Hey Greenwich, Did You Know ... Firefighting Gets a Boost in Northwest Sector?

Today is Tuesday, June 19, 2012 and it's National Dry Martini Day.

Today's birthdays:

• "Drumline" actress who also voiced Neytiri in "Avatar," Zoe Saldana, is 33.
• Guitarist for heavy metal band Korn, Brian Head Welch, is 41.
• Singer, dancer, and judge of TV's "American Idol," Paula Abdul is 49.
• Actress Kathleen Turner is 49.
• Actress Phylicia Rashad, best known as Claire Huxtable on "The Cosby Show," is 63.

This day in history:

In 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, are executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining,

Things you should know:

Increased firefighting manpower coming to western Greenwich

The Board of Estimate and Taxation unanimously approved the release of $700,000 to pay for planned overtime as the deploys a new manpower plan for the western end of town.

Beginning July 1, the department will assign four professional firefighters to the station. "This will start addressing coverage of the northwest sector of town with a more efficient use of town resources so (the fire department) could staff Glenville with 4-person response, 24/7," said BET Budget Committee Chairman Joseph Pellegrino.

During deliberations of the 2012-13 budget earlier this year, town officials came up with the manpower plan after it became apparent the BET rejected plans to build a firehouse on upper King Street to boost coverage and reduce response time to the town's northwest sector. The town is now looking at two properties in the Riversville Road and John Street areas as possible firehouse locations.

In the meantime, the BET left it to Fire Chief Peter Siecienski to decide how to deploy manpower to the Glenville station located in the lower northwest sector of town. Siecienski recommended assigning coverage on an overtime basis rather than hiring new recruits to augment the current professional and volunteer staffing.

Pellegrino said of the plan, "It is a 12-month experiment with the chief reporting back to us quarterly."

The tax man cometh

Town Comptroller Peter Mynarski told the BET that the town's tax bills were mailed over the weekend.

Even though the bills are just beginning to land in residents' mailboxes, many are taking advantage of the option to prepay their taxes via the town's website, according to Mynarski.

"We've already received about $469,000 in payments through June 14. Last year taxpayers prepaid $29 million for the month of June and I expect we'll hit that number this year," Mynarski said. Tax payments are due—without penalty—Aug. 1.

To pay online or to view tax bills, click here and then click on the appropriate column to the left of the Town of Greenwich tax collector web page: motor vehicle taxes, personal property taxes or real estate property taxes.

Meetings today at Greenwich Town Hall:

Greenwich Community Television

If you prefer the clicker instead of being there or want to catch up on a Greenwich meeting you missed, there's Greenwich Community Television (GCTV) on either Fios Channel 24 or Cablevision's Channel 79.

And if you prefer the movies:

Sources: history.com, famous birthdays.com