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The What

The What: This Week in Southwest Connecticut

The What is your look around southwest Connecticut, from Greenwich to Fairfield, for the week of June 20.

The What: This Week in Southwest Connecticut
A special shout out to the teachers, staff, and students who are starting their (well-deserved) summer breaks this week. Photo by Kelly Prinz

Monday, June 20

Happy Monday!

Yesterday marked Juneteenth, which recognizes the day that the last African Americans were freed from slavery in the United States. To commemorate the day and its meaning, The Connecticut Mirror and Connecticut Public explored when slavery ended in Connecticut, and I encourage all of you to read the piece.  

Here’s some of the stories around our area this week:

Let’s explore what else is happening.

Stamford

The Board of Representatives continues to look into ways to prevent another building-related collapse, after a patio collapsed at the Allure building earlier this year. The board is also continuing to review measures to help the city better respond in the event of another similar incident. This week, the Board’s Operations Committee will meet on Monday, June 20 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss potentially “increasing the number of building inspectors” throughout the city. The committee will also discuss “the use of body cameras by building inspectors” in multifamily dwellings.

The Transportation Committee of the Board of Representatives will meet on Tuesday, June 21 at 7 p.m. to review and potentially update the city’s code to allow the use of “micromobility devices” such as scooters or electric bicycles.

Other meetings this week include

Norwalk

When tropical storm Elsa hit Norwalk in July 2021, more than 70 locations across the city reported flooding issues. When the leftovers of Hurricane Ida hit Norwalk on September 1, 2021, almost 200 flooding spots were reported.

A look at some of the calls the City of Norwalk received during the storms in the summer of 2021. Courtesy of the City of Norwalk.

Chief of Operations Anthony Carr told the Common Council at its meeting on June 14 that “flooding is typically historical,” meaning the same problem areas flood when there’s a bad storm, but that flooding across the city “has gotten worse.”

That’s part of why Carr and consultant Woodard and Curran, an engineering and design firm, gave the Common Council an overview of their work to address flooding in the city.

There are six currently in the works across the city, with some currently under construction and others still in the design phase. Carr noted that these weren’t the only ones taking place, but these were “the most significant.”

Learn more.

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The Common Council’s Ad Hoc Affordable Housing Committee will meet on Wednesday, June 22 at 6 p.m. to discuss a potential affordable housing trust fund in the city and receive an update on the city’s work to start an affordable housing plan with $120,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funds.

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On Wednesday, June 22 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., the city will host an open house and ribbon cutting at the South Norwalk Public Library for its MLK Initiative. The initiative began in 2017, when the group, Faith Restoration Empowerment and Economic Development Outreach Ministries, or FREEDOM, worked with the Connecticut legislature, the governor’s office, and the state department of banking to designate “MLK Corridors” in Norwalk, Middletown and New Britain. In 2021, the city received a $3 million grant from the state to work on “staircase reconstruction, sidewalk improvements and façade improvements in the Martin Luther King, Jr. corridor.” This week, residents can attend to share their ideas and learn more about ongoing projects in the area. Mayor Harry Rilling, State Senator Bob Duff, Rev. Dr. Richard Wesley Clarke, and other community leaders plan to speak around 11 a.m.

Other meetings this week include

Fairfield

At the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, June 20 at 4 p.m., officials from Aquarion Water Company will give an update on the town’s water supply and the company’s plan for 2022 capital improvements.

The Board of Selectmen, as well as the Board of Finance (at its meeting on Monday, June 20 at 7 p.m.) will discuss and vote on spending up to $300,000 for the design of the Fairfield Beach Road pump station and force main. The project will be paid for out of the Water Pollution Control Authority fund balance.

Other meetings this week include

Greenwich

At the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting on Tuesday, June 21 at 4 p.m., the commission will review and discuss parts of the Church Sherwood LLC application. The applicant is proposing to build 192 units, 58 of which would be affordable, at Church Street, Sherwood Place, and Putnam Court.

In order to do so, the developer plans to demolish multiple buildings that are part of the town’s Fourth Ward National Register Historic District. More than 2,000 residents have signed a petition objecting to the demolition of these buildings.

“The Fourth Ward Historic District in downtown Greenwich was placed on the National Register of Historic Places through the efforts of the Greenwich Historical Society and residents of the neighborhood because of its association with events that made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history,” the petition reads. “This neighborhood was one of Greenwich’s most important 19th-century African American enclaves, as well as the nucleus of the town’s Irish population. It includes one of only two African American churches in town, and it was home to its first Roman Catholic Church.”

According to an update posted by the town staff, the focus of this meeting will be on the historic resources. There will be a separate public hearing scheduled right now for June 30, to hear the “remaining issues on this application, which include sewer, fire, traffic, and conflict of driveway locations and town trees.”

Other meetings include

Darien

The Board of Selectmen voted 4-1 to approve the purchase of about 60 acres of Great Island and authorized the issuing of bonds to fund the approximately $100 million purchase. This vote was the first approval needed to finalize the purchase—the Board of Finance and the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) also have to approve the funding and the RTM also has to authorize the purchase agreement.

“Great Island is fantastically important to our community and the outreach all of us have experienced proves that,” Selectwoman Monica McNally said at the June 13 meeting.

McNally said that residents have said that it is such a unique opportunity and one that “we cannot let it slip away.”

This week, multiple RTM districts are hosting information sessions where residents from their districts can come and get more information, ask questions, and hear from officials about the plans for Great Island. On Thursday, June 23, RTM District II and District IV are hosting a joint meeting at 7 p.m. Great Island is located within District II and borders District IV. On Monday, June 20, RTM District VI is hosting an information session at 8 p.m. related to the purchase.

The RTM will meet as a full body on Monday, June 27 to vote on the purchase.

Learn more.

Other meetings this week include

Westport

The Board of Selectwomen will meet on Wednesday, June 22 at 9 a.m. to review and vote on a contract to bury utilities underground along Avery Place. The proposed contract for the project would cost about $493,000.

Other meetings this week include

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

Thank you for reading!

We’re planning to cover more transportation-related issues this summer, as well as a series on flooding throughout our communities. If you are interested in being a part of our reporting, please reach out at coastalconnecticuttimes@gmail.com.

Have a great week,

Kelly Prinz

Founder, Reporter at Coastal Connecticut Times

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