Minutes of the West Norwalk Association
February 6, 2017
Board Members Present: Anthony Carrano, Brian Forschino, Rob Notley, Kristin Clemens, Isabelle Hargrove, Ken D’Arinzo & Ted Stepanoff.
Anthony called the meeting to order at 7:30pm.
November meeting minutes were previously approved via e-mail and have been posted to the WNA website. No December meeting was held due to the Holiday Party and no meeting was held in January.
Treasurer’s Report – Ken D’Arinzo
Current bank balance is $3,616.33. Deposits were $1,101 in cash (including $200 from the 50/50 and $1,600 checks from the Holiday Party. An additional $3,300 in membership dues have been received by mail since the Party. A payment of $3,954.69 was made to Dolce for final payment on the Holiday Party.
Oak Hills Update – Anthony Carrano
No one from the Board was able to attend the Oak Hills Park Authority Meeting. Work has started on the Nature Center in front of the Oak Hills Restaurant. At this time, there is not an estimated date for completion. Anthony will try to get an approximate date. The Authority is also building a Rose Garden with a Gazebo to host live music. Isabelle suggested the possibility of having a picnic on the Green.
CNNA Update – Isabelle Hargrove
Isabelle sent an e-mail with a survey that needs to be completed. They are asking for other Associations to provide feedback on what the vision of the CNNA should be. The Board agreed the responses to the survey during the meeting and Isabelle will finalize the response. The survey questions were:
In general, what role would you like CNNA to assume in relationship to your Association?
- We would like support when there is a significant issue affecting West Norwalk residents.
- Keep us updated about issues and proposed zoning changes that could affect West Norwalk residents.
What role, if any, do you think CNNA should have in local and state government?
- Disseminate information and issues being discussed at the State Government level.
- Involvement in municipal budgets and lobbying for zoning law changes.
- Provide the link between the various neighborhood Associations with the local Government.
The CNNA discussed Pena Construction’s taking over the property at the old Armory location on New Canaan Avenue. Zoning was changed to allow contractors to set up in a residential area where the previous zoning only covered utility companies.
Terry Blake has been sending Ken informational update e-mails and has been posting updates on Next Door – Norwalk.
Last month’s CNNA meeting was cancelled. Ted offered to attend with Isabelle going forward.
Holiday Party Update
Everything went very well but we did receive complaints about the quality of the food and the desserts. There were also comments about the look of the remodel. As positives, Dolce did add a second bartender and did carry drink specials to the bar after the end of the Party. There were some complaints about the location of the bar.
FaceBook Picture Posting
The Board discussed whether we should let residents post pictures on our FaceBook page. People can post things to the page but they need to be approved by an administrator before they will be visible.
Spring Clean-Up
The Board is not aware of when Norwalk’s clean up day is scheduled. Isabelle agreed to ask the CNNA. Last year the WNA clean-up was held in May. The Board discussed including a competition component to this year’s event (e.g., who collects the most bags, who collects the strangest item, etc.) This idea will be discussed further at the next meeting.
Spring Social
Isabelle will speak to Amar about having a spring social although Isabelle mentioned that the Restaurant may be up for sale. We will try to negotiate a no fee event with drink specials as was done last year.
All Other Business
The Board discussed having various special interest groups provide presentations at our monthly meetings. Ideas discussed were:
- The Route 7 Interchange
- The 95/7 Mall
- Oak Hills Park
- The Richards Avenue Assisted Living Facility
Anthony will reach out to The Route 7 Interchange Group to see if they would be willing to provide an update presentation at our March meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45pm.