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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 June 19.

The What: This Week in Southwest Connecticut
Hope it's a great first official week of summer for everyone. (Photo for Kelly Prinz) 

Monday, June 19

Happy Monday! This week, we’re highlighting efforts along the coastline and waterfront in Norwalk as well as updates on plans for a new K-8 school in Stamford.

With more than 20 miles of coastline and even more along rivers, water is at the heart of Norwalk’s community, business, and recreation. Because of that, there’s multiple initiatives, projects, and studies going on related to the waterfront—including a specific zoning study of properties along the waterfront, a grant to plan for natural infrastructure along the coastline to help mitigate flooding, and a proposal to add some public access points.

Learn more about the plans or check out our video on the projects.

Stamford’s Board of Finance and Board of Representatives authorized $158.3 million in funding for a new South Stamford Elementary School, which allows the city to submit the plans to the state for grant funding ahead of the June 30 deadline.

Stamford is hoping to get on the state’s priority list of school construction projects, which would mean that it would get state funding for the project. The state passed legislation last year that allows both Stamford and Norwalk to receive up to 60% reimbursement for school construction projects over the next two years. If approved, about $95 million will be covered by the state and $63.3 million will be covered by the city.

The plans call for a K-8 school that would be home to more than 1,000 students. Because the city didn’t have a site available to fit all of the students on it, the students will be divided into a lower school (grades K-4) at 83 Lockwood Avenue and an upper school (grades 5-8) on Horton Street, at the current K.T. Murphy School site.

Learn more about the proposals or check out our video on the school.

Let’s see what else is happening around the region.

Stamford

On Wednesday, June 21, the Charter Revision Committee of the Board of Representatives will meet at 6 p.m. to receive a draft report from the Charter Revision Commission and schedule a public hearing on the revisions.

Other meetings this week include:

Norwalk

There’s two big public meetings this week in the city. On Wednesday, June 21, there will be a Planning & Zoning Commission Public Hearing at 6 p.m. on the proposed revision to the city’s zoning code. You can learn more about the proposed regulations on the city’s website.

On Tuesday, June 20, there will be a special Common Council meeting at 7:30 p.m. for the council to continue its review of proposed changes to the city’s charter, or governing document. Check out some of the recommendations from the commission.

Other meetings this week include:

Fairfield

The Board of Selectmen will meet on Monday, June 19 at 4 p.m. to hear and vote on a proposal from the Sustainable Fairfield Task Force to partner with New England Smart Energy as part of an initiative to perform home energy audits and energy retrofits for income eligible residents in the town.

Other meetings this week include:

Greenwich

On Wednesday, June 21 at 10:30 a.m., the Greenwich Sustainability Committee is partnering with Coffee For Good to host C-Change Conversations Primer, “a dynamic, non-partisan discussion on climate change,” featuring speaker Dallas Hetherington, who will give a scientific-based presentation on “Climate Change 101.”

On Sunday, June 25, the town’s Shellfish Commission is hosting an Experience the Sound event starting at 1 p.m. at Greenwich Point Park. The goal of the event is to “introduce Greenwich residents and others to available outdoor activities, marine sporting experiences, existing conservation and environmentally focused organizations in our area.”

Other meetings this week include:

Darien

On Monday, June 19, the Board of Selectmen will meet at 7 p.m. and will hear a flooding presentation from Ed Gentile, the town’s director of public works.

Other meetings this week include:

Westport

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!

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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