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The What

The What: This Week in Southwest Connecticut

The What is your look around southwest Connecticut for the week of April 22.

The What: This Week in Southwest Connecticut
Hope you all have a great week, and happy Passover to those who celebrate. (Photo by Kelly Prinz)

Monday, April 22

Happy Monday!

This week we’re looking into how can southwest Connecticut reduce air pollution, clean up the air, and provide benefits to the community, such as lower energy costs and better public health? A new Priority Climate Action Plan for the Bridgeport–Norwalk–Stamford area lays out 16 proposed actions the region can take to help limit the effects of climate change.

As a part of the bipartisan Inflation Reduction Act that Congress passed in 2022, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program. This effort provides aid to state, local governments, tribes and territories, and local planning groups to develop “ambitious plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful air pollution.

The plan found that the “climate hazards which have the greatest impact on Southwestern CT are extreme heat, high intensity precipitation events, and coastal flooding.” That’s due to the fact that as the climate changes, the Northeast continues to experience longer and more frequent extreme heat events in the summer months. 

It listed 16 actions across seven categories—transportation, residential/commercial buildings, electric power, materials and waste, carbon capture, sustainable growth, and green economy. These 16 actions aim to help “set the Southwest Connecticut region on a path to be carbon neutral.”

Learn more about the actions communities around southwest Connecticut are looking to implement or check out our video highlighting these efforts. 

Let’s see what else is happening this week. 

Stamford

The Transportation Committee will meet on Wednesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. and receive an update on the Vision Zero Action Plan. Learn more about the city’s Vision Zero efforts. The committee will also vote on the planned locations for the automated traffic enforcement safety devices. 

On Thursday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m., the Fiscal Committee of the Board of Representatives will deliberate the budget approved by the Board of Finance.

Other meetings this week include:

Norwalk

The Common Council will meet on Tuesday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m. and vote on approving a $92,000 contract with the Open Door Shelter to provide shelter services for persons experiencing homelessness in Norwalk. 

Other meetings this week include: 

Fairfield

There will be a Representative Town Meeting Budget Hearing on Wednesday, April 24 at 7 p.m., where the board will consider the recommended budgets for the town and the school district. Check out the preliminary budget before the meeting. 

Other meetings this week include: 

Greenwich

On Thursday, April 25, there will be a Central Greenwich (RTM Districts 1 and 7) Traffic & Pedestrian Safety Community Input Meeting at 6 p.m. This meeting is part of a town-wide initiative to gain valuable community feedback on traffic and pedestrian safety. It’s hosted by the Department of Public Works with the Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Task Force. 

Other meetings this week include: 

Darien

There will be a Representative Town Meeting Finance & Budget Committee at 7:30 p.m. where it will vote on recommending the budgets for the town and school district to the full Representative Town Meeting.

On Monday, April 22, the Board of Selectmen will meet at 9:30 a.m. to discuss and take action on a request for a special appropriation from the Great Island Advisory Committee to prepare a master plan.

Other meetings this week include:

Westport

The Representative Town Meeting Finance Committee will meet on Wednesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. to discuss and vote on recommending the Board of Education budget to the full Representative Town Meeting. 

Also on Wednesday, April 24, there will be a joint meeting of the Representative Town Meeting Public Works and Representative Town Meeting Finance Committees at 6 p.m. to review the 2024/25 public works and sewer budgets and the 5-year capital forecast for the department.

Other meetings this week include: 

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.

Thank you for reading! As a reminder, we will be off next week!

If you are interested in being a part of our reporting or just want to share your thoughts, please reach out at coastalconnecticuttimes@gmail.com. 

Have a great week,

Kelly Prinz

Founder, Reporter at Coastal Connecticut Times

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