvatore, and the Milford Diner project has its own website with regular updates, and upcoming events. Their website is www.themilforddiner.com.

Photos courtesy of the milford diner website.

This Weeks Property Transfers

14 White Birch Dr, Richard and Judith W. Ganser to Wayne A. Cole and Loren Balletto-cole, $477,500.

31 Appletree Ln, Donna L. Sasso to John M. and Regina M. Gibbs, $300,000.

163 Clark St Unit A, Christine K. Hoyt to Danuta Wagner, $190,000.

98 Cricklewood Rd, Cassanova Prop 1st LLC to Ellen J. and Kevin L. Ryan, $239,000.

32 Deerwood Ave, Ingeberg Claudi Loff to Coude Hamlin and Lisa C. Gryskiewicz, $240,000.

141 Easy St, Felicia A. Wirbicki to Brian Kersten, $248,844.

19 Freemont Ave, WDI RE LLC to Kelly Chapple and Ryan P. Stone, $299,900.

John Henry Ln, Southworth Dev LLC to First County Bk, $1.

94 Knobb Hill Rd, Stephen W. and Marilyn M. Foster to David G. and Stephney M. Gonzalez, $355,000.

308 Meadowside Rd Unit 309, Joseph D. Diamautini to Leanne Romano, $160,000.

180 Melba St Unit 110, Ocean Point LLC to Lois A. Ruby, $202,723.

180 Melba St Unit 309, Ocean Point LLC to Jeffrey J. Fenlner, $210,000.

8-10 Merwin Ave, Deborah S. Rowe to Countrywide Home Loans, $1.

273 New Haven Ave Unit 6, William N G. and Robin Bosanquet to Luann Cullen, $240,000.

26 Pumpkin Delight Rd, Wayne A. Cole and Loren A. Balletto-Cole to Matthew S. Whelan, $252,000.

60 Thompson St, Matthew J. and Michelle O. Montana to Mitchell B. Kaufman, $365,000.

116 Tumblebrook Rd, Danuta Wagner to Jonathan A. Eyden and Danielle M. Amato, $310,000.

26 Twin Oaks Ter, BAMF Home Limited to Mitchell A. Horowitz and Lynn M. Lawlor, $351,000.

58 W Clark St, Donna J. Harelik to Michael J. Harelik, $112,050.

65 Warfield St, Debra Lydem to Christopher and Michael Laskowski, $110,000.

CLICK HERE FOR THE ASSESSORS DATABASE

Milford's Most Illuminated House

To say that Chris Donnells gets into the Christmas spirit is like saying the Yankees play baseball.

Donnells and his wife Ann expand the glittering display of Christmas lights at their 75 Meadows End Road home annually, and this year have 45,000 bulbs glowing, twinkling and blinking from every surface.

The display goes beyond the typical outlining of the roof in lights: the Donnells' elaborate decor covers the front of the house as well as the garage, three trees, an archway and a line of shrubs.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING FRANK JULIANO STORY

Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays

Best Wishes and Happy Holidays From All of us at The Milford Daily Blog.