Mayor's Neighborhood Preservation Commission

Mayor's Neighborhood Preservation Committee 09/02/2009 Minutes (Final) CITY OF NORWALK MAYOR’S NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATION COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 ATTENDANCE: David Shockley, Redevelopment Agency; Maribeth Becker, Wall Street; Helen Bryant, West Main Street N.A.; Aline Rochefort, Zoning; Katherine Griffing, Golden Hill Association; Cedric Goo, Health Department; Yari Bletsas, Planning & Zoning - Conservation; Christine Names, NASH; Marcia Powell, Village Creek Homeowners Assoc.; Al Raymond, Spring Hill/Hospital N.A.; Gordon Sweeny, Golden Hill Association; Nancy Whitmore, West Main Street N.A.; Michele DeLuca, Norwalk Fire Department; Chief Denis McCarthy, Norwalk Fire Department STAFF: Connie Blair, Customer Service CALL TO ORDER Mr. Shockley called the meeting to order at 10:05 p.m. He said that Mayor Moccia may be arriving late. REVIEW AND APPROVE THE JULY 1, 2009 MEETING MINUTES ** MS. POWELL MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS SUBMITTED. ** MS. GRIFFING SECONDED. ** THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER UPDATE Ms. Blair announced that the Public Works Department would be having their 6th Annual Open House on October 6th at the South Smith Street DPW facility. Ms. Blair also reminded everyone that Rep. Himes would be holding his Health Care Debate at the High School tonight. Regarding the Recycling program, Ms. Blair said that people have been having trouble getting paper bags for the paper, newspaper and cardstock, so DPW is suggesting purchasing a second blue bin and having one for paper and the second one for the plastics, glass and metal. Several people commented that their garbage has been reduced by at least half, if not more. City of Norwalk Mayor’s Neighborhood Preservation Committee Regular Meeting September 2, 2009 Page 1 Mr. Raymond said that he had collected 150 signatures regarding the condition of Stuart Avenue. Ms. Blair asked Mr. Raymond if she could get a copy of that petition. Mr. Raymond gave her the original to copy. Ms. Becker said that one of the tree wells on Wall had several large chunks of asphalt in the well. Ms. Blair left to attend another meeting at 10:11 a.m. CHIEF DENIS MCCARTHY AND MICHELLE DELUCA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, NORWALK FIRE DEPARTMENT, WILL PRESENT THE NEW DISASTER RESERVE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM CONCEPT. Chief McCarthy gave a very brief overview of the development of the Emergency Management Department. He said that having residents prepared for a disaster helps DPW, the FD, PD and other emergency services. Chief McCarthy said that having a cadre of self-identified volunteers who have training would be a major asset. Ms. Blair returned briefly to the meeting to give the original copy of the petition back to Mr. Raymond. Ms. DeLuca said that there were national volunteer groups, like CERT, works well for smaller towns. In Norwalk, there are three key areas: one working with people; one working with places and the third working with things, such as unloading supplies, etc. The Volunteer Reserve program would help by providing 5-6 hours of training. After that, there would be possibly one meeting and/or event and an annual renewal of interest per year. A dozen volunteers have already been through the training. With a shorter program, it is easier to have volunteers commit. Ms. DeLuca said that she had an application and newsletter for everyone. Because September is Recycling month, Ms. DeLuca displayed a reusable shopping bag with Plan 9 printed on the side. She then presented each person present with one and encouraged people to begin to assemble the various items into a Disaster Preparedness Kit. Mr. Goo asked about what kind of emergencies the Department was anticipating. Chief McCarthy explained that while a recent house fire qualified, the work was being done in preparation for violent storms, or massive power failures or other major events that would impact the Norwalk residents. ANNOUNCEMENT City of Norwalk Mayor’s Neighborhood Preservation Committee Regular Meeting September 2, 2009 Page 2 CITY STAFF: KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL AFFILIATE VOLUNTEER ENLISTMENT & TRAINING SESSION WED. SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 AT 5:30 P.M., COMMUNITY ROOM, NORWALK POLICE DEPT. 1 MONROE ST., SOUTH NORWALK Mr. Shockley announced that Pepperidge Farm has sponsored the City’s portion of the dues to become a KAB affiliate. Mr. Shockley said that he hoped to have a more focused litter campaign underway soon. The police department is involved. The City is looking for volunteers. There are two executive directors, Jim DelGrecco of Golden Hill and Jim Reed of Velocity Sports. Regarding graffiti, AIC will be working on this issue. There are two new field supervisors with AIC who have been very responsive. Mayor Moccia joined the meeting at 10:25 a.m. He announced that there are extra patrols out on the City streets for speeding because of the opening of school. Speaking of grants, the City just received a $500,000 grant from the Justice Department for gang intervention and mentoring. Sixty kids a year will be given memberships to the YMCA afterschool program. Main Street will be dug up again by Yankee Gas and CL&P. Both utilities are owned by Northeast Utilities. CL&P’s work on West Main has been done, but now Yankee Gas needs to update the gas lines. After the work is done, the road will be repaved, new sidewalks put in and trees plants. There are now 200 zoning cases in court. Mayor Moccia said that he will be working on getting a separate docket for zoning cases or land use docket. If there was a separate docket only one day a week for housing, zoning, or land use, it would move things along much quicker. Mayor Moccia will be testifying in support for a land use docket. Mr. Raymond gave Mayor Moccia the petition regarding the Stuart Avenue paving situation. Ms. Names said that at the Tree Alliance meeting, the need for tree liaisons was discussed. Ms. Names then explained the program and said that the city provides the trees for planting on public space. She said that the Alliance was asking that the neighborhood groups for volunteers to inventory the trees in the various neighborhood, identify those City of Norwalk Mayor’s Neighborhood Preservation Committee Regular Meeting September 2, 2009 Page 3 trees that may be stressed and may need to be replaced, and supervise the utilities when they trim the trees from the power lines. Mr. Raymond said that two years ago, eight trees were planted through the program and they were doing well. The Spring Hill group has been trying for two years to get trees planted along Van Buren in front of Norwalk Hospital. He said that Ms. Witkowski was the tree liaison for Ms. Names said that she would like to address the Mile-a-Minute vine, which has been seen in Norwalk. She said that if anyone sees it, please note the location, and call Customer Service. She then distributed identification cards for the vine along with some information from the University of Connecticut to help contain the situation. NEIGHBORHOOD REPRESENTATIVES Ms. Powell said that the Oyster Festival has added a new section called “Getting Greener” which will feature recycling issues. She said that Festival is doing whatever it can to become a greener event. There will also be a barbeque pit. Ms. Names said that monitoring for speeding on Silvermine Avenue has helped. She added that the flood control project on Mary Austin is now underway. Ms. Griffing said that Golden Hill will be having their picnic on October 3rd from noon to three. Flyers are being sent out. Flyers are also being sent out about recycling and garbage in both English and Spanish. There is still a problem with garbage around Crystal Theater. Mayor Moccia said that he would try to talk to Joe Mann about this because NEON also has programs onsite. Mr. Raymond said that with the Oyster Festival coming up, this is Norwalk’s week-end to shine. Thousands of people come to Norwalk. Mr. Raymond said that the area by Exit 14 used to be overgrown and garbage strewn. Christofer Realty and Mike Mushak have taken on that area and it looks much better. The area around Van Buren is overgrown. Mayor Moccia said that this was State land. He said that he could put a call into the State DOT department. Ms. Griffing suggested that KAB or volunteers go in and clean up the area. Mayor Moccia said that there were liability and union issues with this, so volunteers can't be used. Ms. Griffing pointed out that at O’Connor Park, the State Flag was missing and the U.S. flag needed to be replaced. Mayor Moccia said that another State Flag was already on order and he would check into the condition of the U.S. flag. City of Norwalk Mayor’s Neighborhood Preservation Committee Regular Meeting September 2, 2009 Page 4 Ms. Bryant said that on Holmes Street, people are parking on both sides of the street on the sidewalks. There is a bus stop right there. There is a lot of heavy equipment there also, without a flagman or policeman present. Ms. Becker asked about the new NO LEFT TURN onto Hendricks Street arrangement at Exit 16 on East Avenue. She said that she had received several complaints about not being to make a left turn on to Hendricks. Mayor Moccia said that the previous vehicle back up going south is much smoother. This change in the traffic pattern was mandated by the State. Mayor Moccia said that he had wanted to have the dividers painted green or another color. The dividers are bright yellow and the DOT mandates that they stay that color for visibility. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Shockley adjourned the meeting at 11:03 a.m. Respectfully submitted Sharon L. Soltes Telesco Secretarial Services City of Norwalk Mayor’s Neighborhood Preservation Committee Regular Meeting September 2, 2009 Page 5