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The What

The What: Follow-up to Sept. 13 Flooding; Vote on Manresa Wilds Proposal; Speed Camera Review in Fairfield; and more

The What is your look around the region for the week of October 12.

The What: Follow-up to Sept. 13 Flooding; Vote on Manresa Wilds Proposal; Speed Camera Review in Fairfield; and more
The weather on Sunday had us dreaming of sunny days like this. (Photo by Kelly Prinz)

Tuesday, October 13

Happy Tuesday! We took advantage of the three-day weekend and we hope you all did too. Let’s see what’s going on this week. 

Highlights 

This section gives a brief overview of the key items in the newsletter.

Spotlight

This section features our main reporting each week.

Norwalk saw nearly 6 inches of rain on September 13 (Courtesy of Norwalk)

On September 13, at least 5.5 inches of rain fell across lower Fairfield County in a three-hour period, with many areas even harder hit. The county, along with New Haven and Litchfield counties, received a disaster declaration from the federal government.

“It was a brutal storm,” Norwalk’s Chief of Operations and Public Works Vanessa Valadares said. 

Valadares gave the Public Works Committee of the City Council a look into the storm event, which flooded city roads, businesses, homes, and more. 

“This storm was as big as [the 2021 Tropical Storm] Ida—the only good thing about this storm is that we didn't have any wind. The flooding, the amount of rain that we got was really unbelievable,” she said.

The city received more than 110 service requests that day as many residents who hadn’t experienced flooding in their areas before were affected.

But Norwalk wasn’t alone.

In Fairfield, many parts of the town were underwater, particularly areas near the Rooster River. 

“After the September 13 flash flood, all areas of town were flooding, and properties that never flooded before saw water,” Fairfield First Selectperson Christine Vitale said at an October 1 Board of Selectmen meeting.

Bill Hurley, Fairfield’s engineering manager, told the board that between two storms in the late summer, including the September 13 one, the Rooster River went up eight feet in one hour. 

Let’s explore what happened that day and what these communities have been doing to respond.

ICYMI: See what’s proposed for Manresa Wilds ahead of the vote this Wednesday.

This Week at a Glance

This section includes a list of meetings, events, and programming happening around southwest Connecticut each week.

Bridgeport

Featured Meeting: The Public Safety & Transportation Committee will meet on Thursday, October 15 at 6 p.m. to host an informational session on the impact of large commercial vehicles parked on local streets, featuring representatives from police, fire, health, engineering, and more.

Stamford

Featured Meetings: The Teaching, Learning, and Community Committee of the Board of Education will meet on Tuesday, October 13 at 6:30 p.m. and hear a presentation on the district’s testing data from last year. On Thursday, October 15, the Environmental Protection Board will meet at 7:30 p.m. and hear a proposal from the city on its plans to dismantle and remove the existing West Main Street Bridge superstructure that runs over the Rippowam River, while the existing piers and abutments will remain in place. 

Norwalk

Featured Meetings: The City Council will meet on Tuesday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m. and review multiple items including a request to support the Department of Transportation, Mobility, and Parking (TMP) in its plans to spend $150,000 towards a Neighborhood Access and Equity (NAE) Grant. This grant was awarded to the Redevelopment Agency, but TMP says it will be a partner in this effort to redesign some of the city’s urban core, including West Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On Wednesday, October 14, the Planning and Zoning Commission at 6 p.m. will vote on the zoning map for Manresa Wilds, the proposal to convert the old power plant into a public park and gathering space. This vote follows months of public hearings and presentations. Explore the plans for Manresa Wilds. 

Fairfield

Featured Meetings: The RTM Ordinance Committee will meet on Thursday, October 15 at 7 p.m. for its first meeting on reviewing the town’s Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices program, also known as speed cameras. Learn more about the growth of speed cameras across lower Fairfield County. The Board of Finance will meet on Tuesday, October 13 at 7 p.m. to review requests to increase funding for the 2024 Master Flood Prevention project by $1,000,000 and the Lake Mohegan storm system improvement project by $1,500,000. The Police Commission will meet on Wednesday, October 14 at 4:30 p.m. to hear a report on the department’s Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) program.

Greenwich

Featured Meeting: The Planning & Zoning Commission will meet on Wednesday, October 14 at 4 p.m. and hear multiple applications including one from the YMCA of Greenwich to increase the cap of children in the program from 28 to 42 children, and one from the Goddard School for to turn a former supermarket site to a daycare/pre-school facility at 160 West Putnam Avenue.

Darien 

Featured Meetings: The Board of Education will meet on Tuesday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m. for a discussion on the proposed renovation plan for Middlesex Middle School. Learn more about the growing number of school construction projects taking place in the region.

Westport

Featured Meeting: The Board of Education will host a special meeting on Tuesday, October 13 at 3:15 p.m. for a tour of Long Lots Elementary School construction site. Learn more about this project and the growing number of school construction projects taking place in the region.

Stay in touch!

As we continue to grow and evolve, please join us! You can do that by:

Please note: All of these agendas and information here are current as of Sunday night. Meeting times and agendas may get adjusted throughout the week.

Have a great week,

Kelly Prinz

Founder, Reporter at Coastal Connecticut Times

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