Feb 14, 2008
Westonites have their say
|
by Brian Gioiele
School start times, the status of Revson field, and the future of a town cemetery and a community center were the talk of the town Saturday at the League of Women Voters’ Speak Up.
Residents packed the Norfield Church parish hall for the annual event, at which town officials and state legislators Rep. John Stripp and Senator Judith Freedman answered questions on any and all subjects.
The topics that dominated conversation were the future of the school start times and the potential for a community center, one that could house both a senior center and a teen center.
“What are you doing for the seniors?” asked Ted Coley of Lyons Plain Road. “We need a building. I know you care, but do you care enough?”
First Selectman Woody Bliss said the town has taken numerous steps — including providing among the best tax relief programs in the state — to aid local seniors. The town even provided two classrooms in Hurlbutt Elementary School to act as a senior center.
“That space is adequate for the seniors right now,” said Mr. Bliss about the classrooms at Hurlbutt. “As the need grows, we’ll look into that.”
Community center
Donald Saltzman, Planning and Zoning Commission chairman, said as his commission prepares the upcoming Town Plan of Development, one of the recommendations will be creating a community center that could handle groups of all ages.
“We don’t know if it will happen, but we will be recommending it,” Mr. Saltzman said.
With the call for a senior center, Jess DiPasquale asked about creating a teen center, saying there is little or nothing locally for teenagers. If a community center were to come to fruition, could a teen center be part of the overall scheme? he asked.
“This would require a major commitment by the town,” Mr. Saltzman said. “But, as you have heard here, the selectmen can’t find a place for a town cemetery. Land is shrinking.”
“There are two steps: First, we need a plan; second, we need the will to do it,” said Mr. Bliss about any future plans for a community center. “If there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Martin Strasmore, chairman of the Select Committee on Global Warming, said locations for such centers, for seniors and teenagers, could be found in facilities already in town.
“The present building usage should be looked at,” Mr. Strasmore said. “Why can’t we take advantage of what’s already available to us? We could save money while being sensitive to the environment.”
Cemetery
Regarding the future of a town cemetery, Mr. Bliss said no suitable property has yet been identified.
The town’s appointed Cemetery Committee recently presented a consultant’s report to the selectmen selecting a portion of the Lachat property as best suited for a town cemetery. Since the town jointly owns the land with the Nature Conservancy — and conservancy officials have insisted they are not interested in selling — the selectmen have squashed that idea.
“The solution is for the town to purchase land suitable for a cemetery,” Mr. Bliss said. “The lands the town presently owns are not suitable for that purpose.”
Another issue raised was school start times, and if there might be any action taken on the state level to create later opening times for middle and high school students.
“It’s a matter of well-being for the entire community,” said Amy Davis of Lilac Lane. “It is a public safety issue.”
Ms. Freedman said she felt any attempt on the state level would end in failure, and called on local residents to urge the local school board to examine the issue.
“I do believe this will start to pick up steam at the local level,” Ms. Freedman said. “Once more people learn that the science is on your side, more local boards of education will do something.”
“Don’t ask the state to run too much of the local government,” added Mr. Stripp. “It will be more effective to bring that message to your local board of education and superintendent. They will listen.”
Ms. Davis, who has been spearheading the effort to make the start times later in Weston, cited medical evidence about the effects of teenage sleep deficit on the community as a result of early school start times for teens.
At a recent community meeting, Lisa Bogan, chairman of the Wilton school board when Wilton made school start times later for older students, doctors Jennifer Gruen and Jonathan Fine of Weston, and John Reed, interim superintendent of Weston schools, each discussed the school start time issue.
“I am aware of the information on this,” said Ellen Uzenoff, Weston school board chairman. “But we cannot make one big decision like this in a vacuum. We have to look at the global picture. This needs to be explored on a logical way.”
Another parent, Carolyn Mulcahey of Godfrey Hill Road, said that changing the start times for older students may impact those families in which those youngsters are needed to watch younger siblings later in the day if a parent works.
“There are many alternatives,” responded Ms. Davis. “There are different options to help all families. This is not a one-family-only process.”
Revson
Another topic of discussion was the Revson field repairs.
Don Gary of the Building Committee said some 160 tons of material has been added to the outfield and 40 tons of material to the infield. The first round of power seeding and aeration was already completed. A second round will be done in the spring.
“The fields will be open,” Mr. Gary said. “It was done this way because it was the only solution that kept the fields open, at a fraction of the cost. The other alternatives would have required the fields to be closed once, maybe twice, over the next two seasons.”
Hal Shupack, a member of the Weston Historical Society, said his organization is concerned about the condition of the old post office building roof.
Joe Fitzpatrick, chairman of the Building Committee, said the town is aggressively looking into the roof status, and there should be a plan of action within a couple of weeks.
Brenda Richards opened Speak Up with a question about the recent Federal Aviation Administration flight redesign plans, which would allow jets to fly much lower over the Fairfield County area.
“It has already started,” she said. “I have been unable to sleep with jumbo jets flying at low levels.”
She asked what residents could do, and Mr. Bliss said to write their congressmen and the state leadership. Mr. Bliss added that 14 area communities, including Weston, have joined in a lawsuit against the FAA in an attempt to stop the redesign plan.
“The whole congressional delegation is on board to fight this,” Ms. Freedman said.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
|
