Minutes of the West Norwalk Association
June 6, 2016
Board Members Present: Anthony Carrano, Ken D’Arinzo, Brian Forschino, Isabelle Hargrove, Rob Notley & Ted Stepanoff were present. Kristin Clemens was not in attendance.
Anthony called the meeting to order at 7:35pm.
The Board agreed to review the May minutes and provide approval via e-mail.
Treasurer’s Report – Ken D’Arinzo
Current Bank balance is $5,100.61. Scholarship check and constant contact checks have not been cashed ($1,000 + $168).
Oak Hills Park Update – No Board members were able to attend the June Oak Hills Park meeting. THere are plans to move forward with new golf carts and the Nature Center. Oak Hills is looking for $3M funding from the City for the driving range. As a result, the remainder of the project has been put on the back burner.
CNNA Update – Nothing new to report.
Scholarship Update – Linda Forcellina presented the scholarship check. Stephen agreed to post the picture of Linda with the recipient and the recipient on our Facebook page and the our website. Isabelle suggested a hand written note thanking Linda for presenting the scholarship. Anthony agreed to write the letter.
127 Fillow Street Update – The City is in no rush to sell the property. The City would like to subdivide the property and rezone it as AA but has not been able to find a purchaser. Tom Livingston voiced that the West Norwalk Association would be in favor of the City not selling the property. The Board noted that it had only mentioned that their belief was that neighbors would be upset if the current housing structure was destroyed. There was mention that the City may look to designate the property as park land to compensate for land they intend to take from behind Ely to expand Jefferson School. Anthony will reach out to Tom Livingston that the Board is in favor of the City subdividing and selling the property but is not in favor of the City holding on to it. There are too many potential downside effects of the City retaining ownership. The house has become run down and has been boarded up. We will post a summary of what is happening on both our Facebook page and our Website with a link to The Hour article and ask residents to provide feedback. Stephen will prepare an e-mail blast with the link and our e-mail address.
Family Fun Day / Summer Social – Anthony suggested passing on the Summer Social for this year and working through the year to plan something for May of 2017. It is believed that we will not get significant attendance once summer begins as many residents may be vacationing. The Board discussed spending the Fall and Winter months planning a Family Fun Day and / or Adult Social Event for Spring 2017. Advertising should be done via the newsletter, the Annual Meeting and the Holiday Party. Brian will speak to Omar about $20 per head with a $5 beer special and a $5 wine special.
Boat on Residential Property – Keeping a boat on your property is not in violation of West Norwalk zoning rules. The Board may want to consider putting links to certain City of Norwalk websites that might interest West Norwalk residents. Princes Pine residents have a larger issue with respect to wetlands behind the home and unpermitted building.
Fox Run Pick-up – Cars are lining up double file on Fillow Street waiting to pick up their children which is causing significant traffic issues during pick up time. The decision was made by Mr. Martinez. Anthony will reach out to Mayor Rilling and The Board of Education to discuss the concerns.
Revision of West Norwalk Association Board Charter – Term limits are currently 3 years. The Board agreed to review the Charter and suggest revisions at the next Board meeting. Revision of the Charter requires a majority vote. Anthony suggested not enforcing term limits to the extent the Board is not full or there is no one willing to take the Officer position. The Charter requires all members receive notice via mail at least 30 days prior to any changes taking effect. The Board discussed making the Notice part of the Newsletter indicating that the changes will be voted on at the Annual Meeting.
All Other Business –
Ted suggested using Google Analytics to track the number of hits our website is getting.
We currently only have 137 likes on Facebook. Anthony questioned whether we should explore Twitter.
Isabelle and Ted suggested a quarterly e-mail blast with updates about things going on around Norwalk. The Board voice concern about having enough content.
Rob suggested setting up a table at Fox Run Back to School Night.
Five Mile River Update – The Five Mile River Committee meets every other Thursday at 3pm. Updates will be provided every 3 weeks on storm drains, fertilizer, septic care, river dumping. The Committee currently consists of only 5 people. Dr. Rose Ellis reached out about getting Norwalk Community College students involved. The Committee is meeting with Mayor Rilling on June 16th to get approval to being sending the updates. The Committee is also looking to get New Canaan, Darien and Rowayton involved. The Board discussed getting Chris Murphy involved. The Committee is currently getting political support from Tom Livingston, John Igneri and Fred Wilms.
Anthony closed the meeting at 8:55pm.
Return to top