In-depth news for Southwest Connecticut
Subscribe
The What

The What: This Week in Southwest Connecticut

The What is your look around southwest Connecticut for the week of April 29.

The What: This Week in Southwest Connecticut
Have a great last few days of April! (Photo by Kelly Prinz)

Monday, April 29

Happy Monday! Next Saturday, May 3, we’ll be at the second annual celebration event for the Norwalk River Valley Trail. In honor of this celebration, we thought we’d highlight some of our coverage of this important connector that is planned to run through southwest Connecticut, from Norwalk all the way up to Danbury.

The day will kick off with an opening ceremony at 10 a.m. at the intersection of the NRVT and the Harbor Loop Trail, near where the trail intersects with Belden Avenue. 

After that participants can take a trail walk from the ceremony to Oyster Shell Park and participate in an invasive species removal volunteer effort in the park. 

Starting at 11 a.m., participants can participate in a birding event, along the Riverside Trailhead up to the Eversource facility on New Canaan Avenue. There will also be a bike ride starting in Mathews Park around 12 p.m. and running down to Calf Pasture Beach as well as a 10K run along the trail starting from the Maritime Aquarium at 12:30 p.m. Learn more about the celebration. 

Let’s see what else is happening around southwest Connecticut. 

Stamford

There will be a Board of Representatives Special Budget Meeting on Thursday, May 2 at 8 p.m. where the board will vote on approving the operating and capital budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which starts July 1. See what the proposed Stamford budget looked like. 

On Tuesday, April 30, the Housing/Community Development/Social Services Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. and discuss the city’s policies around accessory dwelling units (ADU). The committee particularly plans to “review Stamford's process for approving ADU applications, including data on the number of approved and pending applications, estimates of the number of unofficial ADUs in the City, and plans for enforcing relevant current regulations.” Learn more about what communities across southwest Connecticut are working on related to ADUs.

Other meetings this week include:

Norwalk

The Land Use & Building Management Committee of the Common Council will meet on Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m. and vote on accepting a $2 million grant to help fund work at 98 South Main Street, the city’s new community recreation center. Learn more about the history of that property. 

Other meetings this week include:

  • Tuesday, April 30: Board of Health at 8 a.m. 
  • Thursday, May 2: Mayor's Water Quality Committee at 6 p.m. | Economic and Community Development Committee of the Common Council at 7 p.m. | Shellfish Commission at 7:15 p.m.

Fairfield

There will be a Solid Waste and Recycling Commission Public Hearing on Monday, April 29 at 4 p.m. on new fees at the transfer station for residents and businesses bringing waste to the facilities. 

Officials said that the proposed increase comes as part of a new five-year contract, beginning July 1, where trash collectors WIN Innovations/Wheelabrator have increased tip fees to Fairfield for bringing waste to the Bridgeport trash-to-energy plant by about 22%. 

On Tuesday, April 30, the Town Plan and Zoning Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. and continue discussing the Plan of Conservation and Development, which is the city’s 10-year master plan. 

Other meetings this week include: 

Greenwich

There will be two Traffic & Pedestrian Safety Community Input Meetings this week as part of the town’s effort to “gain valuable community feedback on traffic and pedestrian safety.” The first will be on Monday, April 29 at 6 p.m. for the Byram, Chickahominy, Glenville and Pemberwick neighborhoods (RTM Districts 3, 4, 9), while the second will be a Town-Wide Traffic and Pedestrian Safety meeting on Wednesday, May 1 at 10 a.m. 

Also on May 1, there will be another community engagement forum for the Central Middle School project at 7 p.m. According to First Selectman Fred Camillo, the forum “will feature representatives from the project’s building committee as well as members of the professional team. There will be discussions around the campus design, the planned phases of the project and other matters like student and staff security during the construction.” 

Other meetings this week include:

Darien

Meetings this week include:

Westport

On Monday, April 29, the RTM Finance Committee will meet at 7:30 p.m. to discuss and vote to recommend to the full RTM the Town of Westport budget for the 2024 -2025 fiscal year. Learn more about Westport’s proposed budget. Individual committees of the Representative Town Meeting are also reviewing the proposed budgets related to their areas, including: 

Also, this week, StartUp Westport, a public-private partnership that aims to “engage, foster, and grow Westport’s innovation ecosystem,” will be honoring ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro with its first-ever Innovator of the Year Award on Tuesday, April 30 at the Westport Library. 

Pitaro will receive the award at 6:30 p.m. at the Westport Library and tickets cost $25 in advance or $30 at the door, with all the proceeds going to the library. Mike Greenberg, ESPN host of shows and programs including Get Up and the NFL Draft, will interview Pitaro as a part of the program. 

“We could not be more excited to present this award to Jimmy for his outstanding contributions to the greater Westport community and beyond. Jimmy’s dynamic leadership and groundbreaking initiatives make him a worthy recipient of this honor,” said Cliff Sirlin, president of StartUp Westport in a statement. Learn more about the event. 

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

Read next