25 years ago: Essex’s Zoning Board of Appeals granted Gene Gualazzi a variance to construct a storage and repair barn on Mares Hill Road.

25 years ago: East Haddam’ Board of Fire Commissioners considered a proposal by Brownell and Company Inc. to occupy the upstairs of the Moodus fire house.

25 years ago: Essex selectmen agreed on how the town would spend the $53,460 they received from the state: funding specific non-recurring town expenses, capital projects, replace funds lost through federal spending or establish a trust fund for the town.

25 years ago: The Rehabilitation Center of New Haven opened a new Goodwill retail store in Middletown, adding to the center’s chain of six outlets stretching from New Haven to New London and New Britain.

25 years ago: Cromwell residents interested in learning more about becoming a member of the ambulance division were invited to the volunteer fire department to learning about emergency medial techniques.

25 years ago: Through Federal Revenue Share Money, the Cromwell Youth Service Bureau was awarded $4,000 to install bathroom facilities and remodel a room in the Cromwell Town Hall basement.

25 years ago: Stanley F. Prymas and Attorney David M. Royston were named as heads of United Way Southern Division. The Southern Division at the time planned to raise funds in the towns of Clinton, Deep River, Killingworth, Old Saybrook and Westbrook to support local and area wide agencies.

25 years ago: Chester’s Conservation Commission voted to hold off on eradicating weeds growing in Cedar Lake.

25 years ago: Portland resident Alan Wicstrand became the first person in town to compete in the Olympics of the motorcycle world in Italy.

25 years ago: Two Middletown businessmen traveled to the White House in Washington D.C. to discuss their concerns of Connecticut small businesses.

25 years ago: Cromwell residents living in the town’s historic district submitted petitions asking that asked the Planning and Zoning Commission to initiate action to rezone acreage in the southern end of the town from industrial to flood plain.

25 years ago: Members of 30 Indian tribes from the United States and Canada gathered at Haddam Meadows State Park in Haddam for the reenactment of the life of American Indians and early American settlers.

25 years ago: Pratt & Whitney won a $182 million contract with NASA to build an improved fuel pump for the space shuttle’s main engines.

25 years ago: Republicans and Democrats in the state were gearing up for a state wide primary. The democrats had one challenger for the position of State Treasurer. The Republicans faced two challengers: governor and lieutenant governor.

25 years ago: Deep River’s Water Pollution Control Authority had to choose between two revised sewer plans presented to them at a meeting. One of the plans, proposed by a company called Project Engineer and another by a residents’ group. The Project Engineer’s plan managed to bring the town’s shares to $2.3 million by cutting $400,000 from their original $9.2 million proposal.

25 years ago: State Police, in an attempt to crack down on speeding in the state, set up 14 speed traps along I-91 between Hartford and New Haven. The 14 traffic teams included 25 to 30 troopers.

25 years ago: The Board of Selectmen in Killingworth said “no town vehicle” for Carol Arsenault while on duty. Arsenault, the town’s dog warden requested that the town supply her with a town car while working because the job was causing her to do damage to her personal car.

25 years ago: Don Gliha, Haddam resident and golfer, submitted a proposal for a private school for golfing along Lyman Road at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

25 years ago: Former Portland resident, Robert F. Bailey, planned to ignore a town referendum and fight to keep the unpaved section of Great Hill Road open regardless of the vote.

25 years old: Middlesex United way Board of Directors set $1,286,000 as its 1986 campaign, based on recommendations of Harold Brown, the general campaign chairman. The goal approximated the financial needs of the community as determined by the Central Allocations Committee and other committees of the United Way.

25 years old: The Middletown Rotary Club presented a gift of $1,000 to the Hospice Endowment Fund of Middlesex Memorial Hospital.

25 years ago: A state project in Durham to remove the fallen treas and decaying stumps that blocked the flow of Coginchaug River was set to begin, according to an official at the state Department of Environmental Protection. Chuck Berger, principal civil engineer in the department’s water resources unit at the time said the project would begin as soon as the department acquired permission from landowners.

25 years ago: Local police in Old Saybrook applyied to the state Department of Transportation for a permit to declare a block of land behind the police station a certified landing pad for helicopters.

25 years ago: The number of calls to Middletown Fire Department received and answered in the fiscal year ending June 30, rose to 30 percent over 1985, according to the annual report. The dramatic increase from 1,406 to 1,819 calls showed that the department was being called to more emergencies than it used to be.

25 years ago: A Middlesex County Superior judge postponed a trial on the city’s foreclosure of land postponing the city’s effort to recover what an official said was $77,200 in back taxes and other charges due the city and the Westfield Fire District at the time.

25 years ago: A Common Council resolution enabling independent reviews and evaluations of mayoral appointees by councilors went too far, Mayor Sebastian Garavalo said. That is why he decided to take the measure to court.

25 years ago: The “One day, One trial” system was predicted to eventually be put into place all over the state, and jurors would only have to serve one day to fulfill their duty under the new system. Middlesex County Superior Court was set to be the guinea pig for the new system.

25 years ago: The Planning and Zoning Commission in Haddam approved a special permit to allow the reopening of the former Connecticut Valley Arms Co. building as a carpentry shop and facility for other potential small-scale light industrial or office uses.

25 years ago: Democratic councilors postponed action on the mayor’s choice for parking director and broadned the powers of the Common Council to process mayoral appointments at the department head level in Middletown.

25 years ago: The city government was handed $80,000 spending authorization and other tools to proceed with the preparations for its share of the work in Court to College Street renewal project, which in the Middlesex Mutual Assurance Co, estimated would cost $45 million.

25 years ago: A Cromwell couple protested police, claiming that officers verbally abused and insulted them while conducting an investigation. Police did an internal investigation which lead to the cops being exonerated from wrongdoing in the matter.

25 years ago: Haddam Selectmen hired Rober Tommell, who at the time was the Durham town engineer, to serve as Haddam’s town engineer and sanitarian. Tommell had worked for the town of Durham since 1983.

25 years ago: Organizers hoped that more than 400 residents in the area would bring old cans of pesticides, solvents, paint, and engine degreasers, and other hazardous substances to a site in Middletown for proper disposal on Nov. 1.

25 years ago: Portland man, Ray Anderson was honored for taking part in one of the most storied sea rescues in history. On July 26, 30 years ago Anderson worked with navy crew members to rescue civilians from the sinking Andrea Doria.

25 years ago: The town of Cromwell appealed the courts decision that found Convenant Village of Cromwell to be a tax-exempt institution. The ruling ended a four year old case in which the church owned retirement community contested its tax assessment on the Grand list for 1981 through 1984.
25 years ago: Portland resident Michael Barillari announced he was taking the Planning and Zoning Commission to court for denying him of an earth removal permit for the Barilari peat excavation project on Jackson Road.