Op-Ed: Open letter to Planning & Zoning and Public Works on proposed town drainage manual

Written by Peter Thalheim
Wednesday, 18 May 2011 12:34

The following is a letter addressed to the heads of the Greenwich Planning and Zoning Commission and the Department of Public Works on the proposed town drainage manual.

I attended the informational meeting this past Tuesday, April 19, on the proposed new Drainage Manual. I have also labored through this very lengthy document. I am writing you as a long time resident, local attorney, property developer and real estate salesperson. While I commend the authors and contributors for their tireless efforts to address our general water quality and stormwater in general, but I am dismayed by this document.

This drainage manual appears to have been derived from planning documents from larger municipalities that face substantial subdivision proposals. While it might be fitting for large subdivisions of 10 acres or more, it is unduly burdensome when applied in its present form to one acre or less properties. It is not the objectives that are troubling, but rather the onerous and vague nature of its proposed regulations. You are all familiar with the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, “ nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” The Fifth Amendment that “private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation,” was also extended to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. Section 11 of the Connecticut State Constitution states that “[t]he property of no person shall be taken for public use, without just compensation therefore.” And when government rules are vague or are devoid of objective standards they can be stricken for such vagueness as no man or woman should have to guess at what a statute means?

Glimpse beneath the sham and decadence

Written by Joe Pisani
Thursday, 12 May 2011 00:00

Anyone who ever wore faded bell-bottoms or a wide-lapel sports jacket with a polyester tie and watched “Welcome Back, Kotter” is old enough to remember Phoebe Snow, whose most famous hit, “Poetry Man,” was a lilting love song about an awkward young woman infatuated with a married man.

She was nominated for a Grammy in 1975 as best new artist and showed enormous promise, but her career stalled because of a momentous choice she made early in life when she decided the most important thing wasn’t success or celebrity — it was taking care of her daughter, Valerie Rose, who was severely brain-damaged.

It was a decision that led to emotional stress, financial problems and bad business decisions.

Valerie wasn’t expected to survive beyond her early years because she suffered from hydrocephalus — fluid in the brain cavity that prevents development. But to Snow, her daughter was her greatest accomplishment, even eclipsing the success she enjoyed in the music industry.

May 13 through May 20

Written by Greenwich Post Staff
Thursday, 12 May 2011 00:00

Thursday, May 12

4 p.m. — Regulation Task Force, Gisborne Room

5 — Parking Ticket Hearings, Mazza Room

5:30 — Greenwich Land Trust, Meeting Room

6:30 — Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET), Cone Room

7 — Board of Education Work Session, Havemeyer Building

Friday, May 13

8 a.m. — Women Infant and Children’s Services, Meeting Room

10 — Time for Lyme, Gisborne Room

Monday, May 16

8:30 a.m. — Board of Realtors, Mazza Room

6:30 p.m. — BET, Meeting Room

Tuesday, May 17

4 p.m. — Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, Greenwich Library

6:45 — Board of Social Services, Hayton Room

Wednesday, May 18

8:30 a.m. — Board of Realtors, Gisborne Room

9:30 — Selectmen’s Nominations Advisory Committee, Mazza Room

10:30 — Greenwich Tree Conservancy, Cone Room

7 p.m. — Plan of Conservation and Development Downtown Committee, Mazza Room

7 — Planning and Zoning Board of Appeals, Cone Room

Thursday, May 19

9:30 a.m. — PTA Council Wellness Committee, Mazza Room

10 — Board of Selectmen, Meeting Room

5 p.m. — Parking Ticket Hearings, Mazza Room

All meetings take place at Town Hall unless otherwise noted.

Medicare under stress

Written by Andrew Szabo
Thursday, 12 May 2011 00:00

In this third installment of our series on government entitlement programs, let’s turn to Medicare.

There are four parts to Medicare. Part A covers hospital expenses, nursing homes and care at home. Part B covers medical services, as provided by doctors, nurses, home health services, and the like. Those who receive Social Security benefits generally are automatically enrolled in Parts A and B. Part C, Medicare Advantage, is offered by approved private companies. It covers all of Part A and B and may include ancillary services such as vision, hearing and dental. It may be organized like an HMO, a PPO, a Special Needs Plan (SNP), or a traditional fee for service plan. Finally, Part D, introduced recently under the George W. Bush administration, covers prescription drugs. See Medicare.gov, the official government Web site. The Medicare program is administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services.