February 2019 WNA Board Meeting – Minutes
Board Members in Attendance: Anthony Carrano, Kristin Clemens, Stephen Galyas, Ken D’Arinzo, Rob Notley, Ted Stepanoff, Isabelle Hargrove (via phone)
Guests: Lucy Dathan
Date: February 4, 2019
The meeting began at 7:32pm.
Old Business
February Mailing
Anthony has completed the first draft of the February mailing and is editing the document. The mailing has been pushed out to March 2019.
Spring Social
LaKota Oaks is very interested in hosting the West Norwalk Association’s 2019 Spring Social. The board discussed the association’s relationship with both LaKota Oaks and the Oak Hills Restaurant on the Green, where we have hosted previous neighborhood socials. The board members in attendance unanimously agreed that the upcoming spring social will be held at LaKota Oaks. In addition, the attendees discussed potential dates and times for the social. The majority of the board members in attendance agreed that the event will be most successful if it were to take place on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Anthony will contact LaKota Oaks to inquire about available dates and times, and will report his findings at the March 2019 board meeting.
New Business
New Canaan Traffic Issue
A West Norwalk resident emailed the WNA board concerning a traffic signage change in New Canaan that will redirect morning work commute traffic into West Norwalk. According to the resident, digital
signs will be put up at the corner of Marvin Ridge Road and Nursery Road, and Nursery Road and White Oak Shade Road; these signs will prohibit left turns at these intersections between the hours of 7:00am and 9:00am, rerouting traffic down Weed Avenue and Old Rock Lane.
Ken mentioned that he experienced this traffic the other day, and that it is substantial.
The board reached out to Lt. Terry Blake, who confirmed that these traffic regulations will be in effect starting February 27th. A community meeting will be held at the New Canaan Police Department building on February 27th at 6:00pm. The meeting is open to the public. Stephen will send an email blast to all West Norwalk residents with more information about this issue as well as the aforementioned meeting. He will also post about this issue on our Facebook page. Lucy Dathan will find out more information from the New Canaan residents.
In addition, the board members in attendance discussed potential solutions to preventing morning work commute traffic from taking this alternate route, such as: instate a right-turn prohibition from Weed Avenue onto Old Rock Lane, instate a left-turn prohibition off of Nursery Road; or increasing the presence of police officers on this route in the morning.
As more information is made available, the WNA will inform all West Norwalk residents via social media posts and email blasts.
South Norwalk Walk Bridge
The meeting attendees discussed the latest news concerning the walk bridge in South Norwalk, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of fixed and movable walk bridges. Lucy, who is in support of the movable walk bridge, pointed out that by building a movable walk bridge: 1) the build time would be less than what it would take to build a fixed bridge; 2) there would be a shorter period of train downtime; 3) the Norwalk River would not be navigable with a fixed bridge; and 4) additional improvements could be implemented, and such as straighter train tracks to reduce train commute time.
Following Lucy’s comments, Isabelle stated that these assumptions are being challenged by opponents of the movable walk bridge. Isabelle believes that the lift-bridge option will permanently deface our harbor and coastline, and that the city did not do its due diligence to assess the viability of the upper-harbor remaining navigable. West Norwalk residents can view a storefront in South Norwalk that contains more information about the walk bridge. The storefront is one block away from the South Norwalk Train Museum.
Treasurer Report
Ken D’Arinzo provided the members in attendance with information pertaining to the current balance of the West Norwalk Association bank account. Stephen analyzed WNA financial records between the years of 2007 and 2018 and reported his finding to the members in attendance. The board discussed the idea of providing West Norwalk residents with the ability to make online donations to the West Norwalk Association. This idea will be further discussed following the completion of the March 2019
mailing.
POCD/CNNA Updates
The CNNA bylaws were approved. Public comments on the Plan of Conservation and Development were closed on January 31, 2019; the CNNA submitted revisions to the POCD plan.
LaKota Oaks
Due to an increasing interest in paddle tennis, LaKota Oaks is considering the idea of replacing their tennis courts with paddle tennis courts. Anthony disagrees with this idea because: paddle tennis courts are very loud and would disturb neighbors; the introduction of lights for evening play would disturb neighbors; and the noise and lights would be seen/heard year-round. The members in attendance agreed with Anthony.
To circumvent these issues, LaKota Oaks is considering the idea of building the paddle tennis courts in the open field along the side of the main building (near the service entrance/exit). The board members will keep an eye out for any news pertaining to this potential development and report their findings at the March 2019 board meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45pm.